TV/Cable News

LBI Media's Spanish-language Estrella TV broadcast TV network has landed its newest affiliate. The agreement brings it to Wichita, via a digital multicast agreement with a local owner.

The local media division of Graham Holdings Company has named a new VP/GM for its NBC affiliate serving Houston. It's an appointment that comes following the recent retirement announcement of its 11-year leader, Jerry Martin. 

One of Western New York's more familiar faces is returning to the local TV news scene, in a move that could jolt Nexstar-owned WIVB-4 and The E.W. Scripps Co.'s WKBW-7 just as both stations are seemingly gaining momentum in Buffalo.

It calls itself "an All-Inclusive TV agency that gives performance brands access to high-quality, effective TV campaigns without the traditional high entry cost and ongoing challenges of optimization, scale and measurement." To better assist its clients, this Minneapolis-based shop will continue to use Nielsen local TV measurement data.

Thomas, who first rose to fame at WAPE in Jacksonville and was later the first morning host at KPWR "Power 106" in Los Angeles, died Thursday at the age of 69. Thomas, who received an Emmy Award for his work on "Murphy Brown" and was most recently in "Ray Donovan," was suffering from cancer.

Fox Corporation has a new Chief Executive Officer for its entertainment division. And, he takes the post 30 days after ex-Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier was named Roku Media's President.

A noncommercial TV station operated by a community college district in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose DMA could have earned millions of dollars from participating in the FCC's Spectrum Auction. That didn't happen, and now the facility is being sold for a fraction of what it could have fetched — allegedly due to one person's error. Who's the buyer? It's a player north of the Golden Gate Bridge that's now salivating at an opportunity to challenge PBS giant KQED.

The launch of the newest incarnation of WO Marketplace by WideOrbit is designed to give local TV broadcasters streamlined access to new demand from demand-side platforms (DSPs) and agencies.

In front of a national audience at FedEx Field in nearby Landover, Md., Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns, giving the home team its biggest win in years. It was a sight to see. Unfortunately, many DirectTV Now customers were unable to see it, as the OTT-based "small bundle" TV service experienced a Night of Horrors replete with error messages and Tweets of apology.

The strategic investment round is designed to accelerate person-level panel measurement for streaming, a move that TVision says advances the standards for unified ratings across linear and Connected TV for the New York-headquartered company. A key Nielsen rival led the investment round.

A review of the 2017-18 Nielsen Local Television Market Universe Estimates shows Houston moving up in rank once again. Conversely, the San Francisco Bay Area is moving downward, thanks to a 12-month DMA population loss of 36,450.

Among those who have digital antennas in use to provide broadcast television signals to their home, priority placement is being given to it — perhaps filling space once occupied by a set-top box leased from a cable TV service provider. There's more: Streaming accounts for a little over half of their viewing time spent, illustrating just how much consumption of free-to-air broadcast television is seen by those who have a digital antenna.

Come July 2018, Brigham Young University's broadcast media operations will have completed a major consolidation effort announced today by the collegiate institution based in Provo, Utah. The school announced today that it is merging its three TV entities into one national network, while its radio broadcasting arm will be combining its SiriusXM Satellite Radio channel with its Class C over-the-air property along the Wasatch Front.

With the decision, released late Thursday, the Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry now holds the final judgment call on whether or not to approve a transaction the companies hoped would close by the end of 2022.

Nexstar Media Group certainly enjoyed a strong Q3 thanks to its newly forged synergies from the closing of its Media General acquisition and integration of those stations into its operations. But, like Gray Television, strong growth came against talk of advertising woes and tough political comps.