Near-field measurements eliminate special FAA waivers, reduce impact of signal reflections on measurements for broadcasters seeking to verify antenna radiation characteristics.
DMAS 11, 49 & 75
Executive, GM Appointments At Tegna
WUSA Washington GM Richard Dyer is promoted to senior vice president, adding WLTX Columbia and WFMY Greensboro to his oversight, while Kate Morris is named president and general manager of KPNX Phoenix.
NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock has reached more than 15 million sign-ups, Comcast Chairman-CEO Brian Roberts told a virtual conference on Tuesday. And Comcast Cable is trending to add more than 500,000 broadband subscribers in the current third quarter, which would be a new record, he also said during an appearance at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
OVERNIGHTS
Revamped ‘DWTS’ Premiere Eyes 4-Season High
Dancing With The Stars samba’d, tango’d and fox-trotted its way to the top of Monday’s primetime broadcast ratings, delivering a 1.3 in the adults 18-49 demo and netting 8.10 million viewers. The final numbers for the live premiere are expected to be adjusted due to an NFL preemption in parts of the country, but the numbers were still big enough to lead the night.
DMA 30: SALT LAKE CITY
KTVX Anti-Mask Rally Story Racks Up 18M Views
KTVX reporter Katie Karalis‘ assignment on Aug. 21 has become the talk of the internet. With over 18 million views on Twitter, the Salt Lake City reporter’s story about an anti-mask rally in St. George, Utah, has gotten reaction from people and celebrities who couldn’t believe what they were seeing and hearing.
Exclusives
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has circulated a notice of proposed rulemaking establishing new disclosure requirements for TV and radio content sponsored by foreign governments. “With some station content coming from the likes of China and Russia, it is time to update our rules and shed more sunlight on these practices," he said, urging his colleagues to vote to approve his proposal ASAP.
Should public TV stations that use a portion of their spectrum to provide noncommercial data services have to pay fees for that service? That question is before the FCC in a rulemaking proceeding, with groups including PBS, America’s Public Television Stations and the Public Media Venture Group arguing that the fees are hindering development of ATSC 3.0 “broadcast internet” datacasting.
CBS All Access is trading in CBS for Paramount. ViacomCBS revealed Tuesday that the rebranded streaming service will be called Paramount+ beginning early next year. The rebranding is the second, and much bigger, phase of the two-phase expansion of CBS All Access, which first launched in 2014 and was among the earliest entrants in the streaming space.
Nexstar Media Group announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nexstar Broadcasting, intends to offer, subject to market and other customary conditions, up to $1 billion in aggregate principal amount of new senior notes due 2028 in a private offering. The notes will be Nexstar’s senior unsecured obligations and will be guaranteed by the company, Mission Broadcasting Inc. and “certain of Nexstar’s and Mission’s existing and future restricted subsidiaries on a senior unsecured basis.” Nexstar said it intends to use the proceeds to redeem all of its 5.625% senior unsecured notes due 2024, with the remainder to be used for "general corporate purposes."
The pandemic that instantly changed the 2020 presidential campaign forced news organizations to reevaluate coverage plans, too. It’s an ongoing process: several reporters who followed Trump to Nevada on Sunday stayed outside when they learned the president’s rally would be held indoors. For months, news executives wondered if they would be covering a campaign without campaigning, although it has grown more public after Labor Day.
YouTube is rolling out a short-form video feature called “YouTube Shorts” to compete with the popular social media platform TikTok. YouTube said Monday that YouTube Shorts — set to launch in the next few weeks — will allow creators and artists to shoot short, catchy videos up to 15 seconds long using their mobile phones.
Dialing up its wagering efforts around sports, ESPN has made two separate sports betting partnerships — one each with DraftKings and Caesars Entertainment to promote sports gambling content. ESPN will offer content linked to both gambling companies' sports booking operations.
The awards are being handed out over five nights this week in ceremonies hosted by Nicole Byer.
At the heart of the backlash is the idea that Cuties is dangerously and irresponsibly sexualizing pre-teen girls, which, ironically, is what the movie itself is criticizing too. The campaign against the film, which includes calls for the Department of Justice to investigate it and hundreds of thousands calling for subscribers to cancel their Netflix accounts, is riddled with inaccuracies due in part to the fact that some critics have not seen the film (one claims that there is child nudity when there is not).
The FCC is moving away from administrative hearings to a more document-heavy approach to testimony and evidence when called for. That came in a report and order voted Friday (Sept. 11) and released Monday (Sept. 14) that codifies the use of a written hearing process. In the past, such hearings — program carriage disputes have periodically been designated for hearing — have featured live testimony before an administrative law judge (the FCC has only one of those), cross examination and a decision that is only a recommendation to the commission.
SPONSORED BY MEGAPHONE
How to maximize (and monetize) viewer engagement
The coronavirus pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests and economic uncertainties of 2020 have triggered a significant spike in audience engagement and interactivity on TV. Audience polling provides information as well as an outlet for frustrated viewers who want to be heard. It can provide a cost-effective, safe replacement for some man-on-the-street interviews and can provide interactivity during candidate debates being staged without live audiences.
TVN VIRTUAL EVENTS
TV2025 Conference Targets Monetization Amid Accelerating Change
TVNewsCheck’s annual TV2025: Monetizing the Future conference, to be presented virtually this year, will tackle opportunities for revenue growth in an industry buffeted by COVID-19, an economic downturn and accelerating consolidation in the media and entertainment sector. Register here.
Leaders of television's news and technology community will talk about how technology can facilitate coverage of the 2020 election season during a TVNewsCheck Working Lunch Webinar set for Thursday, Sept. 17 at 1 p.m. ET. Speakers are (top, l-r): Alan Komissaroff, SVP news and politics, Fox News Channel; Tony Plosz, SVP and CTO, Graham Media Group; Bogdan Frusina, founder, Dejero and (below, right: Stephane Guez, founder and CTO, Dalet Digital Media Systems; and, left, Glen Dickson, contributing editor of TVNewsCheck, who is moderating the event. Register here.
