Business

Starz, the pay-cable service that is part of Lionsgate Entertainment, released a report suggesting AT&T might push customers to HBO over competitors like Starz. AT&T dismissed the claims. “This conclusion doesn’t square with the facts,” the telecommunications company said in a statement.

The number of commercial breaks during NFL games has often bothered viewers — and not just those sprinting to the bathroom or kitchen. The solution is to decrease the number of breaks to four per quarter, down from the previous 5-6-5-5 pattern, which often forced networks to squeeze more than a half-dozen breaks into a 15-minute playing period. The league and its broadcast partners — CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN — all insist that the move has nothing to do with the NFL’s 9 percent drop in ratings in 2016.

21st Century Fox is in talks to operate television stations across the U.S. with Ion Media Networks, potentially paving the way for Fox to dump Sinclair Broadcast Group as an affiliate partner, a person familiar with the situation said. Closely held Ion would contribute its more than 60 independent stations to the joint venture, while Fox would throw in its 28 stations, which include top markets such as New York and Los Angeles. As part of the deal, Fox would consider switching its affiliation to Ion from Sinclair for 26 stations that are up for renewal this year, said the person, who asked not to be identified.

A bright spot for the company’s overall results is its digital revenue, which was boosted by the 2Q acquisition of Headway, a provider of mobile, programmatic, data and performance digital marketing solutions primarily in the United States, Mexico and other markets in Latin America.

She has marketing responsibilities for both studio and television content distributed by The Walt Disney Studios and The Disney/ABC Television Group.

Apple drove the Dow above 22,000 on Wednesday. Much of the rest of the market was mixed, however, and most of the companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange fell. 

What happens if the cable TV universe keeps shrinking and digital TV companies decide that they don’t need to invest in sports content? That’s a realistic scenario that threatens the huge amount of media rights fees that has made all sports much richer over the past decade. That’s not to suggest that there’s a media rights bubble that’s about to burst. But it could mean that the huge annual increases that the bigger leagues have enjoyed will flatten.

He will step down from the CBS’s Baltimore O&O in September after 34 years with CBS and 44 in broadcasting.

The company is reeling from a sophisticated cyberattack that potentially compromised seven times the amount of data stolen in the Sony hack as the FBI investigates potential culprits.

The quarter is likely to suffer from a lack of Olympics and lower tech school ad money, but a bright spot is some early political spending and upward trending automotive.

The rep firm says his new position as executive vice president of business development and partnerships highlights its commitment to “develop new business and drive revenue for all Katz partners.”

The increase to $631.8 million is helped by a 40% rise in digital revenue. The company’s total revenue grew 2% to $679 million.

Gleaning data from Nielsen’s evolving Total Content Ratings, CBS touts strong time-shifted viewing from traditional TV platforms for the recently completed 2016-17 season.

Cordillera Communications-owned NBC affiliate KVOA Tucson, Ariz. (DMA 71, has promoted Alyx Dote to weekend news anchor. She will co-anchor News 4 Tucson weekend newscasts at 5:30 and 10 p.m. […]

Spanish-language broadcaster LBI Media said today that its Estrella TV Network has added a new affiliate in Wichita, Kan. Estrella TV has signed an affiliate agreement with KCTU-LD owned by […]

General Motors, Ford, FCA, Nissan and Honda posted U.S. sales declines for July in what is shaping up to be one of the rougher months so far in a down year. Most of the results so far indicate July is shaping up to be a worse month than analysts had forecast. One exception: Toyota Motor Corp., which tallied a 3% gain.

YouTube, on an aggressive push to expand its footprint in online video, is said to be offering publishers more control over their own ad inventory in order to win their business. The site is offering major publishers who choose its backend video player the ability to control ad sales both on their sites and on YouTube, according to people familiar with the new offering. Additionally, YouTube is offering the player and its services for free, they said.

In addition to political shortfalls typical of an odd-numbered year, Tegna will come up short because its many NBC affiliates will not be able to match revenue they garnered in last year’s 3Q when they aired the Olympic Summer Games. Auto advertising also remains problematic. Looking forward, CEO Dave Lougee said that if the FCC eases the ownership limits, Tegna will have ample headroom to expand and could also add to its portfolio in markets where it already has a presence.

Blink, and you’ll miss them: Fox intends to pepper its coming broadcast of Teen Choice 2017 with six-second commercials for Duracell batteries and Snickers and Twix candy bars. In a move that seeks to take a commercial format used frequently by YouTube and determine if it’s ready for primetime TV, the 21st Century Fox-owned broadcast network said it will run shorter commercial breaks during the Aug. 13 event that will also include promos for Fox shows that are just six seconds in length.

Scripps was already a 5% owner in a portion of the business, so its net purchase price is $292 million for Bounce, Grit, Escape and Laff. Founder Jonathan Katz will continue to lead the Katz networks business. The company, with about 130 employees, will remain based in the Atlanta area.

The increase to $489 million is primarily driven by new initiatives and a 24% increase in a new category, Subscription Revenue, which includes retrans.

ComScore signed an agreement with Media Management Inc., which provides media audit support to the industry, to add comScore’s local television measurement to MMi’s Circle Audit auditing system. The addition of comScore’s local television ratings into […]

Charter Communications shares surged to a record high on Monday after a source said Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp was considering an acquisition offer, even as Charter shot down the possibility of it being the acquirer in any merger with SoftBank’s U.S. wireless carrier, Sprint Corp.