Broadcast News

Disney is evaluating how the planned merger of AT&T and DirecTV will affect its business, according to

Only 21% of 61 industry execs surveyed in March said they expect to create jobs or hire talent in the next 12 months--down significantly from a year ago when 44% planned to do so--Ernst & Young says in its latest Capital Confidence Barometer. Even worse, 21% now say that they plan to “reduce workforce numbers,” up from 13% last year.

Effective 5/27, WGN Radio will extend the Steve Cochran show from 5-10am with a focus on news in the 5am hour. 10am-12pm will mark the homecoming of John Williams to the station while Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano continue their shift from 12-3pm. The Bill and Wendy Show will move to afternoon drive from 3-7pm, followed by the Pete McMurray Show from 7-11pm. Patti Vasquez joins the station as a full-time host in overnights from 11pm-2am, with Nick Digilio continuing to host from 2-5am.

Spotify announced that it now has 10 million paying subscribers and more than 40 million active users in

A Seeking Alpha Wall Street Playbook's tech sector analyst did a bit of a compare-and-contrast

Marci Ryvicker, Wells Fargo Securities Senior Analyst, writes that after hosting investor meetings with Nexstar’s management this week, they came away “incrementally positive on the story.” They spent some time on the road this week (5/19 and 5/20--NYC & Boston) with CEO Perry Sook and CFO Tom Carter, and “we liked what we heard on M&A and the regulatory environment, net retrans, core ad growth, and digital. Bottom line, we like the story, esp. at a 15% blended FCF yield and reiterate our Outperform.

CSC Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp., has priced an offering of $750 million in aggregate principal amount of 5.25% senior notes due 2024. The offering is expected to close 5/23. CSC intends to use the net proceeds of this offering and cash on hand to repay a portion of its existing credit facility.

Fitch Ratings has assigned a 'BBB+' rating to Time Warner’s proposed issuance of five- 10- and 30-year notes and debentures. The proceeds are expected to be used for general corporate purposes, including share repurchases. Fitch has a 'BBB+' Issuer Default Rating (IDR) for Time Warner. The rating outlook is Stable.

As the network television Upfronts come to a close, the battle for advertising budgets will begin. And with many networks premiering new shows and potential hits, there’s no doubt that advertisers will look to gain every advantage when trying to optimize their advertising dollars, says a Nielsen post.

Guggenheim Partners DC policy analyst Paul Gallant says

Dick Foreman, our dedicated and dynamic Vice Chairman, recently dispatched a powerful, timely and rather pointed note (it didn't pull any punches!) to a fellow broadcaster who had turned a deaf ear to our recent pleadings and importunings on behalf of the Broadcasters Foundation of America. Foreman's good letter got me to thinking about how to reach those who haven't yet gotten the message ...

AMC says it is using the social media site Tumblr to premiere its new series about the early days of personal computing. "Halt and Catch Fire," began as a sneak preview 5/19 on Tumblr. It will air the first time on AMC on 6/1. The series is set in the early 1980s and