Broadcasting & Cable News

TV Tech Pioneer Charles Rhodes Dies

March 25, 2018

Charles W. Rhodes, broadcast engineer, consultant, and high-definition and digital television pioneer, died March 20 following a fall. Rhodes was former chief scientist for the Advanced Television Test Center (ATTC) from 1988 to 1995 and before that was head of the the TV engineering department at ...

Omnicom Invites Media to Its Own Upfront Showcase

March 25, 2018

Turning the usual upfront dynamic on its ear, Omnicom Media Group is staging a three day pre-upfront conference at which more than a dozen TV programmers and digital media companies will make presentations. The meeting started Wednesday and will run through Friday. Read More: Upfront Central In its ...

Edge Officially Joins Legal Fight Against FCC Net Rule Rollback

March 25, 2018

Edge providers have officially joined the legal fight against the FCC's rollback of net neutrality rules and its reclassification of ISPs out from under Title II common carrier regs. The Internet Association--whose members include Amazon, Facebook, Google and Twitter--has petitioned the U.S. Court ...

Byron Allen Acquires The Weather Group in $300 Million Deal

March 25, 2018

Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios has acquired the Weather Group from The Blackstone Group, Bain Capital and Comcast NBC Universal, the company said Thursday. The purchase price was approximately $300 million, according to reports. The private purchase, which includes The Weather Channel and the ...

Primetime Ratings: Fox Wins With Hearty ‘9-1-1’

March 25, 2018

Fox took top prize in Wednesday’s prime ratings, scoring a 1.3 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 5 share. That was a little better than the 1.2/5 that ABC, CBS and NBC all put up. Fox had The X-Files at a flat 0.8 and then 9-1-1 up 6% for a 1.7. ABC saw The Goldbergs do a flat 1.5 ...

FCC Votes to 'Streamline' Small Cell Deployments

March 25, 2018

A politically divided FCC voted Wednesday (March 22) to eliminate historic preservation and environmental reviews on small cell (5G next-generation) wireless rollouts. Everyone agreed speeding 5G wireless rollouts was important, but not on how to do it. The order, which was approved 3-2 by the ...

Selzer Named CMT Senior VP of Program Development

March 25, 2018

Morgan Selzer has been promoted to senior VP of development at CMT, starting immediately. She will continue to report to Keith Cox, president of development for CMT, Paramount Network and TV Land. In her new role, Selzer will lead all facets of development strategy for CMT. She is based in Los ...

Hill Presses Facebook's Zuckerberg to Testify

March 25, 2018

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is facing growing bicameral, bipartisan calls for him to testify on Facebook's role in the collection of personal data of millions by Cambridge Analytica. Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) Thursday (March 22) said in a letter to the Facebook ...

NFL Expands Draft Coverage to Fox, ABC Broadcast Nets

March 25, 2018

The NFL said its annual draft of college players into the league, usually a big ratings generator for ESPN, this year will also be covered by the Fox broadcast network during the first three rounds. The league said that ABC will be carrying the drafts late rounds on broadcast, marking the first ...