Business

Wall Street rallied on Friday to close out a record-breaking end to a turbulent week. The S&P 500 index climbed 44.31, or 1%, to 4,411.79 to top its prior all-time high, set early last week.

Last week, it was announced that the FCC would be considering some changes to its political broadcasting rules at its monthly open meeting in August.  In some quarters, that raised concern that significant changes were coming in time for the 2022 congressional elections. But, when the draft of the proposed changes was released, it turned out that the changes were instead very minor.

CBS has ousted the leaders of its O&O stations in Los Angeles and Chicago after concluding a six-month investigation into misconduct claims at the CBS Television Stations group. Jay Howell is out as general manager of KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV Los Angeles, as is Derek Dalton at WBBM-TV Chicago. The terminations were disclosed in memos Thursday about the conclusion of the investigation sparked by a Los Angeles Times expose on hostile working conditions for women and people of color at a number of CBS O&Os.

TVNewsCheck‘s Michael Depp and Harry Jessell discuss the uncertainty lingering at the FCC, where Acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel may be facing contention for the permanent job and a fifth commissioner has yet to be appointed.

Slow-paying advertising agencies continue to be an issue for collection teams —  an issue that seemed to worsen with the pandemic. Fortunately, a three-part plan from an industry expert who’s been in the media collections business for 50 years offers a solid structure, sound advice, and actionable insights for the best bet in collecting what’s due.

Stock indexes inched higher on Wall Street on Thursday, preserving weekly gains. The S&P 500 shrugged off a midday slide and rose 0.2%. Microsoft and other big technology stocks helped nudge the index up.

The San Francisco-based company earned $65.6 million, or 8 cents per share, in the April-June quarter. That’s up from a loss of $1.38 billion, or $1.75 per share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 74% to $1.19 billion from $683.4 million, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations. Ad revenue in the U.S. alone nearly doubled.

With a consolidation of CBS’s News and Stations divisions already underway, the network has now also finished its long external probe into various allegations of racist and abusive behavior at local outlets — and change is coming to the City of Angels and the Windy City ASAP and more, promise execs.

Former longtime CBS executive Joseph Ianniello has launched a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, with a handful of former colleagues to scout for acquisitions in media, entertainment and sports. The firm called Argus Capital Corp, filed with the SEC Thursday to raise up to $300 million, offering 30 million units at $10. Ianniello is chairman and CEO of the group.

Add Legendary Entertainment to the list of media companies that may capitalize on the burgeoning desire for high-end Hollywood content. Bloomberg reported in April Legendary had tapped investment bank LionTree LLC to explore possible deals, including merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). But talks appear to be heating up in recent weeks, with the company exploring something separate and apart from a SPAC, according to insiders.

The broadcasting executive with 30 years of management, sales and marketing experience will oversee broadcasting and digital operations in various markets across the U.S.

The deal builds on the success of peacock relationship, helping to manage and deliver a pristine viewing experience across all screens.

He will lead the strategy and development of the company’s consumer identity and data platform.

HBO and HBO Max added 2.8 million subscribers in the second quarter, reaching 47 million in the U.S. and helping parent AT&T beat Wall Street forecasts. Total AT&T revenue of $44 billion rose almost 8% from the year-earlier period and topped analysts’ consensus estimate of $42.6 billion. Earnings per share went up 7% to 89 cents, well ahead of analysts’ outlook of 79 cents.

Just months after the major pro sports leagues resumed play after the pandemic forced an unprecedented shutdown of live sports for nearly a year, COVID-19 is still having an adverse effect on the live sports event business. While the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines has paved the way for a return of most pro sports events in 2021 — and has allowed fans to attend events at full capacity in many venues — observers said the industry has not yet declared victory against the virus.

Tegna Inc.’s board of directors declared a dividend of 9.5 cents per share, payable on Oct. 1 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on Sept. 3. “Our record first quarter results, and the second quarter and full-year 2021 guidance we provided on May 10, 2021, reflect the strength of our business and favorable positioning for continued growth and value creation,” said Dave Lougee, Tegna president-CEO. “As we announced on March 29, this 9.5 cents per share dividend represents a 36% increase to our prior dividend on an annualized basis, and is a reflection of our board’s active review of our capital allocation program and options to create and return value to shareholders.”

The survey represents nationwide ad spending targeting local audiences in 210 markets across 16 media and 95 business verticals. Local television advertising this year will dip to $16.2 billion, but bounce up to $19.3 billion in 2022, with $1.5 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively, coming from digital platforms.

Stocks climbed on Wednesday as more company earnings reports rolled in. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% and is now on pace for a weekly gain. Technology stocks, banks and companies that rely on consumer spending helped drive the benchmark index’s advance.

The move will let advertisers across the nation to programmatically buy display and OTT ads through Amazon DSP and analyze their campaign performance.

The industry group that represents major television networks is calling on the nonprofit Media Rating Council to strip Nielsen’s accreditation in an unprecedented escalation of a months-long feud centered on the accuracy of Nielsen ratings. On Wednesday morning, the Video Advertising Bureau, which counts A+E Networks, Disney, Fox, NBCUniversal and ViacomCBS (among others) as members, delivered a letter to the MRC demanding that it suspend its accreditation of Nielsen’s national ratings service due to the measurement firm’s handling of its in-home panel. That panel, which serves as the backbone of Nielsen’s television measurement products, has been cast into doubt since at least March 2020.

The new consultancy and research arm will provide partners bespoke insights on cultural trends through the eyes of almost 700 million people worldwide. The inaugural Co-Lab research study details the critical tie between local culture, community values, dedicated fandoms, and global resonance.

Imagine Entertainment, the production banner run by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, has been the subject of renewed acquisition talks in recent weeks, according to multiple sources. Investors and potential buyers include an undisclosed sovereign wealth fund from the Middle East, which has been quietly exploring American media investments of late. Also kicking the tires on Imagine are Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, the former Disney executives who have a bankroll of up to $2 billion from private equity giant Blackstone to buy up independent content companies; as well as international banks.

On Tuesday, Netflix reported its worst slowdown in subscriber growth in eight years as people emerge from their pandemic cocoons. But it thinks it has an answer to that: Video games.

The purchase of WJRT Flint, Mich., by Allen Media Broadcasting tops the latest list of TV station transactions submitted to the FCC for its approval, according to BIA Advisory Services.

On Tuesday, stocks regained much of the ground they lost a day earlier. The comeback was the latest rebound following a pullback as investors continue to try and assess how badly rising infections will hurt the economic recovery.

The U.S. ad economy expanded 35.2% in June vs. the same month a year ago, marking the fourth consecutive month of expansion since the ad industry pulled out of its COVID-19 recession. It was the best June ever since Standard Media Index began the U.S. Ad Market Tracker, though it represented only a slight 0.3% increase over June 2019.