Two Markets, One Cost-Saving Solution

The national board of the Screen Actors Guild on Saturday approved an agreement to hold joint negotiations on a new primetime TV contract with the American Federation of TV and Radio Artists. SAG and AFTRA are now set to begin negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Oct. 1.

The FCC's ambitious 10-year broadband plan, set to be unveiled Tuesday, has roiled the broadcasting industry, but also challenges telecommunications giants, which could face new competition for customers as a result of new policies. A lobbying battle looms.

Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt gave a speech at Columbia University in which he candidly talks about his decision to promote the Internet over broadcasting as the one and only "common medium" for the United States while he was chairman of the FCC between 1994 and 1997. And he said the FCC National Broadband Plan to be released next week will be the clumination of that policy and the beginning of the end of the broadcasting era.

In an e-mail to the CEO of the Washington Post Co., the CBS chief says that he may have been "misunderstood" when he said publicly that the company's Jacksonville station fell from No. 1 to No. 5 in the market after losing its CBS affiliation in 2002 in a dispute over compensation. He was speaking of primetime only, he said, noting that the now-independent station is No. 1 sign-on to sign-off in ratings and in revenue.

Raycom moves Matt Miller from the ND slot at its WMBF Myrtle Beach, S.C., to its Fox affiliate in Cincinnati.

Mixed economic reports pinned the stock market to only modest moves Friday but gains for the week were strong.

According to SNL Kagan's historical survey of 70-plus retransmission deals among 13 broadcasters and 15 multichannel operators, some of the most contentious and high-profile retrans deals are still on the horizon, involving the largest cable MSOs and major network groups.

With 2010 expected to be no quieter than 2009 in retransmission consent negotiations, SNL Kagan assessed the largest potential threats to the top 10 cable operators by analyzing the top 100 broadcasters with the greatest overlap in cable footprints.

A federal court Friday upheld regulations that require cable TV companies to make sports programming and other channels they own available on equal terms to rival TV providers such as satellite companies.

ABC News reporter and Good Morning America weekend host Kate Snow is moving to NBC News.

Retail sales posted a surprising increase in February as consumers did not let major snowstorms stop them from racking up purchases. The advance, the biggest since November, provided hope that the recovery from the Great Recession is gaining momentum.

ABC News Digital execs are putting together a formal paywall strategy with expectations of having some concrete ideas for ways to charge consumers by the summer.

With a much weaker lead-in for its second episode in its new timeslot, NBC's The Marriage Ref went from first place last week to third place last night. Ref averaged a 2.7 adults 18-49 rating, down 21% from last week's 3.4 rating.

ABC is launching an ESPN-branded Saturday afternoon programming block. Dubbed ESPN Sports Saturday, the block will feature a one-hour original series, Winners Bracket, as well as a mix of some of ESPN's other programs. Hannah Storm, who anchors the morning edition of SportsCenter, will host the block.

Federal regulators are pledging rigorous reviews of Comcast Corp.'s proposed purchase of NBC Universal to ensure that it would not stifle competition or harm consumers.

Writers Guild of America West President John Wells warned senators on Thursday morning that the proposed Comast-NBC Universal deal would create a media "superpower" and give too much control to a few multinationals.

Perhaps one silver lining in the storm clouds that are forming over our current liability language debate will be a focus on this issue of payment delays, resulting in quicker payment turn-around and improved DSO ratios. In the meantime, sequential liability can essentially double the number of credit checks that credit managers must perform to verify the creditworthiness of both the agency and the advertiser. The idea of collecting more data before he or she can get a client on the air isn't music to an account rep's ears.

"For purposes of transparency, clients not submitting automated commercial logs will be disclosed for users' information," Nielsen disclosed in advisory sent to clients on Wednesday. "This includes clients who don't trade on C3 and therefore do not plan to provide logs. This w

With new devices making it easy to stream Internet content to a television, more people are watching cable shows for free.

A UHF station in Muskegon, Mich. -- WMKG-LP, ch. 38 -- that airs a mix of live talk shows and outdoor sports programming, is "priced to sell" at $700,000, according to its listing on eBay. And the owner, Bud Kelley, says he'll go even lower.

The Belo San Antonio CBS affiliate will expand its news lineup by a half-hour beginning Aug. 2.

Freedom Communications won court approval for a reorganization that will allow it to slash $445 million from its secured debt. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington confirmed Freedom's reorg plan to reduce its debt and be taken over by lenders represented by J.P. Morgan Chase Bank.