TV/Cable News

The FCC's Incentive Auction is now history, and the Commission late Thursday (4/13) made available a mountain of data reflecting the UHF and VHF stations that will go off the air as a result of a shift in spectrum use from television to wireless services companies. RBR + TVBR reviewed the winning bids in the Reverse Auction, and both Nexstar and Gray Television scored some cash with some big goodbyes.

Two automotive dealer associations have revved up their respective advertising activity at broadcast TV, with a big Detroit player back on the scene. Meanwhile, the No. 3 finisher in last week’s Media Monitors TV Spot Ten report returns after finishing the previous week in the No. 20 slot.

Can a company that no longer owns a trio of television stations still be held accountable for public file foibles that occurred prior to their sale to another owner? The answer is yes, as a Pittsburgh-based player has learned -- courtesy of a FCC Forfeiture Order released Monday. This TV station owner won a request for a reduced fine. But, this owner is also pocketing much less than it may have initially thought from the just-concluded FCC Incentive Auction.

Hyundai is huge on cable TV. In last week’s Media Monitors Cable Spot Ten report, ads for the all-electric Hyundai Ioniq appeared out of nowhere, to take advantage of the spring car buying season.

Gray Television is not pleased that two pranksters appeared on one of its Wisconsin stations, duping producers and anchors into thinking they were legit strongmen there to demonstrate feats of strength. But what's led them to sue the duo is the use of station footage on a website to promote their act, without authorization. We have an RBR + TVBR Observation on the situation.

The flagship PBS station in Southern California is giving up its over-the-air broadcast station but won't be pocketing the millions of dollars it is receiving from the just-completed FCC spectrum auction. Instead, KOCE is investing its one-time revenue of $49 million in "expanding its mission across the region" as it enters into a channel-sharing agreement with KSCI-18 in L.A.

The Chairman/CEO of growing MVPD Altice USA has been tapped to deliver a Keynote address on the subject of "Global Growth and the Future of Media" at the 2017 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

As investors take the day off to observe Passover or Good Friday, ahead of the Easter holiday, several media companies are readying their financial data for the upcoming release of their quarterly earnings results. Among the companies setting dates are The E.W. Scripps Co., Gray Television, and Meredith Corp.

With all of the noise and chatter over the power of subscription on-demand video (SVOD) services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, there's a growing belief that broadcast and pay-TV networks are in big trouble. But, are they? Pivotal Research Group Senior Analyst Brian Wieser took another stab at answering that question. Here are his conclusions.

Comcast Corp. has confirmed its results from both the Reverse Auction and Forward Auction, and it is pocketed nearly a half-billion dollars. At the same time, it is relinquishing spectrum in three of its duopoly markets, and in Gotham there's a bit of surprise.

Yet another ugly fight over retransmission fees involving a TV station owner and AT&T-owned DirecTV is now over. This one involved the only ABC affiliate in Hawaii, among a handful of other stations.

The FCC announced Thursday that some 957 non-winning stations participating in the FCC's spectrum auction must change channels to clear the new wireless airwaves for use. Meanwhile, a MyNetworkTV station in Michigan is opting to sign off the air altogether.

A TEGNA Media TV station in Atlanta and a Graham Media Group VHFer in Detroit have been honored with two top honors by the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF). Cox Media Group's WEDR "99 Jamz" in Miami is also getting a NABEF Service to America Award -- and is the lone commercially licensed FM getting such an honor.

Qligent, a specialist in cloud-based, enterprise-level media monitoring and analysis, has finalized an integration partnership with Artel Video Systems designed to help broadcasters ease the transition to ATSC 3.0.

NBCUniversal has taken a big step in reaching mobile consumers by striking a deal with mobile advertising player Kargo. The newly forged relationship will allow NBCUniversal to bring to fruition "the world's largest premium ecosystem for mobile advertising."