Industry News

Journalism programs at colleges and universities need to improve and modernize, and stations need to make the jobs more appealing, while also offering better onboarding and training for those with little or no experience.

The extension will keep him in charge of the trade association through 2029.

E.W. Scripps today appointed James Galindo station manager for KERO, its ABC affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif. As station manager, he will lead the day-to-day operations and serve as director of sales.

Fresh off a historic WNBA draft night and broad fan excitement for one of the league’s most successful franchises, the Indiana Fever and Tegna today announced a partnership to broadcast select Fever games during the 2024 season. Seventeen games will be shown for free over the air on WTHR or WALV, Tegna’s NBC and MeTV affiliates in Indianapolis.

Black says before becoming WJZ’s news director, she was the managing editor for several decades and during that time, “one of the things I did was make sure that I had a big breaking news plan. Part of that plan was making sure you had a crew that you could contact at any hour of the day, and they will mobilize,” Black says.

In this role, Porter will partner with ​the Ad Sales organization to drive revenue growth across the WBD portfolio of streaming, digital and linear platforms.

This year's NAB Show represented a bit of a turning point for the standard, as an impressive stack of new partnerships, product launches, and viewing-facing features were announced - the sheer volume of which hints at real momentum in the months ahead.

Although live sports continue to see more exposure on streaming networks, linear TV still dominates among brands when it comes to sports programming, securing 90% of all advertising placements, according to SponsorUnited.

After a quieter-than-expected primary season led to 2024 election cycle spending sliding behind the pace of spending four years ago, the current electoral battle is back in the lead.

Jacobs told the audience at NAB that “local” needs to go far beyond things like the news, sports and weather, and that those who fail to embrace that understanding aren’t truly fulfilling their mission.

Michael Newman, Graham Media Group director of transformation, says: “Bitmovin is a well-known player in the video streaming industry and our top choice for a technical partner as we seek to expand our audience reach by offering game-changing viewing experiences powered by high-quality streams that drive viewing engagement.

In the past 12 months, ATSC 3.0 has been launched in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, bringing at least 75 percent of U.S. households within reach of NextGen TV.

The project “will deliver an invaluable overview of a market in transition, as industry participants work to improve existing offerings, develop completely novel solutions to market needs, invest in pioneering new products and services, and look to leverage new technologies to support the market.

Lawrence Yoon, a media analyst at Bernstein, emphasizes that despite the rise of digital media, linear TV remains the primary channel for mass marketing and a crucial asset for traditional players.

The initial six stations are WNBC (NBC) and WNJU (Telemundo) New York, KNBC Los Angeles, WCAU in Philadelphia and WTVJ (NBC) and WSCV (Telemundo) Miami.

eMarketer reports that Nielsen will be the primary currency this upfront season. For all its faults, Nielsen’s legacy panel-based currency is entrenched. It’s the only one of the three options Nielsen will offer that’s currently accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC).

Local television station owners including Gray Television, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Hearst Television, Tegna and the E.W. Scripps Co. have invested in the ATSC 3.0 Framework Authority, whose Run3TV platform can provide detailed data about over-the-air broadcast viewership.

Despite the gloom and doom about linear television, advertisers still aren’t ready to shift a lot of ad dollars to streaming. The iSpot survey found that 27% of advertisers plan to spend either a bit more or much more during this year’s upfront, compared to last year. 

The women's NCAA College Basketball Championship topped a new record with 18.7 million viewers in early Nielsen TV-measured viewing -- the highest ever for a women's U.S. basketball game and best ever for a college or pro, men's or women's basketball game since 2019.

Five of the stations that will appear on Frndly TV are owned by E.W. Scripps. Frndly previously made a deal to carry Scripps multicast networks including Bounce, Ion, Grit, Laff and Court TV.

According to Magid, interest in women’s college basketball grew by 50%, to 18% of respondents in the Magid AD.VANTAGE survey from 12% last May.

NBCUniversal said it has sold $1.2 billion worth of advertising in the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, putting it on track to be the gold medal winner for most ad revenue ever generated by an Olympic Games.

The National Association of Automotive Dealers says local car dealers spent four percent more on advertising last year, with dealers spending a combined $8.9 billion. That was a $330 million increase compared to what was invested on marketing a year earlier, and an increase of $1.4 billion from the low point in 2020.

“Fast-growing audiences are watching at a high clip, and subsequently, women’s sports programming is in the ranks with some of the highest rated broadcasts overall,” said Denise Ocasio, Executive Director of Investment, GroupM US. “Advertising alongside women’s sports works.”

It’s a good time to be in the women’s sports business, and during the upcoming upfront, the E.W. Scripps Co. will be pushing its WNBA and NWSL franchise nights as a way to get more advertisers spending more money on Ion and its other television properties.

The implosion of the regional sports network business has allowed local broadcasters to step into the breach with live local pro-sports telecasts. “It’s a revamped approach to how these games are being distributed — you have increased viewership and increased value for your ad inventory with the [broadcast] business model,” Berke said. “Then you add streaming in to maintain your revenue growth and the value of the franchise going forward.”

As anticipation builds for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris, NBCUniversal has unveiled plans for an extensive live coverage bonanza, featuring over 200 hours of action-packed programming.

What can station and station groups do to get more political dollars? Steve Passwaiter’s advice is to play the long game. “Attention means money. There’s a big opportunity this year from the local market down ballot contests.”

If television wants to again attract the best and brightest, as well as retain the best of our current work force, the industry must offer a future that young people can get excited about. That will only happen if one leader steps forward and decides to create that future.

The $14 million fall ad buy from Rosen comes after Cook Political Report moved the race, which could determine control of the chamber, to a toss-up on Wednesday.

The JIC aside, currency providers agree they need more first-party data to ensure they have statistically significant and consistent forecasting capabilities for streaming campaigns.

According to local media forecasters BIA Advisory Services, local is still very much where the action is for political advertising - with linear broadcast TV alone projected to command a nearly $5 billion windfall before 2024 is done and dusted.

Those assigned to cover what Scientific American has dubbed “The Great American Total Solar Eclipse of 2024” will have a few tech, organizational and distribution improvements to enhance their coverage and reach viewers.

WISH and WNDY Indianapolis will be the official broadcast partners with the United Soccer League’s Indy Eleven for the 11th year in a row. Fans will have a free over-the-air option to watch all 20 matches this year, including the 17 home games at IU Indianapolis Carroll Stadium. 

ONE Media’s Jerald Fritz says that NextGen broadcasting provides new essential tools for broadcasters to serve their viewers as well as generate new revenue streams. He thinks we need to fast track the effort to bring that to the market.

The U.S. Joint Industry Committee (JIC) this morning announced Comscore and VideoAmp have received full certification as a transactional currency for the U.S. advertising marketplace.

Just as rural and disadvantaged urban households have been sustained by the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) support, the program has also benefited broadcasters and digital content purveyors, which have been able to reach larger audiences with their video content. At the same time, however, the digital divide has shifted—today the digital divide is as much about content affordability as much as it is internet access.

The board of directors of ATSC, the broadcast standards association, has named Dr. Paul Hearty of Samsung Electronics as chair of the ATSC technology group that oversees the ATSC 3.0 suite of standards.

Nielsen is incorporating big data from Dish Network, DirecTV, Roku, Vizio and Comcast into its new measurement systems.

This year is shaping up to be a “historically expensive” election, according to AdImpact. The political ad tracking firm says candidates have already placed $540.9 million in future ad reservations

In last week’s TV Tech Summit keynote, NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt discussed NextGen TV, diversity and concerns over how generative AI could impact local communities.

CBS retained Gray Television’s in-house news research and consulting group, Strategic Insights & Activation Team (Strat Team), as a provider of market research and news consulting services to all 14 CBS owned and operated television stations. The first-of-its-kind partnership began on April 1.

Scripps, like other station groups, is capitalizing on sports teams’ desires to maintain broad local coverage, in this case with new deals involving the NHL’s Las Vegas Golden Knights and Phoenix Coyotes. Other recent high-profile local station sports partnerships include Tegna’s with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks, and Gray Television’s with that league’s Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks, and New Orleans Pelicans.

