TV/Cable News

Four years ago, 8 rack units brought to life the first ATSC 3.0 air chain. Then came a reduced footprint, in April 2019, followed by the 2020 arrival of the first 1-rack unit using a Blade server. Now, a cloud application on Amazon Web Services (AWS) today is in place for what powers NextGen TV.

With the May 17 pre-market confirmation that WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. will merge via a tax-free Reverse Morris Trust-engineered merger, MoffettNathanson's two Senior Analysts believe that "the rationale for today’s monumental news that WarnerMedia will be merging with Discovery can be plainly found in our Q&As" offered at their event last week.

With pre-market trading not as harsh as post-market trading Thursday for Disney stock, investors may be looking beyond Disney+ OTT subscriber rolls and theme park attendance and revenue by looking at its Broadcast segment. There, the fiscal Q2 tale shows network growth on a balance beam with owned-station revenue slowdowns.

What is being described as "the first locally relevant television channel for adult learners seeking short-term courses and credentials to advance their job prospects and navigate the future of work" is now in development.

The Walt Disney Company has ended its fiscal second quarter of 2021 with 103.6 million Disney+ subscribers. Uh-oh. Disney+ in early March said it surpassed 100 million subscribers for the first time, and it appears the excitement over the over-the-top platform is slowing down.

On March 1, MobiTV said it was “committed to working with its lenders and stakeholders towards a speedy and successful resolution” as it sought relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. It's now known that the successful resolution to its fiscal woes is a sale at auction of its assets to the highest bidder.

Despite facing revenue shortfalls, budget cuts and unprecedented operational challenges, local TV stations aired more news in 2020 than ever recorded. That's the finding of a new RTDNA newsroom survey that also reveals 2020 saw a record amount of local TV news for the second year in a row. In addition, a record number of stations are running local news.

Alphonso Inc., recently rebranded as LG Ads, has successfully won a patent dispute with the developer of a content recommendation engine and viewer tracking application designed for Smart TVs regarding the use of television audience data for targeting viewers on digital devices. It concludes 5 1/2 years of litigation, including a 2018 ruling in Alphonso's favor.

"The equity markets have transitioned from looking to buy COVID winners in early to mid-2020 to seeking re-opening plays post the announcement of new successful vaccines last November to this current amorphous period of aimless drift," notes Analyst Michael Nathanson. "In our world, the question is what should media and internet investors do now?"

Mike Woods joined Amagi right before the pandemic in February of 2020 as SVP of Product. In this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM, Woods shares how the cloud-based automation, playout, and delivery tool company is working with broadcast media companies so they can benefit, not fret, over digital video delivery platform growth. LISTEN HERE

Jordan Cowan is a known figure skater who once practiced in Culver City, Calif. Today, he's skating among the dancers with a Sony HDC-P50 camera and Canon HJ14 lens for a reality TV series now airing in the United Kingdom. The U.S. could be next to embrace this tech device.

AMC Networks is in the midst of what MoffettNathanson analysts call "a pivot from legacy linear networks businesses to direct-to-consumer platforms." Yet, as the respected financial research house has emphasized in the past, "the economics of this pivot are vastly different for each company." What does this mean for AMC?

The net proceeds of the offering are intended to be used for general corporate purposes, including refinancing of indebtedness, the DBS operator-turned-5G player revealed early Monday. It's more good news for a company with its stock price at its highest levels since January 2018.

The offering is part of the financing for the proposed business combination of Grupo Televisa with Univision's businesses, announced on April 13.

As a significant shareholder in TEGNA, Soohyung Kim and his Standard General has, for more than a year, sought to convince those holding company stock that it is on the wrong growth path. Thus, board of directors nominees it presented warranted shareholder approval. Those efforts have failed to gain the support of TEGNA investors once again.