TV/Cable News

If 21st Century Fox was looking to make a statement regarding its abilities to be a forward-thinking media company built for early 21st century media consumption shifts, its mission was accomplished on Tuesday. A unique "over the top" (OTT) offering tied to Fox News is readying its Q4 debut. It won't drain Fox News Channel, the company asserts.

Don't think Super Bowl LII is a big trigger for automotive dealers' Q1 sales efforts? Think again. The latest Spot Ten TV report from Media Monitors shows that Chevrolet — and three other auto dealer associations — greatly accelerated their TV spots following the "big game" won by the Philadelphia Eagles. Interestingly, one auto dealer association decreased its spots for the week ending Feb. 18.

All eyes will be on San Francisco on Tuesday, Feb. 27, as some of the nation's top media C-Suiters and Wall Street watchdogs gather at the Palace Hotel for the second day of the four-day Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. Scheduled for a Noon Pacific question-and-answer session is CBS Corp. Chairman/CEO Les Moonves.

There's a new entrant in this week's Media Monitors Spot Ten Cable report, and it is the only wireless services provider found on the latest look at spot cable activity on a national level. Meanwhile, a big brick-and-mortar retailer finds itself at No. 2.

Toward the end of 2017, 21st Century Fox and The Walt Disney Co. entered into a "transformative transaction" in which Fox will merge the majority of its assets in exchange for Disney stock in a deal Yachtman Funds fully expects to receive approval from regulatory agencies. In addition to Disney shares, Fox shareholders will receive shares in "New Fox," which will retain Fox News, Fox Sports, Fox Network, television stations, real estate and investments. What Yachtman has to say about this was revealed Monday.

There will be no "great affiliation switch" in four locales where Sinclair Broadcast Group operates television stations. The company seeking to merge with Tribune Media has just agreed to a multi-year deal that keeps NBC affiliations in place at three O&Os, along with a Silver State property owned by partner Cunningham Broadcasting Group.

Broadcast media's chief lobbying group wants the default selection for broadcast TV stations in carriage elections to be retransmission consent, rather than must-carry status. That's likely to set off an even fiercer war between MVPDs and broadcast TV companies — many of whom have seen their retrans fees soar as advertising revenue has slumped in order to keep profits in line with investor expectations.

The board of directors of The E.W. Scripps Company, which has put all of its radio stations up for sale, has declared a cash dividend for Q1 2018. This will mark the first time the company has paid a quarterly dividend in a decade.

In August 2012, Tara Broadcasting — under the direction of "The Jewish Cowboy" known officially as Managing Member Clark Garen — acquired a low-power television station serving the Coachella Valley of Southern California for $85,000. Today, this station is locally focused "Coachella Valley Classic Television." On its DT-2 signal is "Westerns 4U." It is KAKZ's DT-3 signal that has become a source of controversy — and a legal battle that has now led Garen to sue four executives at the area's primary cable TV company over non-carriage of that signal. In his view, the denial of a coveted channel slot amounts to a civil rights violation under California law.

Digital managers-turned-senior corporate leaders from top broadcast companies will discuss the shift in corporate executive progression from digital professional to CEO in a April 9 panel at the 2018 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

An individual praised for the placement of "closing the digital divide and eliminating unnecessary regulations" at the top of his work agenda has been selected as the Keynote Speaker of the American Cable Association (ACA)'s 25th anniversary summit.

As 2017 came to a close, one of the nation's leading Hispanic and millennial-focused media companies saw mixed results. While total revenue and the commonly used non-GAAP "OIBDA" were down for Univision Communications, net income was on the rise. However, the big jump in net income has little to do with anything Univision did at its media properties. The gain has everything do with the FCC, and the Internal Revenue Service.

TVision has built its business model on providing marketers and advertisers with a new audience metric: who is "actually watching your ads and shows on TV." While "ratings" based on which TV shows hold the most viewer interest may not immediately replace Nielsen data, the latest data from the Boston-based insights firm may be worth noting as "co-viewing" continues to gain traction in U.S. homes. 

A Class A TV station serving the Fort Wayne, Ind., market has become one of the many LPTV properties to be acquired by the Philip Falcone-led HC2 Station Group in recent months. With this deal, Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN) programming is likely to disappear soon.

Halfway between the Walt Whitman Bridge and the Steel Pier alongside the Atlantic City Boardwalk is the town of Hammonton, New Jersey. It is here where a digital Class A TV station is being sold. This station debuted 32 years ago and in recent years has focused on the Spanish-speaking audience found in the Vineland, N.J. area in addition to across the Delaware Valley and Southern New Jersey. Now, this station is being sold. The buyer? Philip Falcone's HC2 Station Group.