ORLANDO—Melissa Medalie has been promoted to senior vice president and regional general manager of Fox Television Stations’ Florida properties, which consists of WTVT Fox 13 Tampa Bay, WOFL Fox 35 Orlando, Fox 35 Plus WRBW, and WOGX Fox 51 in Gainesville.

Medalie assumes this position effective August 2026, reporting directly to Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox Television Stations (FTS).

FTS also announced that current senior vice president and general manager of the Fox Florida stations, Jeff Maloney, who has been with FTS for over 30 years, will retire at the end of July.

In making the announcement, Abernethy stated, “We would like to thank Jeff for over thirty years of service to FTS and particularly his dedication as a true steward of the Florida communities. As we celebrate his tremendous impact on the stations, we are confident that Melissa’s proven knowledge of our business and dedication to both our teams and viewers will be instrumental in the continued success of WOFL and WTVT.”

Melissa Medalie has been with WOFL Fox 35 for 17 years. Since 2019, she has served as vice president and news director for the duopoly, as well as WOGX Gainesville. Throughout her tenure at the station, Medalie held the roles of assistant news director, senior executive producer and special projects manager, executive producer of “Good Day Orlando” and she began at the station as an executive producer for “Fox 35 News at 5 p.m.” and “Fox 35 News at 6 p.m.”

Before joining WOFL, Medalie served as managing editor and executive producer for Ivanhoe Broadcast News. Earlier, she was a reporter for WHP-TV in Harrisburg, PA, WTVH in Syracuse, NY, and WENY-TV in Elmira, NY. Medalie began her career in broadcasting as a morning anchor and producer for WENY Radio in Elmira, NY. A graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication, Medalie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism.

“I am thrilled to lead these two powerhouse stations during such a dynamic time for our industry,” Medalie added. “By building upon the incredible success of the talented journalists and teams at WOFL Fox 35 and WTVT Fox 13, we will drive the next generation of innovation to better serve our communities across Florida.”

Jeff Maloney has been with FTS for 32 years, spending the last 23 with WTVT Fox 13 Tampa Bay. In 2024, he was named senior vice president and regional general manager for FTS’s Florida properties, adding WOFL Fox 35 Orlando, Fox 35 Plus WRBW, and WOGX Fox 51 in Gainesville to his responsibilities. Prior to that, Maloney spent 14 years as senior vice president and general manager of WTVT Fox 13 Tampa Bay, also overseeing the Fox Graphics Hub. Previously, he spent seven years as the station’s vice president of sales.

Prior to this, Maloney spent nearly ten years in sales positions for KSTU Fox 13, the then Fox-owned station in Salt Lake City, including roles as national sales manager, local sales manager and eventually, vice president and general sales manager. Earlier in his career, he was with Katz Communications in Los Angeles. Maloney began his television sales career as a Broadcasting Negotiator for the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson.

A graduate of Pepperdine University’s Seaver College, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communications.

“After 32 rewarding years of growth with the company, a journey with Fox from Salt Lake City to Florida, I am incredibly thankful for a career path that allowed me to learn from some of the industry’s finest leaders, including Jack Abernethy as he continues to guide us in connecting with our core customer. I leave immensely proud of our organization and the second-to-none dedication of our exceptional journalists at WTVT Fox 13 and WOFL Fox 35, confident that Melissa will build upon this legacy and drive us into the future,” Maloney said.

WTVT Fox 13 Tampa Bay, WOFL Fox 35/Fox 35 Plus WRBW Orlando, and WOGX Fox 51 Gainesville are part of the Fox Television Stations which owns and operates 29 full power broadcast television stations in the U.S. These include stations located in 14 of the top 15 largest designated market areas, or DMAs, and duopolies in 11 DMAs, including the three largest DMAs (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). Of these stations, 18 are affiliated with the Fox Network. In addition to distributing sports, entertainment and syndicated content, the television stations collectively produce approximately 1,200 hours of local news every week. These stations leverage viewer, distributor and advertiser demand for the Fox Network’s national content.

JERSEY CITY, N.J.—Fox Television Stations, XR (Extreme Reach) and LTN completed a successful four-week live syndication initiative in May for game show “25 Words or Less LIVE,” using IP-based distribution to deliver the program to stations and let viewers play along.

“Live programming creates unique opportunities for stations to engage viewers in real time,” said Stephen Brown, EVP Programming and Development, Fox Television Stations, Fox First Run. “This initiative demonstrated how innovative distribution strategies can support new programming models while maintaining the reliability broadcasters require.”

Produced for Fox First Run and hosted by Meredith Vieira, “25 Words or Less LIVE” aired weekdays from May 4–28, originating from Parlay Studios in Jersey City, N.J. More than 38 live episodes were delivered twice a day to 18 stations, many of which were Fox-owned-and- operated stations in key U.S. markets.

The workflow was powered by Extreme Reach’s syndication services and LTN’s managed IP video transport network.

