Post-Newsweek stations

As of today, the five-station group formerly owned by the Washington Post, is now known as the Graham Media Group. Its Web address is www.GrahamMedia.com.

Graham Holdings Co. says the rise is due to a $3.1 million increase in political ad revenue, $9.5 million in incremental winter Olympics-related advertising revenue at the company’s NBC affiliates and $4.7 million in increased retransmission revenues.

In a memo to staffers, Emily Barr, the president and CEO of the Post-Newsweek stations, is seeking to allay fears within the station group after the sale of WPLG, the ABC affiliate in Miami, was announced this morning.

Despite speed bumps from the FCC (plans to kill JSAs and SSAs) and Aereo, many industry observers think the station trading market will heat up, with speculation that possible players include not only the usual suspects (Sinclair and Nexstar) but also Post-Newsweek, LIN, Meredith, Media General, Raycom and Sunbeam.

Project Identity has the station group’s digital team collecting more data about online and mobile subscribers with a plan to use it to better target content and advertising. Digital VP Catharine Badalamente says her team is benefiting from a closer relationship with Trove, formerly WaPo Labs, which used to spend most of its R&D time on the newspaper but now is firmly focused on the local TV group.

Existing Internet Broadcasting clients extend full-service agreements and expand mobile, social, video and development platform services

For local media companies, the benefits of big data are many, including a positive impact on the bottom line, but harnessing that data presents a challenge. Working with big data invariably means stitching together a solution among a disparate field of vendors, as well as creating an in-house team to analyze the data. Not to mention the potential legal problems. Part one of a three-part special report on local media and big data, looking at the promises and challenges of this fast-changing field. Read part one here. Read the full report here.

As local media companies eye the potential of big data for deepening their engagement with audiences and advertisers, they are learning just how messy, expensive, incremental and imperfect the process can be. In the first of a three-part special report on local media and big data, NetNewsCheck looks at the promise and challenges of this fast-changing field.

Emily Barr, CEO of the Washington Post Co.’s six-station television division says it wasn’t a bidder for Allbritton’s WJLA Washington and will continue its acquisition strategy. “We pay attention to, and consider, any and all possibilities as they come along, but we’re a very disciplined company and any decision to purchase would be consistent with that philosophy.”

Growth in advertising demand across many product categories and increased retransmission revenues combined to offset a $5.3 million decline in political ad revenue.

TV stations aren’t investing enough in digital, according to Catherine Badalamente, VP of digital at Post-Newsweek Stations. In her opinion, stations had better get their act together fast, with newspapers readying their own video efforts to invade TV’s home turf. “You don’t have to go out and buy a $15,000 camera anymore. That means that everyone is on a level playing field. If they put resources behind it, they can be a true competitor to us,” she says.

Growth in advertising demand across many product categories and increased retransmission revenues combined to offset a $2.8 million decline in political ad revenue.

Political and Olympics advertising and retransmission consent money are among the drivers. The TV and cable divisions are the only Washington Post Co. segments to post revenue gains.

Internet Broadcasting (IB), a provider of digital publishing technology and services, today announced a partnership extension with Post-Newsweek Stations for digital operations.  Under the renewal, IB will continue to serve […]

The increase from last year’s quarter to $106.4 million comes from stronger advertising demand, including political and Olympics, plus retransmission consent gains.

Catherine Badalamente will lead the new unit and oversee all of the Washington Post Co. station group’s digital efforts.

The Washington Post Co.’s station group CEO will step down at the end of the year. He’ll be succeeded by WLS GM and Live Well Network creator Emily Barr, who joins the company in July.

On Friday afternoon, Post-Newsweek Stations completed retrans negotiations with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks with no disruption of service, according to sources. The stations involved included Brighthouse carriage of CBS affiliate WKMG Orlando, Fla., and Time Warner Cable’s carriage of ABC affil KSAT San Antonio, Texas. Post-Newsweek also completed agreements with smaller cable systems for its WDIV Detroit (NBC) and with a very small system in Houston for carriage of KPRC (also NBC).

Alan Frank, president of the six-station Post-Newsweek group, says that he has expanded his use of the Rentrak set-to-box viewing data because his problems with the local Nielsen services are “extraordinary and severe.” He may not renew his Nielsen contract, he says.

The TV group’s president, Alan Frank, says: “We will be using Rentrak ratings as a currency at all of our television stations and urge all broadcasters, agencies and advertisers to support Rentrak’s census-based ratings solution.”

Candidates for the upcoming 2012 elections will be eligible for free airtime and free Web time in the 30 days preceding the general elections.

Eight of the 10 NBC Owned Television Stations will carry the new daytime talk show in fall 2012, including WNBC New York, KNBC Los Angeles and WCAU Philadelphia. Also clearing the talker are stations in 16 of the top 20 markets.

Alan Frank has been CEO of the station group owned by the Washington Post Co. since the business barely faced a question about a robust future. Assuming the role 11 years ago, he took over before disruption from DVRs or Web video seemed troubling and when the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts loomed larger in local communities. Yet, Frank’s optimism about the local-station business was on display last week at a Post Co. shareholders’ meeting.

Post-Newsweek is hunting for a successor to replace him as GM of its ABC affiliate in San Antonio, following Joslyn’s decision to retire at the end of the month.

Deborah Norville, the two-time Emmy award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author, will host the 2011 Golden Mike Award to honor Alan W. Frank, president-CEO of Post-Newsweek Stations. The fundraising event takes place on Monday, Feb. 28, at The Plaza Hotel in New York City in support of the charitable mission of the Broadcasters Foundation of America. 

Post-Newsweek’s WDIV and KPRC move the Sony Pictures TV talker to 2 p.m. and noon slots, respectively, beginning next month.