The Elite Eight game between NC State and Duke produced the largest audience for an Easter Sunday telecast on any network in 11 years. The Wolfpack’s 76-64 victory over the Blue Devils in the South Region final averaged 15.1 million viewers on CBS, according to Nielsen.

With projected 2024 political ad spend estimates ranging from $10-$16 billion, Passwaiter notes that there's already big money having gone to Senate races, such as the $200 million spent in Ohio on Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown and several Republican candidates.

It is predicting local TV/video ad sales to spike by 26% to $23 billion in 2024.

A record high 39% of US consumers said they were considering purchasing life insurance within the year, per a 2023 Limra study. To capitalize on the opportunity, insurers must understand who their prospects are, how to reach them, what they want, and what’s preventing them from pulling the trigger.

NextGen TV has been on the air in Detroit for more than three years. At this point, not too many people are tuning in, but broadcasters there are using the market as a laboratory, testing features and getting ready for when more viewers are paying attention.

Gray Television today announced a multi-year agreement with the Arena Football League to bring Saturday arena football games over-the-air to local audiences in at least 34 markets across the United States. The first AFL games on Gray’s television stations will air on Saturday, April 27, and continue for the 10-week 2024 AFL season.

Nielsen has a multi-year renewal with Circle City Broadcasting, Indiana's only locally owned and operated broadcast and digital news media network, for Local TV measurement. As part of the new agreement, Circle City will also use Nielsen’s Local Over the Top (OTT) measurement, which measures local audiences across both streaming apps and linear television.

President Biden is seeking to find ways to lure swing state voters without just relying on the national media. And increasingly, he’s going local. During recent stops in key states including Wisconsin and North Carolina, the Biden campaign has made it a point to spend time with local outlets.

Local broadcast television is still the primary and preferred way viewers watch sports. That’s the leading conclusion from a TVB-commissioned 5,000-respondent sports survey conducted by Dynata that identifies the top media platforms Americans are using to watch or listen to sports — including traditional linear media, streaming and digital platforms.

Speaking at the ANA Media Conference, Trisha Ripperger, CMO of the Tom Wood Group, a Midwest dealer group, noted that the company’s target is people 45 and up. So the dealership group focuses on local TV, though Ripperger said she sets aside 10% of the budget for connected TV, largely to reach younger buyers with an eye toward long-term brand building.

The U.S. ad market expanded at its greatest rate in nearly two years in February -- increasing 10.4% over February 2023, according to the latest monthly installment of Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker.

Leagues like the WNBA and the National Women’s Soccer League have recently signed new television rights deal and are open to new sponsorship opportunities. Women’s college basketball drew a huge audience when Caitlin Clark of Iowa broke the college scoring record. Nearly all categories that currently advertise in men’s sports could sponsor women’s sports as well.

Local reporters, anchors and news helicopters played an invaluable role in telling the story of Tuesday morning’s shocking disaster in Baltimore, proving once more their value as a signal amid the noise.

The ATSC 3.0 transition is stalled. A new public-private partnership could jump start it.

Despite the ability to deliver more personalized content promotions online, linear TV appears to be more effective at introducing new content via its promotional strategies than streaming services have been where users are relying more on external recommendations. The inability to connect consumers with the content they like is contributing to churn, according to Hub.

Through the first five days of NCAA “March Madness” averaged 9.0 million Nielsen-measured across CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV, according to the NCAA -- the best results ever for the tournament over that period. Thursday's first-round game average of 8.5 million viewers was up 1% from a year ago (8.4 million) -- the most-watched opening day of the first round since 2015.

U.S. ad industry revenue should grow a bit more this quarter and year than previously expected thanks to improved economic conditions and forecasts, Madison and Wall’s Brian Wieser said in a new report. The industry analyst now expects 5.6% growth in 2024, up from a prior 5.2% annual growth forecast.

Steve Lanzano, president and CEO of the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB), the broadcast industry trade association, projected political campaigns would deliver a $10.2 billion infusion into the media economy, more than 10% higher than the last presidential cycle.

A U.S. District Court judge in New York has ruled in favor of Nexstar, dismissing DirecTV’s assertions that the broadcast TV station owner engaged in actions in violation of U.S. antitrust laws.

Chastity Scott, WFXG general manager, said: “Chris brings over 20 years of experience in the news business. He is a proven leader who has a knack for creative thinking. Chris is a well-respected and empathetic leader.”

The 2024 Election Toolkit assets help broadcasters serve their communities in the lead-up to Election Day on November 5. The toolkit includes information on identifying false statements online, examples of broadcasters’ work combating misinformation, voter registration resources and guides for finding local polling places.

The automaker is entering its fourth year as an NCAA corporate partner of March Madness for both the men’s and women’s tournaments.

Programmatic buying, a way to reduce friction and automate many aspects of the ad process, is coming to the Olympics for the first time this summer with the Paris Games. Through a partnership with The Trade Desk, NBCU is opening up private marketplace, biddable access for advertisers, from the U.S. Olympic Trials to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Comscore’s system for measuring national and local household-level TV viewing has been accredited by the Media Rating Council. At a time when measurement companies are scrambling to offer alternatives to Nielsen, which has dominated the TV ratings business, Comscore becomes the first to win what is considered the industry’s Good Housekeeping seal of approval for a methodology that employs big data from set-top boxes and smart TVs to analyze the current more fragmented viewing environment.

In the past two weeks, $109.1 million in political ads have been tracked. AdImpact says it continues to see strong spending in the competitive U.S. Senate races where local broadcasters typically pull in more ad dollars.

Local media leads truth and accuracy in Washington state, according to a recent statewide media study, conducted by SmithGeiger for the Washington State Association of Broadcasters.

Consumer spending is expected to reach a total of $22.4 billion on Easter (March 31) this year, according to the annual survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The figure is the second highest in the survey’s history, after last year’s record-setting $24 billion when the holiday fell nine days later in the year.

Sean McNamara is the new news director at KDVR and KWGN, Nexstar’s Fox and CW affiliates in Denver. McNamara joins from WDAF, Nexstar’s Fox in Kansas City where he was the news director since 2019.

The takeaway for broadcasters is linear TV and websites work well together in serving the public and advertisers alike. Just as important is the effect the combination has on reach. Combining the reach of broadcast websites and broadcast television extends total reach by 4%.

With March Madness just around the corner, Edo’s “Women’s Sports TV Outcomes Report” highlights the growing opportunity for advertisers in women’s sports programming.

The Broadcasters Foundation of America announced the recipients of the 2024 Leadership Awards. Leadership Awards are given annually in recognition of career contributions to the broadcast industry and the community at-large.

Consumer spending bounced back in February from a January dip, with a little help from leap day. But sales still registered good gains even after correcting for that extra spending day.

BIA Advisory Services has updated its outlook for 2024, and it expects total local ad spending to increase 9.3% vs. last year.

ABC's “The 96th Academy Awards” telecast grew 4% to 19.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen, over last year. The event also posted the strongest results in four years. Nielsen says the show earned a 3.81 rating among adult 18-49 viewers.

According to a study by TVB, TV broadcast advertising has the highest reach of all ad types. And it’s not an insignificant lead.

While Biden and Trump are pulling all the focus, presidential campaigns aren’t driving most spending on TV stations this election year. Instead, down-ballot Senate, House, gubernatorial and other campaigns, and issues such as immigration and abortion are what will be bringing in the bucks.

The Nielsen report confirms what we know, adults in the U.S. still spend more time with traditional TV than TV-connected devices.

There is every reason for advertisers to lean into their DEI goals and prioritize fair representation. While including multicultural and diverse talent in ad creatives is extremely important, it's only one of many steps that advertisers should take to ensure that they are actually reaching diverse audiences effectively.

Senior Biden campaign officials rolled out a $30 million TV and digital ad buy as part of an aggressive attempt to capitalize on the momentum from the State of the Union address.

Jamie Novogrod has been named assistant news director for KNBC and Telemundo 52 (KVEA) in Los Angeles. Novogrod will report to Marina Perelman, vice president of news for NBC4, and Mike Gaytán, vice president of news for Telemundo 52. His first day with the stations will be Monday, March 11.

