TV/Cable News

ViacomCBS's BET unit has formally launched BET Studios, with a pledge of offering equity ownership for Black content creators. The principal partners are Kenya Barris, Rashida Jones and Aaron Rahsaan Thomas.

Nexstar Digital has given birth to a proprietary data-driven audience platform that gives advertisers "the ability to seamlessly purchase digital and linear advertising across Nexstar’s network of 199 owned or operated television stations, 120 local web sites and 284 local news and weather mobile apps."

A subscription streaming service that lets you watch live and on-demand TV from 85+ top networks has just added Univision, UniMás and Galavisión to its lineup — giving it a huge boost in its appeal to Spanish-speaking TV consumers.

Television stations carrying the "Big Four" TV networks, along with the local MyNetwork TV affiliate, serving the Cincinnati DMA have fired up their ATSC 3.0-powered NEXTGEN TV broadcasts. The launch involves the E.W. Scripps Co.'s flagship station, and properties owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Deerfield Media, Hearst Communications and Gray Television.

The head of a dominant station owned by The E.W. Scripps Co. is saying goodbye to his longtime colleagues. Why? He's just been named the VP/GM of the FOX and MyNetwork TV stations serving the Charlotte market, owned by Nexstar Media Group.

On the northeast corner of the I-285 spur, adjacent to Norcross, is the town of Doraville, Ga. It's home to a movie and television production facility developed five years ago that just happens to be next to an entertainment-centric studio and community development dubbed "Assembly." That proximity is what led Gray Television to buy the film facility.

There's strong stability across the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten TV report, with many of the advertisers seen active in the last several weeks staying within the Top 10 for the week ending September 12. There is one big new entrant, however. And, it involves a dental care brand that's seeking to take share from the likes of Colgate and Crest.

According to Kagan estimates, top cable networks lost about $179.5 million in affiliate fees since 2013 from cable carriage disputes that resulted in blackouts that were eventually resolved. Cable network owners risk affiliate revenue loss in hopes of producing a more favorable deal with traditional multichannel operators, S&P Global Market Intelligence's Ron Marcelo reports.

The SVP of Sales and VP of Sales for Hearst Television have each been elevated to Executive Vice President positions.  With the promotion, the pair will share oversight of Hearst's 33 television stations and its WIYY-FM "98 Rock" and WBAL-AM and FM translator 101.5 FM in Baltimore.

The entity that calls itself the "only" sports betting network dedicated to providing real-time news and analysis across every major sport 24/7 has signed a content distribution deal with YouTube TV. The arrangement means that subscribers have access to the DraftKings Inc. subsidiary's sports betting and entertainment programming.

While Philip Falcone's Sovryn Holdings snaps up a New York City LPTV property from Charles Wong, he's also signing off on a deal involving one of several "special" low-power facilities being sold by Mako Communications — a low-power CP that doesn't need to be built until 2023.

The VAB Task Force has been working over the past year to advance conversation on measurement. Now, "given the degree of advancement and transformation our industry seeks in both the current and future states of measurement/currency," the VAB is pledging "to be very active and focused in collaborating with all industry initiatives."

The streaming app offers on demand programming from a catalog of factual entertainment, science, history and engineering programs, and daring adventure-reality series. The Quest app is available on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android and iOS.

The E.W. Scripps Company has named two industry leaders to oversee programming and news standards for the Scripps Networks news division. Both individuals report to Kate O’Brian, head of the news group for Scripps Networks.

In May 2020, he was named VP of Broadcast Operations at RNN, the over-the-air news and information network based in the New York Tri-State area, born out of the former WTZA-62 in Kingston, N.Y. Now, this individual with experience at a L.A. UHF station and, before that, at a Tribune property in Portland, Ore., is joining Sinclair Broadcast Group.