The milestone project proved the viability of live syndicated television workflows that let broadcasters create more immediate and interactive viewing experiences, the companies said. Live delivery created new opportunities for stations to engage with viewers through social media, local promotions and real-time audience participation, allowing fans to play along with contestants.

XR and LTN delivered a live syndication workflow that allowed Fox to distribute the programming to participating stations nationwide. XR managed the show’s distribution through its syndication platform, while LTN provided fully managed IP transport and master control services connecting Fox’s production facility to local stations.

Together, the companies leveraged XR’s content-delivery expertise and LTN’s proven broadcast infrastructure to bring the excitement of live television to viewers nationwide, allowing fans to watch, interact and play along with the show as it happened.

“Delivering live syndicated programming requires coordination, precision and dependable technology partners,” Matt Pagen, general manager of XR Media, said. “Together with Fox and LTN, we created a workflow that helps broadcasters and syndicators engage audiences in new ways while maximizing their content investments. This combined offering delivered the performance we needed, while providing a more cost-efficient alternative to traditional satellite distribution.”

The initiative received positive feedback from participating stations. It showed how cloud-based and IP-enabled distribution models can support live television workflows that typically depend on legacy infrastructure. It also highlighted the potential for significant cost savings compared to traditional satellite distribution, without sacrificing the reliability, scale or viewer experience required for live television.

“This project represents the kind of innovation content creators and broadcasters are actively exploring as they modernize their distribution strategies,” LTN Senior Vice President of Global Products Rick Young said. “By combining Extreme Reach’s syndication expertise with LTN’s managed IP network and operational services, we enabled a reliable live television experience to stations across the country.”

More information is available on the XR Extreme Reach and LTN websites.

NEW YORK—Fox Television Stations has named Robert Lydick senior vice president of engineering, operations and technology for Fox Television Stations.

Lydick will report directly to FTS CEO Jack Abernethy and oversee all engineering, operations, and technology functions for the station group.

Lydick assumes his new role July 13, succeeding Tim Joyce, who retired at the end of June.

“Robert has been a key player at Tegna for over a decade and is a great fit for this role,“ Abernathy said. æHe has tremendous knowledge of our core stations business and a deep understanding of how to manage engineering and technology operations. He is a terrific addition to an already strong FTS bench of executives.”

Lydick was an engineering, technology and operations executive with station group Tegna for 15 yeears, most recently as VP of station operations and technology.

Before that, he was VP of information technology and station operations, overseeing day-to-day station operations, enterprise IT, cybersecurity and special projects. Before his coroprate roles, he was regional head of technology for Tegna stations KSDK St. Louis and KARE-TV Minneapolis.

Lydick began his media career more than 24 years ago at USA Today (then Gannett) where he held the positions of information analyst, project and planning analyst, and project and planning manager. A graduate of the University of Lynchburg, he holds a bachelor’s in business administration.

“Joining the Fox Television Stations is an exciting opportunity,” Lydick said. “I'm looking forward to working with an amazing team on some of local journalism's biggest technical challenges. I'm humbled to be in the role and can't wait to get started.”

Joyce was senior vice president of engineering, operations, and technology for FTS since January. Before that, he was senior vice president of media and broadcast engineering for Fox Corp. for nearly three ears.

Previously, Joyce served as the senior vice president of technology business relations for Fox Networks Group in Los Angeles, and before that, as vice president of broadcast operations for Fox Networks Group in Europe and Africa. He spent 6 years as vice president of operations and production services for National Geographic Channels International. Joyce began his career as a senior editor for Fox Latin American Channels. A graduate of the University of Southern California, he holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Spanish.

“Tim is an incredibly talented executive with experience across multiple roles and has been a vital part of transforming and advancing our engineering and technology systems," Abernethy said. "His intelligence, energy, and leadership skills have impressed me since his first day here and we wish him all the best on a well-deserved retirement even as we regret seeing him go.”

Added Joyce: “After 27 years at Fox—from Fox Latin American Channels to National Geographic, Fox International Channels Europe, Fox Tech, and Fox Television Stations—I've learned that while companies evolve and technology changes, it's the people who make the journey unforgettable. Thank you for being the best part of mine.”

FTS owns and operates 29 full-power U.S. television stations, including outlets in nine of the 10 largest DMAs and duopolies in 11 markets, including the top-3 DMAs of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

NEW YORK—Madhive has announced that the Fox Television Stations have joined its Live Sports Marketplace.

The agreement builds on an existing ad tech relationship. In February of 2024 the ad software platform launched a local CTV marketplace for political advertising with the Fox Television Stations as an early user.

With the new agreement, Fox Television Stations will leverage Madhive’s technology to give local advertisers access to its live sports inventory, including live NCAA college football games via FS1. The expanded sports solution is part of Fox’s FLX targeting platform.