New light-vehicle sales for February 2024 exceeded expectations. February 2024’s SAAR totaled 15.8 million units, up 6.3% from February 2023 and up 6% from January 2024, which had seen a 10-month low.

Does TV still influence consumers? Yes, according to TV advertising association, TVB. It says local TV news programs are the most trusted -- slightly more than network TV news networks.

Global advertising and marketing spending totaled $1.631 trillion in media. For 2024, that will be even higher, as PQ Media projects total media spending will grow “at a more robust” 7.7% in 2024.

TV and radio industry leaders gathered at New York’s Plaza hotel Monday to celebrate the careers of two of their own and to remind the industry of one of its most beloved charities. Jordan Wertlieb, Hearst Corp. EVP and COO, took the center of attention as recipient of the Broadcasters Foundation of America’s 34th annual Golden Mic Award.

The U.S. has once again begun increasing its share of global advertising and marketing spending, according to a just-released forecast from the media economists at PQ Media. This year, PQ projects the U.S. will account for a 39.7% share of the global marketplace, up more 38.6% share in 2018.

Ford Motor Co reported a 10.5% rise in U.S. sales for February, helped by sustained demand for family crossover SUVs, pickup trucks and hybrid vehicles. Sales of its SUVs were up about 22% to 76,403 units.

According to Rossum, a provider of intelligent document processing, $62.7M has been spent on TV by political campaigns in the past six months

Broadcast stations are looking to keep more of their distribution revenue by changing the way they pay networks for programming — especially sports — to a variable payment model from a fixed reverse-compensation fee.

TEGNA-owned WFAA-8, the ABC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth, shared the news that it will serve as the originating station for Dallas Mavericks telecasts.

Nexstar Media Group filed the action in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, faulting the Federal Communications Commission for freezing or tightening TV station ownership rules in disregard of controlling law that points to deregulation as competition to broadcasting takes hold.

Comscore said that it reached a multi-year agreement to provide local cross-platform measurement for Tegna in all of the 51 markets where Tegna has television stations.

Television is the most important influencer at all stages of the purchase funnel, and holds true across all key age groups and ethnicities. That’s a key conclusion from the TVB’s just-released 2024 Purchase Funnel Study, conducted by GfK for the association.

Increased incentive spending, a sharp rebound in inventory and demand for hybrids helped five of the seven automakers still reporting monthly sales to post solid gains in February, even as a few brands slipped.

The DVR specification is designed to work in concert with A3SA’s earlier established Broadcaster Encoding Rules, which govern how broadcasters can use the A3SA security technology with ATSC 3.0 content that is simulcast with corresponding ATSC 1.0 content, allowing viewers to decode and record broadcasts, make unlimited copies without expiration dates, and use common features like pause, rewind and fast-forward. The A3SA Encoding Rules also prevent downgrading of picture quality when connecting to legacy television sets.

Carmona, an award-winning professional with more than 15 years of experience in local media, has been an integral part of Telemundo Las Vegas since 2016. In her new capacity, she will oversee the station’s news content and operations, guiding the cross-platform news team to deliver the most relevant local coverage to the community.

In releasing the Broadcaster’s Policy Agenda, the NAB also highlighted the importance of the industry. It noted that 97% of all Americans watched or listened to a broadcast TV or radio station, that 2.52 million jobs were created by the broadcast industry, and that 63.4 million Americans access broadcast TV via an antenna.

Starting on May 15, the Atlanta Dream‘s non-national exclusive games will air locally on WPCH-17 “Peachtree TV” and across the region on the network. “We are thrilled to partner with Gray Television to get the Atlanta Dream into even more households across our state and the Southeast region,” Dream President and Chief Operating Officer Morgan Shaw Parker said. “We believe that 2024 is going to be the most exciting season yet for the Dream. The atmosphere inside our arena is the best in the WNBA, and we are excited to have a television partner who can help us bring that experience to an even bigger audience.”

A newly created position of Chief Growth Officer has just been filled at broadcast TV station ownership group TEGNA by Tom Cox. With his promotion, Daniel Spinosa will rise from Chief Financial Officer at Premion and will now serve as its President, reporting to Cox.

2024 has gotten off on an upward start, with U.S. ad spending rising 4.3% over January 2023, according to just-updated data from Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker. Sequentially, January was the 10th consecutive month to post a gain, signaling an end to the U.S. ad recession beginning with the second quarter of 2023.

Nielsen will be providing clients with second-by-second reporting with the option for advertisers/agencies to maintain C3/C7 ACM metrics. During the past few years, second-level measurement has gained traction with publishers and media agencies executing TV buys using data sourced from alt currency firms including VideoAmp, iSpot.tv and Comscore.

This year should continue to improve as the tightened budgets of late 2022 and throughout last year start to loosen.

Total U.S. TV station advertising revenue -- core national, local advertising and digital-- is expected to climb 14% to $24.8 billion this year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence

A new 2024 analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Kagan unit finds that the U.S. broadcast station industry is expected to reach $36.68 billion in total advertising revenue in 2024. This represents an 8.4% increase from $33.84 billion in 2023. The local ad market for broadcast television continues to be stronger than the national side of the spot ad business for 2024.

“Providing access to games has always been our top priority,” said Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall. “We are thrilled to work with additional Tegna stations to bring more fun and excitement to our MFFLs [Mavs fans for life] across Texas.” The move comes as more teams are putting games on broadcast because regional sports networks on cable are losing subscribers because of cord cutting.

Advertisers can optimize digital ads alongside linear campaigns in flight. “Comscore has delivered a true cross-platform solution that measures audiences at the hyper-local level, enabling our clients to advertise nationally and optimize locally," Comscore chief commercial officer Steve Bagdasarian said.

Record expenditures expected in the fight for control of the White House and Congress. One of Ambassador Haley’s SuperPACs, the SFA Fund, leads all Republican presidential advertisers in mid-February and has so far laid out more than $50 million across CTV, broadcast TV, cable/satellite TV, radio, Facebook and Google. President Trump’s primary SuperPAC, Make America Great Again, has spent about $40 million. All that SuperPAC spending at open rates makes local cable, radio and TV owners happy.

Ad Fontes Media, which rates news for bias and reliability, has integrated its rating data with The Trade Desk’s programmatic buying technology. The arrangement allows advertisers to direct their ad spend dollars toward worthy journalistic sites, while screening out partisan, AI and clickbait websites, the firms say.

Introducing Coyotes Central, a creation of streaming company Kiswe and the division of The E.W. Scripps Co. led by Brian Lawlor. The partnership “heralds a new era” for the Arizona Coyotes, as it brings all locally broadcast games of the team “directly to fans across Arizona.”

The Chief Financial Officer of Gray Television has notified the company co-led by Pat LaPlatney and Hilton Howell Jr. that he will voluntarily retire — but not until after 2025

Amid an industry-wide slowdown in electric vehicle demand, Ford’s EV sales fell 11 percent in January. “We are adjusting pricing for 2023 models as we continue to adapt to the market to achieve the optimal mix of sales growth and customer value,” Ford said in the statement.

The two startups are burning through cash as they pivot to higher volume models. Rivian plans to launch its R2 platform for more affordable vehicles at an event on March 7, and Lucid plans to launch its Gravity crossover this year, tapping into the bigger utility market after lackluster demand for the Air.

The highly anticipated showdown in Las Vegas surpassed the previous most-watched Super Bowl in history, a record set just last year when the Chiefs mounted a second half comeback to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles in front of 115 million viewers. The audience for Super Bowl LVIII was so large that it approached the all-time most watched television broadcast in the United States set in 1969, when an estimated 125 to 150 million viewers watched the Apollo 11 moon landing.

The purchase grants the retailer access to data, more space to sell ads as it eyes growth beyond selling goods.

Nexstar Media Group has named Chris Pruitt vice president and general manager of its broadcast and digital operations in Springfield, Mo. (DMA 73), responsible for the long-range planning and day-to-day operations of KRBK (Fox), KOZL (MNT), Ozarksfirst.com, and their related digital and social media channels.

