TV/Cable News

Meredith Corp. on Friday morning released its fiscal Q4 and full-year 2018 results, and the company's Local Media division, which includes its broadcast TV stations, saw revenue gains. But, it was political growth in the final three months of its fiscal year that propelled TV revenue increases. Minus political, "other revenues" were to thank -- not core advertising.

New Univision CEO Vince Sadusky on Thursday addressed DISH Network’s "blackout" of Univision networks for the first time. He made the remarks during the media company's Q2 earnings call, and come following comments from DISH chairman Charlie Ergen that the bitter impasse between the DBS provider and Univision means the absence of Univision stations is “probably permanent.”

A 62-page complaint was filed by Tribune Media in Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday that spells out its $1 billion-plus lawsuit against Sinclair Broadcast Group for actions that ultimately led Tribune to pull the plug on its $3.9 billion merger with the Baltimore-area owner of broadcast media properties. In the complaint, Tribune makes it clear that Sinclair failed in its efforts to act swiftly to resolve overlap markets that would trigger regulatory scrutiny.

Here's another example of how the major broadcast TV owners are snapping up stations they already operate but couldn't own prior to the FCC's "modernization" of its rules. In Springfield, Mo., Nexstar has an LMA for a FOX affiliate and a shared services agreement for the market's CBS station, as it owns the MyNetworkTV affiliate. Now, it's shifting the LMA to full-on possession.

Viacom, which may or may not be reunifying with CBS Corp. in the coming months, reported fiscal Q3 2018 earnings that Brian Wieser at Pivotal Research Group says are "thematically consistent" with his view of the company. "[F]avorable updates were provided on a wide range of growth initiatives which are intended to offset declines or long-term challenges in traditional businesses," he notes.

With headlines grabbing the attention of broadcast media outlets far and wide and Tribune controlling the conversation through the lunch hour, Sinclair finally responded in the early afternoon hours of Thursday to Tribune's decision to terminate its merger agreement. How so? Sinclair's FCC applications have been withdrawn with prejudice, and it is initiating a huge stock repurchasing plan.

"Notwithstanding our disappointment regarding the outcome of the transaction, we are extremely pleased with our second quarter results, which were very strong," Peter Kern, Tribune Media's CEO, said early Thursday as the company not only revealed it is terminating its $3.9 billion merger with Sinclair Broadcast Group, but enjoyed a net revenue gain and swung from a net loss to net income.

Univision may never ever become a publicly traded company, but that hasn't stopped the nation's biggest purveyor of Spanish-language media options from releasing its quarterly earnings reports. Univision's Q2 results were made public early Thursday. Net income was down, but net revenue was up.

Some $31.6 million in political advertising helped Nexstar Media Group achieve net revenue growth of 5.5% during the second quarter. Nexstar's net income soared by 79%. But the political gain came at the expense of both National and Local advertising revenue.

So, how are things at the company that is still trying to complete its merger with Tribune Media? The executives at Sinclair Broadcast Group will happily share details of their Q2 2018 financial results, which were largely positive despite a per-share dip caused by high expenses. Just don't ask about the company's quest for Tribune, which looks more and more like the hometown Baltimore Orioles' quest for a 2018 World Series trophy.

Nielsen is now ready to make an impact on local media planning and cross-channel optimization through a new tool designed to benefit both local radio and television broadcasting companies.

The broadcast TV company formerly known as Gannett posted a rosy Q2 earnings report on Wednesday. Net revenues were up, while its earnings per share soared year-over-year by 87%. Here are the details.

Discovery Communications' CEO takes pride in his company's "solid results" for the second quarter, released Wednesday. A respected Wall Street analyst has a different assessment to share. Who did Wall Street listen to? The "wieser" one, as Discovery Communications shares dipped nearly 5% on high volume after reporting growth trends this analyst calls "tepid."

Gray Television may not have the same level of national top-of-mind consumer recognition as such broadcast peers as Tribune, Hearst, Sinclair or Meredith Corp., but that could change in just a matter of months. Its merger with Raycom Media is one of the year's top media and marketing deals, and Gray's Q3 guidance may be even sweeter than its Q2 results.

On July 23, Rep. Steve Scalise made it known that he wants to be remembered as the man on Capitol Hill who wants to do away with one of the thorniest matters facing broadcast TV companies and MVPDs of all shapes and sizes—retransmission consent. Now, he's introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that is all about ATSC 3.0, and LPTV station operators as well as PBS stations may be a little irked by what Scalise is proposing.