The Justice Department has settled with six TV station groups over what DOJ said was the “unlawful sharing of competitively sensitive” information on advertising that disrupted “the normal competitive process of spot advertising in markets across the United States.” The six: Sinclair Broadcast Group, Raycom Media, Tribune Media, Meredith Corp., Griffin Communications and Dreamcatcher Broadcasting.
Meredith Corp. is looking to buy some Sinclair Broadcast Group TV stations as that conglomerate finalizes a merger with Tribune Media. Steve Lacy, executive chairman of the Meredith board, told an audience at a media conference Monday that he would ask the company’s board of directors later in the day for permission to bid on certain Sinclair stations it will divest to get FCC approval of the merger.
The new Meredith Local Media Group executive, Gary Brown, has more than two decades of experience as a broadcast and digital executive, including overseeing station news operations.
Political Scarcity Drops Meredith TV Rev 7%
However, its nonpolitical ad revenue grew 13% and retrans money also increased from a year ago.
Charles and David Koch, the billionaire U.S. industrialist brothers, are backing publisher and broadcaster Meredith Corp.’s revived bid to purchase Time Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter. The Kochs have tentatively agreed to support Meredith’s offer with an equity injection of more than $500 million, the person said, confirming an earlier report. The person asked not to be identified because the matter is private.
Meredith Station Rev. Finishes Quarter Flat
When political is excluded, revenue was up 4%. Digital ad revenue climbed 14%.
Exclusives
Meredith’s Station Revenue Adds 8%
The increase to $152 million is boosted by non-political advertising and retrans.
NewsON Expands With 3 Meredith Stations
With the inclusion of Meredith’s KPHO and KTVK in Phoenix and KMOV in St. Louis, the national service providing local news via app has grown to 141 stations in 99 markets covering 48 of the top 50 markets and 80% of the U.S. population. Meredith says more of its stations could come on board in the coming months.
15. MEREDITH CORP., Des Moines, Iowa 2015 Spot Revenue: $403.4 million Stations: 28 in 12 markets Coverage: 10.7% Ownership: Meredith Corp. (NYSE: MDP) Key Executives: Stephen M. Lacy, chairman-CEO; Paul Karpowicz, president, Meredith Local Media […]
Matrix Solutions, a provider of CRM and sales intelligence, announced today that Meredith Corp. has implemented its CRM & Sales Intelligence Platform. Matrix’s cloud-based solution will offer sales visibility and […]
It was expected to happen the minute Meredith merged KPHO and KTVK together in Phoenix. Sources report that firings are happening now at independent KTVK.
Meredith Corp., which owns the Atlanta CBS affiliate, has found nothing remotely close to stability in its efforts over the past 16 years to dig the station out of the ratings basement. But new GM Mark Pimentel and News Director Larry Perret have revamped the station in a way that nobody in local TV news has seen before in such a short time. Today, the station introduces an almost entirely new anchor lineup. In recent months, it has brought in a new chief meteorologist, revived its sports department, revamped its digital group, hired new producers and introduced a raft of new reporters. Virtually the only department that went relatively unscathed was its camera crew.
The Meredith Corp. board of directors on Wednesday declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.4575 per share, or $1.83 on an annual basis. The dividend will be payable on June 15 to shareholders of record on May 29.
With the new station groups, 80% of U.S. homes can watch streaming local news anytime, anyplace. The announcement follows a similar deal with Tribune Media announced last month, which gave Watchup access to video content from 30 of Tribune’s broadcast stations.
Former WE tv President Kim Martin will place a strong emphasis on expanding Meredith’s millennial reach across the company’s multiple media platforms.
Meredith TV Stations Fiscal 2Q Rev Up 50%
The company attributes the growth to contributions from recent acquisitions (KMOV St. Louis and KTVK Phoenix), record political advertising and a 22% jump in core (non-political) revenue boosted by strong digital and retrans performance.
Meredith Corp. launched a responsive and streamlined version of its corporate website on Friday, featuring its widened media and marketing portfolio. The new site, which was designed with Domani Studios, features a new live feed as well.
Meredith says the purchase will enhance its digital native ad solutions and drive better engagement. Selectable’s current client list includes Merck, Capital One and GEICO, and the company offers video solutions as well.
The $86 million buy of the Fox affiliate from Media General was part of a divestiture deal involved in obtaining federal regulatory approval of Media General’s merger with LIN Media.
FCC Spectrum Valuations Intrigue Meredith
But, says Paul Karpowicz, head of the company’s Local Media Group, “we haven’t made a decision on participating in the auction.”