Despite years of talk about a multi-currency TV measurement world, Nielsen has done a good job of ensuring it remains the dominant player in the U.S. market, even if it has meant cutting more favorable deals for networks that long labored under onerous multi-year contracts.

Audience measurement and consumer intelligence company Nielsen has secured a multi-market renewal with Morgan Murphy Media, the Madison, Wisc.-based television and radio company.

Despite the unquestionable growth of these platforms, television remains a vital source of news, entertainment and ad content. The findings of a new TVB survey reveal broadcast television offers the broadest reach of any media platform and that people spend more time watching linear TV than other alternatives. Local TV news also is regarded as the most trusted source of news when compared to other platforms—even among streamers.

A lot of people reported having issues with Paramount Plus live-streaming the Super Bowl. By the very nature of bandwidth concerns, server requirements and other aspects of the technical side of streaming live sports, these Super Bowl woes are just further evidence that cord-cutting isn't necessarily the optimal way to watch live sports.

Add a Gray Television broadcast television station serving Cleveland to the list of free-to-air offerings that will be bringing regular-season National Basketball Association games to fans across the local viewing area without the need to pay to view it. The company’s affiliate for The CW Network in Cleveland, WUAB-43, is teaming up with the Cleveland Cavaliers for five home games.

The receiver joins the roster of some 100 NEXTGEN TV products expected to be available this year for consumers interested in upgrading to receive the new services from broadcasters, coast-to-coast, NEXTGEN TV marketing organization Pearl TV shared on Tuesday.

Taking the top role for WCIA-3, the Nexstar-owned CBS affiliate in the market, and MyNetwork-affiliated sibling WCIX-49, is Angie Salas.

While nothing can match the pure reach of a national broadcast ad in the Super Bowl, some brands are drawn to regional broadcast options that allow them to reach more specific target audiences for their brands. Rob Davis, CMO and president of Novus, an independent agency specializing in customized and localized media plans and buys, claims he's seen an increased interest in such alternatives to the national Big Game ads in recent years.

With the Chiefs needing nearly all of a 15-minute overtime period to vanquish San Francisco, the network was able to run an additional 10 commercials, generating an extra $60 million in revenue, according to figures reported by Sportico.

Cox Automotive said vehicle inventory stood at 2.55 million in its latest estimate, a 75-day supply, down slightly from 2.7 million the previous month but still 819,000 vehicles — or 47% — higher than a year earlier.

Sunday night’s overtime Super Bowl shattered ratings records. An audience of 123.4 million watched the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers, according to preliminary figures from Nielsen and CBS, which broadcast the game. That figure easily eclipsed last year’s record high of 115.1 million, when Kansas City defeated the Philadelphia Eagles.

José Alberto Suárez will now serve as President/General Manager of Telemundo Station Group’s WTMO-31 in Orlando, WRMD-49 in Tampa and WWDT-CD 43 in the fast-growing Fort Myers-Naples-Bonita Springs market.

The TVision Attention Index -- which measures viewers in the room watching -- shows a 118.4 index, which compares to an overall linear TV attention index of 100. Largely due to Super Bowl parties, the number of viewers per viewing household was at 2.1 versus overall average TV index of 1.4.

Viewership of of Super Bowl LVIII rose 6% to 39 million U.S. households according to measurement company Samba TV. The household number was the highest in six years, Samba TV said. The audience for the halftime show starring Usher increased 5% to 30.1 million households. Samba's early numbers count TV households. Later on Nielsen and other measurement companies will release their estimates of how many people watched the game, either at home or out-of-home.

The National Football League’s Super Bowl LVIII attracted 39 million U.S. households -- up 6% from the prior year, reaching the highest Super Bowl viewership seen in the past six years, according to Samba TV. It was not only the game that attracted viewers A total of 30.1 million U.S. households watched the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show, up 5% from the prior year, Samba's data shows.

The spot, just before the highly anticipated halftime show, generated fervor on social media and was the first political ad of the big game broadcast. The ad cost $7 million, PAC co-chair Tony Lyons confirmed to The Hill.

The 30-second commercial debuts during the big game via broadcast, cable and CTV in select markets. Additional markets will air a 60-second spot with more reasons to visit the state. Priority markets include Denver, Minneapolis, Omaha, Des Moines and Kansas City, Missouri.

Circle City Broadcasting’s CW affiliate WISH Indianapolis today said that Brady Gibson is being promoted to news director. He will oversee the more than 70 hours of local news produced by WISH each week. Gibson has been assistant news director since 2019.

Even if Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are able to juice subscriber additions by bundling the new service with existing streaming services Disney+, Hulu and Max, EW Scripps CEO Adam Symson noted the service should be viewed by investors as supportive of broadcast stations.

The Milwaukee Bucks are returning to broadcast television in the Quad Cities as part of a new agreement with Tegna’s ABC affiliate WQAD. These games will be available to nearly 240,000 homes and more than 384,000 people in the market. Games will air on WQAD 8.3 through its free, HD over-the-air broadcasts and through the channel’s distribution with cable services.

Rick Rogala today was appointed president and general manager of WBNS, Tegna’s CBS affiliate in Columbus, Ohio, effective Feb. 26. He will be responsible for the station’s operations across all platforms, as well as community outreach efforts and driving results for advertisers. He will also have oversight for WBNS-AM-FM and ONN Radio (Ohio News Network).

Peacock will not be the lone destination for NBCUniversal local station content such as news programming, as NBC and Telemundo local FAST channels will also launch on Pluto TV later this year.

Sports TV ad spend for programming/content was up 4%. Looking more granularly: NFL programming ad spend grew 15%; NBA was 17% higher.

The Super Bowl stands alone as a mass-marketing opportunity on television. A decade ago, the average cost of a 30-second spot was $4 million; a decade before that, it was $2.4 million. Analysts say the rise is a result of supply and demand: With a fixed amount of time and advertising spots for each Super Bowl broadcast, the competition is fierce.

A lot of the political spending so far has been tied to the presidential race, but Ad tracking firm, Ad Impact, says it has seen an uptick in pre-booking ads among several key U.S. Senate races.

Viewers in America’s third-largest television market can now experience the future of broadcast television as five stations join to launch NextGen TV technology, also known as ATSC 3.0. Switching on the new transmission standard are CBS’s WBBM-TV (CBS); Fox’s WFLD (Fox); NBC’s WMAQ (NBC); Nexstar’s WGN (independent); and Univision’s WGBO (Univision).

Amid a potential sea of sameness in Super Bowl advertising this year, United Airlines is flying a different route. Instead of spending $7 million on one national TV spot, the carrier is investing in six regional ads, five tailored to different cities and one for certain general market areas.

Long will be a familiar face in the WTAE newsroom: Before his stint at WVTM, he was Channel 4’s assistant news director from March 2017 to August 2021.

The top four brands -- FanDuel, BetMGM, DraftKings and PrizePicks -- were responsible for over 60% of $1 billion spend, with nearly $508 million in TV, 4% higher than in 2022, according to the media research company.

The Grammys recorded new growth with the 2024 ceremony soaring to the biggest audience the awards show has seen since 2020.

Among the findings: Linear TV has the highest reach of all measured media platforms; despite cable having more networks, viewers spend almost double the time with broadcast TV; people trust local TV station news more than all other media platforms (74%), while social media is the least trusted (37%).

A new report from LG Ad Solutions says nearly 30% of connected TV users have made a purchase directly from their TV screens over the last three months after seeing a TV ad.

Nielsen said it is expanding the panel it uses to measure out-of-home TV viewing, which will mean bigger ratings for sports programming. Nielsen currently has portable people meters that viewers wear in 50 of the biggest markets, representing 65% of the country. After the expansion it will have meter-wearing panelists in every state except Alaska and Hawaii.

As Super Bowl LVIII creeps closer and brands unveil their spots, several brands have announced intentions to make their Big Game debut on Feb. 11. Popeyes, NYX, Nerds, Etsy, Duolingo, Opendoor, Starry, Kawasaki, Cerave, The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, PlutoTV and Lindt chocolate will all be advertising in the Super Bowl for the first time this year, with many already teasing their game day ads.

