TV/Cable News

Eight Sinclair Broadcast Group stations and a Central New York property it operates won't be seeing any sort of "Great Network Affiliation Change" in their respective markets anytime soon. That's because the stations, ranking in market size, have new multi-year agreements in place with ViacomCBS.

The next-generation ATSC 3.0-powered digital TV broadcast signal is now up and powering seven major over-the-air TV stations in the Pacific Northwest’s second-largest market.

Gray's NBC affiliate serving Lake Charles, La., has sustained major damage to its broadcast tower, with debris reportedly impacting the station's studio. Meanwhile, Cumulus Media's building is gone, one of its stations announced. All employees are reported safe — a message echoed by Townsquare Media/Lake Charles, which sustained minimal damage from Hurricane Laura.

With Thursday's announcement that The E.W. Scripps Co. is merging with ION Media, investors responded with tempered celebration. Shares in SSP were up in pre-market trading, but down across the day.  Still, Wall Street observers are hailing the marriage -- including a Kagan senior analyst.

On Monday, RBR+TVBR reported that Ramar Communications has agreed to sell The CW Network affiliate in Lubbock, along with two low-power facilities to Gray Television. Ramar is also selling the FOX affiliate and its associated Class A facility to SagamoreHill Broadcasting. Details including the value of the Texas deals brokered by Kalil & Co. are now known.

Bipartisan legislation that updates how Americans receive emergency alerts through wireless and broadcast emergency alert systems has been approved by the House of Representatives.

For Nielsen Holdings, Wednesday was "Investor Day." It was also the day the company formally unveiled the "new Nielsen," with a "detailed view of its focused growth strategy and medium-term financial framework" on display.

New research from groupM finds that more than half of its respondents believe it is important to be equipped with the latest technology. An even greater percentage of respondents think that either they or a family member should be the only ones with access to health and fitness tracker data -- an interesting privacy concern that media companies may wish to take note of, for slightly different reasons.

A privately held owner of television stations on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Georgia and Kentucky has signed a multi-year local television measurement services agreement with Nielsen.

In the radio industry, investment in eSports is nothing new. Beasley Media Group even owns a franchise in Houston. It now appears broadcast television companies harbor a similar interest in a segment of the sporting world that continues to explode in growth and has withstood the COVID-19 pandemic with flying colors. Pop artist Post Malone is involved.

In October 2020, Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group acquired MGM‘s over-the-air broadcast television networks This TV and Light TV, offered as digital multicast networks with national distribution, for an undisclosed price. Now, This TV is getting a boost, bringing it to more U.S. locales.

It's an exclusive deal that would bring viewership data from nearly 20 million opted-in VIZIO smart TVs to Verizon Media’s ad-buying platform.

In March 2021, a transaction was consummated that saw the sale of 20 unbuilt LPTV construction permits from Landover Wireless, a 30-year veteran of the global wireless telecommunications industry. Now, a second deal has been struck. It involves the same buyer.