Industry News

According to CivicScience, broadcast networks and local TV news are most trusted – 24% and 22% respectively. Trust in local TV news remains strong and surpasses trust in cable network news and national newspapers.

Regardless of what identity-scape settles in with new parameters in place, marketers that capitalize on the opportunity to leverage publishers’ first-party contextual data and target consumers based on their interests in a given moment, rather than using a cobbled-together user profile, will reap the benefits of more precise, relevant, and higher-performing ad experiences.

Major League Baseball’s 2021 postseason has scored well to date, in terms of overall average viewers per game -- up 1% this year versus 2019.

Although traditional pay TV systems have been severely impacted by cord-cutting, legacy cable, satellite, telco and virtual services still command 71% of TV households, according to new research from Leichtman Research Group.

If one of your radio or TV stations is a member of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, here’s a chance for your sales team to benefit from getting a piece of the action in a multimillion-dollar ad campaign signed off by one of the biggest champions of multicultural marketing today: Marc Pritchard.

The vast majority of local U.S. businesses that temporarily closed during the pandemic have reopened as of Sept. 30, 2021. Businesses related to beauty, hospitality and leisure are helping to drive growth in new businesses overall.

It’s official: the White House is moving forward with making acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel the agency’s official Chair. With so many broadcast media proposals at the Commission, what should radio and TV station C-Suite leaders keep their eyes on?

After underreporting local TV viewing during the pandemic, long-standing frustrations in the television industry hit a boiling point and interest in alternative measurement currencies began to peak.

The White House, in a bid to avert a Republican majority over the regulator, also tapped former FCC official Gigi Sohn as commissioner.

Who doesn’t want to see what happens when a 2,365 pound pumpkin, the largest grown this year in North America, is dropped 130 feet to the ground?

The U.S. ad marketplace has made a V-shaped recovery that will not only close out 2021 with a predicted $278 billion in ad spend -- compared with $213 billion in 2020 -- but should also reach a record $300 billion in 2022.

Nielsen has historically been a needed partner in innovation, but if it doesn’t keep up with the light-speed changes happening everywhere in the digital age, and provide useful, real time data on viewership, it will be left behind.

The sports tech business will grow by a CAGR of 20.75% from 2020 levels, according to ResearchAndMarkets.

It’s one of the world’s most popular annual sporting events — yet almost as many people watch the Super Bowl for the ads as for the National Football League championship game itself.

Primetime broadcast ad impressions were up 17% YoY in Q3, with spend up even more — 39.5% compared to Q3 last year, per iSpot’s report.

Through six weeks of NFL season so far, national TV revenues are up 11% over a year ago — to $1.75 billion, according to estimates from iSpot.tv.

D.C. insiders were on the lookout for FCC nominations after Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) reportedly said that she was expecting the White House could be poised to finally make its moves.

Amazon’s news app on Fire TV will begin expanding live and on-demand local news from 88 to 158 major cities across the U.S.

The NFL is scoring big numbers for its TV partners this season, with ad revenue up 14% so far, according to MediaRadar. Preseason games generated $41.9 million in TV ad revenue. So far regular season games on six networks — ABC, CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC and NFL Network — have generated $1.1 billion, up 10% from $1 billion a year ago.

According to a Morning Consult survey, 44% of U.S. adults say there are too many ads on streaming services and 79% are bothered by those experiences. In addition, 53% say they find streaming ads somewhat (34%) or very (32%) invasive. Social media and website ads are perceived as even more invasive — at 66% and 61%, respectively.

According to a survey by Xandr, 58% of U.S. TV buyers said they’re planning to increase their investments in data-driven linear TV over the next 12 months. Fifty percent plan to increase ad investments on addressable linear TV and 28% plan to up spend on traditional linear TV.

Responding to an op-ed column from Nielsen on Broadcasting+Cable’s website defending the use of panels as part of its audience measurement system, competitor Comscore is firing back.

Unlike studios and streamers, U.S. and international broadcasters have been reluctant to embrace the Interoperable Master Format. Their move to UHD programming and gradual operational shift to the cloud may change that.

Nielsen has announced a multi-year agreement with Whitehardt, Inc. to provide the agency with local TV measurement in all markets. Whitehardt is a digital media agency specializing in legal marketing and consulting for law firms.

With more than 25 years of broadcast management and sales experience, Marc Hefner moves from Nexstar’s WSAV Savannah, Ga., to oversee its Dallas CW affiliate.

Nexstar promotes the MNT affiliate’s local sales leader to oversee all local, national and digital sales at the San Francisco station.

In his newly expanded role, Pfaff will lead digital video strategy and partnership integrations for Katz. He will also represent Katz in initiatives to improve brand safety and digital standards.

Eighty-four percent of U.S. consumers report having subscription video-on-demand services — the same percentage who report spending more time on online entertainment activities and less on in-person, out-of-home entertainment — according to Deloitte.

Black Friday in October? No, you didn’t hear wrong. Best Buy, Walmart and other retailers are already kicking off holiday discounts to coax people into shopping earlier this year.

According to a Horowitz study, Black audiences, largely known as loyal cable and satellite television customers, are increasingly opting to cut the cord.

New findings from dentsu international research show that human attention is not the same as viewability, which is why the agency believes advertisers must plan and buy media using a new metric it calls Attention.

Redbox is continuing to expand its free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service through new programming agreements including a local TV news deal with Cox Media.

In the wake of Nielsen losing its National and Local TV accreditation from the Media Rating Council, networks are eyeing alternative measurement companies. Sitting within many of these data sets is automated content recognition (ACR) tech.

The national If You Give a Child a Book… campaign will distribute more than 200,000 books to kids in low-income households across the country this school year.

AMC Networks said it is selling addressable advertising inventory on linear television using programmatic technology via The Trade Desk and Magnite.

Gray Television choses the news director of its KTTC Rochester, Minn., to succeed the late Ed Woloszyn as head of its CBS-Fox affiliate.

Andrés Chaparro, the former GM of KDEN Denver, is tapped by Scripps to lead its ABC affiliates in Texas.

Hearst promotes Andrew Disper from national sales manager at its WYFF Greenville, S.C., to oversee all advertising activity in Fort Smith-Fayelleville, Ark.

KOAT, Hearst’s ABC affiliate in Albuquerque, N.M., is starting its annual KOATs for Kids coat drive. The campaign receives coat donations from viewers and community organizations across New Mexico and delivers them directly to children in school districts and community centers.

Broadcasters have agreed to settle their dispute with Locast, a now shuttered streaming TV service, according to court papers.

Nielsen is defending its use of old-school panels to measure TV viewing as much of the business looks to rely more on big data to create alternatives to the ratings measurement firm that has infuriated and dominated the industry for decades.

As local newspapers shutter, it has a chilling effect on citizens’ likelihood to vote and remain politically informed, along with fostering conditions for government inefficiency and corruption. Broadcasters can play a proactive role in stemming the problem.