Zeam will offer live and on-demand news, sports and culture programming from 300 local TV stations covering 80% of the U.S.

NBC Spot On Automotive lets local auto dealers connect to opportunities to place ads in both English and Spanish across the Peacock streaming hub and various NBCU media properties. The offering is part of NBC Spot On, NBCUniversal’s advanced local OTT advertising platform, which launched in 2020.

Octillion is a next-generation demand-side platform (DSP) focused on Local CTV/OTT advertising. The acquisition will expand Premion’s capabilities in the CTV marketplace by combining Octillion’s technology with Premion’s award-winning local CTV/OTT advertising solution.

The big takeaway: Linear TV has the highest reach of all measured media platforms.

The growth rate is more than double what was seen in 2023. Investments in political advertising, connected TV (CTV) and connected commerce, an umbrella term that includes retail media, will boost the industry in 2024. Networks will respond to shifts by taking a more disciplined approach to deal making, bundling linear and digital buys together and providing better audience-targeting tools, according to Winterberry Group.

Nexstar Media Group has agreed to a multiyear extension of its agreement with Nielsen, which will continue as a preferred provider of local and national TV audience-measurement services to the broadcaster. The agreement follows a similar announcement from Comscore earlier this month. The new deal with Nielsen covers ratings for Nexstar TV stations in 116 markets, The CW Network, NewsNation and Antenna TV.

But the world’s biggest automaker still requires an exponential 15-fold leap over just the next two years to reach CEO Koji Sato’s proclaimed target of selling about 1.5 million EVs in 2026.

Following a long, seemingly inexorable climb, registrations of battery-electric vehicles in California fell in the fourth quarter of last year. EV sales have now fallen for two consecutive quarters in the state, even as California regulators set a 2035 deadline for all new auto registrations to consist of zero-emission vehicles.

Attention metrics provider Adelaide released research that FAST apps outperform the firm’s overall CTV attention benchmark scores by up to 25%, which means that FAST viewers are engaged and paying more attention to its content. The report also acknowledged that CTV and linear TV tend to have stronger-than-average attention metrics when compared to other digital formats.

NFL TV viewing keeps rising. The NFC Championship game this past weekend on Fox featuring the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions was up 20% compared to last year's NFL game -- to 56.7 million Nielsen-measured viewers. Viewing was also 7% higher vs. the AFC Championship a year ago, which ran in the same late-afternoon Sunday time period (with 53.1 million viewers) a year ago. Fox says this is the best NFC Championship game result in 12 years -- and the fourth most-watched non-Super Bowl telecast event.

The main Democratic super PAC supporting President Biden’s re-election bid, Future Forward, is beginning this week to reserve $250 million in advertising across the most important battleground states, a blitz that it says is the largest single purchase of political advertising by a super PAC in the nation’s history. The ads, which are to be split between $140 million on television and $110 million on digital and streaming platforms, will start the day after the Democratic National Convention concludes in August and will run through Election Day, the super PAC said.

The veteran media executive with more than three decades of experience will lead KREX, KGJT and WesternSlopeNow.com as well as overseeing operational agreements for Mission Broadcasting's KFQX.

In the latest sign that consumers' financial fears are fading, the National Retail Federation predicts a record $14.2 billion on significant others this Valentine’s Day. It forecasts total spending for the holiday, once you factor in other family members, galantines and classmates, to reach $25.8 billion, on par with 2023. That is the third-highest amount in the survey’s history.

Valari Staab, chairman of NBCUniversal Local, today announced veteran Spanish-language media executive and longtime leader of WKAQ San Juan (Telemundo Puerto Rico) José Cancela has been named president of Telemundo Station Group, effective immediately.

Staab appointed Migdalia Figueroa as president & general manager of WKAQ, effective immediately. A native of Puerto Rico, she joins WKAQ after serving as president-GM of the Telemundo-owned stations in Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers, Fla.

The NFL was a primary impressions delivery vehicle for all five ads on iSpot.tv’s chart. With 277.8 million national TV ad impressions, a commercial for the Chevrolet Silverado takes first place on iSpot.tv’s ranking of the most-seen auto TV ads for Jan. 15-21. A remarkable 98.6% of those impressions came from airings during NFL games and related coverage.

As the industry moves towards trading on impressions versus ratings, it’s also actively seeking a robust cross-platform measurement methodology and metric. Many such solutions are in the works or partially available, but that magical metric has not yet been determined.

Toyota Motor North America has reversed an early decision not to run a national spot during Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11. More details will be shared closer to game day, according to the automaker's announcement.

Angela Grande, director of streaming news channels at NBCUniversal Local, says FAST channels represent a unique and powerful opportunity for local news, but choreographing the relationships between stations, platforms and tech partners is a fast-evolving dance.

DatafuelX, a provider of analytics and technology for multi-currency, cross-platform solutions, announced a partnership with MRI-Simmons, the leading provider of insights on the American consumer, to enable the scoring of device-level TV viewing data sets with age/sex propensities and other MRI-Simmons attributes for targeted advertising sales, and pre- and post-campaign reporting. This service will be offered to automatic content recognition (ACR) and set-top box providers in the US.

“There has always been collaboration between network news operations and their affiliates. What’s new in the commercial TV broadcasting world is the scope, complexity, and volume of collaborations. It’s outside of their own newsrooms, it’s across their whole groups, and various national news-producing entities inside of these companies.”

Following a weak first-quarter start, the U.S. ad market expanded for nine consecutive months, ending 2023 with a gain of 0.5% over 2022, according to just-published December estimates from Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker.

Nielsen and Fox have announced they’ve renewed their audience measurement deal. Also with this agreement, Fox will continue to license Nielsen's suite of planning and audience measurement solutions to help advertisers and agencies reach audiences at scale for critical live news and sports programming.

TEGNA’s ABC affiliate WFAA Dallas-Fort Worth has partnered with the Dallas Mavericks to add 10 more games to the WFAA broadcast schedule.Combined with the Mavericks games already slated to air as part of the NBA on ABC between now and the end of the season, Mavericks’ fans across Dallas-Fort Worth will now have access to 13 free over-the-air games in the span of 11 weeks.

The updated tallies trickled in on Tuesday morning, and CBS‘ Sunday-evening broadcast of the NFL Divisional Playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills averaged 50.4 million total viewers, making it the most-watched NFL Divisional Playoff Game ever.

Nexstar expects Comscore to deliver more precise audience insights across screens to help advertisers optimize total reach and measure the holistic cross-platform campaign with de-duplicated in-flight monitoring of key metrics such as reach and frequency, incrementality, and co-viewing.

Linear TV is still quite a powerful advertising platform for live sports and tentpole events such as awards shows. The reasons are simple: ratings, cultural relevance via social media, and the ripple effect for days or even months after the fact in the form of user-generated shareable content (tweets, posts, hashtags and memes).

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Broadcasting unit said it closed a new multiyear deal with Paramount Global’s CBS renewing the CBS affiliations at five TV stations. The stations involved in the deal are KIMT Rochester, Minnesota; KHSL Chico, California; KHSL Terre Haute, Indiana; WLFI West Lafayette, Indiana and WEVV Evansville, Indiana

The Super Bowl will see the return of BMW and Volkswagen as advertisers after hiatuses while Kia, a marketing mainstay during the Big Game, will be back for the third straight year.

We’re at a moment right now, where the most important content genres for linear television are moving to broadcast TV: sports, live news, and that’s really become a critical part of the broadcast business. Most people have the narrative sort of upside down. We are seeing streaming participate in sports, but if you take a look at the vast majority of the changes and moves in the sports business with rights, things have moved into broadcast.

But don’t count TV out yet. “I do believe you will see a return to spending in some of the traditional linear channels,” says David Sederbaum, executive VP and head of video investment at ad giant Dentsu.

Sales for the full year grew 3.6% over 2022 to a record $5.13 trillion. “Consumer spending was remarkably resilient throughout 2023 and finished the year with a solid pace for the holiday season,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said.

Eight in ten Gen Zers report watching short- form videos weekly, while 7 in 10 say that they watch TV content every week. The data are similar for both older (18-24 year-old) and younger (13-17 year-old) Gen Zers. Usage of FAST services among Gen Zers is on the rise, with the Roku Channel, Tubi, and Pluto TV being the most popular FAST services among this demographic.

