TV/Cable News

Circle City Broadcasting, parent company of Indianapolis-based CW affiliate WISH-8 and "MyINDY-TV" WNDY-23, has filed a defamation suit against AT&T. The suit, filed in Marion County, comes after the company owned by DuJuan McCoy earlier this month filed a federal lawsuit against AT&T for racial discrimination.

"Dilute this." That could be what some Urban One shareholders are saying through their decision to sell the company's Class A shares in the wake of a plan to offer some $25 million worth of new shares in the open market. In early after-hours trading on Wednesday, UONE reached a level last seen June 14 -- erasing its entire surge in share value seen in the last eight weeks.

The data side of NEXTGEN TV is only now getting a much-deserved spotlight, and a Tuesday webinar presented by Sinclair Broadcast Group and its ONE Media 3.0 arm certainly served as a big industry platform for sharing just some of the ways broadcast TV stations can monetize from the new technology.

In New Mexico's largest market, Nexstar has a shared services agreement with an entity that owns the MyNetwork TV and CW affiliates. In September 2012, an option agreement was struck allowing a company Nexstar bought to buy the stations. On August 7, a deal was struck that initiates that option — by assigning the duo to another Nexstar SSA partner.

On June 23, a media advisory firm widely known as the home of veteran media brokers Bill Fanning and Elliot Evers quietly announced its sale to a global investment bank. On Friday, that transaction was completed. As such, MVP Capital -- formerly Media Venture Partners -- is no more.

That's a question Zacks Equity Research asks, and its prognosis is quite positive: Gray Television "is likely being undervalued right now," the Wall Street observer notes.

The NAB Leadership Foundation has unveiled the celebrity guests who will be featured in the 2020 Celebration of Service to America Awards. The one-hour program, accessible online and available for radio and TV stations to air starting on August 22, honors local broadcast stations from across the U.S. for "exceptional community service."

According to just-released data from Nielsen’s Streaming Meter, as of Q2 2020 streaming now comprises 25% of all television minutes viewed. To little surprise, Netflix is the biggest to streaming, followed by YouTube. And, TV broadcast station leaders, it's not a GenZ thing: Consumers ages 55+ now comprise 26% of all streaming minutes viewed.

The Aug. 12 edition of the MAZ video roundup contains a lead article that every broadcast TV station owner should read. With the rollout of NEXTGEN TV and its forthcoming profit-generating capabilities making headlines, this publication asserts that "82% of broadcasters believe 5G will replace traditional distribution." Gulp ...?

In April 2015, RBR+TVBR reported on the sale of a full-power TV station serving Fresno valued at $3 million. It saw the station, in a deal brokered by Kalil & Co., transfer to Aperio Communications. Now, the company has decided to sell the station, putting MyNetwork TV affiliation in California's Central Valley in question. The price was made public on Aug. 12.

The controversial local broadcast TV streaming service some companies believe is illegally distributing stations without a retransmission agreement has entered another DMA. This time, Locast is bringing its local TV for a "donation" solution to a big upper Midwest DMA.

With a hostile board seat play from Soohyung Kim behind it and COVID-19 challenges also in the rear-view mirror, TEGNA is poised to benefit from a return of pro sports to the schedule and, like many TV station owners, continued retransmission fee riches. But, just how did TEGNA do in Q2? Its earnings per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

First, the good news: prime-time viewing in the key adults 18-34 demographic surged, while Univision's digital platforms also enjoyed a big boost in traffic. That couldn't keep Univision, like other media companies, from swinging to a net loss. Univision's revenue woes could wane in Q3, however — thanks to fútbol.

A retrans impasse with The E.W. Scripps Co. - its first-ever "blackout" situation - made Dish the antagonist of the Scripps Q2 earnings call on Friday. At the same time, analysts were digesting the second-quarter results for the DBS provider. According to Pivotal Research Group, they were quite good.

Graham Media Group, the company with its roots tied to the family that formerly owned The Washington Post, saw its overall net income fall to $18.9 million from $57.1 million due to the COVID-19 pandemic's economic impact. But, how did the TV division perform?