Under fire for undercounting TV viewing during the pandemic and having lost the industry’s seal of approval for its national ratings product, Nielsen is rebranding itself and said it is ‘powering a better media future for all people.’

The sudden availability and growth of virtual playout systems does not immediately render physical broadcaster-owned

Hearst moves Michael Neely from GM of its WAPT Jackson, Miss., to oversee its NBC affiliate in Louisiana.

Tim Sanders - a sales and marketing executive with 20-plus years of local broadcast experience, will oversee WTWO and Mission Broadcasting’s WAWV in Indiana.

CBS News and Stations appointed Justin Draper president and general manager of its operations in Boston, including WBZ-TV (CBS), WSBK (MNT), CBSN Boston and CBSBoston.com. He will report to Adrienne Roark, president, CBS Stations.

According to BIA estimates, direct mail will account for $33.4 billion in local ad revenue next year. Now is the time for local TV to frame out how NextGen TV can be deployed along similar lines to capture that revenue for itself.

KSWB San Diego took advantage of people watching a Fox network program to topically promote its late news and the next day’s morning news. The results were impressive.

Gray chooses John Fiorelli to lead KOLO in Reno and Herb Bruce to oversee KALB in Alexandria.

Consumers spent at a much faster pace than expected in September, defying expectations for a pullback amid pervasive supply chain problems, the Census Bureau reported.

With the holidays approaching, wine merchants will want to maximize their stores’ exposure to wine drinkers 25-44 who watch some television every day, and approximately 50% are watching at least three hours.

Starting in January, WOIO-TV owner Gray is launching a sister station, WTCL, and offering local news in Spanish, starting with newscasts at 6 and 11 p.m.

NBCU has promoted digital marketing executive Margaret Walker to SVP, Audience Acquisition and Growth for the Entertainment and Sports divisions.

o NBCUniversal announced members of its Measurement Innovation Forum, a group aimed at looking at the way media and advertising is measured and creating alternatives to Nielsen, which has monopolized the industry.

Broadcasters share of total viewing jumped 2 percentage points to 26% of the total TV time spent by consumers in September according to Nielsen’s The Gauge. The boost comes on the heels of a strong ratings start to the NFL season as well as the beginning of the TV season on September 20.

Award-winning journalist Kristine Strain has been named news director of CBS News and Television Stations’ local businesses in Denver, including KCNC (CBS), CBSN Denver and CBSDenver.com.

Todd Brown has been named vice president and general manager of Cox-owned Boston station WFXT.

Graham appointed Terri Cope-Walton vice president and general manager of its Jacksonville, Fla., duopoly of independent WJXT and CW affiliate WCWJ.

Changes are coming to Central Florida’s Spanish-language media landscape as Univision takes over operations of two TV stations – WVEN-TV and WOTF-TV – and named executive Eddy Elguezabal the president and general manager over its Orlando and Tampa operations.

ICSC is predicting holiday spending this year will outpace the record-breaking growth of Christmas 2020. Sales are predicted to hit $923 billion this year, up 8.9% year-over-year.

More than 70% of media buyers in the U.S. and three other key markets agree that all forms of TV should be sold on impressions, according to a report from TVSquared. Three-quarters of all marketers agreed that TV is now defined as including linear and CTV/OTT platforms, and that legacy currencies and practices are impeding the innovation of what advertisers can do with converged TV.

Network-affiliated TV stations are again pushing the FCC to bring some OTT video providers under the retransmission consent regime so they will have to negotiate directly with TV stations for carriage.

The International Council of Shopping Centers' holiday forecast says 75% of those in its survey expect to start shopping earlier. Their top concern: About 45% say they're doing so to make certain products are available.

Hartford, Conn., TV viewers can now experience the future of broadcast TV as four stations – WFSB, WCCT, WTIC and WTNH – have joined together to launch NextGen TV (also known as ATSC 3.0).

Viewer habits are changing, measurement is changing, and the technology that powers it all is changing. But for a marketer seeking to reach a huge swath of the country in one hit, there isn’t a better place than traditional TV to get a return on investment.

According to JLL’s annual holiday survey, 58% of shoppers plan to shop in stores or do some form of shopping involving a physical store this holiday. Thirty-four percent will buy online and pick-up instore and 22.6% will take advantage of curbside pickup.

According to BIA’s U.S. Local Advertising Forecast 2022, the overall local U.S. advertising market is expected to reach $161.5 billion – a 10.1 percent YoY growth — buoyed by overall strong economic tailwinds coming out of 2021. Traditional media revenue will account for $84.6 billion and digital media will be close behind at $76.8 billion.

According to a study by Advertiser Perceptions, behavioral targeting currently dominates as the primary method among advertising executives – 45% vs. 38% for contextual targeting and 17% for "other" forms of targeting – contextual targeting is anticipated to be the dominant method one year from now.

Anticipating a continued surge in D2C and direct-response marketers' activity on national legacy TV platforms, iSpot.tv has acquired DRMetrix, a real-time TV ad measurement company focused on D2C and direct-response advertisers.

According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, retail sales for September were up 5.4% year over year and up 11.5% from two years ago. The apparel sector was up 56% year over year and up 15.6% from two years ago, while department stores were up 20.8% from 2020 to 2021 and up 15.5% from 2019.

Morgan Stanley’s Benjamin Swinburne nearly doubled his U.S. ad growth forecast for 2021, while also boosting his 2022 estimate, increasing his expectation for ad gains in the current year from 12.1% to 22.9%. For next year, he lifted his projection from 12.2% to 14.1%.

Data generated by the pucks and from sensors on the backs of players will be used by teams to develop their players and to scout opponents. Later this season, gamblers are expected to be able to wager on a new wave of bets.

Uncommon Goods has advertised on a plethora of channels, marketing through catalog mailers, social media and search engines, but had yet to try national TV—until this month when Facebook’s recent issues with measurement and effectiveness tracking drove the company to experiment with new channels.

Consumers, in addition to what they will spend on friends and family, plan to spend an average of $442 on themselves this holiday season — up 48% from 2020, and 28% from 2019, according to data released by PwC.

Through the first four weeks of the new season, professional football games are averaging 17.3 million viewers on television and digital, a whopping 17% increase over last season and 3% compared to two years ago.

ATSC 3.0 promises a huge range of exciting possibilities for TV viewers and multiple new revenue streams for broadcasters. Broadcasters of all types stand to increase revenues while transforming their existing spectrum into a vibrant new tool for consumers and businesses alike.

TVNewsCheck's Michael Depp talks with Eric Ludgood, head of Scripps-owned Newsy, which saw a major overhaul and expansion of its programming as it now reaches 90% of U.S. TV homes with a significant OTA expansion.

As the country continues to emerge from the pandemic, a Forecast 2022 session that includes the participation of TVB President and CEO Steve Lanzano is shaping up to be another provocative must-attend event.

Nielsen announced that it is bringing its streaming solutions together in a single measurement suite encompassing ad-supported and subscription-based service models across content, ads and platforms.

