Raycom

Raycom is moving him from VP-GM of KXXV Waco, Texas, to lead its CBS affiliate in Tucson, Ariz.

The American Cable Association wants to make sure that Gray is not allowed to raise the retrans fees of stations before spinning them off to other buyers in its purchase of Raycom’s TV stations. That’s according to an ACA filing at the FCC.

Broadcast leaders who’ve come up through their companies’ digital ranks have a different vantage point than their C-suite peers. Leaders from Raycom, E.W. Scripps, ABC Owned Television Stations are Capitol Broadcasting say their experience with digital media risks, failures and the process of constant iteration has shaped their approach to the broadcast helm for the better.

Raycom-owned WPGX in Panama City, Fl. has tapped Bill Poplin as its new general manager/general sales manager. Most recently, Poplin was sales manager for WCTI in Greenville, N.C. 

The Birmingham, Ala., Fox affiliate is the first Raycom station to introduce a drone. It’s slotted for use in newsgathering, traffic, marketing and creative services, tower inspections and sales initiatives.

A determined cadre of station groups remains intent on replacing pricey Hollywood syndication shows with programming of its own. Among the upcoming do-it-yourself offerings is a talk show from Tegna Media hosted by T.D. Jakes set to debut this fall.

Stations from groups including  Fox O&Os, Sinclair, Hearst, Cox and others will air the new show from NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution this fall. The show will be co-hosted by WNBC New York contributor Ben Aaron and Bad Girls Club reality star Tanisha Thomas.

After being blindsided by a DirecTV attack on Sunday, Raycom yesterday fired back at the satcaster, suggesting it put profits ahead of its customers during the companies’ recent fee fight.

The current, fourth season will be the last for the syndicated lifestyle show. Raycom is now shopping two new half-hour strips: Fix It & Finish It and Flip My Food with Chef Jeff.

The TV station executive will step down at the end of the year. He began his career in TV sales 44 years ago at WSFA Montgomery, Ala.

The companies say that Raycom stations will be back on Dish Network “overnight,” and didn’t provide any details about the agreement. The broadcaster owns or controls 53 stations in 36 markets including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, and MyNetworkTV affiliates in cities including Cleveland, Toledo, Honolulu, Tucson, Baton Rouge, West Palm Beach, Louisville, and Memphis. The stations went dark on Dish on Aug. 1

In the latest blowup over broadcast TV retransmission fees, Dish Network customers in 36 markets lost access to 53 television stations owned by Raycom Media after the companies failed to reach a new deal by midnight Wednesday.

Raycom renews the African-American-targeted network in 26 DMAs, adds network in Knoxville and Panama City; LIN renews four markets, launches in Buffalo, Providence and Grand Rapids; Belo renews in Houston; WVUE renews in New Orleans; WBDT renews in Dayton; WYTV launches in Youngstown

America Now, the daily syndicated newsmagazine show from Raycom Media and ITV Studios America co-hosted by Leeza Gibbons and Bill Rancic, will return for a fourth season. The announcement was […]

Raycom Media and ITV Studios America are partnering with Trifecta Entertainment & Media as the new distributor of America Now, their daily newsmagazine show co-hosted by Leeza Gibbons and Bill […]

The group broadcaster will use the StationView Essentials ratings service in 17 more markets.

The partnership will offer a “second screen” app in early 2012, allowing viewers to tap into related content and swap comments with friends watching the same broadcast TV show at the same time. Broadcasters hope the app with lead to increased revenue, greater engagement and better tune-in promotion. Participating station groups include those of Pearl, the joint venture formed last year to pursue the mobile DTV business. They include Belo, Cox, Scripps, Gannett, Hearst Television, Media General, Meredith, Post-Newsweek and Raycom.

Raycom Media’s head of research, Billy McDowell, conducted a survey of the viewers in its Southern stations in the wake of this April’s devastating tornadoes. He learned that 71% of adults living in those affected areas first learned about the approaching storms through TV. At a focus group recently, one of the participants said of a local meteorologist: “He saved my life.” Says McDowell on the value of TV stations’ service to their communities: “No other endorsement is needed.”

Free Press filed a petition at the FCC from 150-plus Hawaiians asking it to act on a complaint against Raycom for its operation of three Honolulu TV stations under a shared services agreement. Free Press pointed out Tuesday that Media Council Hawaii had filed the complaint in October 2009 and no action has yet been taken.

A pair of broadcast executives made a pitch in Washington Thursday night for the value of local broadcasting in the face of government calls for them to give up spectrum for wireless broadband. “The work that local stations do in this country is extraordinary and should not be taken for granted,” said David Barrett, president of Hearst TV, which owns 29 TV stations. In addition, Raycom News VP Susana Schuler said broadcasters are best positioned to feed growing news appetite.

Ken Selvaggi, VP-GM of Raycom-owned NBC affiliate WSFA Montgomery-Selma, Ala., announced to staff Monday that he’ll be leaving to take over the reins at Raycom’s WAVE Louisville, Ky., on March 21.