“Starting with our exclusive local rights to the NFL on Fox, live sports have always been at the heart of the Fox Television Stations portfolio. We are excited to deliver this enhanced opportunity to local advertisers,” said Michael Page, senior vice president of digital sales at Fox Television Stations. “With FLX’s exclusive access to premium inventory and our advanced targeting capabilities, every local advertiser can now align with the biggest sporting moments in a cost-efficient and highly effective way.”

Madhive’s local-first marketplace gives every advertiser access to a single, turnkey solution that delivers sports advertising opportunities across more than 16 premium live sports products, including College Gameday, Monday Night Football, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, NCAA, and more. Madhive is also a Disney Live+ Certified partner.

“Live sports represent the pinnacle of engaged, appointment viewing, offering an exciting opportunity for local advertisers to reach fans in real time,” said Jim Wilson, president at Madhive. “Our Local Live Sports Marketplace, combined with our Fraud Free Guarantee, changes that equation—creating a single, trusted platform that unlocks access to the moments fans care about most. Together, these innovations level the playing field and empower local businesses to tap into the biggest moments in sports.”

Madhive also announced that it is integrating Maverick AI, the company's enterprise intelligence layer, into the platform. Maverick AI will harness content signals and behavioral learnings to enable local advertisers to effectively reach and engage sports fans, and simplify cross-channel campaign planning for live events by identifying the otherwise difficult-to-reach exclusive audiences who reliably tune in to live sports.

Fox Television Stations owns and operates 29 full power broadcast television stations in the U.S.

SEATTLE—KCPQ (Fox 13) and KZJO (Fox 13+) here have announced that they will be expanding their news programming. Beginning June 16, the stations will provide more local news, adding new newscasts and greatly increasing their live local news offerings on streaming.

As part of the effort, Fox 13 is investing in digital platforms with 31 additional hours of live-streamed news content every week on its Fox Local Seattle streaming platform. Viewers can expect live anchored updates throughout the day, ensuring local news is available anytime, anywhere. KCPQ and KZJO are both owned by Fox Television Stations.

Additionally, beginning later this summer, “Good Day Seattle” will now run six full hours from 5 to 11 a.m., providing early risers and late starters with live local news, weather and features.

Together, Fox 13 and Fox 13+ are adding 2.5 hours of additional news content to their weekday broadcast schedule, bringing viewers more access to trusted information throughout the day, the stations said.

“By expanding our local programming and enhancing our streaming presence, we're making it easier for viewers to stay informed, wherever and whenever they choose to watch,” said Amber Eikel, senior vice president and general manager of KCPQ-KZJO. “This transformation reflects our commitment to delivering trusted, relevant news across all platforms.”

• 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., “Seattle News Tonight”: Local news with depth, context and the stories that matter to the community. Long-form interviews, extended live coverage on local stories, and in-studio guests.
• 6 p.m., “Washington News Wrap”: A nightly focused look at state headlines and regional developments.
• 6:30 p.m., “Washington Sports Wrap”: The day's top sports stories from across the state.
• 7 p.m., “West Coast News Wrap”: Coverage and commentary on major stories along the coast.
• 10 p.m., “Seattle News Tonight”

On Fox 13+ (KZJO) the news schedule will be:

• 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.: “Seattle News Tonight”

NEW YORK—LiveNow From Fox, Fox Television Stations’ national news streaming service, has released viewing data showing the first quarter was the best quarter in its history, delivering more than 500 million video views on YouTube, according to Comscore.

With 502 million video views on YouTube, LiveNow reported that it outpaced NBC News by 42% (353 million), ABC News by 56% (322 million) and CBS News by 217% (158 million) on the social platform. Compared to the same period last year, LiveNow grew by 373% on YouTube.

“There are many options for mainstream scripted packaged news. Fox takes a different path. It is locally powered coverage that is unscripted and intentionally raw,” Jeff Zelmer, Fox Television Stations executive vice president of digital operations, said. “It's no surprise that this unique, live, event-driven approach works best on YouTube's fast-growing platform. ”

Additionally, LiveNow is averaging more than 5 billion minutes of total viewing time across all streaming platforms each month, reaching an all-time high of 6.6 billion minutes in January.

The viewing surge was driven by live coverage of major breaking news events, including the Los Angeles wildfires; the Washington, D.C.; plane crash, and the presidential inauguration. This past Saturday, LiveNow’s coverage of the funera of Pope Francis exceeded 100 million streaming minutes.

LiveNow From Fox is a national news service with coverage and content supported by local Fox Television Stations and the resources of Fox News.

LiveNow is widely distributed across all major streaming and free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) platforms, including YouTube, YouTubeTV, Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Tubi, Fox Local, Vizio Watchfree+, LG Channels, Amazon News/FireTV Channels, Freevee, Pluto TV, Xumo, Plex, TCLtv+, FuboTV and Sling Freestream.

