TV/Cable News

Earlier this year, noted financial analyst Brian Wieser predicted 4.8% U.S. advertising growth. It turns out that was a bit too conservative. Wieser's 2019 predictions were also revised, but will radio and TV benefit in any way?

On November 25, 1948, the first broadcast of what today is the centerpiece of the largest media company in the Pacific Northwest was made. It involved a high school football game. Today, staff and community leaders are preparing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of this media group's first asset -- the "KING" of Seattle.

Just how bad was October for the broadcast television industry? Pivotal Research Group Senior Research Analyst for Advertising Brian Wieser analyzed TV use trends alongside commercial share for national media owners. Who saw a significant drop in consumption among adults 18-49 during the month? Over the air TV stations can collectively answer, "This is Us."

There's a successor to Mitch Barns at Nielsen, and it certainly begs the question of what the company's Board of Directors was thinking in selecting the former leader of IBM's Cognitive Solutions business for the job. We looked at his salary, and it's in the millions.

The "overwhelming majority" of adults aged 18-49 consider local television to be the most trusted source of news and information. That's according to a national survey of consumers conducted by market research firm SmithGeiger ... for a major owner of broadcast TV stations.

There's a slew of exciting new activity in the latest Spot Ten TV report from Media Monitors. But, there's also one big takeaway for the report for the week ending November 18: GEICO isn't budging off the top spot.

Just how predominant is programmatic in the digital media world? New data indicate that some 65% of all money spent on advertising in digital media in 2019 will be traded programmatically.

Viacom reported earnings for fiscal Q4 2018 Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser calls "relatively positive, if thematically consistent with our view on the company." In his view, "favorable updates were provided on a wide range of growth initiatives which are intended to offset declines or long-term challenges in traditional businesses." This result in an adjustment by Wieser of Pivotal's price target for Viacom's Class B shares.

Gray Television on Friday completed its previously announced offering of $750 million in aggregate principal amount of 7.0% senior notes due 2027 by a special purpose wholly owned subsidiary of Gray with the sole purpose of serving as an “Escrow Issuer.” It completes a fundraising effort designed to finance, in part, the biggest media merger of 2018 -- one that does not involve Sinclair or Tribune.

A highly recognized broadcast TV veteran who joined Hearst Television in 2000 following stints running CBS's WBBM-2 in Chicago and, before that, stations for Gannett, is moving away from the day-to-day management of the NBC affiliate in Alabama's largest market and has accepted a position at the University of Mississippi.

The recipients of NATPE’s 16th annual Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Awards have been announced, and among the six television industry figures to be honored in Miami in January 2019 is an individual some may recognize for the NBC series "Real People" who has emerged as media mogul -- and a possible buyer of Tribune Media.

Tribune Broadcasting, the over-the-air TV arm of Tribune Media, is adding 15 markets to the roster of DMAs where an iHeartMedia-owned local monitoring service can capture data for its Spot Ten TV reports.  

Digital measurement of Comcast's Xfinity Stream app and web portal is coming from Nielsen. The agreement means that Xfinity TV audiences that elect to consume their programming on computers and mobile devices will be included in aggregate in Nielsen Digital in TV Ratings and Digital Content Ratings—a potentially big boost for marketers and broadcast TV station owners alike.

New data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the trade association for digital ad sellers, show that digital advertising grew at a rate that was "well above" that for TV in the first half of 2018.  The IAB data was analyzed by Wall Street's fave wordsmith, Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research Group, who comes up with this conclusion: "Growth rates are remarkable, but highlight risks around digital media owners.

On October 24, Univision Communications issued a warning that wasn't all that surprising to DISH Network and Sling TV subscribers: Customers could soon lose access to Univision Deportes Network (UDN), the MVPD-distributed sports-focused network offered by Univision. DISH dumped UDN on Tuesday, and has something to say about it.