Business

Automakers increased their spending on television media last month, largely thanks to the Olympics, according to iSpot.tv. In July, automakers spent an estimated $164 million according to iSpot — an increase of nearly 60% year-over-year. Impressions, however, were down slightly (24.6 billion) compared to July 2020 (25.9 billion.)

Streaming pay TV provider FuboTV reported second-quarter results far better than Wall Street analysts expected, showing a gain of 91,000 subscribers compared with the year-ago quarter. Total revenue nearly tripled to a record $130.9 million and adjusted losses of 38 cents a share came in more than a dime lower than forecasts. Advertising revenue jumped 281% to $16.5 million.

Shari Redstone is hitting pause on any potential partnership talks between her media company ViacomCBS and NBC owner Comcast in hopes of lining up more suitors. The chairman of ViacomCBS has decided to hold off until next year before re-engaging in talks with Comcast’s Brian Roberts, according to two sources close to the situation.

The purchase of KYTL-LD Twin Falls, Idaho, by i84 Broadcasting Co. tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA Advisory Services.

AT&T is in talks to sell WarnerMedia’s celebrity gossip site TMZ to Fox in yet another deal paring down the telco’s entertainment assets, one that comes as it prepares to spin off Warner and merge it with Discovery.

Stocks edged higher Tuesday as banks and industrial offset a tech slide. The S&P 500 recovered from an early slip and eked out a 0.1% gain, enough to eclipse the record high it set Friday.

Scripps moves him from its KXXV-KEHD duopoly in Waco, Texas, to oversee its CBS affiliate in Virginia.

The advertising veteran will succeed Andy Hoffman who is retiring later this year after 40 years at the Hearst ABC affiliate in Boston.

The multiyear agreement Includes measurement for all Meredith local stations and includes Nielsen Scarborough.

Major League Baseball and Barstool Sports have had significant negotiations about having national midweek games on the site’s platforms. The discussions are what Barstool founder Dave Portnoy was referring to last week when he mentioned his company has had talks with “major leagues.”

AT&T moves further away from the video biz with the divestment of the thriving anime-focused niche SVOD service.

The second quarter loss was $18.5 million, or 28 cents a share, compared to a loss of $10.4 million, or 15 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue slid to $87.7 million from $88.6 million a year ago.

Led by Emily Barr, Graham Media Group has long been at the vanguard of multimedia experimentation, making bold moves in streaming and on digital platforms. In an era of dramatic industry consolidation, the family-owned group has also remained defiantly independent.

Stocks ended a wobbly day Monday lower, edging below recent records. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, erasing an early gain. Technology companies accounted for a big share of the decline. Industrial and consumer-centric stocks also fell.

CBS has named Claudia Milne the senior vice president of standards and practices at CBS News and Stations. In her new role, Milne will help determine CBS News’ editorial standards and ensure they are being maintained across CBS News, stations and digital platforms.

Called NBC Sports Next, it unifies the SportsEngine, GolfNow and NBC Sports Enterprise platforms.

Ongoing carriage friction between Dish Network and Sinclair Broadcast Group could soon intensify, with Sinclair warning that 112 of its local TV stations could soon go dark on the pay-TV provider. In an earnings conference call with Wall Street analysts, Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen was asked about the source of the dispute with Sinclair. “At the end of the day, it’s about money,” he said. “It’s about economics.”

“Not surprisingly, all categories were up over last year, including auto; services; retail; health care; home improvement; entertainment & gambling; insurance, banking & finance; packaged goods; and education,” EVP-CFO Victoria Harker said in the quarterly conference call. “Even categories that continued to face some pressure this quarter — including entertainment, travel & tourism — were up substantially compared to the second quarter of last year.”

Nate Johnson, director of weather operations for NBCUniversal Local, says the group’s NBC and Telemundo stations are using augmented reality to enhance weather reporting. Every tool counts, he emphasizes, since competition for talent is getting stiffer as Fox readies its own weather network. Note: This story is available to TVNewsCheck Premium members only. If you would like to upgrade your free TVNewsCheck membership to Premium now, you can visit your Member Home Page, available when you log in at the very top right corner of the site or in the Stay Connected Box that appears in the right column of virtually every page on the site. If you don’t see Member Home, you will need to click Log In or Subscribe.

QR codes became mainstream during the pandemic when restaurants began using the bar codes to allow diners touchless to menus. Now TV stations are finding that QR codes can be used to drive website traffic and app downloads. Their functionality “crosses sales and news,” says Mitchell West, regional director at Nexstar.

New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include openings for a chief engineer, a sales executive and a sales account executive.

The increase to $733 million is driven by record second quarter subscription revenue and advertising and marketing services revenue.

Although direct-to-consumer offerings are the latest rage, much of Sinclair’s future in the space could be determined by its retrans talks with Dish Network.

Treasury yields powered higher Friday and two major stock indexes notched more record highs after a report showed the U.S. job market is making widespread improvements. The S&P 500 rose 7.42 points, or 0.2%, to 4,436.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 144.26 points, or 0.4%, to 35,208.51. The Nasdaq fell 59.36 points, or 0.4%, to 14,835.76. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 11.75 points, or 0.5%, to 2,247.76.

TV commercials’ minutes per hour across total day viewing was at 13.3 minutes per hour versus 12.6 minutes in the second quarter of 2020, according to MoffettNathanson Research.

E.W. Scripps said Friday that it topped its guidance with same-station advertising up 48% and services seeing a 35% year-to-year spending jump, leading all other categories.

The increase to $325 million outperformed expectations. It was driven by higher core advertising and retrans revenue.

The new deal with Fox, which comes as networks and distributors have criticized Nielsen for under-counting viewing during the pandemic, includes ComScore’s TV measurement service.