Fox Television Stations owned and operates 29 U.S. television stations inluding outlets in 14 of the top 15 DMAs and and duopolies in 11 DMAs, including the three largest markets, New York (WNYW-WWOR), Los Angeles (KTTV-KCOP) and Chicago (WFLD-WPWR).

NEW YORK—Ad software platform Madhive has launched a local CTV marketplace for political advertising and has announced that as part of the launch it is partnering with Fox Television Stations, which will be using Madhive’s political offering.

“We are very excited to offer our FLX CTV product and our partnership with Madhive to the growing OTT political marketplace,” explained Michael Page, senior vice president of digital sales for Fox Television Stations. “Our ability to target every congressional district in the country using the combination of FLX’s scale and Madhive’s award-winning technology provides an excellent opportunity for campaigns of all sizes to target potential voters. Fox’s expertise in handling high-volume buys and the significant targeting capabilities of our FLX product in all 210 DMAs make us a must-use resource for nearly every race in the country.”

The 2024 election cycle is expected to hit a record $11 billion in advertising spend, with $7.5 billion on down-ballot races and $2.7 billion on the presidential election. Of that, $1.3 billion will be spent on CTV as candidates look to leverage the digital targeting capabilities in tandem with the sight, sound and motion of the most impactful screen in the home as a way to drive results at the polls, the companies said. 

Madhive’s platform already provides buyers with tools for planning, targeting, activation and measurement against a variety of full-funnel performance indicators, such as website visits, email signups, and donations, all while ensuring consumer privacy. The platform delivers 20,000+ campaigns daily, including political campaigns at all levels of office, from local sheriff, mayor, and state seats to presidential campaigns. 

By expanding into a purpose-built political offering, Madhive’s solution includes access to political data partners, such as Datatrust, TargetSmart, Experian and L2, as well as ACR segments specifically intended for political targeting. It also includes privacy-compliant first-party data onboarding, which enables customer data to be securely uploaded and activated within 24 hours. Madhive's pre-curated political supply product includes premium inventory from major programmers, OEMs, and streaming platforms to bolster national and local scale, the company reported. 

Additionally, Madhive's CTV planner tailors media plans for political campaigns by leveraging IAB categories to target publishers accepting political ads, providing a more realistic prediction of political campaign delivery. 

“Because we serve billions of local CTV impressions across all 210 DMAs, Madhive is uniquely positioned to identify local voters at national scale based on a variety of parameters including geography, demographic, interests and political party – all while ensuring consumer privacy. What’s more is we can go beyond DMAs and target by congressional district, which can be a less precise way to reach political constituents,” said Kristin Wnuk, senior vice president of sales at Madhive. “Additionally, our party-neutral political offering will provide AI-powered insights into performance and campaign clearing, which enables in-flight optimization based on outcomes from an ecosystem underpinned by best-in-class data partners.”

To learn more about Madhive’s Local CTV Marketplace for Political Advertising click here. 

NEW YORK—Fox Television Stations (FTS) and Waymark have signed a groundbreaking local advertising deal that will see Waymark’s Generative AI technology rolled out across all of Fox’s owned and operated stations in 17 markets nationally.

The Waymark solutions are designed to help stations expand their potential advertising base by providing small business who would normally be unable to produce their own ads with low-cost ads created by Waymark’s generative AI video creation technologies.  

Waymark’s AI-powered video platform enables local businesses to generate high-quality commercials with professional voice-over in five minutes or less.

Gray Television stations and Spectrum Reach have also adopted the Waymark solution.

The Fox announcement comes after a successful pilot program earlier this year at KTTV Fox 11 LA, KRIV Fox 26 Houston, WJBK Fox 2 Detroit, and KMSP Fox 9 Minneapolis, where the Fox-owned stations integrated Waymark’s technology successfully into its local ad sales efforts. An example of one of the ads can be seen here. 

“Video advertising for many has been perceived as expensive and out of reach,” explained Jason Sirek, vice president and general sales manager for KMSP and WFTC. “Now, this innovative product gives our local sellers a tool they can add to their arsenal to generate new business in the OTT/CTV and linear space, while helping local businesses better visualize how they can utilize the power of video to tell their story.”

“We’re thrilled to roll out our Gen-AI video platform across the FOX Television Stations nationally,” says Waymark CEO Alex Persky-Stern. “Waymark’s instant, fully customized commercials, plus FOX’s distribution, will open the door to premium video advertising for millions of businesses who otherwise wouldn’t have had the budget, time, or know-how.”

Fox Television Stations owns and operates 29 full power broadcast television stations in the U.S. These include stations located in nine of the top ten largest designated market areas (DMAs), and duopolies in 11 DMAs, including the three largest DMAs (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As the license renewal for Fox Television Stations’ WTXF-TV attracts more opposition, the FCC has established a public docket and decided to classify the ex parte status of proceedings as “permit but disclose,” a move the agency said “permit broader public participation and thereby serve the public interest.”

