TV/Cable News

Last Wednesday (2/28), Sinclair Broadcast Group's legal counsel was joined by Tribune Media's legal counsel in a conference call with five key members of the FCC's Media Bureau at the Commission's request. The subject: MB Docket No. 17-179 — the formal name given to the review of Sinclair's planned merger with Tribune. The result of the call: Sinclair and Tribune are to "resubmit or amend" their applications filed in connection with the proceeding.

Discovery Communications has successfully completed its acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive. With that, the logo you see associated with this news story is officially a relic and collectors' item: Moving forward, the combined company will be officially known as Discovery Inc.

In a 22-page submission made Monday (3/5) to the FCC, the American Cable Association (ACA) submitted Reply Comments in the FCC's docket on the Electronic Delivery of MVPD Communications by asking the Commission to adopt its proposal to permit cable operators to deliver all Subpart T subscriber notices and privacy notices to a verified e-mail address, subject to certain consumer safeguards, and to allow all such notices to be sent on an “opt-out” basis.

Nielsen has unveiled its latest tool designed to help marketers best determine where their target audience will be when marketing and advertising messages are meant to reach them. Now available is Advanced Audience Forecasting, designed to give clients forecasts of TV audiences defined by "advanced audience segments," which have been gaining traction in the marketplace.

Urban One, the African American-focused media company that owns radio stations and a national radio arm, is also very much in the television business, thanks to its TV One cable channel. If it weren't for that, Urban One would be absent what became in Q4 its biggest revenue generator, as TV One again eclipsed Radio One. While both segments were down, TV One's decline was far smaller.

From 1987 to 2002, Ken Jefferson was a household name for many viewers in the Dayton area. After a quarter century with Cox Media Group, he ventured to Southwest Florida and then to Virginia, for family reasons. Media and viewers in these three regions are now mourning the sudden loss of Jefferson, who died during the weekend of March 3 after a brief illness.

The chairman of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media has just been handed a whole wide world of sports to oversee. Effective today, James Pitaro has been named President of ESPN. He takes a role last held on a full-time basis by John Skipper, who stepped down in December.

A woman considered to be "an iconic leader" in New Mexico broadcasting has announced that she will retire in fall 2018 from her top role at a major ABC affiliate in the Land of Enchantment. She's been the head of this TV station since 1993, and has enjoyed a 48-year career that includes becoming the first female co-anchor of a television newscast in Albuquerque.

Meredith Corp. has received lots of attention in recent weeks for the Feb. 1 closing of its Time Inc. acquisition. But, that's not to say the $2.8 billion buy means the company with a devotion to women's lifestyle brands has any less interest in being a TV station owner. Meredith's Local Media Group includes 17 television stations, reaching 11% of U.S. households, and it has just named a VP/News & Marketing.

Jon Steinlauf will become Chief U.S. Advertising Sales Officer of Discovery following its merger with Scripps Interactive Networks, while several top executives will continue in their roles. That said, Rich Ross, currently Group President of Discovery Channel and Science Channel, will be leaving the company. Discovery provided details just before Thursday's Closing Bell on Wall Street.

The commercial availability of Nielsen National TV Out-of-Home Preliminary Reporting has arrived, effective today (3/1). An extension of Nielsen National TV Out-of-Home Service, first launched in April 2017, this new report significantly expedites delivery of insights of out-of-home audiences.

For the new owner of KFMB-8 and KFMB-AM & FM in San Diego, the final quarter of Q4 marked the start of new growth opportunities in a key U.S. market. Revenue sputtered, however, in the final three months of Q4, with TEGNA experiencing a 10.3% drop to $490.3 million, from $546.86 million. "It's all good," as they say in Mission Beach. The results beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $488.9 million, and the same can be said for TEGNA's net income.

As expected, two of Tribune Media's biggest TV properties are being sold by Sinclair Broadcast Group in order to stay within the federal government's 39% national ownership reach cap. Also as expected, the buyers are closely tied to Sinclair, which will essentially continue to operate the stations. The reason is simple: the respective buyers are closely intertwined with Sinclair.

A new global study on who is paying for streaming video services shows the U.S. and Canada far and away the leading nations where "OTT" is eating away at cable TV. Here's a look at how many households are paying for these services, and what the worldwide SVOD outlook is for the next five years.

CBS affiliate WJAX-47 in Jacksonville has enjoyed close ties with the market's FOX affiliate, WFOX-30, for a decade. It's the result of a sale of WJAX, formerly known as WTEV, by Clear Channel that closed in March 2008.  Since July 2012, Cox Media Group has operated the two stations, with WJAX owned by Bayshore Television — a partner to CMG that would allow the company to avoid breaking the FCC's Top Four rule while maintaining operational control via a shared services and sales agreement. Now, Bayshore is selling WJAX. Nothing is poised to change for viewers, for staff, or for Cox.