TV/Cable News

Brian and Kevin Lilly are widely known for their involvement with Lilly Broadcasting — a company recently making headlines for its still-unresolved impasse over a new retransmission fee accord with DISH Network. They are now making headlines for agreeing to acquire a UHF TV station in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that presently serves as a MeTV Network affiliate, while offering the digital multicast This TV network on its DT2 channel and the Antenna TV network on its DT3 signal.

One of the nation's largest media companies serving Hispanic consumers has added a UHF property set to shift channels as part of the FCC's post-Incentive Auction repack process. It's in Texas' state capital, where this company enjoys already owns two TV stations — along with a pair of FMs. Kalil & Co. served as the exclusive broker in this transaction.

The FOX brand and iHeartMedia have such a close relationship, one might wonder why Fox Broadcasting Company doesn't just buy the debt-laden audio entertainment giant. Many of its conservative talk hosts, distributed through iHeart's Premiere Networks and airing across all iHeart News/Talkers, can regularly be seen on FOX News. Now, FOX is teaming with iHeart for a new music competition series that ties the broadcast TV network to its music stations.

The OTT space is mushrooming, but not without notice from some big global entities. That's why broadcast TV station owners and program distributors may wish to monitor what becomes of Pluto TV. The OTT just received millions in funding from Samsung.

Add Univision Communications to the list of broadcast media companies who have fallen victim to retransmission fee negotiations gone bad with a video services provider in 2017. What's the issue? A Verizon statement issued late Monday claims that Univision is proposing an increase “of more than double what they charge for access to their channels today.”

Pivotal Research Group has analyzed trends associated with the use of television alongside commercial share trends for national media owners in the U.S. through the end of September 2017 and for Q3. This was done by Senior Research Analyst/Advertising Brian Wieser after complete data became available Monday from Nielsen. What's Wieser's conclusion? Viewing on internet-connected device is rising rapidly. But, overall viewing is sliding.

The Incentive Auction Task Force and the Media Bureau on Monday (10/16) affirmed the initial allocation of $1 billion in the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund. The funds are the first designed to reimburse eligible full power and Class A broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) for expenses related to the construction of station facilities on reassigned channels.

Nearly 60 Members of Congress have formally asked FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to stick to the current timeline for repacking TV stations, following the recently concluded broadcast spectrum incentive auction. The letter, which shows bipartisan support, urges Pai "to ensure" the 600 MHz spectrum that was made available by the FCC's broadcast incentive auction is cleared no later than July 3, 2020.

In a significant about-face that could, at least for now, resolve a bitter three-year dispute with Comcast Corp., Burbank-based Liberman Broadcasting has elected for must-carry status for its three Estrella TV stations in the Houston, Denver, and Salt Lake City DMAs. The move means the Spanish-language broadcast network will be back on Comcast systems in the three markets come Jan. 1 after three difficult years for the broadcast media company.

A bitter squabble over a new retransmission fee agreement that saw two television stations owned by Dispatch Broadcast Group — the Columbus, Ohio-based operation run by the Wolfe family since 1929 — get blacked out on AT&T's DirecTV and U-Verse lineups in Ohio's capital city and in Indiana's biggest market has finally ended.

In last week’s Media Monitors TV Spot Ten report, GEICO took first place honors. But, it was the activity of two auto dealer associations that once again makes the category scorching for broadcast TV. Which ones were they, and how could this action impact your ad budgets? We've got all the details here.

The parent company of Nickelodeon, BET, MTV and Comedy Central saw a much-needed boost in its beleaguered stock price on Friday, as Viacom's Class B shares rebounded 5.8%. Viacom shares closed at a five-year low on Thursday, amid cord-cutting concerns — and an impasse with Charter Communications' Spectrum systems.

That's the assessment from Barton Crockett, a senior analyst at FBR Capital Markets & Co. In an appearance Friday (10/13) on CNBC's Power Lunch, Crockett pointed his attention at the Mouse House -- suggesting its the company that can put a brighter spotlight on broadcast media. He also believes M&A activity could help the sector, and believes there is one company that looks great for an internet giant's acquisition. It's the company that is spinning off its radio stations to Entercom Communications.

A TV industry veteran who has spent the last five years as President/CEO of ONE World Sports has joined the parent company to RFD-TV, The Cowboy Channel and SiriusXM offering Rural Radio Channel 147 as its new COO.

The sell-off of low-power TV stations by a religious non-commercial broadcaster continued Friday, as a Form 314 filing with the FCC confirms it is shedding 14 more LPTVs in such big markets as St. Louis, Minneapolis, and San Antonio. The divestment follows a $3.2 million deal finalized in March.