Following the April 3 application by Fox Television Stations, LLC to renew the license of station WTXF-TV, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Media and Democracy Project (MAD); Milo Vassallo; John McGinty; Peter Lems; Chenjerai Kumanyika; and Bill Hartman filed a petition on July 3 to deny the Application. 

That petition cited the erroneous reporting by Fox News regarding the 2020 presidential election that forced Fox News to pay a $781 million liable settlement to Dominion Voting Systems. Based on the lies leading to that settlement, the Media and Democracy Project argued that Fox was unfit to hold a television license. Both Fox News and the Fox Television Stations are owned by Fox Corp., which is controlled by the Murdoch family.  

Since then others have filed informal objections, including the former president of Fox Broadcasting Jamie Kellner, Alfred Sikes, a former Republican FCC chairman, former Democratic FCC Commissioner Ervin Duggan and ex-Fox News Channel commentator Bill Kristol. 

Preston Padden, a former top executive at Fox, and other critics have also come out in favor of blocking the license renewal. 

On August 2, 2023 Fox filed arguments against the petition, raising First Amendment arguments against the objections to the station renewal. Denying the renewal “would, for the first time in history, have the Commission adjudicate a broadcast license renewal on the basis of cable network content, in violation of the First Amendment and the authority delegated to the Commission by Congress,” the petition argued. 

Fox has since sent in letters from both Democratic and Republican politicians supporting the license renewal. 

On July 18, 2023, MAD also filed a request asking that the Commission change the ex parte status of the WTXF-TV Application proceeding from restricted to permit-but-disclose. On July 19, 2023, Fox Television Stations filed an opposition to that request. 

The FCC, however, decided to change the status. 

“Applications for renewal of broadcast licenses are subject, unless otherwise provided, to treatment by the Commission as restricted proceedings for ex parte purposes under Section 1.1208 of the Commission’s rules,” the FCC reported. “Pursuant to section 1.1200(a) of the Commission’s rules, however, the Commission may adopt modified ex parte procedures in particular proceedings if the public interest so requires. We have concluded that classifying this proceeding as permit-but-disclose would, in this case, permit broader public participation and thereby serve the public interest.”

The new public docket is MB Docket No. 23-293.

NEW YORK—Fox Television Stations (FTS) is restructuring its Advertising Sales division and has merged its local, national and digital sales efforts into one unit. 

As part of the consolidation, which Fox said will help it better leverage the power of it's strong news content, live sports and digital/streaming platforms with advertisers, Patrick Paolini has been named executive vice president of ad sales. 

Paolini is reporting directly to Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy.

In addition, the station group announced that three other ad sales executives, Sheila Bruce, Tom Fleming and Michael Page, have been elevated to new roles.

"Patrick's unique ability to execute, developed from years in both news and sales, makes him ideally suited to lead the FTS sales organization,” Abernethy stated. “I am confident that this newly elevated dynamic team will move quickly and decisively given their depth of knowledge and proven track record, including the successful creation of FLX, our CTV/OTT ad platform."

In the new position, Patrick Paolini leads all of the FTS ad sales strategy, initiatives, and efforts. Most recently, he has served as senior vice president and general manager of WTTG Fox 5 and WDCA Fox 5 Plus, the Fox-owned duopoly in DC, since 2013. During his tenure, Paolini led the duopoly to #1 in the market with several innovative news expansions. Prior to that, Paolini was senior vice president of Fox Stations Sales. Earlier, he was vice president and general manager for WTXF Fox 29 in Philadelphia. Previously, Paolini held the role of vice president and director of sales at WNYW Fox 5 and WWOR My9, the Fox owned-and-operated duopoly in New York. His earlier FTS positions include six years as vice president and general sales manager for WTTG Fox 5 and Fox 5 Plus in Washington, D.C. and one year as vice president and general sales manager for WTVT Fox 13 in Tampa. Before that, Paolini spent more than three years with LIN TV, first as national sales manager for WTNH-TV in Hartford/New Haven, CT and later as general sales manager for WIVB-TV in Buffalo, NY. A graduate of Western Connecticut State University, Paolini holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing.

Shelia Bruce has been promoted to senior vice president of Fox Ad Sales for FTS, alongside Fleming. In this role, they will share the responsibility for overseeing the FTS O&Os overall sales efforts. She joined WJBK Fox 2 Detroit in 1994 and spent two years as an account executive before she was elevated to local sales manager. Since 2001, Bruce has served as vice president and general sales manager for the station. Throughout her tenure, she has led the most senior sales team in the history of Detroit to grow the most successful FLX sales on both linear and digital, across the entire FTS group. In addition, for the last 3 years in a row the station has doubled its FLX revenue from the year prior.

