TV/Cable News

A presentation devoted to "cord-cutting" was delivered to the Wall Street investment community on Thursday as part of the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, with Mike Vorhaus, Los Angeles-based President of Magid Advisors, sharing some data about the rising embrace of SVOD services. The data are sobering reminders for broadcast TV's C-Suite that local news and original programming may be its final saving grace.

After more than a decade of providing cloud-based ad management technology to radio broadcasting companies, vCreative is nearing the launch of a similar platform for broadcast TV stations. The company's founder, Jinny Laderer, shared her thoughts on ad scheduling and how it can still get fouled up. It's why she's convinced TV can benefit from the tool she developed with her husband in the early 2000s, and we're pleased to offer this post-Irma encore for the benefit of all RBR+TVBR readers.

With a declaration that he's not concerned about ratings for 2017-18 National Football League telecasts, CBS Corp. Chairman/CEO Les Moonves doubled down on his company's sports delivery mission by saying his network will focus on news and scores and not on analyst discussion and debate with the launch of a sports-focused OTT service. Investors yawned, and sold off their CBS shares.

A coalition of public media TV stations has been formed, with its key objective forming an effective conversion plan of Public Media Company stations to "next-gen TV" — otherwise known as ATSC 3.0. The newly launched Public Media Venture Group will assist these noncomm TV stations in building and the development of new next generation operating models to expand local public service, and is being projected to increase and diversify station revenue through expanded service.

Sure, there's a lot of reports out there, sponsored by digital media denizens, that seek to paint a bleak picture for MVPDs and broadcast TV's C-Suite by suggesting "cord-cutting" and digital delivery of video entertainment is more apparent than ever. The latest report comes from Pew Research Center, however, and its findings regarding how young adults are consuming television programming need to be read — and fully digested — by every broadcast media executive today.

A veteran television news agent whose resume includes roles at ESPN and CBS Radio's WFAN-AM 660 in New York has been selected as the new Head of UTA News and Broadcasting at United Talent Agency (UTA). This begins what UTA and its N.S. Bienstock arm are calling "a transition in leadership from legendary news agents Richard Leibner and Carole Cooper, who continue in active leadership roles representing many of UTA’s ... news and broadcasting clients."

When it came time to prepare for one of the biggest and most dangerous hurricanes to ever make landfall in the mainland U.S., there was one "overwhelming" choice when it came to news and information before, during, and after the storm. No, it wasn't radio.

Local TV has gotten its fair share of praise from across the broadcast media industry in the last few weeks thanks to storm coverage in four impacted markets. Unfortunately, advertisers are continuing to place their dollars elsewhere. That's the conclusion from eMarketer, which predicts that TV's percentage of total media ad spending is in for considerable dips over the next five years.

How can a broadcast television C-Suite executive best explain the post-Spectrum Auction TV repack process to Telly Watcher? They can direct them to a brand-new website created by the NAB to best inform Americans on how they can continue to receive their local broadcast TV stations during the incentive auction repack process. We've got some thoughts, too, and it's in an RBR+TVBR Observation just for members.

The FCC's Media Bureau has handed down a memorandum opinion and order regarding a dispute between Ellington Broadcasting and MVPD entity Cable One over the latter's decision not to air two low-power TV stations serving two small cities in Mississippi. The decision is a victory ... for both parties, in a sense. We've broken it down for you.

At month's end, Jay Newman will be retiring as VP/GM of CBS O&O WJZ-13 in Baltimore, ending a tenure that began in November 1998 following a four-year stint in a similar role at WWJ-62 in Detroit. The station has just revealed who is stepping in following Newman's retirement, and it is an individual who has been with Sinclair Broadcast Group since October 2000 and began her 17-year run with Sinclair in Baltimore.

A quartet of station affiliation agreements that were set to expire at the end of 2018 have been extended, keeping programs such as The Big Bang Theory on four Sinclair Broadcast Group stations.

A clutch of providers are set to tap the non-sports viewing public by offering a new streaming service named after TV pioneer Philo Farnsworth. Involved are cable channels owned by Discovery Communications, Viacom, AMC Networks, A+E Networks and Scripps Networks Interactive.

A new Hub Entertainment Research TV Redefined study surveyed 1,608 U.S. TV viewers and found that viewing time for VOD services in the U.S. rose sharply over the past year. Hulu was the biggest mover ahead of rivals like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

An ION Media-commissioned Nielsen study shows younger, more diverse audiences are increasingly turning to broadcast television. Meanwhile, broadcast-only TV homes have grown by 41% in the past five years (15.8 million households). And Millennials have caught the broadcast bug.