TV/Cable News

Following Monday's Closing Bell on Wall Street, CBS Corporation reported Q2 2017 results that surpassed expectations, coupled with profits that met the Street. Brian Wieser, a senior analyst at Pivotal Research Group who has emerged in recent months as a prolific pulse-taker of broadcast media's publicly traded companies, likes what he sees: CBS execs hint that the company is shifting its revenue mix away from advertising and toward other activities, and those moves are "particularly positive."

Two quick-service restaurant chains are now among the top five advertisers using cable TV spots. What company is No. 1 on the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Cable report? Click here to find out!

Automotive dealers have concluded their biggest summertime sales push, and a decrease in broadcast TV spots is already being seen. Just two automotive dealer associations are in the latest Media Monitors TV Spot Ten. What company is No. 1? A QSR that isn't actively using radio, but has jumped onto TV in a big way.

Ahead of the release of its Q2 2017 earnings Monday, CBS Corp. revealed that it has reached a carriage agreement with AT&T that brings select CBS and The CW O&Os and affiliates; the Showtime premium pay-TV network; the Pop basic cable TV network; and the CBS Sports Network to the streaming "skinny bundle" package.

The media company that didn't see a reunification with CBS Corp. suffered a bruising session on Wall Street Friday. Viacom shares tumbled 13.8%, to $30.22, on word that subscribers to its cable TV networks will fall by roughly 3% in Q3. That sour news clouded an otherwise good Q2 that saw Viacom beat the Street.

María Elena Salinas will exit the Univision News anchor chair at the end of the year. Salinas has been associated with Univision and its predecessor, Spanish International Network (SIN), for nearly 36 years. As of January 2018, she plans to work independently as a journalist and producer, and continuing to devote herself to philanthropy.

The FCC on Wednesday entered into a Consent Decree with Mountain Broadcasting Corp. that resolves issues tied to the license renewal application of the company's full-power UHF station serving the New York Tri-State Area. The agreement was struck after the station was found to be deficient in its failure to display the "E/I" symbol throughout the duration of all educational programming.

A seasoned media executive with large-market television broadcasting experience is the new VP/GM for WFTX-36, the E.W. Scripps Company-owned station branded as "FOX4" in Ft. Myers-Naples, Fla.

If ever there was a Thursday to throw back. U.S. media stocks, in particular television company shares, got hammered on Wall Street as growing concern over advertising dollars at traditional media — coupled with rough Q2 earnings releases from several companies — sent investors running away.

Univision's President of Advertising Sales & Marketing from 2007-2012 has just been named EVP/Digital Sales and Sales Strategy. He reports to a 15-year CBS Corp. veteran who is concurrently rising to the role of President and Chief Advertising Revenue Officer.

Here's the skinny on The E.W. Scripps Co.'s Q2 earnings results, released early Thursday: Net income fell by 4 cents per share, despite an increase in operating revenue. Its TV revenues are flat, but its radio division suffered a 5.2% dip in its revenue. Even worse, the TV division saw a 6.6% dip in its segment profit, while the radio division's profit tumbled by 25.5% in Q2. 

On a day when TV industry stocks were getting pounded on Wall Street, Univision Communications President/CEO Randy Falco sounded a bit too cheerful. "I am very pleased with our quarterly results," he said in announcing that the company focused on Hispanic consumers and multicultural millennials saw its ad revenue shrink by 17% in Q2, and its total revenue slump by 4.4%. Why was Falco in such a good mood? Univision saw a healthy net income jump.

Entravision Communications, the owner of broadcast TV and radio stations largely targeting Hispanic consumers, released its Q2 2017 results right after the Closing Bell on Wall Street Wednesday. How did it do? Net revenue was up, but net income was down.

Tough comps in both Q2 and Q3, due largely to the absence of Olympics-related ad revenue and much lower political dollars, dinged Sinclair Broadcast Group. Investors were less than thrilled, with SBGI shares sliding more than 5% ahead of the Closing Bell on Wall Street.

That's the question the influential Zacks Equity Research asks, and it could be one reason why CBS shares were down more than 2% in mid-afternoon trading on Wall Street today. According to Zacks, there's a good chance CBS "may disappoint" with its Q2 results. Why?