Tom Fleming has been promoted to senior vice president of Fox Ad Sales for FTS, alongside Bruce. In this role, they will share the responsibility for overseeing the FTS O&Os overall sales efforts. In addition, Fleming will now also be responsible for overseeing local and national station sales. He has been part of the Fox Stations Sales (FSS) team since its inception and, in 2019, was named senior vice president of FSS. Since assuming that position, Fleming successfully launched FLX with Page, and led FSS to record Presidential political revenue performance in 2020 and record midterm political revenue performance in 2022, as well as record Super Bowl revenue in 2020 and 2023. Before this role, he spent 15 years as the vice president and director of sales for FSS. Prior to that, he held the position of vice president and general sales manager at Fox Stations Sales and, before that, sales manager. Previously, Fleming was the vice president in charge of managing the sales team for Fox Television Stations. Earlier in his career, he served as an account executive and team sales manager for Petry Television.

Michael Page has been promoted to senior vice president of digital sales for FTS in an expanded role that will now lead all Fox Digital Sales and OTT sales. He joined FTS as vice president of digital sales in 2019 and was promoted to senior vice president in 2021. During his tenure, Page successfully launched FLX alongside Fleming, and increased digital/streaming revenue by nearly 8 times over the past four years. Prior to joining FTS, Page served as vice president of digital sales for Tribune Media, increasing the group's revenue by 45%.  Previously, he led TEGNA Digital in the $2.5 billion acquisition of Cars.com as vice president of digital automotive. Prior to that, Page was the head of product marketing for Amazon Media Group. For over a decade, he held various sales roles at Cars.com, including vice president of advertiser solutions and vice president of advertiser pricing and analytics.

Bruce, Fleming and Page will begin their new duties immediately and will report to Paolini.

NEW YORK—Fox Television Stations has announced the first rollouts of its Fox Local streaming app, with the free app launching at Fox-owned stations in Washington D.C., Atlanta, and Detroit markets. All 17 Fox-owned stations will launch the streaming service this summer, explained Jeff Zellmer, senior vice president, digital operations, at the station group. 

“Fox Local is the crucial next step in our overall streaming strategy, which is focused on providing viewers the easiest and fastest ways to watch their most trusted local news and programming,” Zellmer stated, 

The Fox Local streaming app is immediately accessible on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV devices with plans to expand to additional platforms soon. 

Upon logging into the Fox Local app, users choose their market so they can stream local, live newscasts, get breaking news and weather, and find local programming from the Fox station most relevant to them. The app also provides access to national live streaming coverage from “LiveNOW from Fox,” Fox Soul and Fox Weather. 

More information is available at foxlocal.com. 

First-run (originally produced by non-TV network studio content makers, aka syndicators) shows such as "Entertainment Tonight," "Jeopardy!," "Wheel of Fortune," "Oprah," "Dr. Phil," and "Judge Judy" plus off-network (reruns) shows such as "I Love Lucy" and "Star Trek" have captured TV viewers for decades. These syndicated shows are paid for by TV stations licensing these shows for cash, a mix of cash and national advertising slots reserved for the syndicator, or a barter arrangement where the syndicator and station split the national ad revenues generated by the shows.

Of course, much has changed since the Big Three (ABC, CBS and NBC) network days of the 1960s. In particular, the advent of independent UHF TV stations, Fox and other new networks, and then the plethora of specialty channels on cable and satellite TV, has fragmented the viewing audience. This fragmentation has been increased by Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, Hulu, and YouTube, among other subscription and ad-supported streaming content providers.

Despite this, TV syndication content producers and distributors such as Fox First Run ("You Bet Your Life with Jay Leno," "Pictionary," "25 Words or Less," "Divorce Court," "Dish Nation," "TMZ," and "TMZ Live") and Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury ("Family Feud," "Sherri," and "People Puzzler") are still producing current hits and developing new ones, while turning a profit in the process. Here’s how they’re doing it.

Sales Process Hasn't Changed
First things first: Although TV syndicators are mindful that the TV viewing audience continues to fragment even more, they’re not frightened by this fact. That’s because they’re accustomed to it. 

“Back in the 1980s, I was at an ad agency and I did a client presentation about fragmenting television and how cable television was going to disperse our audiences and take over everything,” recalled Ira Bernstein, co-president of Debmar-Mercury. “Since then, we've been through many, many stages where the audience just fragments more and more. So we’re used to it.”

“It's harder to get a large audience than it was before,” agreed Mort Marcus, Debmar-Mercury’s other co-president. “At the same time, the sales process for syndicated TV shows is much the same as it was 30 years ago. Granted, there’s way more business consolidation. Today a prospective client may own 50 stations instead of 10. Still, you’re selling TV shows on a city-by-city basis. And although the viewership has been compromised by fragmentation, local TV stations still need non-network content.”

The Economics Have Changed ... and They Have Not
With lower ratings due to audience fragmentation, it is harder for syndicated TV shows to earn the revenues they once did. “This is why the big time syndicated hits like 'Oprah'—which made so much money for distributors in the past because TV stations just had to have them—could be a thing of the past,” said Frank Cicha, executive vice president of programming at Fox Television Stations. “'Even Dr. Phil' is not going to do any more original episodes after 21 years on air. 

