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Special Reports

  • NAB 2012: Everything you need to know about broadcasting's biggest tech event of the year.
  • Gearing Up For NAB 2012: The top tech trends and issues.
  • FCC Watch: 18 Topics In 244 Words Or Less: Get briefed on what's happening at broadcasting's favorite regulatory agency by top Washington communications attorneys David Oxenford and Brendan Holland.
  • 2011—Year In Review: Revisit the year’s top developments in business, programming, journalism, technology, regulation and more.
  • Audience Measurement: The state of ratings is examined in three parts: an interview with the head of the Media Ratings Council; the growing presence of Rentrak; and the search for a better local ratings currency.
  • Traffic Reporting: This four-part TVNewsCheck Special Report focuses on what it takes to stay on top of the growing commuter gridlock across the country.
  • Remembering 9/11: TVNewsCheck looks back 10 years after the attacks with a series of five articles.
  • TOP 30 TV STATION GROUPS: Fox Television Stations is No. 1 in the revenue-based rankings, followed by the groups of the other major broadcast networks: CBS, NBC and ABC, with Tribune rounding out the top five.

Industry Calendar

May 2012
Mo
28
Memorial Day
Holiday
June 2012
Mo
11
NAB Education Foundation
Celebration of Service to America Awards
Washington, DC
Tu
Th
12-14
PromaxBDA
The Conference 2012
Los Angeles, CA
Th
Su
14-17
Investigative Reporters & Editors
IRE 2012
Boston, MA
Sa
23
NATAS
Daytime Emmy Awards
Los Angeles, CA

Station Directory

Net Essentials

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Earnings Call
LIN’s Local Programming Grows Ratings, Rev
TVNewsCheck, Mar 14, 2012, 12:49 PM EDT
During today’s earnings conference call with analysts, CEO Vincent Sadusky extolls the value of having a strong local emphasis. He also predicts 2012 “will be a year of significant M&A in the industry.” Full Story | Add comment
Earnings call
Gray Sees Good Things Ahead In 2012
TVNewsCheck, Feb 24, 2012, 2:59 PM EST
Strong fourth quarter 2011 performance looks to continue into this year. The company says it will stay focused on paying down debt and upgrading technology rather than actively looking for acqusitions. Full Story | Add comment
Earnings call
Scripps To Swap Syndie Fare For Own Shows
TVNewsCheck, Feb 24, 2012, 1:14 PM EST
By replacing some syndicated programs with shows it effectively owns, Scripps could theoretically reduce programming costs and boost revenues while exploiting locally generated revenues. Full Story | Comments (4)
Earnings call
Sinclair’s Smith Not Worried About Auctions
TVNewsCheck, Feb 8, 2012, 12:38 PM EST
CEO David Smith says: “There’s a fundamental disagreement between the Democrats and Republicans” over spectrum auction legislation and he sees no action likely in three-to-five years. He and other execs at the company say this year is shaping up to be a record on-year for political revenues at Sinclair and they have great expectations for the role super PACs will play. Full Story | Add comment
Earnings Call
Covenant Crisis Looming At Media General
TVNewsCheck, Jan 26, 2012, 4:35 PM EST
In its earnings call Thursday, company execs say they are hoping to modify the agreements for its $658 million in debt. If it can’t successfully renegotiate the covenants, Media General could be at risk of bankruptcy. It’s a threat that some analysts have been discussing quietly since last year. Full Story | Comments (2)
Earnings call
Media General CEO Pressed On Finances
TVNewsCheck, Oct 19, 2011, 2:46 PM EDT
During the earnings call following today’s announcement of third-quarter results, CEO Marshall Morton fielded questions on the media company’s loan covenants and refinancing options. One bright spot is that its retrans revenues for the quarter were up 9.3% and Morton noted that the company hopes to conclude negotiations with NBC on a proxy agreement for retrans negotiatons early next month. Full Story | Add comment
Earnings call
Sook Sounds Positive On Revenue, Retrans
TVNewsCheck, Aug 9, 2011, 4:14 PM EDT
The Nexstar CEO tells analysts the third quarter looks good for auto advertising, continuing growth in mobile and Internet-based revenues. He also says retrans negotiations are underway with Fox and NBC and “no network … has asked for more than 50%.” Full Story | Add comment
Earnings call
Scripps Downplays Interest In McGraw-Hill
TVNewsCheck, Aug 9, 2011, 1:40 PM EDT
With no debt and nearly $160 million in cash at the end of the quarter, Scripps is well situated should it decide to boost its 10-station portfolio, but executives say any future acquisitions would have to generate a “strong cash return.” Full Story | Comments (3)
Earnings call
Gray’s Immediate Goal: Reducing Its Debt
TVNewsCheck, Aug 8, 2011, 4:26 PM EDT
The TV group’s management says eventually it will look to add stations, but for now it's focusing on dealing with its roughly $830 million in debt and lowering its debt to cash flow ratio. Full Story | Add comment
Earnings call
Sinclair Eyes M&A Market With Interest
TVNewsCheck, Aug 3, 2011, 10:47 AM EDT
In the station group's earnings call with analysts today, management says they're in a prime position to take advantage of all the stations now on the block.Said David Amy, Sinclair EVP-CFO: “There’s nothing we have to go out and purchase.… We can be very selective. If the price make sense for us, we can deal.” Full Story | Comments (2)
Earnings call
LIN Sees Growth Ahead In Digital
TVNewsCheck, Apr 27, 2011, 1:37 PM EDT
Digital’s the fastest growing segment of LIN’s business but it comes with increased expenses. Another big push for the company is mobile DTV. Full Story | Add comment
Earnings call
Sook: Improved Leverage May Mean M&A
TVNewsCheck, Mar 10, 2011, 1:02 PM EST
Nexstar Broadcasting CEO Perry Sook is pleased with his company's reduced debt-to-cash ratio and says that the lower leverage coupled with easing credit markets could put Nexstar in the hunt for strategic acquisitions. Full Story | Add comment
Earnings call
Gray Sees Young Stations As Possible Buy
TVNewsCheck, Mar 1, 2011, 1:24 PM EST
After a record fourth quarter, the station group is focused on paying down debt in anticipation of the seven Young stations it’s managing going on the market. “If it’s possible to acquire them at a reasonable price without increasing leverage, that’s something we’d be interested in,” said Gray President Robert Prather. Full Story | Comments (1)
Earnings call
Scripps Forecasts Retrans Gains This Year
TVNewsCheck, Feb 24, 2011, 11:17 AM EST
In today’s call with analysts, CFO Tim Stautberg says retransmission consent revenue “will move the needle for us in 2011.” But at the same time, new affiliation deals will take some of that increase. Full Story | Add comment
Earnings call
Sinclair Upbeat About Its 2011 Prospects
TVNewsCheck, Feb 9, 2011, 11:37 AM EST
An improving economy has resulted in robust cash flow growth and margins and has led to the group owner considering buying stations again in addition to reinstating quarterly dividends. Full Story | Add comment
Earnings call
Gannett Cautiously Optimistic About 2011
TVNewsCheck, Jan 31, 2011, 11:58 AM EST
In today’s earnings call, execs highlight the strong contributions from broadcasting in the fourth quarter and see positive signs in retrans and low singlt-digit gains in ad revenue in this year’s first quarter. Full Story | Add comment

