TV/Cable News

The battle for one of the biggest news brands on Earth is over, but the struggles continue courtesy of Wall Street for Comcast Corporation, which on Saturday (9/22) announced that it has prevailed with the highest offer price in the auction to acquire Sky.

All is not celebratory at beIN Sports, which late Friday revealed that it has inked a long-term content distribution renewal agreement with DISH and Sling TV. While the renewal ensures that viewers to beIN Sports and its Hispanic sibling beIN Sports en Español will continue to receive soccer matches from Spain's La Liga, beIN is still in discussions with Comcast and DirecTV that have been less than pretty.

A Class A TV station in the Peachtree State found on local cable TV systems and its Class A LPTV sibling have just been traded to a locally based buyer. What are his plans for the station? They won't include "North Georgia Television News."

A duopoly in Maine’s biggest market is now in place, as Hearst Television has completed its acquisition of a station affiliated with The CW,  MeTV and MyNetworkTV from Ironwood Communications. 

With IP-delivered TV services growing in popularity, ensuring proper measurement of the channels consumed by subscribers is of paramount interest to marketers and media research pros. A new pact between DISH Media Sales and Nielsen solves one conundrum, as DISH's Sling TV is now getting digital measurement from the nation's dominant audience measurement company.

BCCA, the media industry’s credit association, and National Media Credit Professionals (NMCP), will hold its 2018 Media Credit Seminar in late October in New York. Here are all of the details, including a link to the event's registration page. 

As part of its efforts to strategize revenue growth prospects for local TV, BIA Advisory Services has examined the Total Addressable Markets (TAM) for broadcast television, versus digital platforms. "It's a tale of two cities," BIA notes in a newly released report that outlines the level of broadcast revenue growth expected by 2022 -- and the total gain in digital revenue expected for local TV.

A rapidly growing app-based Pay TV video streaming platform has just secured hosted streaming delivery rights from some 90 networks — bringing its total to more than 350 networks.

Leading by example, the commissioner has launched the first-ever podcast by someone holding her position. Called Broadband Conversations, the focus is on women making an impact in technology, innovation, and media.

It looks as though the consumption attitudes of less-affluent viewers of international TV have been misjudged and that they are just as open to advertising on these stations as higher earners. Which means, if this research is any indication, there’s money on the table that nobody has noticed until now.

According to Wall Street analyst Todd Juenger of Sanford Bernstein, Viacom is “ad stuffing” its shows — even while its networks’ ratings continue to go down. And Viacom is pretty much the sole player engaged in the practice, with programs running considerably longer than usual due to the volume of commercials packed into them.

The downward trend continues for TV awards shows. This year’s audience was down approximately 10 million on the best years of the ‘90s, and 1.2 million on the past two years. We have all the numbers and all the awards.

In mid-May, Ion Media Networks asked the FCC to amend its DTV Table of Allotments and delete a digital channel from one city in Rhode Island, while substituting it for another in the state. While Ion asked the FCC to make the move, the Commission needed public input on the matter before it can decide on an approval or denial. A decision has just been delivered, and Ion is pleased.

On June 10, Gray Television shares were languishing just below the $11 level -- their lowest prices since December 2016. It was a small setback for the broadcast TV company: In July and November 2015, Gray shares were approaching $17 a share. Today, Gray stock is flying high.

Here's something that will likely cause some buzz in the C-Suites of both radio and television broadcasting companies. Westwood One Director of Content Marketing Lauren Vetrano shares the results from "a major cable network’s" advertising campaign that used AM/FM radio to help launch the returning season of a scripted drama series. The media plan included paid TV and promos running on their network and co-owned networks.