Business

The moves follow Adam Symson’s move to president-CEO earlier this month. The moves are promotions for Brian Lawlor, Laura Tomlin, Lisa Knutson, Tim Wesolowski and William Appleton.

David Smith, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s executive chairman and largest shareholder, is close to Steve Bannon and an admirer, according to people who know them both. He is keen to increase Sinclair’s heft in conservative commentary, a market currently dominated by Fox News Channel, and is eyeing a collaboration with Bannon, according to the Financial Times.

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.”

DirecTV could lose more than 40  Raycom stations in the coming days, according to viewer alerts posted today at the station’s websites. “The DirecTV satellite system is about to drop us and break that critical link to our viewers,” reads the Raycom viewer warning. “We are currently working hard to make sure DirecTV customers continue to have access to [the Raycom stations] without interruption. But there is a chance they will not agree to a fair deal, and decide to drop [Raycom] from their system.”

The National Latino Media Council is vowing to unleash a year of militant action in its quest to increase the representation of Latinos across the Big Four broadcast networks. CBS Corp. has pledged to boost employment of Latino actors and creatives following an Aug. 17 meeting in Los Angeles. The NLMC targeted CBS first among its broadcast peers because of what it viewed as the Eye’s poor track record in employing Latino actors, writers, directors, and producers.

The explosion of demand for high-end TV series and the emergence of deep-pocketed new buyers such as Netflix and Amazon has been an enormous windfall for marquee talent. Just ask Robert De Niro, or David Letterman, or Katy Perry. Stars with brand names are more in demand than ever as dozens of competing outlets search for anything that will help a show stand out from the pack.

Stocks surged Tuesday with shares of technology companies and retailers helped lead the way. And with markets in a less-nervous mood, prices for Treasury bonds, gold and other go-to investments for turbulent times fell.

Williams, who along with WCAU President-GM Ric Harris forms the almost unheard-of big-city pairing of African Americans in those influential positions, made news this past spring when NBC10’s 11 p.m. broadcast was the most-watched late newscast among adults in the coveted 25 to 54 age demographic this past May.

Overall in primetime during this sleepy summer week, NBC averaged 5.1 million viewers. Runner-up CBS had 4.2 million, while ABC had 3.7 million, Fox had 1.7 million, Telemundo had 1.5 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million and the CW had 910,000.

TV viewing via internet-connected devices continues to see sharp growth — up 45% in TV homes in June and 43% among 18-49 viewers over the same period a year ago. The TV usage share for TV-connected devices — which includes Roku, Apple TV and Google Chromecast set-top boxes — is now at 12.7% of all TV use on a total day basis among 18-49 viewers, according to Pivotal Research Group. It was 8.5% in June 2016 and 4.9% in June 2015.

Family Entertainment TV said today that the multicast network received its highest viewing with 97,500 households on Aug. 7 at 8 p.m. with Perry Mason, according to ComScore ratings. FETV airs […]

Nexstar’s CBS affiliate in Providence, R.I., has almost 780,000 actions on social, 25% of the total engagement generated by the DMA (No. 52), with more than 3.1 million social actions. Lee Dooley, WPRI’s digital director, thinks part of the station’s success on Facebook is that it serves its audience with quality content wherever they are.

Fox-owned WFLD Chicago (DMA 3) has added Rafer Weigel to its news staff. Effective Sept. 1, he will anchor the station’s Saturday and Sunday 9 p.m. newscasts and report on […]

Disney’s upcoming branded streaming service will likely be priced around $5 per month in order to drive wider adoption, according to MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson. He says that the new Disney streaming service and the upcoming ESPN services need clear distinctions. The ESPN service will likely test different prices as it prepares ESPN to be ready to go fully over-the-top, according to the report, but the Disney service is about building asset value instead of taking licensing money from SVOD deals.

KFOR, the Tribune NBC affiliate in Oklahoma City, has relaunched with a new tornado resistant studio and will now call itself Oklahoma News 4.

Mary Ellen Marcilliat-Falkner is tapped to succeed Karen Bennett as Cox Media Group’s head of human resources.

Several top editors at the Los Angeles Times were terminated Monday as the paper’s corporate parent moved to install new leadership. Davan Maharaj, the newspaper’s former editor in chief, has been replaced by Jim Kirk, the former top editor of the Chicago Sun-Times. Kirk left the Sun-Times last week to join Tronc, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and several other regional newspapers. Kirk’s title will be interim executive editor, and he will lead the search for a new editor in chief.

U.S. stock indexes inched higher Monday after an uncharacteristically bumpy stretch shook what had been an incredibly smooth ride higher for stocks this year. Few market-moving events are on the calendar this week, and the highlight will likely arrive when central bankers from around the world gather in Wyoming as the weekend approaches.

Trevor Fellows’ appointment to the new role “underscores the company’s commitment to innovation in strategic digital partnerships and a converging marketplace,” it says.

NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations KNBC Los Angeles (DMA 2) has added Alysha Del Valle as the station’s morning traffic anchor and reporter on Today in LA.  Del Valle will join […]