TV/Cable News

Gray Television released its Q4 2017 earnings results on Monday, and net revenue dipped 2% while net income soared. But, it is the Q1 2018 results that investors may already be focused on, given reports of lackluster ratings for NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympic Games. Coverage from PyeongChang, South Korea was forecast to deliver beaucoup dollars to broadcast TV—and Gray is predicting double-digit growth compared to Q1 2017.

It's a new report that provides metrics on TV app usage — streaming to the glass — for more than 20 streaming apps at the local market level. And, it is being brought forth by Nielsen. 

There is one company that stands out from the pack with respect to TV station acquisitions. Since the end of the FCC's spectrum auction, the Philip Falcone-led HC2 Holdings has been rapidly snapping up television properties — the majority of them low power properties. In the latest deal to involve HC2, a Class A facility in Tennessee that is presently silent is being snapped up.

As Comcast-owned FreeWheel sees it, its newly released State of TV Advertising Viewership Report is part of a larger industry initiative unveiled at the recently concluded Cannes Lions festival in France. The goal: to improve the viewer experience.

On Dec. 12, RBR+TVBR's TRANSACTIONS TODAY reported on the sale of a full-power UHF facility licensed to Lewiston, Maine, to ION Media Networks. That deal has now closed, and this has resulted in a programming shift and the arrival of a new set of call letters. Also today: A Utah deal involving the spin of two FM translators is announced.

As 2022 came to a close, an attempt to raise enough capital to keep the lights on failed for Evoca. The result? The business led by CEO Todd Achilles shut down. Now, the company that leased Evoca its first low-power TV station is agreeing to sell it.

If there was a competition to become the most prolific buyer of radio or TV stations in 2018, there's no question who would come out on top. Philip Falcone and his HC2 Station Group has been snapping up TV properties left and right since the start of the year, continuing a buying trend that began with the end of the FCC's Spectrum Auction. HC2 is at it again, and just acquired a channel-sharing agreement forged by a full-powered UHF station serving a university town in the Lone Star State that's giving up its spectrum to the benefit of wireless service providers.

On May 17, it became known that the NATPE Global conference would be returning. Now, new NATPE owners say they've got an "all-star advisory" board planning the NATPE Global 2024 affair, which will have a downtown Miami venue rather than the Fontainebleau Miami Beach.

The 50% owner of a television station devoted to religious and family-friendly programming serving the Greenville, S.C. DMA has just acquired another property. It's located in Monroe, La., and offers similar fare to viewers in this part of the Bayou State.

Sinclair Inc. has agreed to pay a fine and provide other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency has announced.

U.S. financial markets were largely down on Tuesday, but Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media each fell following RBR+TVBR's report that the intended $65 million sale of a TV station it is divesting was scrubbed by the U.S. Department of Justice. The intended buyer's stock was also down.

Vivaro Media, a Monterrey, Mexico-based global media distribution product brand, has launched an on-demand procurement platform designed to simplify and accelerate how content providers and broadcasters connect and deliver live video content.

An independently owned NBC affiliate at the forefront of the next gen broadcast TV standard known as ATSC 3.0 has selected its next VP/GM. This individual is trading America's Finest City for the Triangle region of North Carolina, and takes on his new role July 16.

For generations of Midwestern TV viewers, Tom Skilling is a legendary weatherman. Industry-wide, he's a top meteorologist who has enjoyed a 45-year career at WGN-9, today owned by Nexstar Media Group. On February 28, 2024, Skilling's time at WGN-9 will conclude, as he's now announced his retirement. 

How much could Gray Television pocket from the nine stations it is agreeing to shed in order to easily complete its merger with Raycom Media? Jefferies analyst John Janedis has an estimate, and he shared his thoughts in an investor note made available today.