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The Market

Symbol Last Change (%)
Nasdaq 2839.38 -10.74 (-0.38%)
NYSE 7552.36 +11.46 (+0.15%)
S&P 500 1320.68 +1.82 (+0.14%)
Updated 05/24 5:52p ET Quotes delayed at least 20 mins.
Source: Financial Content

Ratings

Overnights, adults 18-49 for May 23, 2012
  • 1.
    6.1/18
  • 2.
    2.6/7
  • 3.
    2.0/6
  • 4.
    1.5/4
  • 5.
    1.4/4
  • 6.
    0.4/1
Source: Nielsen
Reviews
Opinions
Features
  • David Wiegand

    Fans of Sex and the City have finally gotten their wish: Their beloved sex-focused sitcom is back on the air ... sort of. The four women have become four men, of course, and the writing isn't as good. Oh, and the laugh track so annoying, it's offensive. And did I mention that the costumes would be considered fashionable if you were holding a yard sale? Men at Work on TBS is almost quaint, it's so old fashioned. If it had any meat on its bones, you'd be tempted to say it's the sadly ignoble epitome of TV's long-festering emasculated-men syndrome. But it's so much of a big, forgettable, innocuous shrug, it's not even worth any actual vitriol.

  • Mike Hale

    The USA Network's motto is "Characters Welcome." Apparently they're especially welcome if they resemble Oscar Madison and Felix Unger. Already stocked with Odd Couple knockoffs in Psych and White Collar, USA adds to its inventory Common Law, another comic crime-fighting show about mismatched partners. But this latest entry exhibits very little of that kind of spark as it tries to wring laughs from the juxtaposition of counseling and police work. It looks too flat and schematically plotted to succeed as the type of lightweight summer fun we’ve come to expect from USA.

  • Joanne Ostrow

    Johnny Carson: Fantastic entertainer, miserable human being. That's the lasting message of Johnny Carson: King of Late Night, the new PBS American Masters film, a rich history of a rare product of television who dominated the small screen for decades. Unprecedented access to personal archives plus all existing episodes of The Tonight Show (1962-92), distinguishes this film by Peter Jones. Telling interviews with family and colleagues, including second wife Joanne Carson, former Tonight Show executive producer Peter Lassally and a number of biographers sharpen the picture. The clips are carefully selected to illustrate specific personality traits, the performance highlights are given context and meaning beyond funny lines and memorable moments.

  • Hank Stuever

    AMC's The Pitch is a sharply-made if slightly off-putting reality series that follows different advertising agencies each week as they compete for new accounts. The inspiration for the show — made clear by its own ad campaign — is to harness some of the verve generated by the network's acclaimed Mad Men. The Pitch has a way of making the ad world seem like a real downer — a repugnant exercise in egotism laced with depressing bouts of creative compromise.

  • Tim Goodman

    HBO's Veep stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as former Sen. Selina Meyer, who accepts the vice presidential duty and regrets it almost immediately: She has no real power and gets muscled by the Senate, Congress and the (so-far-unseen) president, who delegates all the truly crappy jobs to her. Louis-Dreyfus has found perhaps her best post-Seinfeld role and takes to it with such fervor — the constant swearing, the barely veiled desire to become president, the unhappy give-and-take with other politicians and a delightful disdain for average citizens — that you can't help but applaud what is clearly an Emmy-worthy effort. Her work alone makes Veep a gem, but there's even more to like.

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