New-vehicle inventory levels in the U.S. are expected to continue to reach post-pandemic highs this year, data analytics firm Cloud Theory said in its 2024 outlook report. U.S. new-vehicle inventories have been on the rise and reached a three-year high of 2.7 million last month, according to Cox Automotive.

A December 2023 report from Parks Associates revealed 20% of U.S. internet households own a TV antenna, and 12% of those that don’t plan to buy one in six months.

Consumers spent more than expected in 2023 amid high inflation and high interest rates, however, spending growth is likely to slow in 2024. A key question in the outlook is what the Fed will do with interest rates. The central bank has indicated that rate hikes are likely over and that the benchmark federal funds rate — currently 5.25% to 5.5% ­— could be cut to 4.6% by the end of the year.

Broadcasters certainly have signed deals with third-party providers such as Nielsen, Comscore, VideoAmp and iSpot. Local news continues to enjoy significant consumer trust. As stated last month, local news overperforms on FAST platforms. The use of data and AI extend well beyond media and entertainment businesses. However, media companies may have the most to lose (and gain) from their use.

Free, ad-supported streaming television is continuing to boom.  The consensus among five executives speaking on a panel Tuesday at NATPE: The glut of channels is forcing all stakeholders to raise their games. The result could be improved financial results and a better experience for viewers.

Cheryl Fair, president and GM of KABC in Los Angeles is retiring after 50 years with ABC Owned Television Stations. She spent 20 years with WPVI in Philadelphia and 30 years at KABC.

With the Pels facing the defending champion Denver Nuggets on Gray Television's WVUE-TV (channel 8), simulcast on Bounce TV (channel 8.2), the telecast averaged a 7.4 rating and 55,000 local viewers.  That's more than three times the audience of the biggest Bally Sports viewership, which tops out at about a 2.0 rating.

In a LinkedIn Live, Ferro said while much of the talk is around streaming endeavors, linear remains a vital platform for the company. And she said that will continue even as their DTC services grow.

“We are excited to integrate Marketron’s innovative technology into our ad tech portfolio, which will enable us to deliver the exact right solution at the right time for the North American broadcast market,” said Rob Malcolm, general manager of Ad Tech at Imagine Communications. “Our OSI customers will realize immediate benefits from this extension to our core solutions, allowing them to reduce the workload on their sales teams and run their businesses much more efficiently ― while at the same time preparing to successfully navigate a converged linear/digital future.”

Republican presidential campaigns have poured an unprecedented $124 million-plus into video and TV advertising in Iowa, according to estimates from AdImpact. The advertising dollars spent on U.S. elections and advocacy issues will grow to a record $16 billion this year, up 31.2% compared to the last presidential election in 2020, Axios reported in December.

The LG report said that about 70% of viewers like TV ads that include a QR code, with 38% likely to make a purchase after scanning a QR code on a TV ad. Scanning a QR code to get a discount was something that appealed to 49% of those surveyed. Viewers said they were most likely to buy clothing, apparel or electronics through the TV.

Viewers flocked to Peacock, setting records for the most-streamed live event in U.S. history and driving the Internet to its largest U.S. usage ever on a single day and the largest Internet event ever, consuming 30 percent of Internet traffic during the game.

TV is expected to see a record haul in 2024 as a contentious presidential primary and general election will drive political advertising expenditures across all platforms to $17 billion, according to media investment agency GroupM. The figure is an increase of 31% over what was spent in 2020 and 24% over the previous high of $12.8 billion spent in 2022, according to GroupM’s data.“Local TV is going to see the vast majority of that,” said Kate Scott-Dawkins, global president of business intelligence at GroupM.

Moore has been the senior director of sales at KSBY since 2022 and will continue in this role in addition to being station manager. Moore has worked for KSBY for more than 15 years.

The 11 ad-supported sites representing NBC stations, which include WNBC New York and KNBC Los Angeles, began their rollout in January 2022 and four Telemundo regional channels debuted in November 2022.

Gray Television today promoted Liz Knight to general manager of its WALB (NBC, ABC) and WGCW-LD (CW) in Albany, Ga. For the past five years, she has been general sales manager at WALB (NBC)-WGCW (CW) and WTSG (Telemundo) in Albany. Previously, she was the stations’ local sales manager for nine years and digital sales manager for one year.

U.S. political advertising spend will likely jump by nearly a third in 2024 over the previous U.S. presidential election year, with TV media again taking a lion's share of the dollars, according to a report by research firm Insider Intelligence. The figure is expected to rise by about 30% from 2020 to $12.32 billion this year, the report said. Ad spend on traditional media, most of which is TV, will rise 7.9% and account for 71.9% of all spend.

A prominent Democratic super PAC announced that it plans to spend $200 million on the 2024 election cycle, including $140 million on television, digital, streaming, radio, and mail advertisements. American Bridge 21st Century intends to focus much of its firepower on winning over women voters in key swing states.

Data available to advertisers for both subscription-based and free services lack key information. Industry measurement giant Nielsen provides The Gauge report on total viewing, but it doesn’t include crucial info about how many viewers can see ads...

The common belief that streaming is overtaking linear TV overlooks the hybrid nature of platforms like TVE, vMVPDs, and FAST, all of which provide live linear content via streaming apps.

NEXTGEN TV will launch on CBS 2 News Chicago in February, one of the first rollouts scheduled for 2024. The upgraded signal will launch on February 5, 2024, and is expected to provide free service to 3.6 million households.

The Consumer Technology Association reports that the U.S. market for NextGen TV is growing. The installed base of NextGen TV receivers surpassed 10.3 million in 2023, and sales are expected to increase by 45% in 2024.

While LeGeyt did not ask Congress to consider new legislation to combat these issues, the NAB has come out in favor of the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act,” which was passed by the Senate last summer and would create a limited safe harbor to allow broadcasters to negotiate the fair market value of their content. With increasing competition from AI-obsessed Silicon Valley, LeGeyt asked the subcommittee to remain vigilant.

New-vehicle inventory in the U.S. rose by more than 200,000 in December and started January half again as large as where it stood a year earlier, the highest in three years, according to Cox Automotive.

Core retail sales – excluding restaurants, autos and gas – edged up 0.19% month-over-month and 2.4% year-over-year in December, according to the CNBC/Retail Monitor. That compared with increases of 0.73% month-over-month and 4.17% year-over-year in November.

On Saturday night, NBCUniversal will make media history. For the first time, a National Football League playoff game — this one featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins — will appear exclusively on Peacock.

“With 27 years of providing trusted local news to Latinos, we understand the vital role that local news plays as a lifeline to our communities,” said Jeffery Liberman, Entravision’s President/Chief Operating Officer. “We are unveiling an unprecedented level of Spanish-language news coverage in anticipation of an unprecedented election year. Starting today, advertisers have even more opportunities to reach Latinos, the most influential voting electorate, through highly trusted news sources.”

The league’s seminal prime-time package" Monday Night Football" had its best season since 2000, averaging 17.36 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, a whopping 29% increase. CBS averaged 19.35 million, its most-watched regular season since it returned to the network in 1998, and an increase of 5% over 2022. NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” package had a 21.4 million average, its best viewership since 2015, and an 8% increase over last year.

Automakers spent an estimated $271.2 million on national TV advertising in December, down down 14.9% compared $318.5 million a year ago. December 2023 household TV ad impressions were also down 13% to 29.3 billion compared to 33.6 billion in December 2022, according to iSpot.tv.

Station managers, a new role at Scripps, help with the station’s day-to-day operations and serve as department heads. The latest additions are Whitney Grover, KJRH Tulsa, Okla.; Autumn Jones, WFTX Fort Myers, Fla.; and Vicki Bradley, WTXL Tallahassee, Fla.

Waymark, a provider of AI video creation technology, and The E.W. Scripps Co., have signed a local advertising deal that will feature Waymark’s generative AI technology rolled out across all 61 of Scripps’ owned and operated broadcast stations in 41 markets.

