TV/Cable News

A study released today by a programmatic ad player in the broadcast TV space indicates that U.S. consumers harbor a greater amount of trust in their local news programming than for the national news media. This same study also finds that TV "dominates" as a preferred local news source, with radio behind social media. We had to respond with an RBR + TVBR Observation, which finds the commercial radio industry guilty of largely giving up its ability to be a go-to source of news.

Hey, cable TV: You're in good hands with a great client, based on last week’s Media Monitors Cable Spot Ten report. What are the other big brands actively using cable networks to communicate their messages to consumers? Find out now!

For broadcast TV sales teams across the U.S., it's time to start "healthing." That's because Reckitt Benckiser's Lysol disinfectant brand leads the way in the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten TV report. It was also a very big week for two insurers, and for a major department store chain.

DISH Network shares climbed 1.6%, to $65.02, on Friday after surging some 2.5% on an early morning report that it and Amazon may be exploring a deeper partnership ... or perhaps a merger.

NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group in recent years has made a significant investment in the local news operation of its O&Os across the country—an integral part of its plan to dethrone Hispanic media rival Unvision in both ratings and revenue. That effort continues on Saturday, when Telemundo's San Antonio affiliate launches four new half-hour weekend newscasts.

As of July 2017, claimants or their authorized representatives who wish to file online claims to royalty funds for cable and satellite retransmission of broadcast television programs must register for and use the new eCRB electronic filing system.

The Incentive Auction Task Force and FCC's Media Bureau have released a friendly reminder to broadcast television stations that were assigned new channels as a result of the incentive auction and repacking process, and to MVPDs of several important post-auction filing deadlines.

A digital metrics firm known for "measuring eyes on screen attention to every second of programming and advertising on television" has unveiled what it is calling "the first metric that measures creative breakthrough while normalizing for attention to surrounding commercial and program content." Is Madison Avenue ready to respond?

Tom Scanlan, who spent 39 of his 50 years in the broadcast industry in Michigan and is a former president of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters (MAB), died June 1 in Tucson, Ariz. He was 76 years old.

A 33-year television industry veteran who began her career in the Traverse City-Cadillac, Mich., market and served as Journal Broadcast Group's Tucson Market Manager from October 2007-November 2012 has returned to Michigan thanks to Nexstar Media Group.

Gray today promoted a quartet of veteran broadcasters to lead its television stations in Burlington, Vt.; Bangor, Me.; Gainesville, Fla.; and Charlottesville, Va.

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has released a white paper aimed at helping broadcasters transition to IP with minimal disruption. The paper, titled "AIMS Guidelines to Preparing Broadcast Facilities for IP-Based Live TV Production," presents basic methods broadcasters can follow to make the shift from SDI to IP as trouble-free as possible.

Borrell Associates' annual survey of local advertisers — the largest in the U.S. — is under way for 2017. "We're already seeing notable trends," CEO Gordon Borrell notes. This explains why his company has inaugurated a Chart of the Week series set to run through mid-August. The first chart he's released reviews what the "most effective local marketing channels" are for more than 1,250 local advertisers. Radio industry executives may not be pleased with the findings. In contrast, TV industry C-Suiters should be very happy.

A newly released study from Moody's Investors Service has made official what most broadcast TV industry professionals are well aware of: The outlook for the industry remains stable. But, that's not thanks to advertiser demand. It's all thanks to the surge in retransmission fees—a trend the American Cable Association (ACA), a slew of MVPDs and DirecTV and DISH Network are hardly pleased about.

The owner of 18 broadcast TV stations in such small markets as Binghamton, N.Y., and Waterloo, Iowa, has turned to GatesAir for transmitters — and related installation and commissioning services — for spectrum repack needs across its group.