WSLS, Graham Media Group’s NBC affiliate in Roanoke, Va., has named Burt Spangler as its new creative services director.

Scripps’ CBS affiliate KMTV Omaha, Neb., appointed Dave German vice president and general manager.

Addressable advertising is becoming a more important tactic to advertisers and media buyers, according to Advertiser Perceptions. 32% of those surveyed called addressable TV a must buy, up from 25% a year ago and 44% called addressable a complementary buy, up from 41%.

61% of U.S. adults feel safe going to a mall, up 2 percentage points from last week to match the share who said so in mid-May. The last time comfort with shopping malls was higher than 61% was in late July, when it reached 64%.

NBCUniversal has named Kelly Campbell president of Peacock. The appointment comes two days after Campbell announced that she was leaving Disney’s Hulu.

Curtis LeGeyt, NAB’s current chief operating officer, has been appointed as the next president and CEO of the organization. TV Tech recently talked with LeGeyt on his new role and the challenges facing NAB and broadcasters in a rapidly changing media landscape.

NBCUniversal Local completed its acquisition from Ramar Communications of four full-power stations, one Class A station, three low-power stations and 20 associated [or multiple] translator stations that are assigned to the Albuquerque DMA.

Like most ad categories in 2020, ad spending in the home appliance sector took a hit, falling 1.4%. But the category has come roaring back and is expected to climb 12.6% this year to nearly $5 billion, according to a forecast from Zenith.

MadHive is committed to spending $100 million over the next six years on Google Cloud storage, data science and data processing because business is booming.

A trio of TVB Forward sessions last week laid out the golden promises of 2022 political spending and the ongoing growth of sports betting, offsetting auto’s precipitous fall.

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of c-store retailers expect 2021 year-end in-store sales to be better than 2020 and 67% expect sales will top sales in 2019, according to NACS. Only 11% of retailers expect their 2021 sales to fall below year-end 2020 sales and only 13% said sales will be lower than 2019.

Gina Oliva-Pinto has been promoted to vice president of marketing for NBCUniversal Local, a division of NBCUniversal.

Local U.S. advertising will enjoy 6.4% growth in 2022, with broadcast TV growing 12.3%. The strongest recovery seen since the Great Recession, according to Borrell Associates’ just-released 2022 Local Advertising Forecast.

If one word could describe the theme of this year’s TVB Forward Conference, it’s perseverance. The onset of the pandemic was a challenge for advertisers in 2020, but the rebound the industry is experiencing — and the looming midterm elections — will bolster business in 2022, particularly local broadcast TV.

Scripps-owned Newsy became a free 24/7 broadcast news network, available to more than 90% of U.S. TV homes through OTA service and supplementing its ubiquitous OTT and CTV distribution.

A mid-2021 survey from Penthera, a global SaaS company, found 81% of U.S. Latin Americans watch a multitude of streaming video services: adsupported VOD 46%, ad-supported subscription VOD 16%, SVOD 15% and live video 5%.

With thousands of industry executives participating online from their computers and tablets, TVB Forward Conference 2021 kicked off with welcome comments from both President/CEO Steve Lanzano and the Chair of its Board of Directors, Debra OConnell.

On August 2, the end of an era — and the leadership of a broadcast media company — came for Ralph Oakley. Oakley was saluted for his accomplishments at the virtual TVB Forward Conference, marking perhaps his final industry appearance.

Who knew that the Chief Research Officer of the TVB would be as hard-hitting as a 60 Minutes journalist? Hadassa Gerber proved to be quite the moderator at a TVB Forward Conference session on “the future of measurement,” the first of a series of panelists delivered across the virtual conference.

Twenty months after the start of the pandemic, the automobile industry’s agenda appears to be completely upside down. Chip shortages have wreaked havoc on many an automotive brand. What’s a broadcast ad sales leader to do? Jason Stein, CEO at Flat Six Media, painted the automotive portrait of today for TVB Forward Conference attendees.

As the TV business continues to move closer to a streaming model, essentially turning the advertising measurement business on its ear, a panel of top industry executives at TVB Forward said that the future will depend on how ratings companies, buyers and sellers can effectively analyze and interpret the reams of data available.

The move to planning and buying TV nationally on an impressions basis rather than on ratings has been relatively smooth and steady over the last two years. But local buying and planning has been a bit of a messier story. The issue came to a head during a virtual panel at TVB’s Forward conference.

Hadassa Gerber proved to be quite the moderator at a TVB Forward Conference session on “the future of measurement,” the first of a series of panelists delivered across the TVB’s virtual affair on Thursday.

BIA is predicting that the midterm election year will be a good one for local broadcasters, with political advertising boosting the local broadcast ad revenue to $21 billion in 2022. BIA is forecasting that $19.3 billion come from over-the-air revenue and $1.7 billion in digital, a big jump of 26.5% for the industry.

Full-year 2021 spot revenue in core advertising categories will shoot high above last year’s results. Despite the auto category’s current troubled state, there’s nowhere for spot to go but way, way up in 2022. And there’s a monumental cash dump expected from politicos during the midterm elections.

U.S. grocery delivery e-commerce sales will grow by 11.4% this year to reach $79.71 billion, according to eMarketer. The research firm says this marks a deceleration from 2020, which saw a 41.7% increase in online sales of grocery products fulfilled via delivery.

NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” series has seen major improvement, up 5% to 19 million viewers for the first three games versus 18.1 million viewers a year ago. For five games on linear TV, CBS has been averaging 17.2 million viewers, that’s a significant increase of 17% year-over-year.

ViacomCBS will take a more active role in the TV industry’s ongoing quest to develop new audience-measurement alternatives by teaming up with data company VideoAmp and developing a new means of tracking the reach of advertising among linear and digital viewers.

Advertisers plan to spend more ad dollars on a variety of advanced advertising and new media options over the next 12 months, according to Xandr. 58% of survey respondents said they would increase spending on data-driven linear TV.

Madison Avenue's consensus outlook for the U.S. ad economy improved dramatically, as IPG Mediabrands' Magna unit increased its forecast for 2021 ad growth to 23.2%, up from 15.1% in June, 6.4% in March and just 4.1% when it made its original prediction for the year in December 2020.

Local broadcasters and cable operators needn’t be constantly at odds with each other, leaders from Fox TV Stations, Hearst and Gray said in a panel at TV2025 that also tackled streaming, M&A and diversity.

Veteran local media executive Joel Vilmenay has been named president and general manager of CBS News and Stations’ local businesses in Los Angeles: KCBS (CBS, KCAL (Ind.), CBSN Los Angeles and CBSLA.com.

Allen Media promoted Mark Eisner to senior vice president of content distribution, partnerships and programming from VP of content distribution.

Representatives from NBCU, Scripps and Pearl TV claim that NextGen TV’s ability to deliver targeted ads to connected TVs is the most promising and immediate among the technology’s potential revenue streams, and a proliferation of NextGen-ready sets is bringing monetization closer.