This convergence of FAST and OTA workflows is an exciting development that gives broadcasters an excellent opportunity to experiment with delivering diverse content over the airwaves. “Convergence” is truly the operative word here: As workflows unite for cloud-based and traditional broadcast methods, content production and distribution will become more streamlined as well.

Nearly six in 10 fans indicate that they are much more budget-conscious heading into 2024. Barely over half of fans said this a year ago. Merely three in 10 strongly believe that the cost of everyday goods will improve in the coming months.

Samba TV, a provider of TV technology for audience data and omniscreen measurement, is partnering with HyphaMetrics, an independent cross-media, cross-walled-garden dataset designed to unify the historically disconnected worlds of linear, streaming, and digital. 

Another television manufacturer is joining the NextGen TV bandwagon, with the announcement on Monday that TCL is planning new TV models equipped with integrated NextGen TV capability. More than 100 NextGen TV products will be available for U.S. consumers this year.

The telecast pulled in an average of 9.4 million viewers, up about 50% from last year, according to CBS.

This year, The Hollywood Reporter says that CBS (and Paramount Global) are asking for $7 million for a 30-second spot. That hefty chunk of change isn't deterring advertisers, as a Paramount rep tells the outlet that inventory has "virtually sold out, pacing ahead of schedule."

NBCU pegged the launch as the pinnacle of heavy investments in advanced advertising as it looks to bring all-screen capabilities to advertisers in an environment where consumers’ TV viewing is fragmented across various platforms and distribution modes. One Platform pulls together NBCU’s premium linear and streaming footprint, paired with Comcast linear viewing and NBCU’s first-party digital consumption data (including Peacock).

Vizio's Inscape smart TV data unit says it can now tap directly into Vizio smart TVs' tuners in every local U.S. market to deliver more granular viewing data of over-the-air TV signals. The company says advertisers can use Tuner Data to optimize local ad spend with granular device-level data and as well as bolstering first-party data.

Stellantis is continuing its belt-tightening measures and has announced it will not participate in this year’s Super Bowl. It’s an unusual move from an automaker that often has not just one, but multiple spots across its brands, which include Ram, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat and Alfa Romeo.

Nexstar Media said today it has entered into a multi-year time brokerage agreement with KAZT Phoenix (DMA 11). On Feb. 1, KAZT will become an affiliate of The CW.

Before joining WRIC, Ritter was the news director at WNCT in Greenville, North Carolina for nearly seven years. He’s also worked at News 12 New Jersey, Al Jazeera America, ESPN, WPXI in Pittsburgh, WEWS in Cleveland, and at WPTY in Memphis.

After nearly 40 years of service and leadership in local television, industry icon Ray Carter is retiring as vice president and general manager of Cox Media Group’s ABC affiliate WSB Atlanta, effective March 31.

“Last night, the Broadcasters Foundation and the broadcast industry lost a great man,” said Scott Herman, chairman of the Broadcasters Foundation. “As chairman of the Broadcasters Foundation for many years, Phil left an indelible mark. He was passionate about our mission and one of our biggest donors, giving both time and money to helping colleagues in need.”

Researchers from Parks also noted that traditional telcos faced with pay TV sub losses are exploring new ways to get their products in front of streaming consumers with services such as Cox's Neighborhood TV. Cox is positioning this hyperlocal streaming service to expand its influences in its communities and as a gateway to attract consumers to its phone, internet, and TV bundle.

“The CW’s first college bowl game in network history served as the centerpiece of eight straight hours of live sports programming on Saturday alongside our ACC men’s basketball doubleheader, highlighting the power of sports on The CW,” said Brad Schwartz, President of Entertainment, The CW Network.

HBCU Go has agreed to syndicate SIAC sports on CBS-owned stations in markets including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Miami and Tampa, Florida.

The FCC’s decision to reaffirm ownership regulations for broadcasters late last month was the Christmas gift no station group wanted. In this Talking TV conversation, Curtis LeGeyt, NAB’s president and CEO, says he’s “tremendously frustrated” with the FCC’s decision, and that the group is still weighing the next legal steps it can take to put broadcasters on a more level footing with its unregulated competitors.

A newly released report from the University of North Carolina Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media offers some rosy predictions for 2024. Specifically, it suggests that news executives and entrepreneurs who understand the opportunity that can come from investment in local media by the state’s ad buyers will make more money.

Local broadcasting’s largest impact on the American economy stems from its role as a forum for advertising of goods and services that stimulates economic activity, Woods & Poole found. The study estimated local broadcast TV and radio advertising generated $1.03 billion in GDP and supports 1.42 million jobs.

The ADTH NextGen TV set-top receiver, a certified and security verified device for reception of NextGen TV signals, is now available from Walmart.com. The announcement comes just ahead of the annual CES in Las Vegas, where the ADTH receiver will be on display at the Advanced Television Systems Committee exhibit booth.

WTAE news director and investigative reporter Jim Parsons will be retiring from the Pittsburgh ABC affiliate on February 29. Parsons has been the station’s news director since 2016 and a WTAE investigative reporter for 15 years.

Broadcasters will use CES 2024 to promote the continued rollout of ATSC 3.0, or NextGen TV. Big Four networks ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC are all sponsors of the ATSC booth in Central Hall. There will also be various interactive applications enabled by 3.0’s broadband backchannel including “Start Over” capability developed by E.W. Scripps.

The pay TV business had its worst third-quarter ever with about 889,000 subscribers cutting the cord. Traditional cable, satellite and telco distributors lost 11.7% of their subscribers compared to a year ago. The cord-cutting dropped pay TV penetration to just 54.8% of occupied households, the lowest since 1989.

Stations owned by NexStar Media Group in Philadelphia, San Francisco and Tampa, Florida, will soon become affiliates of The CW, offering advertisers a variety of new linear and digital opportunities to reach millions of viewers.

In a deal with data-management platform Snowflake, Nielsen launches a “media data room” (MDR) enabling clients to access a "census of first-party data" that can be matched to Nielsen's media audience attributes.

The 2023 NBA finals pulled in $112.3 million in national TV advertising, according to EDO Ad EnGage estimates. Some 421 airings of commercials ran on the ABC Television Network, yielding a total of 4.7 billion impressions.

CoxReps and Gamut launch Locality, a new company offering local advertising on both broadcast and streaming. Locality will combine Gamut’s tech services with CoxReps local broadcast expertise to connect local advertisers with consumers.

The US economy has been surprisingly resilient this year, but painful bumps are likely coming, said Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. He thinks that strong economic indicators and stubborn inflation could mean more rate hikes in the future.

Recent discussions have called for CPM increases of around 5% for the strongest TV properties, like sports and for rollbacks going as deep as -5% for weaker linear inventory and even for digital, according to executives.

Automakers spent an estimated 19.2% less on national television spending in May compared to a year ago according to iSpot.tv. May 2023 spending registered at $156.2 million, compared to $193.3 million in May 2022. 

The average transaction price (ATP) of a new vehicle in the U.S. increased May 2023 to $48,528, a month-over-month increase of 0.5% ($251) from an upwardly revised April reading of $48,277, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Proximic by Comscore has announced new and expanded integrations with Adobe, Publica and Teads that have boosted the reach of its Predictive Audience segments to the point where they are now being used by more than 5,000 advertiser clients.

Goldman gets a significant minority stake in Madhive, whose platform helps broadcasters sell connected TV inventory to local advertisers looking for additional reach. The deal values Madhive at just under $1 billion.

Companies like E.W. Scripps, Gray and Nexstar are harnessing the collective power of their individual markets by elevating select segments from within them for broadcast on their national news platforms.

Exec succeeds Bill Steward, who is retiring.

Giant media buyer GroupM forecasts TV ad revenue will drop 2.4% to $67.7 billion in 2023 amid a questionable economy and industry issues including the strike by the Writers Guild of America.

As the calendar flips toward summer, we enter peak home improvement and renovation season. According to the most recent CivicScience data, nearly half of U.S. adults (48%) have home improvement projects lined up for the next 12 months.

Millions of dollars are pouring into the West Virginia Senate race which is expected to be one of the most contentious and expensive elections next year.

