TV/Cable News

National TV ad revenue figures for April have been released by Standard Media Index, and the topline data looks rather cheery. However, there's not much to celebrate if you're a broadcast station owner: While national TV ad revenue was up in the fourth month of 2018, broadcast dollars weren't. Meanwhile, look at how radio performed!

As if Mark Zuckerberg didn’t have enough problems of late. A rather eye-opening survey has been released by the Pew Research Center — one that may signal a tectonic shift in the digital world and marketing in cyberspace. Believe it: Teens just aren’t into Facebook.

In this Media Information Bureau column, we explore how new sources of TV viewing data (including the set-top box and automated content recognition) are set to "radically change the way marketers, networks and broadcasters measure TV viewership, plan media buys and execute ad campaigns." Three key questions are asked by Tivo. All the details are here.

Now we learn of a newly released letter from the Chairman (written in mid-May), in which Pai stands his ground against 23 Senators who are up in arms about recent media ownership rule changes (raise the curtain to see Sinclair Broadcast Group’s highly contentious bid to buy Tribune media for $3.9 billion*).

On Wednesday, during an interview at the 2018 Code conference, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson reiterated that hiring President Trump’s besieged lawyer Michael Cohen was “a big mistake.” Daphna Edwards Ziman is the latest litigant keeping that mistake on the front burner.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, things just got hotter for National Amusements Inc. President & CBS Vice Chairwoman Shari Redstone. It appears her other flank is now under attack, this time from CBS shareholders.

According to findings in the Advertiser Perceptions 2018 Video Advertising Convergence Report, a small majority of advertiser and agency execs say they now plan TV/video as one medium, but they don’t necessarily execute it that way.

Cutting back on ads is a perennial point of discussion for broadcasters as they battle their digital counterparts for audiences. Fox Networks Group wanted to roll out a reduced-commercials format this season — specifically for Sunday nights — but that plan has apparently run aground, according to Ad Agency.

A California-based data and analytics company focused on the media and entertainment industries has launched an "Impact Index." It is designed to measure the power of TV advertising on both branding and sales.

FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly has asked Amazon and eBay to get tough in eliminating the boxes, which enable the streaming of pirated shows. O’Rielly is asking for the matter to be dealt with expeditiously.

In a filing with the FCC, Hearst Television, Scripps Media, Raycom Media, Gray Television, Graham Media, Quincy Media, Dispatch Broadcast Group, and Morgan Murphy Media say they support the move and, in exchange, they are willing to eliminate the discount they get on UHF stations.

Late Tuesday afternoon, large programmers filed a motion to intervene in the AT&T/Time Warner trial — regarding the Justice Department's lawsuit to block AT&T's $85 billion takeover of Time Warner — in response to the ACA/RCN amici.

According to Nielsen, the average demo delivery for a show that's staying on for the coming season is a 1.2, which works out to 1.55 million adults 18 to 49.

Things continue to heat up between Shari Redstone’s National Amusements and the CBS CEO. The Redstone family — which owns a controlling interest in CBS and Viacom — filed a complaint in Delaware Chancery Court, Monday, against Moonves and his fellow CBS directors.