According to a survey by Pitney Bowes, one in three respondents will start shopping more online (19% increase from May). In addition, one in four will start shopping less in person (16% increase from May), highlighting the impact of the delta variant on consumer shopping behaviors.

According to SalesFuel, nearly one in five consumers plans to buy a TV with a 55- inch or larger screen within the next year. This purchase should come as no surprise, as 70% of this audience spends more than three hours a day in front of a TV — often watching live sports.

Raquel Amparo has been named president and general manager of KTVT-KTXA Dallas. She comes from KUVN-KSTR Dallas, a duopoly owned by Univision.

A study from TVision shows commercials on CTV/OTT streaming platforms that air multiple times less than five minutes apart only kept viewers' eyes on the screen 25% of the time -- an average of eight seconds for each TV commercial.

According to The NPD Group, the average amount spent per shopping occasion has been 13% to 29% higher in each of the 12 months since March 2020 than the same month in the prior year.

Consumer spending on Halloween-related items is expected to reach an all-time high of $10.14 billion, up from $8.05 billion in 2020, according to the NRF.

The Conference Board forecasts that US Real GDP growth will slow to 5.5% (annualized rate) in Q3 2021, vs. 6.6% growth in Q2 2021, and that 2021 annual growth will come in at 5.9% (year-over-year). This forecast incorporates the larger-than-expected impact that the COVID-19 Delta variant has had on the US economy.

Holiday sales are poised for one of their biggest increases in decades. Sales are forecast to increase 10% to 13% this holiday season over last, which would make this the strongest holiday period since 1999, according to AlixPartners. The firm found that 88% of consumers plan to spend the same or more this holiday season, up 12% from last year.

Graham is fostering tighter relationships with its most highly engaged audiences via Insiders, a company-wide membership program. Graham executives believe it will have a transformative effect on news content, community building and revenues in an era of ever-disaggregating audiences.

A Pew Research Center study shows media consumers getting slightly less regular news from social media in 2021 than in 2020 -- 48% versus 53%. At the same time, an earlier report from Pew showed local TV news seeing slightly rising usage recently in key areas.

Nearly 128 million people in the U.S. will watch AVOD this year, according to a forecast from eMarketer. The research firm says that represents growth of 17.6%, over 2020 — and means more than half of all U.S. digital video viewers are watching AVOD.

Two major advertising trade groups—the 4A’s and The ANA—issued statements in support of the MRC and its mission of accrediting measurement companies. Both also stressed the importance of developing a single integrated cross-media measurement system.

Nielsen will transition to impressions-based reporting -- for local U.S. TV station advertising buying and selling -- starting in January 2022. This will come at the same time as the integration of broadband-only homes into Nielsen local TV measurement. Previously, Nielsen said BBO homes would start up local TV measurement in October 2021.

Hearst is making its news content available over-the-top and on an ad-supported connected TV channel called Very Local. Very Local channels will be available in 26 markets where Hearst owns TV stations via Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV and Android TV.

Graham, TVNewsCheck’s 2021 Station Group of the Year, is bucking the industry’s consolidation trend by fostering a company-wide culture of innovation to serve ever-disaggregating audiences. In the process, it’s aiming to reboot the station-audience relationship and create a new paradigm for advertising.

Against a backdrop of Nielsen issues with TV measurement and ongoing advertiser disaffection with the way all media are measured, the ANA has come out with some baseline requirements for measurement.

McKinsey & Co. conclude brands and retailers are overlooking as much as $300 billion of African-Americans’ spending power annually. The Media Audit reveals a correlation between above-average weekly supermarket expenditures by African-Americans and heavy TV viewing time (at least five more hours of TV daily than all adults 18+).

According to a Whip Media survey, seventy percent of respondents said there are too many premium streaming services. And 85% of respondents say pricing for these services is getting too expensive. Some 32% of respondents cancelled at least one premium service in the past year.

Retail sales posted a surprise gain in August despite fears that rising COVID cases and supply-chain issues would hold back consumers, the Census Bureau reported. Sales increased 0.7% for the month against the Dow Jones estimate of a decline of 0.8%.

Ampersand has announced the availability of its Total TV Measurement solution for advertisers and agencies. The solution offers brands as well as local advertisers the ability to unify and consolidate the measurement of audience-based media delivery across all of their TV investment channels.

The National Association of Broadcasters today debuted new spots underscoring the importance of fact-based broadcast radio and television journalism at a time when misinformation is running rampant on social media.

Nexstar launched Stellar, a data-driven audience platform that lets advertisers buy digital and linear advertising. Stellar uses predictive technology to determine where a brand’s advertising will perform best and lets buyers create campaigns using Nexstar’s 199 TV stations, 120 local websites and 284 local news and weather apps.

Comscore revealed that it has invented what it calls the next generation of personification methodology created to bring person-level measurement to its video products.

Omnicom is expected to be one of the major ad companies taking part in a new “forum” to examine audience-tabulation issues. Other big agencies are expected to participate as well, as the media industry and Nielsen appear to move further apart in the debate over how TV viewers ought to be counted in a business that has moved full bore into digital realms.

Total holiday retail sales are likely to increase between 7% and 9% in 2021, according to Deloitte’s annual holiday retail forecast. E-commerce sales are projected to grow by 11% to 15%. Deloitte’s retail and distribution practice projects that overall holiday sales will total $1.28 to $1.3 trillion during the November to January timeframe.

Nexstar named Lloyd Bucher vice president and general manager of its broadcast and digital operations in Charlotte, N.C., overseeing WJZY, WMYT and fox46.com.

Gerry McGavick will continue to lead the company’s political advertising sales in addition to new group-wide revenue-generating projects and a sales training program.

Five Stations in Cincinnati – WCPO, WKRC, WLWT, WXIX and WSTR – begin broadcasting with NextGen TV (also known as ATSC 3.0).

The death of local news story says more about the arrogance of local newspapers than the industry’s actual state. But TV stations need to heed an important lesson in the narrative and cast themselves as trusted local partners, not authoritative gatekeepers of information.

Univision reached a distribution deal with YouTube TV, which will carry Univision, UniMás and Galavisión networks on its standard tier.

According to Publicis Commerce, about 25% of college students and 20% of primary and high school students had already started their Back-to-School shopping by April. Overall sales are expected to rise 9.3% this year to $95.8 billion after declining 4.6% last year.

New orders for furniture in June rose 7% compared with June as the industry’s year-over-year comparisons moderated relative to March-through-May results, according to Furniture Insights.

U.S. retail sales (excluding automotive and gas) are anticipated to grow 7.4% this holiday season (Nov. 1- Dec. 24), according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. In-store sales are expected to see a rebound — rising 6.6% vs. 2020.

Nexstar promoted Fran McRae to vice president and general manager of its broadcast and digital operations in Memphis and Jackson, Tenn., overseeing WREG, WJKT, wreg.com and their related mobile and social media channels.

