TV/Cable News

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.

For The E.W. Scripps Co., there will be no future in radio. In a nod to its late January announcement that it has retained Tucson, Ariz.-based Kalil & Co. to market all of its AM and FM stations, Scripps' Q4 radio operations results were included in the company's "discontinued operations" as part of its fourth quarter earnings released early Wednesday. From today, Scripps will focus on two segments, Local Media and National Media. One of those segments suffered in Q4.

In a sign that reaching consumers via digital content platforms is evermore important for broadcast TV companies, the entity formerly known as Gannett has forged a strategic content partnership with the digital media firm behind The Outline. It's known for some decisively liberal-leaning editorial, and we've got an RBR+TVBR Observation on what TEGNA can bring to The Outline — not the other way around.

Discovery Communications has cleared a major hurdle on its path to completing its proposed acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive. The Department of Justice on Tuesday closed its investigation into Discovery’s deal, announced in July 2017.

Nexstar Media Group stock climbed into positive territory during the midday hours on Tuesday, after dipping into negative territory in an early investor response to the company's just-released Q4 2017 earnings results. However, that gain couldn't hold, as NXST shares dipped 20 cents, to $73.55, at the Closing Bell. The loss came despite beating Wall Street estimates on its revenue and income.

After nearly a year of arguments, a decision has arrived from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a matter involving Fox News Network that first emerged in August 2013. The verdict:  a $500-per-month TV and radio broadcast search service violated U.S. copyright law by providing users with a search engine of videos from sources including Fox News without their permission. The decision reverses a lower court ruling saying TVEyes was OK, based on the "Fair Use" doctrine.

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.

In the radio world, Educational Media Foundation and CEO Mike Novak have become big acquisitors over the last several quarters, snapping up FMs big and small as it seeks to grow its noncomm empire. In the TV world, there's also a big buyer that's emerged in recent months. That would be Philip Falcone (pictured) and his HC2 Holdings. On Feb. 22, he snatched the Azteca América station serving Texas' capital city. Now, his company has snagged a signal in "America's Finest City."

Wednesday was a big deposit day for Boca Raton, Fla.-based broadcast tower owner Vertical Bridge. The privately held company successfully issued $236 million of secured tower revenue notes in an offering led by Barclays and Deutsche Bank. It marks the third successful securitization in two years.

The total U.S. advertising market grew by 10.8% in January 2018, compared to January 2017. This was driven by significant gains in National Television and Digital platforms, data released Friday by Standard Media Index show.

TEGNA shareholders will be getting a small bonus soon, as the company's Board of Directors on Thursday declared a dividend of 7 cents per share.