DirecTV, on a Sunday of all things, decided to announce its “No Locals” plan that allows satellite subscribers to drop local TV stations and save $12 monthly or $140 annually. Dish and DirecTV have must-carry and retransmission consent obligations like cable. But satellite TV providers are not required to make their subscribers buy local TV stations before buying the tier with all the cable channels. Could cable adopt Dish’s Flex Pack or DirecTV’s No Locals approach? Since it involves regulation, it’s complicated.
Veteran programming executives and rising talk show talent from Debmar-Mercury, Telepictures, Allen Media Group, E! News and Fox Television Stations will discuss the timeless essentials of a good talker and the more unconventional — and multiplatform — ways of thinking that will take the genre forward in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s Programming Everywhere conference at the NAB Show on April 14. Register here.
Local media leads truth and accuracy in Washington state, according to a recent statewide media study, conducted by SmithGeiger for the Washington State Association of Broadcasters.
In a statement issued this morning, Lucas said: “Creating magic is not for amateurs. When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago. I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my long-time admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger’s leadership. When Bob recently returned to the company during a difficult time, I was relieved. No one knows Disney better. I remain a significant shareholder because I have full faith and confidence in the power of Disney and Bob’s track record of driving long-term value. I have voted all of my shares for Disney’s 12 directors and urge other shareholders to do the same.”
Former President Donald Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC News on Monday, arguing that the anchor George Stephanopoulos had harmed his reputation by saying multiple times on-air that the former president had been found liable for raping the writer E. Jean Carroll.
Meta Platforms on Monday asked a federal appeals court for an emergency injunction halting an FTC in-house hearing that could result in a ban on monetizing teens' data. The social media platform contends that FTC in-house hearings are unconstitutional — in part, because the FTC acts as both prosecutor and judge at in-house hearings.
IATSE resumed negotiations with the major studios on Monday, with a day spent focused on items relevant to the International Cinematographers Guild, Local 600. IATSE began talks earlier this month, as it seeks to address artificial intelligence, see wage increases to make up for inflation, and close a significant shortfall in its pension and health fund.
In her new role, Duran will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of news content and operations for Telemundo 33 Sacramento and Telemundo 51 Fresno. She will lead a team of cross-platform news producers, reporters and anchors covering their local communities.
Free TV Networks, the new company started by Jonathan Katz and backed by Warner Bros. Discovery, Lionsgate and Gray Television, said it has added new carriage agreements for its The365 and Outlaw channels with Tegna, Sunbeam and HC2-owned stations. The new distribution puts The365 in 29 new markets with carriage now in 111 million homes, or 89% of U.S. households, by the second quarter of this year.
As the Ukraine war grinds on, the Kremlin has created increasingly complex fabrications online to discredit Ukraine’s leader and undercut aid. Some have a Hollywood-style plot twist.
The move, which starts March 23, "marks the start of a commitment and investment into topical entertainment programming" on the weekends."
Winfrey and a group of medical experts and patients addressed the myths surrounding obesity and the growing class of weight management injectables in An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution.
Goel was most recently president, technology and group chief technology officer of Byju’s Group, an educational technology firm. Before that, he was with OVO, Amazon, HyperQuality and Real Networks. He is replacing Srini Varadarajan, who is stepping down but will stay with Nielsen to help with the transition through June.
Spotify's fourth annual "Loud and Clear" report, which originally launched in 2021 following criticism over its lack of transparency, noted record accomplishments, including the highest annual payment from any retailer to the music industry.
"Know My Neighborhood" airs live from different neighborhoods once a month during KSAT’s hour-long 6 p.m. newscast. The initiative started in October 2023.
The state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida will be raking in hundreds of millions of dollars from online sports betting this decade, thanks to a compact between the tribe and Gov. Ron DeSantis that gave the tribe exclusive rights to run sports wagers as well as casino gambling on its reservations. But are these online wagers on the outcome of sporting events legally on tribal land, when really only the computer servers are located there, accepting bets made using mobile phones and computers from anywhere in Florida? Pictured: The guitar shaped hotel at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. (Brynn Anderson/AP)
New Jobs Posted To TVNewsCheck
New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include openings for a media engineer supervisor, a national advertising sales account executive and a broadcast maintenance technician.
Top news and content executives from CBS News and Stations, Cox Media Group, NBCUniversal Local and CBC News share creative alternatives to the newscast for presenting topical content in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s Programming Everywhere conference at the NAB Show on April 14. Register here.
Companies may now create master accounts, buy TVN Plus subscriptions in bulk and assign “sub-accounts” to their executives, managers and professionals. Try it here.