The E.W. Scripps and the communities where it does business are teaming up to ensure kids in low-income households have access to books. The annual If You Give a Child a Book … campaign has distributed more than 500,000 books since its launch in 2016.

A new Parks Associates whitepaper offers an array of up-to-date insights on the evolving digital media landscape. U.S. OTT service subscriptions are projected to leap by more than 20%, from nearly 230 million this year to 277 million in 2026.

TV has never been in a stronger position to lead advertising into the future, with both addressability and privacy at its helm. As digital channels reshape themselves for a privacy-first world, they have a lot to learn from the TV environment.

Hearst TV announced that Eric Meyrowitz, senior vice president, sales, and Ashley Gold, vice president, sales, have been promoted to executive vice presidents and group heads of the company.

Apple’s new privacy rules are making it difficult to tie Facebook data to actions that consumers take after viewing ads on the platform, which could have long-term effects on ad revenues.

WPP’s Mindshare retained Unilever’s U.S. media account but Omnicom won new business in Europe, Canada, Middle East and Africa while Havas joined CPG giant's roster in France and Spain.

Arizona’s first sports betting operations officially open for business in time for the start of the NFL season, with live wagers being taken on college and professional sports online and at two retail locations in Phoenix.

Tegna’s Quest, a 24/7 adventure and exploration multicast network, has launched an ad-supported free streaming service. The streaming app offers on-demand programming from a catalog of factual entertainment, science, history and engineering programs, and adventure-reality series.

According to a survey from Future Today, 35.5% of consumers plan to decrease the number of services they pay to subscribe to. But 41% of those who took a free-trial offer in the past 12 months said they became subscribers when the trial ended.

According to TDG research, roughly 85% of all U.S. households now subscribe to a high-speed internet service, which speaks to its value in today’s home. However, recent data suggests that the pace of new gains is quickly diminishing.

The NFL has embraced gambling as part of the landscape. Nowhere will that be more apparent than during pregame shows, the occasional mention during games and commercials as the point spread is no longer a taboo subject.

The 2021 NFL season is expected to generate a record 45.2 million Americans betting, according to a new data from the American Gaming Association, a figure up 36% from the 2020 season.

A survey by CouponFollow indicates a leading 34% use the Walmart grocery delivery service for online grocery orders. The top method respondents use for meals at home is still in-person grocery shopping (85%), followed by meal delivery apps (27%). 22% pick up online grocery orders curbside, and 18% use online grocery delivery services.

With its data, reporting, and targeting capabilities, OTT is quickly becoming an important part of advertisers' media mix. But it's not a one-size-fits-all model, and not all platforms are created equal.

Local TV news still fare better than national outlets with viewer trust, but transparency is essential for outlets to hold that ground. Partnerships with outside fact-checking organizations helps, as does better sourcing and verification practices, along with being candid with viewers.

According to TiVo, 61% of those who watch free broadcast via an antenna, and 58% of those who watch AVOD say they “don’t mind ads or commercials while watching TV.” Perhaps even more notable: Among those who pay for SVOD services or TVOD, 38% and 42%, respectively, say they don’t mind ads while watching TV.

Hearst launched Hearst Media Production Group and named Frank Biancuzzo as the unit’s president. Hearst Media Production Group will develop and produce original programming for distribution to TV stations, broadcast and cable networks and streaming services.

The Media Rating Council issued a final update to its recommendations for "best practices" for measuring OTT and CTV viewing, as well as when server-side ad insertion digital video techniques are utilized.

n a stunning and sudden development, Locast has suspended operations. The decision comes less than 48 hours after a New York Federal District Court declined to honor Locast’s request for summary judgment.

Nielsen’s decades-old track record of measuring the TV business was dealt a serious blow after the MRC decided to suspend its backing of the company’s national ratings service and also cancel an agreed-upon hiatus for its backing of Nielsen’s local TV efforts as well.

The four major U.S. broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox — have emerged victorious in a lawsuit against Locast, a nonprofit that enables local TV streams.

Cox Media Group has signed an exclusive agreement to stream local content on the VUit national streaming service. With Cox Media Group’s stations, VUit now has local coverage and programming in 150 of the nation’s 210 markets.

Back-to-school TV advertising is up sharply this year as the pandemic has eased — variant not withstanding — and more kids are headed back to the classroom. AdImpact reported year-to-date BTS TV and cable spots are up about 60%, with a total of 336,361 market level occurrences.

Sarah Burke has been named VP and news director at WCBS-WLNY New York. She comes from WLS Chicago, where she is assistant news director.

Gray is working to reimagine the local TV news experience by using NextGen TV broadcasts at its WCTV station to deliver hyperlocal news content.

The NFL has added sports betting agreements with four sportsbooks -- Fox Bet, BetMGM, PointsBet, and WynnBET -- which will become “approved sportsbook operators” for the upcoming 2021 season. The deal allows sportsbooks to be promoted via NFL in-game TV advertising and other NFL media inventory.

AGA’s interactive sports betting map provides state-level detail on the types of wagering allowed, key regulatory details, legal retail sportsbooks and online/mobile, and more.

Small business owners are increasing their ad spend on digital media, but aren't necessarily reaping the benefits, according to findings of a new study by Ripl Inc., a developer of marketing software and subscription services for small businesses.

According to Pew Research, only about a quarter of Americans have even some trust in the information they get from social media outlets. Six in 10 say they have at least some trust in national news organizations. And trust in local news leads with 75%.

According to a report from nScreen Media, 15 million U.S. adults use the Peacock FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) service, making it the No. 1 choice. For many, FAST offers additional content and they have been viewing TV content for decades with commercial breaks. For others, FAST allows them to reduce their expenditures for streaming video subscriptions.

Nielsen is testing whether audience measurement accreditation from the MRC is even still relevant. Nielsen appears to be betting the market will shrug off its loss of accreditation and keep doing deals on its numbers anyway.

According to a study from Raydiant, 48% of respondents said they prefer to shop in-person at a physical store when given the choice. Forty-seven percent, meanwhile, estimated they’ve spent more than 51% of their shopping budget in physical locations so far in 2021.

Meredith-owned Fox affiliate WHNS Greenville, S.C., appointed Marybeth Jacoby news director.

The Kantar/CMAG estimate for the midterm season sits at $7.8 billion for local broadcast, local cable/satellite, radio, digital and OTT. With broadcast TV leading the pack with $3.8 billion (vs. $3.05b in 2018).

As sports betting and daily fantasy brands have spent millions on TV and digital advertising in recent years. But FanDuel is trying to change the game and hired Wieden+Kennedy New York as its lead creative agency, while unleashing a new campaign that will get heavy play during the NFL season.

U.S. household incomes rose by a robust 1.1% in July while consumer spending growth slowed to a 0.3% pace, the Commerce Department reported, suggesting the economic recovery lost some momentum amid a wave of infections tied to the Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus.

