TV/Cable News

For younger staff and Members of Congress, Gordon Smith may simply be the head of the most influential lobbying group for radio and TV companies. For older staff and Members, Smith is also well-known as a former Oregon Senator. Here's what he has to say on STELAR.

In a letter sent Friday to the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce Committees, National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters President James Winston urged them to allow the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization to expire as intended.

On May 8, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking pertaining to the assessment and collection of regulatory fees for fiscal year 2019. It seems there was an error of sorts, and an Erratum was released today. It adds three dozen TV stations to the fee list.

A Little Rock-based division of Media Gateway providing ways for stations to produce local newscasts in their markets in a high-tech and "cost-effective" way has been...

What started as Horowitz’s segmentation of the TV viewing universe has morphed into six distinct, nuanced groups, thanks to the arrival of vMVPDs and OTA viewer group. These groups' content hunger levels are examined in a new study that analyzes TV viewers by their tune-in habits.

For the MMTC, putting a stop to media ownership rule changes that would open the doors to further consolidation has become a key task for the lobbying group led by Maurita Coley. Reply comments filed with the FCC suggest a cable rule should extend to broadcast TV.

FOX Television Stations has joined the Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance, becoming the first major television O&O member of the coalition.

“The State of the Television and Video Marketplace” hearing will examine how television programming and the delivery of video content have evolved over the past decade, as well as existing laws governing the video marketplace and their role in fostering access to content and promoting competition, localism, and diversity of viewpoints.

PMG says it is dedicated to building and operating a technology infrastructure system that powers broadcasters as the industry moves toward ATSC 3.0 and beyond. The company made the announcement at the 2019 Next Gen TV Broadcast Conference in Washington, DC.

Reportedly, less than 50 staffers were pink-slipped but the cabler is yet another example of a narrowly targeted linear cable brand struggling to survive in a world of ever-expanding content options and slimming traditional pay TV bundles. We have the full memo that was distributed to staff.

The FCC has announced the conclusion of bidding in Auction 102 — the Commission’s second auction of millimeter wave spectrum suitable for 5G, which is providing licenses in the 24 GHz band. The FCC has now completed its first set of high-band airwaves auctions to make spectrum available for 5G wireless, Internet of Things, and other advanced spectrum-based services.

The Parents Television Council has written to the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board Chairman Michael Powell and called on the board to “immediately implement the bold improvements to the ratings system and its oversight” that were recommended by the FCC, the PTC, and other experts. It’s a little “salty.” We have the full letter.

GEICO isn’t going anywhere, at this point, staying at number one among national cable advertisers. But Media Monitors is telling us that The Home Depot has surged from 24th to second place this week, falling just over 1,000 spots shy of the list leader.

After rocketing from 24th place to fourth last week, Ashley HomeStore tops the Media Monitors list of TV advertisers this time around, just squeaking by last week’s #1, McDonald’s, by a differential of 308 ads aired. You can bet they’ve been boosted by outdoor furniture sales, and home redecorating spurred on by spring cleaning.

The Monte-Carlo TV Festival and Eurodata TV Worldwide have announced the nominees of the 14th International TV Audience Awards. The awards are given in three categories: “Crime TV Series,” “Drama TV Series,” and “Telenovelas/Soap Operas.”