TV/Cable News

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.

AT&T has experienced two challenging quarters on Wall Street. Its stock hasn't closed above $40 since mid-April, and has been dancing between $35.60 and $39.17 ever since. Thanks to a revelation regarding its churn rate for video subscribers delivered Thursday, "T" could be heading toward another valley as investors fret over what appears to be not only cord-cutting concerns for AT&T, but all in the MVPD space.

TV stations owned and operated by Draper Media have reached a new multi-year agreement with the lone cable TV service provider in the Salisbury, Md., area — Comcast. However, the offerings can't be seen on Verizon Fios' local channel lineup — the result of the latest dispute over retransmission fees to be seen in 2017.

There are plenty of vocal Wall Street soothsayers and media ecologist clairvoyants out there, presenting their forecasts on what your business climate will likely be like for the next 12 months. The latest prognostication comes from Noble Capital Markets, which has a good report card for radio while giving broadcast TV a rotten egg.

Two Ranking Members of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee are pleading for a hearing with the head of the FCC and each of the Commissions. Why? "So that they can publicly disavow President Donald Trump's repeated threats to revoke NBC's broadcaster license due to its reporting."

U.S. financial markets once again ended on a high note, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 42.21, to 22,872.89. Nasdaq was up 16.30, to 6,603.55. Media stocks were once again mixed, with Fox falling following investor concerns that it will lose viewers to the 2018 FIFA World Cup now that the U.S. has crashed out of the qualifying stage for the tournament.

One of the biggest winners of spectrum in the FCC's incentive auction has partnered up with FOX Television Stations to assist in repacking its 600 MHz spectrum. In doing so, T-Mobile is doing its part in accelerating the final repack by 16 months and, it claims, reducing overall costs for the Incentive Auction Relocation fund by tens of millions of dollars.