The new multiplatform network, to debut in May 2019, has secured over-the-air distribution agreements with major local TV station group owners including Tribune, Scripps and Univision, giving Court TV coverage of more than 50% of U.S. television households at launch. Vinnie Politan will be the network’s lead anchor.
Despite all the shots I have taken at Sinclair’s David Smith for his top-down meddling in news and for souring the regulatory climate in Washington, I liked the idea of his owning Tribune. However, I think I like the idea Nexstar’s Perry Sook owning Tribune even more. He can better make the case in Washington that mega-station groups are good for the country; he will be a better steward of Tribune’s news operations and will be just as committed as Smith in advancing ATSC 3.0 datacasting.
Frank Mungeam: It’s hard to find reason to be optimistic about the health of our information ecosystem. It might be even harder to believe me when I say: Local TV news is our best chance. Yes, the same stations that critics dismiss for serving up car crashes, house fires and mug shots, perky morning teams and goofy weathercasters, could also be our best hope for rejuvenating journalism. Here are three macro trends that explain why.
NBC’s Saturday Night Live, with host Jason Momoa, musical guest Mumford & Sons and Robert de Niro returning as Robert Mueller, averaged a 4.3 live+same day household rating in the metered markets and a 1.7 adults 18-49 rating in the markets with local people meters. That was up from the previous week’s show.
Margaret Sullivan: With Michael Bloomberg’s and Jeff Zucker’s campaign dreams, the media-to-politics revolving door spins faster. The idea that major media figures — with huge influence over coverage decisions — are pondering political posts brings real questions.
ESPN plans to announce it will move up the starting time of the nationally televised game by one hour, with the first pitch planned for shortly after 7 p.m. ET. The network intends to make the announcement on Monday at the winter meetings, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.
It’s been a rough time for TV-video and media tech stocks and publicly traded companies, which are down around 4% last week — all due to concerns over a U.S. economic slowdown. The Dow Jones Media Index lost 3.9% to 874.64. Dow Jones U.S Broadcasting and Entertainment Index also dipped 3.9% to 1,304.54.
Disgraced media mogul Les Moonves is threatening to sue CBS over recent leaks of lurid details about his alleged sexual misconduct. In what’s expected to amount to a breach of contract suit, Moonves’ lawyers are preparing to allege that leaks to the New York Times last week about CBS’s pending investigation into Moonves broke a confidentiality agreement and sullied the exec’s reputation, sources close to Moonves said.
The executive director of the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology will talk about emerging cybersecurity threats; communicating with the C-suite about investing in security; and the latest technologies being used and developed to thwart cyber crime at TVNewsCheck’s second annual Cybersecurity for Broadcasters Retreat in February.
