Free TV Networks, the new company started by Jonathan Katz and backed by Warner Bros. Discovery, Lionsgate and Gray Television, said it has added new carriage agreements for its The365 and Outlaw channels with Tegna, Sunbeam and HC2-owned stations. The new distribution puts The365 in 29 new markets with carriage now in 111 million homes, or 89% of U.S. households, by the second quarter of this year.
Local television broadcaster Tegna will continue to seek higher fees from cable and satellite companies in exchange for the privilege of retransmitting dozens of its TV stations to subscribers, the company affirmed this week. The statement was made in a financial filing distributed to investors and submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, in which Tegna executives said there was a “value gap” between “viewership of broadcast television and the subscription revenue we earn in the form of retransmission fees,” which it intends to leverage in order to “capture additional subscription value in the form of higher subscription rates” charged to pay TV companies.
Top technologists from Fox Corp., Tegna and Sinclair, along with cutting-edge content creators, unpack how generative AI will play an instrumental role in future production in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s Programming Everywhere conference at the NAB Show on April 14. Register here.
Gray Television, which will air a package of five Cleveland Cavalier basketball games on two Ohio stations this season, said it made deals with Nexstar Media Group, Cox Media Group and Tegna to put the games on additional stations in Ohio.
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.
Tegna Q4 Revenue Down 21%
The decrease to $726 million is attributed to lower political advertising compared to 2022’s mid-term election cycle.
Tegna moves him from its Memphis duopoly to oversee its Ohio CBS affiliate.
The Tegna deal underscores how traditional local media companies might partner with startups to achieve mutually beneficial growth goals.
Octillion is a next-generation demand-side platform focused on local CTV/OTT advertising. Tegna says the acquisition will expand Premion’s capabilities in the CTV marketplace by combining Octillion’s cutting-edge technology with Premion’s award-winning local CTV/OTT advertising solution.
The new multiyear agreement covers the station group’s 64 owned stations in 51 markets and ends the blackout that began Nov. 30, 2023.
DirecTV-Tegna Blackout, Peacock Exclusive Threaten To Block Viewers Amid NFL’s Big Wild Card Weekend
The biggest ratings force in American television is about to kick off high holy postseason services, but ridiculous impediments for the rapt audience await.
Tegna is the largest independent owner of NBC affiliates. The 20 markets renewed cover more than 21 million households, nearly 17% of U.S. TV households.
Some DirecTV customers were able to watch a national programming feed of NBC in areas where the local affiliate has been unavailable for weeks due to a prolonged dispute with Tegna, StreamTV Insider confirms. The test appears to be a first step toward replacing local broadcast affiliates with national network feeds in order to offset the loss of programming during programming disputes, like the one DirecTV currently faces with Tegna.
News Leaders Focus On Journalist Protection, Stress In Fraught ’24
Top news executives from Tegna, Hearst Television, Spectrum News and The Weather Channel told a NewsTECHForum panel last week that safety, security, mental-health services and higher pay are all top prerogatives in a more dangerous and stressful newsroom environment.
Top executives from Tubi, Tegna, Sinclair, Cisco and Lawo told a TVNewsCheck webinar Tuesday that hybrid technology architectures and business models would be a major dynamic in 2024, along with an expanding and promising use of generative AI that also compels great caution. To watch the video of the full webinar, click here.
DirecTV is looking to establish a new regime for the distribution of TV stations, one it says would arrest the tide of TV station-caused price hikes and consumer anger over blackouts before the big game. The satellite TV provider with 11.8 million subscribers nationally is proposing a new a la carte model for the industry. The company wants to jettison the “retransmission consent” requirement in current law that says DirecTV must negotiate carriage with TV stations, even if it means losing stations in the absence of a mutual deal.
Dozens of TV stations owned by Tegna, most of them NBC and CBS affiliates, have gone dark on DirecTV in a carriage dispute. The companies failed to reach an agreement before a 5 p.m. PT deadline Thursday. The outage will immediately affect roughly 5 million customers in markets across the U.S.
For starters, Tegna and DirecTV had a carriage dispute in 2020that led to a 19-day channel blackout before the two sides finally reached a new deal. The disagreement was over how much the satellite service should pay to carry Tegna’s signals, just as it is now. But Tegna has been involved in several other fee fights over the last few years. The company clearly has no compunction allowing its channels to go dark if it helps get the best deal possible. Likewise, DirecTV this year had a 10-week blackout battle with Nexstar, a two-month dispute with Newsmax, and still has ongoing fights with Mission Broadcasting and White Knight.