"That’s because viewership isn't supporting the idea of big license fees from stations as much as it used to—with exceptions like 'Wheel of Fortune' and 'Jeopardy!,' which remain as two legitimate hits," Cicha added. "Some would say that the days of the 10 million viewer talk show with the $30 million talk show talent are a thing of the past.” 

This being said, first run TV syndication program production has never been a Cadillac industry. This is why its producers favor TV talk and game shows—both of which can ‘gang shoot’ multiple shows per day in studio. 

“When it comes to our game shows, we typically shoot 180 shows over eight weeks, with two of those weeks off to pace things,” said Stephen Brown, executive vice president of Programming and Development at Fox First Run and Fox Television Stations. “It's good for the hosts because their commitment is only for six of those eight weeks, allowing them to do other things for the rest of the year. And it saves us money because we can use the same stage and crew for multiple shows, rather than setting up and tearing down after each one.”

Finding Other Revenue Streams
With the fragmentation-driven decline in their traditional revenues, syndicators are finding other ways to make money from their TV programs.

One way to do this is by franchising successful US TV syndication show formats to other countries. “For instance, game show formats like 25 Words or Less have been sold into Italy and Spain,” said Brown. “So we sell the shows, we sell the formats, and then there's streaming. When we can earn revenue from streaming shows like Divorce Court, that makes all the difference.”

Having the talent read commercials during the shows and offering paid product placements are two more ways that syndicators earn extra money from their content. Although there is debate about the additional advertising "clutter" these methods add to syndicated programs, “people generally understand that producers have to do this kind of thing or we're not going to get shows,” Cicha said. “I think it's that simple.”

Here to Stay
With their ability to produce cost-effective programming that people will watch, strike creative licensing and ad-sharing deals with TV stations, and generate a range of revenue streams from their content, syndicators are already accustomed to ‘living lean’. As such, they are better prepared to adapt to the economics of audience fragmentation than the big broadcast networks and streaming services are.

Moreover, “there will always be a need for content, especially for smaller stations that might not have a news division or lack the resources to produce original programming themselves,” said Brown. “So ultimately syndication is going to always be here. There's always going to be a need for our programming because stations need it.”

RESTON, Va.—Comscore has announced that the Fox Television Stations (FTS) will use Comscore’s data to  support transactions on advanced audiences across the footprint of the owned and operated station group. 

“Over the last six years, the number of reportable Comscore households across Fox Television Station’s markets have grown by 84% to 13.6 MM [million] homes,” said Tom Fleming, senior vice president of station sales at Fox Television Stations. “By partnering with Comscore for local TV measurement, FTS can now use significantly larger data sets and even more precision to ensure that linear advertisers are strategically paired with their consumers.”

Comscore competes with Nielsen in measuring viewing and in recent years has been picking up clients among local broadcasters.

Comscore local TV solution combines real-world TV viewership information with advanced household-level consumer and demographic behavior data, allowing buyers and sellers to access relevant metrics and transact with confidence, Comscore said. 

“Because local television audiences have more choices than ever, measurement must evolve to include larger data sets,“ said Chad Roscher, vice president, research, Fox Television Stations. “As such, Fox Television Stations is excited to partner with Comscore for local TV measurement, which incorporates millions of data points from key video providers.”

“Comscore has a long history of innovating the way media is bought and sold, and we are proud to partner with FTS to bring increased value to their expansive footprint,” said Carol Hinnant, chief revenue officer, Comscore. “FTS is getting ahead of the pack to ensure their advertisers have access to the most advanced offerings that local TV can provide.”

NEW YORK—Fox Television Stations have reported strong growth in its digital properties during the month of April, with 42 million unique viewers, up 6.7% from a year earlier, 685 million total minutes (up 43%) and 251 million total views (up 23%), citing data from Comscore Media-Metrix. 

The Comscore Media-Metrix numbers ranked the Fox Television Stations as the top-performing O&O station group in total minutes, Fox said. 

Fox said this marked their 18th consecutive month ranking as number one in the category. 

The group also finished as the top O&O group for Unique Visitors and Total Views, Fox reported. 

Fox Television Stations was also the most engaged brand on social media against the other O&O groups in April, with 14.6 million total social actions according to Shareablee, Fox said. 

On YouTube, Fox Television Stations secured the overall #1 spot among all local station groups, with more than 185 million video views, Fox reported. 

Fox Television Stations provided this data on their audiences versus the other O&Os: 

• Multi-Platform Total Minutes: Fox Television Stations – 685 million; ABC Local – 262 million; NBC Television Stations Group – 214 million; CBS Local – 26 million
• Multi-Platform Total Views: Fox Television Stations – 251 million; ABC Local – 142 million; NBC Television Stations Group – 129 million; CBS Local – 28 million
• Multi-Platform Unique Visitors: Fox Television Stations – 42 million; ABC Local – 30 million; NBC Television Stations Group – 34 million; CBS Local – 8 million

Source: Fox Television Stations citing Comscore Media Metrix Multi-Platform, Total Digital Audience, Custom-Defined List including [M] Fox Television Stations, [C] NBC Owned Television Stations, [S] ABC Local, and [C] CBS Local, April 2022, U.S.; April 2022 Shareablee, PowerRankings: Local Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube).