Tim Wieland, an award-winning journalist and 27-year veteran at CBS O&O KCNC Denver, has been named vice president and general manager.

Broadcast TV advertising rep firm CoxReps appointed Ann Hailer president. Since 2019, she has been chief operating officer.

Fox went all in on Tubi, the AVOD service, committing to the launch of 10 live-streamed sports channels. The new, free-to-consumer “Sports on Tubi” platform will involve Fox’s biggest sports licensing deals, including the NFL, Major League Baseball and NASCAR, as well as some of its biggest linear network brands, notably Fox Sports.

KUSA, in Denver, appointed Jesse Ogas executive director of social responsibility and community affairs. In this newly created position, Ogas will lead community engagement, manage station partnerships and champion inclusivity.

Independent video software provider Synamedia announced that Fox Television Stations has chosen its advanced technology solutions to support the rollout of its ATSC 3.0 deployment in Orlando, Fla.

Comscore is seeking to have its national and local TV measurement products audited by the the Media Rating Council earlier than previously planned. A process leading to potential accreditation of Comscore’s ratings service could begin as soon as October.

Eight Kansas City TV stations – KMBC, KCWE, KCTV, KSMO, KSHB, KMCI, WDAF and KCPT – began broadcasting with NextGen TV (also known as ATSC 3.0).

Nexstar and SportsGrid, a streaming video network that provides extensive coverage of sports betting for all the major sports, announced a multi-year agreement to launch SportsGrid Network, a diginet devoted to sports wagering and fantasy sports.

According to Morning Consult, comfort with shopping malls remains down from July. 55% of U.S. adults said they feel safe going to a mall, a decline of 3 percentage points from last week and an overall drop of 11 points since a record high of 66% set in early July.

For the first six months of 2021, marketing spending from D2C companies rose to $4.34 billion, including print, digital and TV. Spending on TV accounted for $2.7 billion this year, and the renewal rates for those TV buys are really strong.

Five channels in Atlanta – WPCH, WGCL, WSB, WAGA, and WXIA – have their NEXTGEN TV signals up and running.

CBS News and Stations has launched CBSN Baltimore, the 12th of 13 local direct-to-consumer streaming news services within the group. WJZ Baltimore is the station behind CBSN Baltimore.

NBCUniversal promoted Will Gonzalez as executive VP and chief data officer for Peacock, a new post for the direct-to-consumer streaming service.

Nexstar appointed Stephen Eaton vice president and general manager of its broadcast and digital operations in Billings, Mont., overseeing ABC affiliate KSVI, yourbigsky.com and their related mobile and social media channels.

Beer advertising on linear TV in 2021 has risen 49% year-over-year through Aug. 15, with spending estimated at $525.8 million, according to data from iSpot.tv.

The U.S. online grocery market generated $6.7 billion in sales during July for an overall sales decline of 2%. According to Brick Meets Click/Mercatus, ship-to-home sales in July 2021 declined to $1.4 billion while the combined pickup/delivery segment remained steady at $5.3 billion for the third straight month.

As Nielsen awaits a decision on whether it will be granted a pause in the accreditation process for its national ratings services, or if its accreditation will be revoked, NBCUniversal is calling for the industry to find new, independent ways to measure audiences and the impact of advertising.

The number of pay-TV, SVOD, AVOD, TVOD and other video services that U.S. and Canadian consumers report using has shot up to 8.75, more than double the four reported in 2016, and significantly up over the 6.9 survey figure from Q4 of 2020, according to TiVo’s Video Trends Report.

In response to Nielsen’s MRC accreditation issues, the measurement company 605 says it is “a natural choice for those who are looking for a new television viewing measurement partner"

SpotGenie Partners, a provider of digital media services to the advertising, entertainment, and broadcast industries, has completed the integration between their video ad management and delivery platform and WideOrbit’s WO Traffic.

Nexstar has acquired The Hill for $130 million in a deal that the company hopes will create synergies between The Hill’s popular digital political news offerings and Nexstar’s extensive news operations.

Extreme Reach formed a partnership with BrightLine to create frictionless workflows as brands race to leverage the new personalized, interactive advertising and advanced ad formats in CTV/OTT environments.

The United States is more diverse and more multiracial than ever before, according to 2020 Census data. People of color represented 43% of the total US population in 2020, up from 34% in 2010. The non-Hispanic White share of the US population fell to 57% in 2020, shrinking by six percentage points since 2010.

Local TV station news organizations are stepping up to provide coverage on many of the tangled issues this year when it comes to ‘back to school’.

Six in 10 connected TV households now watch free, ad-supported streaming services on TV, according to a new report from TDG Research. Nearly a quarter of these households (24%) use such a service daily, 32% weekly, and 44% use one on a monthly or less frequent basis.

The U.S. ad economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 ad recession, expanding 43.3% in July and marking the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year growth, according to a MediaPost analysis of data from Standard Media Index.

Nielsen’s potential loss of its accreditation by the Media Rating Council as early as this week could fuel greater adoption of alternative measurement currencies that use advanced data and analytics rather than the traditional panel-based surveys the measurement giant is known for.

TVSquared, the ad measurement and attribution company, is working with AdImpact to provide real-time reach and frequency metrics for political ads on connected TV. Together they will be able to quantify incremental reach for CTV campaigns over linear and across platforms.

Retail sales were down 1.1% in July from June, but increased 9.5% year-over-year, the NRF said. The July figure compared with a month-over-month increase of 1.1% and a year-over-year increase of 12.8%.

According to Morning Consult, the share of adults who said they feel OK eating at a restaurant ticked up to 64% as of an Aug. 12-14 survey, that share is still 7 percentage points lower than it was in early July, when it reached a record high of 71% for two weeks in a row.

According to BIA Advisory Services, the healthcare sector is expected to grow to nearly $9.6 billion this year, up 8.7%, or $766.6 million, from 2020, and healthcare local ad spend will grow to almost $12 billion in the next four years.

U.S. retail sales fell more than expected in July as shortages depressed motor vehicle purchases and the boost to spending from the economy's reopening and stimulus checks faded, suggesting a slowdown in economic growth early in the third quarter.

Under well-deserved pressure from the VAB and the MRC, Nielsen is facing a potentially existential moment. It would do well not to revert to its usual defensive crouch and, instead, engage in a straightforward and transparent dialogue with its clients.

A paper in the Journal of Advertising Research discusses that sales for brands that stop broad-reach advertising for long periods declined immediately in the first year and every subsequent year without advertising.

Data from The Media Audit’s 2021 surveys indicates 90% or more of adults 18+ planning an HVAC project during the next 12 months watch TV daily.

According to a survey from Publicis Sapient, more than eight in 10 U.S. respondents plan to shop during the four-day period between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This includes 82% who will shop on Cyber Monday, 76% who will shop on Black Friday, and 55% who plan to shop the entire weekend.

Jay-Z, rapper and founder of entertainment company Roc Nation has joined sports-merchandise giant Fanatics in a bid to get into the mobile sports betting business in New York as the state opens its lucrative market.

