TV/Cable News

There will be no great affiliate swaps for the Sinclair Broadcast Group owned-and-managed stations that presently serve as ABC television network affiliates. A multi-year deal has been reached that extends affiliations across all Sinclair stations to August 2022, including station affiliation agreements that had been scheduled to expire at the end of 2017.

That's what Financial Times' Los Angeles-based Matthew Garrahan reports. If true, 21st Century Fox will soon be making a Form 314 filing with the FCC that will see the transfer of control of "about" 10 stations from Sinclair Broadcast Group.

After more than three decades in Montgomery County, Md., just to the north of the Nation's Capital, Discovery Communications has been lured by the bright lights of Broadway, the ad shops of Madison Avenue and the wizards of Wall Street. Come 2019, the media company's global headquarters will move from Silver Spring, Md., where it has been since 2003, to New York.

Connected TV devices such as Roku, Apple TV and Google's Chromecast -- in addition to internet-connected Blu-ray players, have become prominent fixtures in the lives of today’s connected consumer. With that, video advertising firm YuMe partnered with Nielsen on a study examining connected device ownership in the U.S., its use in the home, and the implications for advertisers. The results: Smart TV ownership nearly doubled since 2013.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) will host "a brief commemorative event" Tuesday afternoon — the opening day of CES 2018 — to mark a milestone that is expected to be reached next week. The celebratory moment is in recognition of the delivery of the first complete set of ATSC 3.0 standards for deployment by the broadcasting industry.

It's already that time of the year: W2 forms, Schedule C filings and those Form 1099 mailings are being printed and prepared ahead of the dreaded tax deadline. To help make things just a bit easier for individuals, one tax preparation brand is already actively promoting their wares. Spot cable is its preferred method of consumer connection.

The National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF) will host the NAB Show Career Fair at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino from 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11. The career fair is part of NABEF's commitment to promoting diversity in the broadcast workplace and connects hundreds of entry and executive-level industry professionals with top broadcast and media companies.

Pearl TV has launched a collaborative project with Sony Electronics to develop "an essential viewer navigation ingredient" for next-generation television. What is it? Simply stated, it is a reimagined on-screen television program guide that will be responsive to consumer commands.

The Spanish-language broadcast TV network known for its prime-time variety program hosted by a man in a clown suit, a host of originally produced reality competition shows, and two weekday newscasts will soon return to Miami after a six-month absence. This results in a perhaps cloudy South Florida future for another Spanish-language TV network -- one that Philip A. Falcone's HC2 Holdings acquired just weeks ago.

The most popular series on HBO is coming to an end. But, the network confirmed Thursday that "Game of Thrones" won't return for its eighth and final season until 2019.

What do the FCC and Turner Broadcasting System have in common? Both entities are finalists for the most prestigious award for achievement in the practice of analytics and operations research.

A former VP/Sales for the company previously known as Gannett has returned to what is now TEGNA, by agreeing to oversee its ABC affiliate in Big D. This individual succeeds Michael Devlin, who previously announced his retirement.

Terry Crosby and Randy Nonberg are widely known in the TV industry for their longtime involvement in Hispanic media. Now, the one-time Chairman/CEO and President/COO, respectively, of the former Una Vez Más broadcasting company have opted to sell four TV stations -- including two it acquired in August 2013 from a subsidiary of Viacom. The buyer has emerged in recent weeks as a major player in Hispanic media.

Meredith Corporation's VP/News & Marketing has just taken on a much bigger role at the media company's 17 owned and/or operated TV stations across the U.S. As of today, this individual is now EVP/Operations for the Local Media Group, with all station operations and GMs reporting directly to him.

The company that describes itself as "a publicly traded diversified holding company which seeks opportunities to acquire and grow businesses that can generate long-term sustainable free cash flow and attractive returns in order to maximize value for all stakeholders" has just added two more stations to its rapidly expanding stable.