Tegna is back on the rocks with DirecTV, signaling to viewers Saturday that its stations could soon be pulled off the programming grids of the pay TV operator’s platforms amid failing broadcast retransmission licensing negotiations. The broadcaster, which owns 64 network affiliates in 14 markets, told viewers with DirecTV satellite, DirecTV Stream and U-verse subscriptions that they could “lose” Tegna stations starting Nov. 30 without DirecTV agreeing to “fair, market-based” terms on broadcast retransmission licensing.
Sports, FAST Channels Are Bright Spots For Broadcasters In A Down Quarter
Until 2024’s political windfall machine can kick in, TV groups have been leaning into revenue opportunities from sports rights and streaming prospects like FAST channels, where the breakeven mark is getting closer.
The attorney and former executive with Vox, Hulu and AOL will oversee all legal functions across a broad range of disciplines.
With this announcement, the company this year has committed to nearly $800 million in share repurchases.
Top broadcast technology executives from Tubi, Tegna, Sinclair, Cisco Systems and Lawo will offer their predictions for cloud, IP, streaming, generative AI, cybersecurity, NextGen TV and more in a TVNewsCheck Working Lunch Webinar on Dec. 5. Register here.
Tegna Sees More Opportunities For It In Sports
CEO Dave Lougee: “With the existing RSN and cable model in the final innings, the move of local sports from cable to broadcast is in the first inning of a new era.”
Tegna Q3 Revenue Drops 11%
The decrease to $713 million is attributed to lower political advertising compared to 2022’s mid-term election cycle.
Executives from NBCUniversal Local, Disney Advertising Sales Local, E.W. Scripps, Tegna and Ticker News shared their insights and experiences in maximizing streaming revenue and the most promising pathways to growth at a TV2025 session. Despite the expected election year bonanza, there are challenges. Among them: the lack of consensus about what currency should be used for transactions.
Daily Blast Live, a Tegna-produced topical talker shot in Denver, may be heralding a new wave of cheaper, functional syndicated daytime shows. Its producer, Burt Dubrow and Tegna’s Brian Weiss, VP of entertainment programming and multicast networks, make the case. A full transcript of the conversation is included.
Tegna moves him from leading WVEC Norfolk, Va., to overseeing its NBC affiliate in Minnesota.
Tegna’s CBS affiliate KENS San Antonio, Texas, and the official TV station of the San Antonio Spurs, will air 11 Spurs games exclusively during the 2023-24 season. Spurs games appearing […]
Quad Cities’ WQAD Hires Major Market News Director To Fill In As Temp
There is no 1-800 number to get a major market news director to parachute into market 104 on a temporary basis. How WQAD pulled it off is a matter of timing and providence.
Tegna taps the VP, media operations to add oversight of its NBC-MNT stations in Georgia.
The syndicated daytime talker adds 21 stations as the new season gets underway, now carried in over 55% of U.S. TV homes.
The sales veteran will oversee the Tegna unit’s political sales efforts, drive new business development and manage relationships with political agencies and consultants.
Carrie Hofmann has been named president and general manager of Tegna’s CBS affiliate in Columbia, S.C., WLTX, effective October 2. Hofmann has been news director at Tegna’s NBC affiliate in Charlotte, N.C., WCNC, since since 2020. (Image of Hofmann: Business Wire)
Tegna today announced that Carrie Hofmann has been named president and general manager of WLTX, the group’s CBS affiliate in Columbia, S.C., effective October 2. Hofmann will be responsible for […]
Tegna: Ad Trends Improving; New CFO Announced
CEO Dave Lougee: “Automotive … has steadily recovered and is generating strong year-over-year growth — and it did so in the second quarter for the fourth consecutive quarter, and is doing it again and is strong in Q3 as well.” Tegna SVP of Financial Planning Julie Heskett has been tapped to succeed the retiring Victoria Harker as CFO.
Tegna 2Q Revenue Drops 7%
The decrease to $732 million is attributed to lower political advertising compared to 2022’s mid-term election cycle.
Executives from NBCUniversal Local, Disney Advertising Sales Local, E.W. Scripps, Tegna and Ticker News will share the revenue upsides and expectations they’re framing up for different streaming platforms in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s TV2025: Monetizing the Future conference at the NAB Show New York on Oct. 25. Register here.
Leaders from Graham, Tegna, Cox and Gray told a TVNewsCheck webinar last week that station projects with a strong local value proposition — and a deeper collaboration between the newsroom and creative services — can yield remarkable audience engagement.