In this TVNewsCheck video interview TVB President-CEO Steve Lanzano discuss persistent agency silos, audience measurement woes and automation resistance in the world of TV advertising.

Although Nielsen has requested that the accreditation of its national TV rating service be put on “hiatus,” the Media Rating Council, the media measurement certification group, says final approval for the stoppage requires “further consideration” by the full MRC board.

The Media Ratings Council, the media-industry body that measures the credibility of Nielsen’s ratings measurement suggested the company requested a hiatus from its industry accreditation knowing that its backing was already threatened by some deep-rooted, ongoing performance issues.

The Walt Disney Co. beat Wall Street expectations for its fiscal third quarter (ended July 3), as total company revenues rose 45% to $17 billion and it posted net income of $923 million. The Media and Entertainment Distribution segment saw revenues gain 18% to $12.7 billion.

Nielsen is moving forward without the backing of the Media Rating Council, the latest eyebrow-raising maneuver in a months-long feud between the media-measurement giant and the TV networks whose viewers it has counted for decades.

Comscore reached an agreement to integrate its Quick Score ratings product into WideOrbit’s media sales advertising platform. Quick Score delivers local TV ratings within three days. Previously, it took two weeks for stations to get audience data from Comscore.

Four network affiliates in Indianapolis, including WRTV, WTTK, WTHR, and WXIN, have launched NextGen TV broadcasts.

Meredith reported that its Local Media Group (station group) posted fiscal fourth quarter (ended June 30) revenue of $203.9 million, up 22% from $167.3 million in the same quarter a year ago.

Second quarter 2021 brought a 32% year-over-year revenue increase for Univision, which took in $700.2 million in the quarter, leading to net income rebounding from a $27.3 million loss in pandemic-stricken second quarter 2020 to a gain of $36.6 million this quarter.

Laura Gremelsbacker has been promoted to vice president of marketing and branding at NBCU’s WBTS and WNEU in Boston, as well as NBC Sports Boston and NECN, a 24-hour regional news network.

The recipients of TVNewsCheck’s annual Women in Technology Futurist Award — Universal Pictures’ Annie Chang and KNSD’s Donna Stewart — have shown exceptional abilities to anticipate technology trends and help their organizations pivot nimbly to meet them.

According to The Digital Entertainment Group, the total home entertainment spend was up 5.2% from the first half of 2020. The big winner, as expected, was subscription streaming, which posted a 21.4% gain to an estimated $12.2 billion.

TVNewsCheck named Graham Media Group as its Station Group of the Year for 2021, recognizing its early and aggressive strategy in content and platform experimentation with a view to longevity in a rapidly-changing industry.

NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises has launched a new Hispanic streaming division that will create content that will mostly live on Peacock, NBCU’s streaming service.

Nielsen and Meredith have reached a multiyear renewal agreement for Nielsen Local TV ratings. The agreement includes a range of audience measurement and analytical services across all Meredith’s local stations.

DraftKings agreed to buy Golden Nugget Online Gaming Inc. for about $1.56 billion in stock, a deal that would boost the sports-betting operator’s online-casino-games offering.

According to a study by Hub Entertainment Research, half of respondents said they’re watching the same amount of TV today compared to the height of the pandemic last year. A third of these respondents are watching even more TV.

QR codes became mainstream during the pandemic when restaurants began using the bar codes to allow diners touchless to menus. Now TV stations are finding that QR codes can be used to drive website traffic and app downloads.

The cocooning habit of staying in and watching TV will stick with some consumers, especially Home Audio equipment shoppers. 69% of these consumers spend at least three hours a day in front of their TVs and they’re 50% more likely to have taken action because of a TV ad they’ve seen in the past 30 days.

In Shopkick’s holiday shopping survey, 22% of consumers said they plan to shop earlier this year, with 25% expecting to do most of their shopping before Thanksgiving and 10% before Halloween.

Tegna released second quarter 2021 results that included total revenue of $733 million, up 27% year-over-year, driven by record second quarter subscription revenue and advertising and marketing services revenue.

KNXV in Phoenix, Arizona expands its social reach with a partnership with Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. For the station, the project is an opportunity to expand its on-air health franchise to new users on social media platforms.

According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, U.S. retail sales (excluding auto and gasoline) rose 10.9% in July over the year-ago period, and nearly quadruple the average growth in the month of July. In-store sales making up 81.9% of total retail sales for the month.

Fox has extended and expanded its relationship with Comscore. The deal comes as networks and distributors have criticized Nielsen for under-counting viewing during the pandemic.

Scripps announced second quarter results, including Local Media (its TV stations and local brands on all platforms) revenue of $325 million on an adjusted-combined basis, up 22% from the prior-year quarter.

Thanks to the ongoing evolution in modeling and advanced analytics, it’s now possible to reasonably attribute on-site activity back to a specific ad spot on linear TV. Advertisers get the insights digital media provides with the efficiency of reach that only linear TV can offer.

Gray announced that total revenue for 2Q of 2021 came in at $547 million, an increase of 21% from 2Q 2020. The primary components were: combined local and national broadcast ad revenue of $279 million and retransmission consent revenue of $242 million.

Graham Holdings Company on Wednesday released its second quarter results. Breaking out the Television Broadcasting arm, showing a 19% revenue increase, to $119.97 million from $100.76 million.

ViacomCBS’s advertising revenue, excluding streaming, rose 24% year-over-year in the second quarter, to $2.1 billion, driven by the return of sports programing and overall improvement in the ad market during the quarter.

Fox Corp.’s TV segment (Fox Network, O&O stations and Tubi streaming) led the company’s growth in the fiscal fourth quarter, ended June 30. Revenues were up 30% to $1.45 billion, with ad revenues shooting up 51% from the pandemic-impacted previous year to $668 million.

When an average CTV commercial of any length is repeated within five minutes, a viewer’s attention span -- eyes on the screen -- is just eight seconds -- an average of just 25% of the creative, TVision research says.

Tegna named Lisa Columbia president and general manager of WHAS-TV, Louisville, Kentucky.

DraftKings secured a multiyear partnership with data and technology company Genius Sports, which provides the Massachusetts-based fantasy sports and gaming operator with exclusive National Football League data to fuel a range of NFL betting options.

We are seeing some brands overlook traditional ad buys, opting for online campaigns exclusively. If this is you, you may be doing a disservice to your marketing efforts.

An unvaccinated viewer watching a newscast about the recent outbreak with the Delta variant on First Coast News in Jacksonville, Fla., says she was so “confident with the information it gave” that she scheduled and received a vaccine.

More than half (51%) of retailers surveyed by Korn Ferry in July said they were having moderate trouble hiring store employees, and 36% said they’re facing significant challenges.

Gray announced new positions for three of its human resources experts. Maurice Gibson is VP, employee relations. Keith Hildibrand becomes VP, benefits. Sylatha Taylor is now assistant vice president, benefits.

