Business

The station group said the consent decree resolves DOJ concerns about the sharing of advertising pacing with other station groups. The settlement does not include an admission of guilt or involve any monetary damages for fines, Sinclair said. Other station groups are said to have been drawn into the investigation, but no word on whether they have settled.

Tech and health care led a U.S. stock surge the day after the midterm elections. “The market likes when what it expects to happen happens,” said JJ Kinahan, chief markets strategist for TD Ameritrade. “We haven’t had that happen in a little while, when you think about major events like Brexit or the presidential election.”

Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen, long known for his free-spoken, sharp-elbowed management style, described the company’s carriage dispute with HBO as the result of “purely an anti-competitive play” by the premium network’s new parent, AT&T.

Sinclair not only exceeded guidance in political advertising, it exceeded every other midterm election in the company’s history, and also exceeded political income earned during the 2016 presidential election. As Television Group EVP-COO Steven M. Marks put it: “We’re drunk on political.” It also announces it has settled with the Justice Department over allegations of sharing of ad sales info.

Nexstar chooses the former NBC television and marketing executive to lead its Lansing, Mich., CBS affiliate’s TV and digital operations.

The local media group’s performance of $214 million is driven by $36.1 million of political money and a 17% rise in core advertising plus greater retrans revenue.

Television, which includes the broadcast network and stations, had a stellar quarter, with operating income of $168 million surging 38%, over the prior-year quarter as revenue climbed 20%. The company credited a 22% advertising upswing on World Cup soccer matches and more NFL games than in the year-ago period, plus midterm political ad spending on its O&O TV stations.

Fox has been broadcasting the World Series since Derek Jeter was a rookie in 1996 — and there is momentum for that to continue. Major League Baseball and Fox are moving toward a new multibillion-dollar deal to extend the network’s longtime hold on the World Series for the foreseeable future.

The increase to $730.4 million comes from higher political ad money plus greater contributions from retrans and its digital businesses.

Public databases that shine a light on online political ads — launched by Facebook and Google before Tuesday’s U.S. elections — offer the public the first broad view of how quickly the companies yank advertisements that break their rules.

Nearly two months after Leslie Moonves’ ouster from CBS Corp., the search for his successor has been sluggish and only now starting in earnest. But it won’t be a speedy process. The word that the CBS board’s evaluation of candidates could take as long as four to six months speaks volumes about the challenge CBS faces in lining up a new permanent leader. The final decision will say even more about where the board sees CBS heading.

Industrials and tech led U.S. stocks on Tuesday ahead of elections results. Industrial and basic materials companies made some of the biggest gains.

The three-judge panel that will hear arguments Dec. 6 in the federal appeal of AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner has been selected. Judges Judith W. Rogers, Robert L. Wilkins and David B. Sentelle will be on the bench in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to weigh in on the Department of Justice effort to undo the $85 billion deal.

The sale of Endemol Shine is off. Senior staff members at the production and distribution giant were told this week that the company’s co-owners, 21st Century Fox and Apollo Global Management, have decided to suspend the process, a source with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday.

The increase to $279.3 million comes from higher retrans revenue and increased political ad money. Both local and national revenue were again down by single digits.

U.S. stocks rose Monday on the strength of banks and health care companies. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which owns Geico and other insurance businesses, led the rally in financial stocks after it reported strong results over the weekend.

Both networks said today they will stop airing President Donald Trump’s campaign advertisement that featured an immigrant convicted of murder. Earlier, CNN had rejected the same ad, declaring it racist.

On Feb. 23, Graham Holdings Co. reported third quarter earnings that included revenue from its television broadcasting division, Graham Media Group, of $130 million, an increase of 28% from $101.3 […]

November, February, May and July. Traditionally, those months are when Nielsen conducted its ratings sweeps used to set ad rates. In September, Nielsen began surveying TV viewership every month. But it appears not everyone got the memo. “It is interesting to me that the TV news industry has not figured out that there are no longer just four sweeps months a year,” said David Hughes, the news director for WDBJ Roanoke, VA.

Viewers may be sick of campaign ads, the mostly negative content and the sheer repetition of many of them, but the revenue they produce helps in a big way to sustain local TV news.

A recent Facebook initiative aimed at combating foreign interference in elections involves requiring political-ad purchasers to identify themselves in “paid for by” disclaimers. But Facebook’s system suffers from some “significant apparent loopholes,” including one that allows ad purchasers to lie about their identities, Senate Democrats Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota) and Mark Warner (Virginia) say in a new letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Stocks ended a strong week on Friday with losses as Apple shares skidded. That pulled technology stocks lower. Other high-growth stocks held up well after the U.S. and China said they had made some progress in trade talks, and Asian indexes surged on reports that China’s government plans to cut taxes.

The station group names Steve Carter president-GM of KGW Portland, while  Mark Cornetta adds to his corporate role to lead KUSA Denver.