Tegna

Tegna Inc.’s board of directors on Thursday declared a dividend of 7 cents per share, payable on Jan. 2, 2018, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on Dec. 8. “We remain focused on our strategy of being an innovative, best-in-class operator that drives growth and delivers a strong return for our shareholders,” said Dave Lougee, Tegna president-CEO. “We continue to be well-positioned with strong cash flow, financial flexibility and multiple revenue initiatives that create value for our investors.”

Tegna has been introducing new websites for its station group that include a simplified look that de-emphasizes color coding each section. The new design sheds the previous look that was based on a design created for Gannett’s newspaper USA Today, dating back to when Gannett served as the parent company for both newspapers and television stations.

In an age of fake news and heightened distrust of the media, Tegna TV stations are taking steps to improve transparency and build trust with viewers through a project called Verify. A small team at WFAA, Tegna’s ABC affiliate in Dallas, takes viewers on the road as guest reporters — literally and virtually — to answer viewers’ questions and witness the fact-gathering process. Senior Reporter David Schechter talks about the experience.

The IP-based video call-in service of Video Call Center helps the new Tegna show bring back live interviews using  proprietary technology that ensures robust, low-latency links to interview subjects anywhere in the world.

Tegna’s board of of directors has authorized a share repurchase program for up to $300 million of its common stock, the company said Tuesday. 

All money raised by Tegna’s 46 stations in 38 markets stations will be donated to the Red Cross Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. In addition, the Tegna Foundation will match the first $100,000 of donations.

Tegna has wrapped its fifth innovation summit. A spokesperson says the two-day innovation summit brought more than 30 reporters, producers and digital journalists from 20 stations across the country to its headquarters in McLean, Va. This year’s theme was “Escape the Ordinary.”

Sing Like a Star will air in 33 Tegna markets and be hosted by Arthel Neville. It will be produced out of WWL New Orleans and premieres Sept. 16.

As part of the collaboration with The Weather Channel for its “Chasing Eclipse 2017” live stream, special coverage from Tegna’s six solar eclipse communities will be featured on weather.com, on The Weather Channel app and across social media. The station group will also partner with Facebook for the #EclipseLive Facebook Live stream.

Former Mashable executive Adam Ostrow will oversee Tegna’s digital vision and strategy.

In addition to political shortfalls typical of an odd-numbered year, Tegna will come up short because its many NBC affiliates will not be able to match revenue they garnered in last year’s 3Q when they aired the Olympic Summer Games. Auto advertising also remains problematic. Looking forward, CEO Dave Lougee said that if the FCC eases the ownership limits, Tegna will have ample headroom to expand and could also add to its portfolio in markets where it already has a presence.

The increase to $489 million is primarily driven by new initiatives and a 24% increase in a new category, Subscription Revenue, which includes retrans.

Sister Circle will be Tegna’s second original program to launch this fall. It will also air live on TV One.

The Tegna-owned ABC affiliate will run the business and financial segments twice daily. Tegna could eventually roll out the segments to all of its stations.

Tegna Inc. and WMAZ, Tegna’s CBS affiliate in Macon, Ga. (DMA 121), have created a local reporting partnership with Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism and the John S. and […]

On Tuesday, Tegna declared a dividend of sevem cents per share, payable on Oct. 2 to stockholders of record as of Sept. 8. As announced earlier, Tegna expects to pay a regular dividend of 28 cents annually. Said CEO Dave Lougee: “We are focused on accelerating growth of our multi-platform businesses, growing subscriber revenues, reaching new audiences and investing in new business models while continuing to deliver value to shareholders.”

The new show’s eight hosts bring a diversity of backgrounds in television, media, fitness, sports and comedy. To the show debuting on Sept. 11 in 36 Tegna markets.

Gracia Martore retires after more than 30 years with the company. She’s succeeded as Tegna president-CEO by Dave Lougee. Cars.com begins trading on the NYSE under the symbol CARS.

A WTLV Jacksonville, Fla., promotion for the Jacksonville Jaguars included EAS tones permitted only for emergencies and system tests.

Like many groups, Tegna is enjoying increased income from retrans, which has been enough to offset the big loss of political advertisers and the more modest decrease in core revenue. EVP-CFO Victoria Harker said the company is on track to record a low-to-mid-single digit revenue gain in 2Q. A bright spot is the growth of OTT retrans fees in line with those paid by traditional MVPDs.

It came in at $446 million. Retrans and online were only gainers, up 24% and 14%, respectively. Core fell 9.7% and political was down 86%.

Shareholders of Tegna Inc. today overwhelmingly approved the re-election of board members, an advisory resolution on the compensation of the company’s named executive officers, and holding future advisory votes on […]

The separation is expected to be completed by May 31. Tegna stockholders to receive one share of Cars.com stock for every three Tegna shares. Cars.com to pay Tegna $650 million in cash.

The veteran producer will oversee the new daytime syndicated show from Tegna that will air live  in every market and time zone that it airs, providing audiences across the country with the opportunity to participate with the show and its hosts.

The station group promotes him to the company’s top human resources post.

Anne Bentley joins from PBS and also has experience at AOL. She will oversee the station group’s company’s external and internal communications strategy.

Tegna Media President Dave Lougee says that negotiations with streaming services like Sony PlayStation Vue and DirecTV Now are progressing smoothly. In today’s call with analysts, he also addresses retrans revenue, possible easing of the TV ownership restrictions, the outlook for core and political advertising, its latest syndicated programming venture and its Premion OTT advertising service. He also says Tegna sold no spectrum in the incentive auction.

The increase is attributed to gains in retrans (up 21% to $529 million), as well as more than $90 million in political ad money.

Tegna and Cox Communications reached a new new multi-year carriage agreement on Friday night, preventing the blackout of seven Tegna stations in Cox’s lineup.

Tegna’s WXIA Atlanta tried to break the local TV mold last month with an investigation into a national issue: veterans denied benefits after being less-than-honorably discharged when they should have instead been offered treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Tegna VP for News Ellen Crooke says the docuseries is an example of a new push by the company to emphasize investigations that not only expose problems, but also present solutions.

Tegna Inc. said Thursday that it has sold ShopLocal LLC, which has been doing business as Cofactor, to Liquidus Marketing, a digital marketing solutions company. Cofactor is a digital marketing company that connects online and offline shoppers across all channels and devices. Terms were not disclosed.

While many publicly traded station groups have taken a very distinct path toward their digital media investments, one common denominator is forging relationships with third-party aggregators as well as search engine marketing and search engine optimization partners. Here’s how six station groups are taking advantage of their unique strengths to scale their offerings and maintain their leadership positions in digital.

The new Premion is designed to deliver leading premium long-form OTT content to local and regional advertisers through one solution.

The increase is attributed to gains in retrans, online as well as Olympics and political ad money, the last of which was up from $6 million to $38 million.

Tegna-owned Northwest Cable News will cease to exist on Jan. 6, 2017, ending two decades of providing news and weather in the Seattle region. The shutdown follows the retirement/buyout in April of high-profile on-screen talent and renowned off-screen producers. “It’s primarily audience based: Audiences for regional news channels are getting smaller over time,” said GM Jim Rose.

Tegna Inc.’s board of directors on Thursday declared a dividend of 14 cents per share, payable on Jan. 3, 2017, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on Dec. 9. “Tegna consistently returns capital to our shareholders while continuing to innovate, invest in and grow our businesses,” said Gracia Martore, the company’s president-CEO. “We remain well-positioned to capitalize on market demand for our business and continue to deliver outstanding value to our shareholders.”