TV/Cable News

It's no secret to those closely following the Spot Ten Cable reports from Media Monitors that quick-service restaurant brands prefer to use Spot Cable over Spot Television when seeking to connect to consumers. For the week ending August 14, two QSR brands in particular were the strongest users of Spot Cable.

The largest pay-TV providers in the U.S., representing about 92% of the market, lost about 1,925,000 net video subscribers in the second quarter 2022, compared to a pro forma net loss of 1,235,000 one year earlier. That's according to newly released data from Leichtman Research Group.

In late May, Mark Danielson was selected to lead Nexstar’s ABC affiliate and home for The CW Network in Salt Lake City. This left an opening at the three TV stations in California's Central Coast he'd been in charge of — a position that placed Danielson on the Radio + Television Business Report Top Local TV Leaders list for 2021. The Santa Barbara-based position has just been filled.

The sale of Freedom Mobile to a subsidiary of a Québec media giant that owns the TVA Group French-language television operation has been agreed to. It puts in motion the controversial merger of one of Canada's largest multimedia companies and Shaw Communications, which is still under regulatory review some 17 months after the transaction was announced.

It is the only company with an "Outperform" rating on its publicly traded stock among the companies included in the Media coverage provided by MoffettNathanson. Why is that the case? Senior Analyst Robert Fishman offers a simple explanation: "[B]ecause we know exactly what the company is and maybe more importantly, what it isn’t." 

On December 8, Disney+ will introduce its much-anticipated ad-supported subscription offering in the U.S., a move that all but erases the subscription-as-a-revenue driver philosophy that built "over the top" (OTT) offerings and made them desirable in the first place. 

Here's a deal that will make some say, "¡Olé!" and saudade. TV industry and "omniscreen" advertising and analytics firm Samba TV has signed a new strategic partnership with an adtech platform that enables it to enter España for the first time.

In July, Neal Davis announced his retirement, opening up a leadership position at the Lockwood Broadcast Group stations serving Knoxville, Tenn. The company has now revealed who Davis' successor will be. And, it has selected a 18-year market veteran who comes from a group of radio stations owned by Summit Media.

Michelle Robinson Harper will join Gray Television as the General Manager of WBTV, the CBS affiliate in Charlotte. The appointment is effective September 6. But, that’s not the only leadership change at Channel 3.

With the growth in its U.S. National TV panel, Nielsen says it now covers 101,000 directly measured viewers. This includes a subset of 21,000 households that are part of Nielsen's streaming meter panel, which the company "plans to continue to grow over time."

It's a nationally syndicated trending news and entertainment television show designed for a Latinx audience, and it is readying its September 3 debut. As of now, it is scheduled to air each Saturday on LATV Network.

Issues of trust are central to all social, consumer, and political activity. But there’s a particular urgency when it comes to TV news. Virtually every recent poll has indicated trust in news media has fallen to historical lows. The 11th wave of the Media Trust Tracking survey, conducted for MediaPost by Brand Keys, has confirmed TV news brands are becoming commoditized when it comes to “trust.”

One of the world's hottest actors, who co-founded a production company in 2018 with George Dewey, has signed off on a first-look deal for unscripted content with the "sports-first live TV streaming platform" as part of a multi-year partnership that reflects "the common creative vision of the two companies."

While viewed by many as a replacement for cable television, can FAST channels grow revenue while gaining audience by weaving commercials into the mix? Yes, a new report from LG Ads Solutions says. But, consider the source.

Is this the beginning of the most difficult period in Roku's history? Jeffrey Wlodarczak, principal analyst for the internet/media/communications sector at Pivotal Research Group, thinks so. He took a close look at the company, in the midst of a "significant stock price plunge" and called the company's Q2 results and Q3 guidance "frankly awful." Thus, he's reduced his rating on ROKU.