Business

An email last Thursday night from James Murdoch was a repudiation of President Trump. It may signal a shift at Murdoch-controlled media outlets.

When the dust settled after this summer’s upfront negotiations concluded, it’s no surprise which ad sales chief had once again secured the biggest windfall. That would be Linda Yaccarino, chairman of advertising sales and client partnerships for NBCUniversal, who wrapped upfront sales of close to $6.5 billion for her company’s portfolio of two broadcast networks, 15 cable networks and more than 50 digital properties. She reflects on this year’s upfront, her battles with digital advertisers and Nielsen, and why she’s “the most competitive person you’ll ever meet.”

China’s Great Wall Motor Co. says it is interested in buying the Jeep brand and has reached out to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to see whether a deal can be negotiated. The move would slice Jeep from the rest of FCA’s brands, leaving question marks over the future of Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge and Ram. FCA already said it would consider splitting Alfa Romeo and Maserati into their own company.​

To the dismay of their affiliates, CBS, Disney and Fox included in their “regulatory underbrush” wish list a request that the FCC do away with the 59-year-old network rep rule. Bad move. FCC Chairman Pai has presented broadcasting with a rare opportunity to get rid of some truly useless rules and to streamline others. The networks and the affiliates need to avoid mucking things up with an internecine fight.

Hearst-owned NBC affiliate WLWT Cincinnati (DMA 36) has added Mollie Lair as anchor/reporter to its News 5 team. She joins WLWT from KFVS Cape Girardeau, Mo., where during her nearly […]

NBC News’ twice-daily Snapchat show, Stay Tuned, has garnered more than 29 million unique viewers since launching July 18, the companies announced Friday. The show’s debut came after NBCUniversal invested $500 million in Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, as part of its initial public offering in March.

Complex Networks and Fuse Media don’t have common ownership or joint oversight of any particular media property. But in days to come, they will begin to work together to sell packages of media inventory to advertisers. In a deal announced Friday, the two companies said Complex would begin to air a weekly 90-minute block of programming built from segments from many of its digital shows on Fuse’s cable network. Both Fuse and Complex Networks will promote the programming as a venue for reaching a multi-cultural audience between the ages of 18 and 34.

Hearst-owned CBS affiliate KCCI Des Moines, Iowa (DMA 69) has promoted Todd Magel to the newly created role of senior reporter. Effective Aug. 28, he will “lead the coverage on […]

Weigel Broadcasting’s independent WCIU Chicago (DMA 3) has added Michael “DJ Mike P” Pryor, to its morning show The Jam. He joins hosts Jordan Cornette, Felicia Lawrence and Danielle Robay, […]

The Wall Street Journal reports that the government review of AT&T Inc.’s $85 billion takeover of Time Warner Inc. has reached an advanced stage, people close to the situation said, a significant milestone in a deal that was closely watched for signs of how the Trump administration would view large mergers. WSJ subscribers can read the full story here.

WPP’s GroupM today announced it is imposing its viewability standards globally and strengthening them for social and mobile newsfeed environments. It’s also undertaking a research to study the performance of social and newsfeed video.

CoCo Dominguez has been named traffic reporter and lifestyle correspondent at Fox-owned KRIV Houston (DMA 8). Effective Monday, Aug. 21, Dominguez will serve as the traffic reporter for the Fox […]

Under a comprehensive contract, the streaming service will carry Sinclair’s ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates within their markets. The deal also includes carriage of the Tennis Channel and possibly later CW and MNT affiliates and the Comet TV diginet. Terms were not disclosed.

Nexstar-owned NBC affiliate WDTN Dayton, Ohio (DMA 64) is expanding its weekday local programming with the launch of 2 News First at 4, what it calls “the Miami Valley’s first and only […]

The executive with more than 30 years of broadcast experience promoted to oversee Nexstar’s Southeast television and digital media operations.

He will end a 45-year broadcasting career on Jan. 1, 2018. Since 2012, he has been divisional GM.

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.

In July, Bruce Swail took the reins as CEO of GatesAir as the company’s longtime chief executive, Phil Argyris, announced his retirement. Swail comes to the company having served as CEO of two private equity-owned tech companies. While Swail acknowledges company owner The Gores Group could divest the transmitter maker at any time, his focus is on growth and optimizing profitability, he says.

Three of Snap Inc.’s top executives sold their first batch of company shares, picking up an estimated $9.3 million, according to federal disclosures. Employees at the Snapchat maker became free Monday to sell shares awarded through options or other compensation plans.

Antitrust lawyer Joseph Simons is President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Trade Commission, according to three people familiar with the decision. Simons is co-chairman of the antitrust group at the law firm Paul Weiss and served as director of the FTC’s competition bureau during the George W. Bush administration.

Theresa Collington, the former digital director for WTSP, the CBS affiliate in Tampa, Fla., is suing the station and its parent company, Tegna, for sex discrimination. Her complaint alleges Tegna discriminated against her in her compensation and when she was ultimately terminated for violations of the company’s social media policy that male employees violated regularly with impunity.

Dish said Wednesday it could lose the signal for ABC affiliate WLNE Providence, R.I., due to a dispute with its owner, Citadel Communications, over carriage fees.