TV/Cable News

The pundits and opinion seekers are already contemplating CBS Corp.'s future, now that its board of directors is considering a reunification with Viacom. As Recode Managing Editor Edmund Lee sees it, Amazon should buy the company. Why?

The NAB, along with Sinclair Broadcast Group, on Friday filed a 42-page motion with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in a formal response to the request of Prometheus Radio Project and Media Mobilizing Project that the Court issue an emergency stay on the FCC’s media ownership reform order. What do the NAB and Sinclair want? A "move for leave," which would allow them to file their answer to questions as to why a stay shouldn't be granted.

Facebook is fighting "Fake News" in a big way. In addition to the prioritization of posts from friends, Facebook is giving added attention to "high-quality" news sources. Mark Zuckerberg himself explained what these sources are in a Jan. 19 Facebook post. How can your radio or TV station known in your community as "the news source" benefit from this change? Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson seeks the answer for you.

Nexstar Media Group's Board of Directors has approved a healthy increase in its quarterly cash dividend, beginning in Q1 2018. Company founder and CEO Perry Sook explained why shareholders are getting the big payday in comments released Friday.

Here's a statistic that only reaffirms the notion that cord-cutting is highly impacting MVPDs across the U.S.: Broadband-only households are set to grow from 19 million in 2017 to 37.2 million by 2022. That somewhat alarming fact comes from a newly issued report from Kagan.

In April 2017, Gray Television's legal counsel decided to take action against two men seeking to take advantage of their humorous yet fraudulent appearance on the company's NBC affiliate in Eau Claire, Wisc., by using the footage of their live on-air antics as "Chop & Steele" for a promotional video. On Wednesday, a settlement was reached between Gray and the defendants.

The company that seeks to expand beyond the FCC's present-day 39% national ownership cap thanks to the restoration of the "UHF Discount" — ahead of a wholesale review of such caps — won't have any trouble getting a range of audience data and program ratings for years to come. The new deal with Nielsen comes a day before the Federal Register publishes its rules on ATSC 3.0, of which Sinclair is a key proponent.

The Chairman of the powerful House Energy & Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology has been selected as a keynote speaker at the American Cable Association (ACA)'s 25th anniversary summit.

Time Inc. is now officially owned by Des Moines-based Meredith Corp. "With this acquisition, we are creating a premier media and marketing company serving 200 million American consumers that's positioned for growth across industry-leading digital, television, print, video, mobile, and social platforms," Meredith Chairman/CEO Stephen M. Lacy said. Accomplishing that goal will mean a stronger performance from its Local Media division, comprised of its broadcast TV stations. For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2017, total local media dipped by some $13 million. National media revenue was also down.

CBS Corp. no longer has to make excuses to marketers and advertisers about lackluster ratings for Thursday Night Football telecasts. Starting with the 2018 season, that will become the responsibility of 21st Century Fox for the next five years. Wall Street isn't too happy with the news: Fox stock was off by nearly 4% in Wednesday's trading.

The FCC has just entered into a pair of Consent Decrees that, if Republican Commissioner Michael O'Rielly had his way, may no longer be necessary. That's because the agreements reached between the broadcasting companies and the Media Bureau resolve, in part, failings tied to children's television programming requirements for commercial broadcasters.

For a generation of Canadians, MuchMusic is perhaps far more important than globally known brand MTV. He was  associated with CHUM and with City TV. These brands are legendary thanks in large part to Jay Switzer. Switzer passed away Monday after a brief battle with brain cancer. He was 61. 

"To be frank, we don't like it." That's the blunt assessment of a widely rumored combination of CBS Corp. with Viacom from Wells Fargo Securities Managing Director of Equity Research Marci Ryvicker. With that, CBS Corp. received a downgrade. But, Viacom shares are suffering more on Wall Street today.

Trinity Broadcasting Network has just been given a greater opportunity to share the word of Christ to viewers in two of the nation's biggest markets. In a deal brokered by Greg Guy of Patrick Communications, TBN will soon have a deeper presence in the Windy City and the New York Tri-State Area.

Nielsen on Monday published its February 2018 cable network Universe Estimates (UEs), and the "wordsmith of Wall Street" — Pivotal Research Group Senior Research Analyst for Advertising Brian Wieser — quickly analyzed them. What's his prognosis? The latest UEs illustrate "an ongoing decline in traditional pay TV network penetration rates," led by lower traditional MVPD subscription levels. Is cable TV poised for big problems in the months and years ahead?