Meredith TV Station Fiscal 1Q Rev Up 39%
The company attributes the growth to contributions from recent acquisitions (KMOV St. Louis and KTVK Phoenix), “strong” digital sales and the surge in political advertising. But core (non-political) spot revenue on a same-station basis dropped 3%.
The deal for the CW affiliate is a result of Meredith agreeing to spin off the station after buying it along with KTVK from Gannett in June.
McCreery Wants News, Marketing In Sync
Formerly a Meredith station news director and GM, Patrick McCreery now is overseeing the expanding company’s broadcast news and marketing in an unusual paring. “I think those departments need to be in lock step. It’s critical. If your marketing department is not properly marketing your news product, and 10 hours of your product is news, you’ve got a problem.”
The group’s outlets in Atlanta, Hartford and Nashville are the latest to subscribe to the rating service.
Meredith Local Media Fiscal 4Q Rev Up 20%
Record digital/mobile advertising revenues and higher retransmission-related money drive the quarter’s revenue to $111 million. For the full fiscal year the Local Media Group’s revenue rose 7% to a record $403 million.
The sale of KTVK and KASW to Meredith Corp. was part of a deal announced last December that also included KMOV St. Louis.
Meredith Corp. Buying WGGB For $53.8M
Meredith Corp. has agreed to purchase the Springfield, Mass., ABC affiliate (which also airs Fox programming on a subchannel) from Gormally Broadcasting for $53.8 million.
The $177 million purchase of the CBS affiliate from Gannett and Sander Media closes following the receipt of regulatory approvals.
Meredith Bullish On Buying Stations
CEO Stephen Lacy tells analysts that it intends to “continue to grow its television footprint” and would not be put off by a negative Supreme Court decision in the Aereo case.
Meredith Local Media Revenue Down 6.4%
The drop is due to expected lower political ad dollars and was almost offset by strong non-political ad performance and higher retrans revenue.
Meredith Buying Three Stations From Gannett
For $407.5 million, Meredith is getting KMOV St. Louis and KTVK-KASW Phoenix that Gannett is acquiring in its purchase of Belo Corp.
Media company Meredith Corp. plans to aggressively grow its local TV station group through acquisitions that could eventually lead to a spin-off, the company’s CEO Stephen Lacy says: “We are putting together a hit-list of [TV] properties and working with owners.”
Meredith Local Media Revenue Up 3%
The total during the company’s fiscal 1Q 2014 of $89.6 million is up from $87.2 million in the same period last year, despite a big drop in political advertising. Retransmission consent revenue helped make up the difference.
Scripps Networks Interactive and magazine publisher Meredith Corp. are expanding their presence in online video, producing more original Web series as they follow consumer eyeballs and advertiser dollars.
SBE Prez Snelson On Duties, Industry Issues
Now in his 43rd year of broadcasting, Joe Snelson, VP engineering at Meredith Corp., was recently elected president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. He says there are some new certification programs in the works, and talks about some of the bigger issues that the society is tackling today.
The Meredith Corp. board of directors on Wednesday declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.4075 per share, or $1.63 on an annual basis. The new dividend will be payable on Sept. 13 to shareholders of record on Aug. 30. Meredith has paid a dividend for 66 consecutive years and increased it for 20 years straight. Meredith’s dividend currently yields 3.5% based on Wed., Aug. 14’s closing price of $47.24.
As one industry observer puts it: “If you’re not looking to merge or acquire, you’re a bonehead dinosaur. Everybody should be on the block. If you bought assets to eventually sell, now is the time to sell.” Among the station groups in play are Local TV LLC/FoxCo’s 21 stations; Allbritton; Grant Communications; and Granite Broadcasting. Possible buyers include Sinclair, Nexstar, Fox, Raycom, LIN and ABC.
Meredith Local Media Revenue Up 10%
The total during the company’s fiscal 3Q rose to $85 million, led by ad gains in the auto, retail and furnishing categories as well as increases in retrans fees.
Time Warner is in early discussions with the Meredith Corp. to put most of Time Inc.’s magazines — including People, InStyle and Real Simple — into a separate, publicly traded company that would also include Meredith titles like Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies’ Home Journal. Time, Sports Illustrated and Fortune would remain with Time Warner.
Next Great Family Band, a 30-minute weekly show produced by Meredith Video Studios, will premiere Feb. 17 on Cozi TV, the new network from the NBC Owned Television Stations division […]
