Collectively, the five independent publicly traded TV station groups paid out more than $250 million in dividends last year. Those dollars and another $700 million in stock buybacks make investors happy, but they signal that the groups are more concerned with their short-term stock prices than in innnovation (ATSC 3.0) and the future viability of their principal offering (local news). Note: This story is available to TVNewsCheck Premium members only. If you would like to upgrade your free TVNewsCheck membership to Premium now, you can visit your Member Home Page, available when you log in at the very top right corner of the site or in the Stay Connected Box that appears in the right column of virtually every page on the site. If you don’t see Member Home, you will need to click Log In or Subscribe.
