TV/Cable News

With Standard Media unloading its TV stations following its failed attempt to merge with TEGNA, it sold the non-licensed assets of the ABC affiliate in Providence and two Paducah, Ky., area TV stations to the company led by Chris Ripley. Now, Standard Media has those stations and its Lincoln, Neb., property.

DirecTV subscribers who have been seeking rodeo coverage and episodes of such classic programs as The Lone Ranger and The Roy Rogers Show have just landed the one cable TV channel catering to them. 

DirecTV, in a filing tied to the FCC's exploration of broadcast TV network affiliation relationships, contends that consumers should be able to pay for the channels they actually watch and desire to receive, abolishing the tiers and group pricing seen for decades by a fading business losing customers to FAST channels and OTT.

"To be frank, we don't like it." That's the blunt assessment of a widely rumored combination of CBS Corp. with Viacom from Wells Fargo Securities Managing Director of Equity Research Marci Ryvicker. With that, CBS Corp. received a downgrade. But, Viacom shares are suffering more on Wall Street today.

Quick-service restaurants have traditionally relied on linear television to build brand recognition and drive traffic to stores, yet, unlike digital platforms, where the path from ad exposure to online conversion is easily tracked, TV’s influence has been harder to measure. But a new study from ad analytics firm EDO suggests that’s changing.

The President of Digital and IT at Dell Services has just been elected as non-executive chairman of the board for the company formerly known as Gannett. This individual succeeds the co-founder of private equity firm Brysam Global Partners. Concurrently, TEGNA's Board of Directors is adding a former NBCUniversal CFO and co-managing partner at Evolution Media.

Sixteen days after LBI Media initially planned to flip the switch, the latest change for WGEN-8 in Miami is set to happen on Friday. It's a big return to a big signal for Estrella TV, and comes following the February 14 appointment of Hispanic media veteran Nick Valls as WGEN GM.

In November 2013, the future of two TV stations in North Dakota suddenly became fuzzy. Full-power facilities in Bismarck and Minot, respectively, were to be sold to Excalibur Media, with the company entering into a LMA agreement with Gray Television. That deal was aborted, after Prime Cities in March 2014 asked the FCC to nix the deal. This resulted in Gray acquiring the intellectual property of the two stations, while it needed to sell the facilities to a woman-owned or multicultural business. As a result, Legacy Broadcasting became the owner of the North Dakota duo. Legacy is now selling the stations to a partner it has had a relationship with since 2015.

For those wondering about The E.W. Scripps Co.'s sale of its 34 radio stations, announced in January, there was nary a word about its plans. That's not to say Scripps' top executive didn't have any update to share. Meanwhile, industry observers are chatting -- and a deal in two markets may be very close at hand.

On May 8, the company formerly known as Gannett reported Q1 2018 results that surpassed Wall Street expectations. Revenue grew 9.4%, or 5.5% on a non-GAAP comparable basis. Mid-single digit growth is expected in Q2, with results expected to be shared August 7. Yet, TEGNA stock is off 2.6% since its Q1 earnings release. Zacks wants to know if it can rebound.

Every radio industry ratings nerd knows what a "P1" listener is. Back in the day, there were even "P1" playlists, reflecting the biggest of markets and what was tops of the charts there compared to a smaller market. Leave it to a program that's all about the P1 to boost the future talent pool for both radio and television.

Ronan who? After-hours trading for CBS Corp. started out negative as word surfaced that The New Yorker could be printing a second Ronan Farrow-penned piece featuring the company's Chairman/CEO Les Moonves and more accusations of sexual misconduct. That may very well swing into a big gain on Friday, as CBS recorded a strong Q2 that beat Wall Street estimates.