According to a Morning Consult/Adweek survey, 47 percent of the 695 parents and students surveyed said they intend to shop mostly in stores for supplies, compared to 17% who said they plan to shop primarily online.

NBCUniversal reported a gain in profits and revenues in the second-quarter, compared to a year ago when the worst effects of the pandemic were being felt, despite a drag from new streaming service Peacock.

Nexstar Media Group’s profits jumped as advertising rebounded from its pandemic lows a year ago. TV advertising revenue was up 35% to $432 million. Core advertising revenue--excluding political advertising--was up 42% to $423 million.

According to eMarketer e-commerce will account for 18.9% of total holiday sales this year, reaching $206.88 billion. That’s up from 17.5% in 2020, when e-commerce sales hit $878.26 billion.

David Taylor directly attributed P&G’s top-line growth over the past five years -- an increase from 2% to 6% annually -- to marketing investments touting the company’s innovations.

Gray is now the owner of the Quincy stations not spun to Allen Media Group. And, it formally marks the end of an era — and the leadership of Ralph Oakley.

Gray promoted Charity Holman to general manager of its NBC affiliate WVVA Bluefield, W.Va.

Hearst promoted Baylor Long, assistant news director at WTAE Pittsburgh, to news director at WVTM Birmingham, Ala.

According to data from The Media Audit, TV is where very large majorities of fans prefer to watch their favorite teams. Although this correlation is well-established, this combination is where advertisers can engage with younger adults who are often difficult to reach on linear TV programming.

Callie Starnes was named station manager at WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee, owned by Sarkes Tarzian, and will become general manager at the end of the year.

Univision appointed key leaders to its streaming leadership team, following the recent announcement of a comprehensive global streaming service that will feature both free ad-supported and premium subscription-based offerings.

According to a survey from LivePerson, 57% of respondents plan to conduct the majority of their holiday shopping online.

NBCUniversal Local reached an agreement to acquire the TV stations in Albuquerque, N.M., owned by Ramar Communications.

The Boston Red Sox and DraftKings announced a deal making DraftKings the official Daily Fantasy Sports provider of the franchise. The agreement reinforces DraftKings’ existing relationship with one of the most storied teams in baseball.

DraftKings and national entertainment concept, Sports & Social, announced a strategic new relationship to create upscale Sports & Social/DraftKings sports bars beginning in the Nashville and Detroit markets, pending regulatory approvals.

The US economy in the second quarter expanded at its fastest pace since last fall, growing at a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 6.5%. In terms of real gross domestic product the economy has now recovered in that it has grown bigger than its pre-pandemic size.

NBCUniversal has pushed a significant amount of its 2021 Tokyo Olympics coverage to Peacock and it's driving demand for the app. According to analytics firm App Annie, Peacock has seen a 60% bump in U.S. app downloads during the first week of the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

The Department of Justice have given its nod to Gray’s $925 million deal to acquire Quincy Media. The decision marks the first by the Biden-era DOJ on a major deal in the media industry.

According to a survey by Rakuten, 89% of respondents will do at least some back-to-school shopping online, and 87% will do at least some online. A leading 36% of respondents intended to start back-to-school shopping in July, and 26% had started in June or earlier.

“Testimonials are your best research audience,” says Kristin Joyal, marketing director for WTLV and WJXX in Jacksonville, Fla. “It doesn’t get more honest or closer to the truth at a time when people demand it.”

According to the data from Hub Research’s annual Monetization of Video study, almost twice as many consumers chose the service with tiered options (36%) as the service with a limited-ad option only (19%).

Publicis Media's Zenith unit revised its year-end 2020 ad outlook up significantly for the U.S. and worldwide ad spending growth. The 2021 U.S. ad growth consensus jumps to +14.6% from +12.2% previously.

According to a survey from Sensormatic Solutions, 76% of consumers plan to shop in-store this year. The survey reveals a return to pre-pandemic shopping habits for the 2021 back-to-school season.

Nexstar appointed Lee Ann Gliha executive vice president and chief financial officer.

According to a survey of retailers from RetailMeNot, 80% of respondents say their company is ready for back-to-school, significantly higher than those who said the same in 2020 (65%), during peak stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Audiences want more control over the digital advertising they see, and want to get more in exchange for the ads they are shown, according to a survey by Magna and Brave. Most people don’t love or trust the ads they are served, with 80% saying they don’t trust online ads.

Nexstar Media today promoted Ron Romines senior vice president and regional manager, overseeing the company’s broadcast and digital operations in various markets across the country.

Telemundo’s WRMD Tampa, Fla., appointed Rafael Perez-Narvaez news director.

Local TV advertising revenues are expected to be $16.2 billion in 2021, down 13% from $18.6 billion during the 2020 election year, and expected to rebound to $19.3 billion in 2022, a 19% gain, according to a revised forecast from BIA Advisory Services.

According to Quantum Metric, online will remain the main method for completing holiday shopping in 2021. 81% of respondents did more than half of their 2020 holiday shopping online and plan to purchase the same amount, if not more, of their gifts online during the upcoming holiday season.

NBCUniversal Local rolled out new mobile apps for its NBC and Telemundo stations promising twice the speed, a newsfeed more quickly responsive to the news cycle, much more weather data and a dedicated video hub.

Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit hired John Lee as chief data officer, a newly created post at the company’s advertising and partnerships division.

Cox Media Group Local Solutions announced a strategic initiative with Amazon Advertising that will let CMG Local Solutions advertisers reach local audiences with Amazon Advertising digital offerings.

NBCUniversal will incorporate Ad-ID -- an industrywide tool for standardizing and evaluating advertising assets -- into its media platform, becoming the first major media company to do so.

The TV networks and distributors represented by the VAB are calling on the Media Rating Council to suspend the accreditation of Nielsen’s national ratings service, saying the ratings agency hasn't made changes since undercounting TV homes during the pandemic.

Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle shares new details about the pace of the rollouts, and the increase of ATSC 3.0 signals in the Phoenix Model Market.

Zenreach determined that returns to retail by consumers rose sharply in Q1 and then moved up by 12% in the last two months.

The highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19 doesn’t pose an immediate risk to the strength of the U.S. economic recovery, with analysts expecting a robust expansion to continue in the second half of the year.

Back-to-school shopping is projected to top pre-pandemic levels and reach a record-breaking $108 billion as an increasing number of students and families prepare for in-person instruction this fall, according to the NRF.

Elections this year and next will see political ad expenditures of roughly $9 billion, more than doubling the amount spent in the 2018 midterm cycle. Even with the growth of digital advertising, broadcast TV remains the dominant platform for political ads.

Univision named new appointments to, and a redesign of, its corporate leadership structure. Together with the existing leadership team, these executives will drive Univision’s next phase of transformation for the future combined company of Televisa-Univision.

According to the Media Audit, apartment renters are likely to benefit from the current increase in job openings and hiring incentives, and many will choose to move for better opportunities — and TV is where they will find their new home.