TV/Cable News

Can social media bring new revenue streams for broadcast media, in particular TV stations with digitally active news departments? You bet, says broadcast media social media ratings firm Share Rocket. There's billions of dollars to be had, they say.

Three individuals working on a television tower used by Sunbeam Television Corp.'s FOX-affiliated WSVN-7 and BH Media Group Holdings' ABC-affiliated WPLG-10 in Miami died Wednesday afternoon after a piece of equipment they were on collapsed, plunging nearly 1,000 feet to the ground.

Remember all of that chatter — and controversy — one year ago over a proposal introduced by then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler that would have led to a series of reforms tied to the set-top box most cable TV subscribers rent from their MVPD? They're not fading away anytime soon, a new global report from Futuresource Consulting finds.

In an unprecedented show of support to the millions impacted by three hurricanes and two major temblors in Mexico, Univision invited no less than four of its sports competitors to its Miami-area headquarters yesterday and today to take part in a bilingual campaign supporting the American Red Cross. This saw personalities from the networks appear alongside Univision Deportes talent — and Univision allowing the networks to air its coverage of Liga MX first-division Mexican soccer league games as part of the 48-hour appeal effort.

Verizon Wireless and Volkswagen are in as committed sponsors to one of the biggest sporting events in the world, and FOX Networks Group is the beneficiary of the dollars. The deals include both Spanish-language and English-language coverage of this huge tournament, which will take place in Russia in 2018.

After several extensions and continued discussions that have stretched for longer than one month, DISH Network and Citadel Communications have reached a new retransmisson fee agreement that formally brings the ABC affiliate in Providence back to DISH lineups in the Southern New England market.

The very definition of "watching" a TV program, regardless of the delivery device, is taking on new meaning thanks to tech firm TVision, which has mastered the concept of attention metrics. What does this mean for CMOs, and for the TV industry's C-Suites? TVision Insights Chief Revenue Officer Dan Schiffman shares the details in this exclusive RBR+TVBR INFOCUS report.

A new report from U.K.-based Juniper Research focused on the Canada, Germany, Great Britain and the U.S. finds that advertisers will lose an estimated $19 billion to fraudulent activities next year, equivalent to $51 million per day. This figure, representing advertising on online and mobile devices, will continue to rise, reaching $44 billion by 2022. For "traditional" media, it's yet another bit of data to add to the media kit when pitching clients against the rising tide of local digital media.

The NAB on Monday filed an ex parte letter with the FCC that it says refutes filings by several wireless interests regarding the alleged difficulty of complying with any Next Gen tuner mandate in mobile devices. "NAB nor any of our fellow Next Gen TV petitioners have never sought such a mandate, and in fact have expressly stated several times that we do not seek such a mandate," the broadcast media industry's chief lobbying organization asserts.

Halloween may be one month away, but the owners of cable TV networks and MVPDs — along with the American Cable Association's members — may have just gotten an unwanted scare courtesy of Nielsen. The October 2017 cable network Universe Estimates were released by the ratings company on Monday, and they point to an ongoing decline in pay TV network penetration rates.

In front of a national audience at FedEx Field in nearby Landover, Md., Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns, giving the home team its biggest win in years. It was a sight to see. Unfortunately, many DirectTV Now customers were unable to see it, as the OTT-based "small bundle" TV service experienced a Night of Horrors replete with error messages and Tweets of apology.

"This is only a test." That's what listeners will see and/or hear at 2:20pm Wednesday — unless there's a true emergency that unfolds. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the FCC are on schedule for its nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System.

The man who has emerged in recent months as a "Wordy Rappinghood of Wall Street" for his prolific reports on the state of advertising-fueled businesses — including broadcast media — has offered an update on ad growth estimates for 2017 and the following four years. According to Pivotal Research Group Senior Research Analyst for Advertising Brian Wieser, local radio's revenue dip will be smaller than that of local TV.

With the end of the FCC's incentive auction, the Commission initiated a transition period during which the facilities of broadcast television stations that received new channel assignments in the post-incentive auction repacking process will be reauthorized and relicensed. The second filing window for eligible full power and Class A stations to file for alternate channels and expanded facilities has now been set to start a week from Tuesday.

That's a question Meredith Corporation would certainly like an answer to. WNEM-5 is the company's CBS affiliate in the Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, Mich., DMA, ranked No. 72. Come Saturday at 12:01am, the station could be yanked from AT&T U-Verse and DirecTV lineups thanks to yet another retransmission fee dispute between an MVPD and a broadcast company.