LOS ANGELES— Fox Television Stations (FTS) has named Tim Joyce its senior vice president of engineering, operations and technology. Reporting to Jack Abernethy, CEO, FTS, he will oversee engineering, operations and tech functions for the station group. Joyce succeeds Richard Friedel, who retired last December.

In making the announcement, Abernethy stated, “[Tim Joyce] is known as a strategic executive with an innovative and collaborative approach and is an excellent addition to our team.”   

Before joining FTS, Joyce spent nearly three years as the senior vice president of media and broadcast engineering for Fox Corp. Prior to that he served as the senior vice president of technology business relations for Fox Networks Group in Los Angeles, and as vice president of broadcast operations for Fox Networks Group in Europe and Africa.

Before his time with Fox, Joyce spent six years at National Geographic Channels International. He began his career with Fox Latin American Channels.

Fox Television Stations owns and operates 29 full power broadcast television stations in the U.S. These include stations located in nine of the top 10 largest designated market areas (DMAs), and duopolies in 11 DMAs, including the three largest DMAs (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). Of these stations, 18 are affiliated with the Fox Network.

 NEW YORK – Jeffrey Zellmer has been promoted to the top digital job at Fox Television Stations (FTS), where he is now senior vice president of digital operations.  

“Jeff has been an integral part of the FTS team for over fourteen years and was a natural fit for this position,” said Jack Abernethy, the station group’s CEO in a statement. “His creative and collaborative approach, coupled with his depth of experience and leadership, will continue to yield strong results across multiple digital platforms for our stations.” 

Zellmer, who reports directly to Abernethy, has been with the Fox Television Stations since 2007. Most recently, he has served as vice president of digital marketing and strategic partnerships for FTS, a role he assumed in 2018. 

Previously, he served as regional vice president of creative services. Prior to that, he held various roles at WAGA Fox 5 Atlanta.   

Zellmer noted that “I’m honored to be entrusted with leading the digital efforts for the Fox TV Stations. FTS has proven itself a dominant force in the digital sector, and we will capitalize on the momentum of this success to grow our audience across all platforms.”   

A graduate of Furman University in Greenville, S.C., Zellmer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications.  

NEW YORK—In an effort to assist with 2020 U.S. presidential election coverage, Stringr and Google News Initiative are teaming up to supply national and local news organizations with video content. Among the first to sign up to receive the coverage is Fox Television Stations.

With media organizations not always having the resources to cover every story on the campaign trail, Stringr and Google will provide broadcast, digital and raw video content to help supplement election coverage efforts. Stringr is expected to provide one broadcast and one digital segment per day, as well as two or more pieces of raw content, depending on events taking place.

Broadcast packages will include a voiceover for newscast networks. Digital packages are edited specifically for digital distribution and include captions. The Raw video assets will be of various events that can be edited by the organization.

In addition to Fox TV, current participants for the service include the Boston Globe, News Press & Gazette, Lee Enterprises and Flood Communications.

More details about Stringr and Google’s partnership are available online.

ATLANTA—Gray Television customers won’t have to worry about losing access to their Fox programming any time soon, as Gray and the Fox Television Network have reached an agreement to renew and extend affiliation deals for all Fox television stations in Gray markets.

The deal covers 21 markets for Gray Television customers, including Cincinnati, West Palm Beach, Fla., Birmingham, Ala., and New Orleans.

There have been a record number of station blackouts in 2019; one such blackout between Nexstar and AT&T is still ongoing. This agreement keeps Gray TV and Fox from adding to that record.

NEW YORK & ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Fox Television Stations is the newest member of the Advanced Warning and Response Network, making it the first major television O&O station group as part of the coalition, per the official announcement.

AWARN is a coalition of commercial and public broadcasters, consumer electronics makers, tech companies and trade associations that are developing voluntary advanced emergency messaging capability that uses ATSC 3.0.

“Our stations are dedicated to serving their communities, and nothing is more important than giving people the information they need to stay safe in emergencies,” said Richard Friedel, executive vice president of engineering, operations and technology for Fox. “We support the Alliance’s broader mission to develop a framework for providing emergency information beyond the initial alert. ATSC 3.0 will enable Fox Television Stations to use its local news assets as never before, and we are happy to add our voice to that initiative.”

AWARN has also announced that it plans to launch a series of roundtable discussions with TV news leaders with the goal of developing a voluntary framework for packaging a TV station’s news assets and using ATSC 3.0 to engage with viewers across multiple devices.