Are MVPDs Being Held For ‘Ransom’ By TV Station Owners?
A bruising battle pitting cable TV companies and DBS providers against the owners of UHF and VHF TV stations across the U.S. is percolating, and the American Cable Association -- with support from the American Television Alliance (ATVA) -- is striking back at TVFreedom.org by launching a "TV Ransom" campaign. It's described by ATVA as "a new national education effort from the ACA to highlight abusive broadcast industry behavior that harms consumers."
A ‘Comcastic’ Debt Exchange Offer Arrives
Comcast Corp. has launched a plan that will swap out a new series of senior notes for up to $4 billion of its existing Comcast and NBCUniversal notes. While there's a lot of Wall Street jargon, one thing is clear: Comcast's debt extends out some 35 years.
A Brick-and-Mortar Retailer Powers Up Cable Spots
In last week’s Media Monitors Cable Spot Ten report, GEICO was No. 1 once again, while a big QSR moved into the No. 2 spot. However, it's the activity of a big-box retailer faced with competing not only against Macy's but also Walmart, Amazon and online retailers, that is worth noting.
Sunny Gray: A New CBS Deal Is Secured
There will be no "Big Bang" involving any affiliate switches in some 32 Nielsen DMAs across the U.S. for Gray Television. A new multi-year renewal of the publicly traded broadcast company's station affiliation agreements with CBS Television has been reached.
Another Dispute For Dish As Lilly Stations Get Yanked
Just days after reaching a new retransmission fee agreement with Citadel Communications for ABC affiliates in Providence, and Lincoln, Neb., DISH Network has, by law, been forced to yank stations owned by Lilly Broadcasting off its lineups as yet another retrans fight has erupted. This one had the ACA ticked off: CBS and ABC stations serving Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were impacted for a brief period.
An ‘Optimum’ Situation For Disney and Altice USA
WABC-7 and Disney-branded cable channels will remain on Altice USA cable TV systems, thanks to an retransmission fee agreement reached "in principle" Sunday evening. The accord puts to rest fears that Altice's Optimum systems in Westchester County and on Long Island would have been forced, by law, to remove the channels from its respective lineups.
Dish Delivers ‘Whole-Home’ 4K Netflix Experience
DISH Network is giving its subscribers a whole new way to experience some Stranger Things or take a trip to Ozark. The DBS provider on Friday began offering a whole-home 4K Netflix experience to its customers.
Three House Dems Still Seek Pai’s Voice On SBGI
Three Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have once again asked FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for answers to a series of questions "he failed to address" in his response to an Aug. 14 letter sent to Pai from the legislators regarding Sinclair Broadcast Group. Among those displeased with Pai is New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone.
Alexander Steps Aside At NAB, Will Continue With NABEF
This industry advocate will be stepping aside at year's end as the EVP of the NAB Television Department. But, he won't be any less active at the NAB Education Foundation (NABEF).
‘Destination Television’ Remains Key For U.S. Consumers
Pay-TV subscribers across the U.S. are growing increasingly satisfied with over-the-top streaming TV services vs. traditional cable TV. But, a trio of associated J.D. Power studies released Thursday (9/28) indicate they also are spending nearly an hour more a week watching regularly scheduled television programming than they did two years ago.
NAB To FCC: Stick To Repack Reimbursement Script, Please
The NAB on Thursday filed an "ex parte" letter with the FCC that details a meeting held two days ago with select Commission staff. The broadcast media industry's chief advocacy group used the opportunity to discuss the Commission’s plans to reimburse expenses for stations that are involuntarily repacked as part of the broadcast spectrum incentive auction. Specifically, the NAB asked the FCC to make initial allocations as close as possible to 80% to commercial broadcast TV stations for auction repack expenses.
Local TV: A Worthy Wall Street Buy
More than 550 television and advertising agency executives gathered today in New York for TVB Forward, and among the key highlights from this TV industry and ad agency conference was a session that saw one influential analyst give a thumbs-up to investing in local broadcast TV companies. RBR+TVBR was in attendance to bring readers in-depth coverage of this important industry event.
Sook: For All Advertisers, Local TV Is The Best Medium
In a speech delivered as a welcome to attendees of the daylong TVB Forward conference in New York, Nexstar Media Group head Perry Sook, who also serves as the Television Advertising Bureau's Chairman, highlighted the strength of the local broadcast TV industry. Sook also took note of what steps are needed by local TV broadcast companies in order to remain competitive, while declaring that there's no better venue for all types of advertisers.
Telemundo Wants ‘El Tri’ Rights, With Some Big Slim Help
NBCUniversal's Telemundo network loves "El Tri" — both the men's and women's teams — so much that it has teamed with América Móvil, the Mexican telecom giant led by CEO Daniel Hajj Aboumrad, in submitting a bid Thursday for U.S. broadcast rights, and another bid for the rest of the world, for no less than two World Cup cycles.
Raycom, DirecTV Finally Reach A New Deal
Some 54 television stations owned by Raycom Media will continue to air on AT&T's DirecTV, thanks to a retransmission fee deal reached Wednesday by the two companies. Raycom and AT&T agreed to several extensions of their previous arrangement, thus preventing the legally required yanking of the stations by DirecTV in the absence of a retrans accord.