FASTs may not be skyrocketing to the top of the streaming ranks, but we’d keep our eyes on them—especially those with parent companies that can use these services to draw users into paid subscriptions.

ATSC 3.0 services are expected to expand this summer as broadcasters in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Reno, Nev., and South Bend, Ind., flip the switch to bringing NextGen TV to local viewers, the Pearl TV coalition of U.S. broadcasters said.

The trade group backed by ad-supported streaming TV players will work to promote a healthy ecosystem for independent voices and programming. Founding members include: Allen Media Group, Revry, Scripps, Tastemade, TMB, and Vevo among others.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee semifinals and finals drew 9.2 million viewers appearing on all six of Scripps’ entertainment networks: Ion, Bounce, Defy TV, Grit, Laff and Ion Mystery. The total this year, up 22% from 2022, the first time the Bee appeared on Ion after years on ESPN.

The general managers said the Birmingham economy is holding up well. “It doesn’t see some of the highs of some other markets, but it doesn’t see some of the lows either,” said Cromwell.

The 76th annual Tony Awards persevered despite the ongoing writers strike, drawing a three-year high of 4.31M viewers. The telecast aired live on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ and the CBS digital platforms, according to Nielsen data.

Bernadette Valles is named VP of brand and strategic marketing, while KXAS's Edwin Mendez has been promoted to marketing director at the NBC-Telemundo duopoly.

Successful marketers constantly check the pulse of changes in the marketplace and adjust accordingly. The result: The inclusion of key consumers, improved capability to project and execute media strategies, and enhanced fulfillment of marketing goals.

With half of all media already AI-enabled to some degree, media currently is the primary use of AI on Madison Avenue, according to a research analysis presented recently to the board of directors of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's) by the equity research analysts at New Street Research.

With the appointment of three executives — Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling — to lead CNN in the wake of the departure of boss Chris Licht, every major cable and broadcast news network is now run, at least in part, by women.

New-vehicle inventories continue to tick up as the pace of vehicle sales remains healthy despite economic headwinds, according to data from Cox Automotive and the Automotive News Research & Data Center.

Vermont sports betting will become legal, with the first apps likely taking bets by January 2024. Gov. Phil Scott will sign the VT sports betting bill recently passed by the General Assembly, his press secretary told LSR.

"We're excited to partner with NFL Films and welcome Inside the NFL to the CW Sports family. With our robust broadcast audience, we look forward to bringing this legendary sports series to more fans than ever before and to advertisers for the first time," said Dennis Miller, The CW president.

Nexstar Media Group chairman and CEO Perry Sook takes over from Salem Media Group CEO David Santrella, whose term expired.

NBC Sports chief Pete Bevacqua is leaving NBCU to take on a new role as the athletic director at the University of Notre Dame.

Shortley brings experience and knowledge in leading high performing commercial teams across analytics, market research, advertising and marketing services.

“We are committed to working alongside our clients to help them deliver on their business objectives and access valuable local audiences at a deeper level,” said Catherine Herkovic, Nielsen Local EVP and managing director.

“This is an exciting day to unify and grow the game of golf. We look forward to broadcasting seven more exciting tournaments this year featuring the world’s best golfers,” said a Nexstar spokesman.

A survey conducted by Viant Technology found that more than two-thirds of consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 said they are more likely to purchase from companies committed to sustainability.

This unique subgroup of the Hispanic identity is one of the many “new” Latinos in the market.

Daytime growing year-over-year compared to declines in other dayparts tells networks that they can potentially charge more for advertising than they currently do, while also signaling to budget-conscious brands that there are cheaper reach options to be found on linear TV.

A new study compiled by Effectv suggests marketers that maintain TV advertising during the summer months, a period when advertisers have traditionally pulled back, may see a significant boost in their brand’s share of voice.

“Ultimately, we think those companies with a heavier sports portfolio should continue to outperform peers and take a bigger share of the total video advertising pie,” analyst Michael Nathanson noted.

While it seems like Black-focused media is at a high, the reality is only 4% of all media in the U.S. is Black-owned. NPR's Eric Deggans talked to Byron Allen about his plans to grow his media empire while holding advertisers more accountable.

The “Save the Date” campaign is part of NBCUniversal’s broader “Symphony” advertising effort, which brings together all divisions of the company to promote key programming or strategic initiatives.

A new study from TVB shows that local broadcast TV news continues to punch above its weight, delivering audiences that are 8 to 12 times larger than the programs viewed on six major SVOD services. 

In Q1 of this year, almost 190 medical & pharmaceutical companies spent more than $2 billion on broadcast and cable TV, up by 13% from a year ago.

May marked the industry's 10th consecutive monthly sales increase, with American Honda up 58 percent and Subaru up 28 percent, as an industrywide inventory recovery continued.

Inflation concerns continue to be a motivating factor, leading people to grab deals whenever they can find them. Notably, tech and device purchases are being driven by parents who will have school-age kids in the fall.

“Our broadcasters are very supportive of the research work that we’re undertaking, as they continue to learn more about the standard. They’re watching the U.S. rollout and still determining what sort of resources they’re prepared to put into ATSC 3.0,” Humber B²C Lab Director Orest Sushko said.

The bilingual podcast is a joint venture between Telemundo and NBC Owned Stations. Soccer standouts Janelly Farías and Meghan Klingenberg host alongside LX News journalist Eric Alvarez.

Caesars is ending its last two known US college sports betting partnerships amid heightened concern about state and federal regulatory action.

The best general manages put in the hard work of learning sales processes and understanding the details. Those willing to make that effort are always rewarded on the bottom line.

Yaccarino had been head of advertising sales and partnerships for NBCU. Benarroch had been her head of communications. In an email, Benarroch said he would be taking on a role focusing on business operations.

Nexstar said the acquisition will enable WFLA-TV and WTTA-TV “to significantly expand” their local news presence in the Tampa DMA to include Sarasota, Manatee, and Charlotte counties.

NBCU aims to find opportunities for Olympic sponsors across the entirety of its portfolio for ways to connect with their target audience. The integration into Top Chef was part of Delta’s Olympics sponsorship deal with NBCU, worth a reported $400 million.

The Nexstar Media Charitable Foundation’s mission is to contribute to and work with public charities and nonprofit organizations to improve the communities in which Nexstar Media does business. Established in 1958, it makes donations of approximately $350,000 annually.

Toyota snapped a four-month losing streak, Honda Motor Co. surged again and U.S. sales advanced for the 10th-straight month in May at Hyundai and Kia, helped by rising inventory and incentives and sharply higher fleet deliveries.

Online NC sports betting is just a few steps away from legalization, and the bill now has one less hurdle attached to it. With the governor’s signature, the legislation would go into effect in January 2024.

Dentsu became the latest major agency holding company to revise its 2023 ad outlook downward, estimating global ad spending will rise 3.3%, down half a point from the 3.8% it projected in its last forecast in December 2022.

So far, 23 states have confirmed the dates for their 2024 presidential preference primaries through the release of an official election calendar, candidate filing instructions, or an announcement from a state political party.

Reach used to be easier to achieve because there were fewer vehicles to choose from. Today, the conditions demand that practitioners study the devilish details and find the magic solutions that enable more reach. Disclosed are findings that will make 90% reach achievable.

Consumers increased their spending sharply last month and inflation accelerated, fresh data showed last week, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve’s debate on whether to raise interest rates again in June.

Warmer weather usually boosts restaurant sales, but diners may hold back for the second straight summer as inflation weighs on consumers’ minds — and wallets.

Despite the drop, the Upfronts make up a growing portion of the TV ad market. Roughly 30% of total TV ad spending was estimated to occur during the Upfronts, a portion that’s inched up over the past five years.

Since 2020, dozens of advertisers have pledged to increase spending with Black-owned media. And despite fears that those commitments would be forgotten by now, a survey of Black-owned media companies from Ad Age tells a different story, though performance varies widely by company and brand.

CEO Adam Symson today announced a “news initiative,” in which the company will “invest nearly $10 million to increase compensation where needed to ensure we can attract and retain the best journalists” and “add about 250 on-the-ground resources to our local reporting teams.”