With political ad spending set to hit record levels this year and TV station groups raising their forecasts for political TV ads, a new AdImpact study reports that $1 billion in campaign spots have aired in seven battleground states from July 22 through Oct. 8.

Since Super Tuesday on March 5, the study found, some $2.1 billion has been or will be spent on the elections, with the Democrats laying out $1.3 billion and Republicans $768 million. Much of that lucre is flowing into just seven battleground states in the battle between Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican standard bearer.

AdImpact’s “The Play for the White House, Part II, 2024” report found that 74% of the total ad spending between Super Tuesday and President Joe Biden’s July 21 exit from the race occurred in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Since then, those seven states have received 79% of the total TV ad spend for aired commercials. Those states are scheduled to receive 88% of the revenue for ads that have been scheduled for future airings.

The data tracks more than 253 unique broadcast political ads and 904,000 broadcast airings targeting the presidential election since Super Tuesday.

From July 22 throigh Oct. 8 period, Pennsylvania led with $159.1 million in spending by the Democrats and $120.2 million by Republicans; followed by Michigan ($124.6 million by Democrats and $78.1 million by Republicans); Georgia (D $73.3 million, R $71.5 million); Wisconsin (D $74.6 million, R $53.1 million); Arizona (D $61.8 million, R $49.3 million); N.C. (D $55.3 million, R $43.5M); and Nevada (D $43.8 million, R $22.3 million).

More information, including breakdowns of ads by content, the number of airings by state and other categories, are available in the full report here.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC has issued an order that would reduce regulatory fees for broadcasters for the second year in a row. The decision follows a major push in recent years by the NAB and state broadcasting association to reduce the regulatory burden on stations. 

Like FY 2023, the FCC calculated regulatory fees for TV stations based on population but reduced the rate to $0.006598. This is down “from the $.007799 per-person-served used for FY 2023 TV regulatory fees,” according to the Common Law Center Blog, which also noted that “Some additional shifts will be caused by FY 2024 fees being the first to incorporate 2020 U.S. Census data into these calculations.”

According to the order issued Sept. 6. the FCC is expecting revenue from the category of digital television of $23,363,518 in FY 2024, down from FY 2023 revenue estimate of $25,463,735. 

Radio will also see a decline in rates by about 6% according to Radio World.  

Overall, FCC has a revenue requirement of $390,192,000, the same as FY 2023, that needs to be covered by regulatory fees. In contrast to broadcasters, cable TV operators will get a rate hike. They will pay $1.27 per subscriber in FY 2024, up 3.24% from FY 2023 according to Policyband. 

While fees are declining for broadcasters, the FCC denied requests by the NAB, state broadcasters, pay TV providers and others that might have further lowered rates.

Once again, the FCC did not move to include YouTube TV and other streamers in its rate calculations even though YouTube TV is now the fourth largest operator with 8 million subs. 

The FCC also rejected a proposal by state broadcasters that the Commission adopt new regulatory fee categories for broadband Internet access service providers and manufacturers of equipment that use spectrum on an unlicensed basis.

In FY 2024, the FCC is also discontinuing three relief efforts to help broadcasters. Those three relief efforts were adopted during the pandemic and continued into FY 2023. The NAB and state broadcasters had pushed the FCC to continue them indefinitely. 

The Full Order can be found here.  

UPDATED 9:45 a.m.

ATLANTA—Gray Television has announced that it is acquiring Meredith Corp.’s all outstanding shares of Meredith Corporation, which includes all of its broadcast stations, for $2.7 billion.

Gray TV is acquiring Meredith's Local Media Group, consisting of 17 TV stations in 12 markets. Meredith will maintain ownership of its National Media Group, which includes a portfolio of magazines as well as digital and marketing assets.

The TV stations that will be transferring over to Gray TV include:

• WGCL (CBS)/WPCH (Independent), Atlanta
• KPHO (CBS)/KTVK (Independent), Phoenix
• KPTV (FOX)/KPDX (MyNetwork), Portland, Ore.
• KMOV (CBS), St. Louis
• WSMV (NBC), Nashville, Tenn.
• WFSB (CBS), Hartford-New Haven, Conn.
• KCTV (CBS)/KSMO (MyNetwork), Kansas City, Mo.
• WHNS (FOX), Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.
• KVVU (FOX), Las Vegas
• WALA (FOX), Mobile, Ala.
• WNEM (CBS), Flint-Saginaw, Mich.
• WGGB (ABC & FOX)/WSHM-LD (CBS), Springfield, Mass.

Gray TV currently operates in one of these markets, Flint-Saginaw, Mich. This will require Gray TV to divest the market's ABC affiliate, WJRT-TV, to an independent third party by the closing of the acquisition. Gray TV estimates that the deal will close in the fourth quarter 2021.

With the deal, Gray TV says that it will become the second largest TV broadcaster in the country, serving 113 markets and reaching approximately 36% of U.S. TV households.

"We are very excited to acquire Meredith’s excellent television stations, and we look forward to welcoming its employees into the Gray family. Moreover, Gray’s Board and shareholders are deeply appreciative of the tireless efforts of our team led by Kevin Latek and Jim Ryan on this transaction and our other recently announced significant transactions. Building on our successes throughout 2020 and just the first few months of 2021, Gray Television clearly has an even stronger and brighter future than ever," said Hilton H. Howell, executive chairman and CEO of Gray TV.  

Gray TV has made other recent acquisitions, purchasing Quincy Media in February, and more recently divesting some of the Quincy Media stations to Allen Media.

ATLANTA—Gray Television and Byron Allen’s Allen Media Broadcasting have struck a deal for a group of TV stations at a price tag of $380 million. The stations, owned by Quincy Media and representing seven markets, are being divested by Gray TV as part of its acquisition of Quincy Media.

In February, Gray TV acquired Quincy Media for $925 million. To get regulatory approval for the deal, Gray agreed to sell Quincy-owned stations in markets where Gray TV already operates.

The stations being acquired by Allen Media Broadcasting are KVOA (NBC) in Tucson, Ariz.; WKOW (ABC) in Madison, Wis.; WSIL/KPOB (ABC) in Paducah, Ky.-Harrisburg, Ill.; KWWL (NBC) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; WXOW/WQOW (ABC) in La Crosse-Eau Claire, Wis.; WAOW/WMOW (ABC) in Wausau-Rhinelander, Wis.; and WREX (NBC) in Rockford, Ill.

Gray’s acquisition of Quincy and the sale of the stations to Allen Media Broadcasting will close simultaneously, which Gray expects to happen in the third quarter of 2021.

For Allen Media Broadcasting, this acquisition is part of a larger strategy that has the company planning to invest nearly $10 billion to acquire more ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox TV stations over the next two years, per Byron Allen. He says the goal is to become the largest broadcast television group in America.

These stations, along with all of Allen Media Broadcasting’s media assets, are set to be part of its recently launched streaming service, Local Now. 

WASHINGTON—Between the election and its aftermath and the protests that took place throughout 2020, the safety of journalists has become an increasingly important issue to the point that the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) added specific questions on safety for the first time in new research.

The 2021 RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey is an annual report conducted among thousands of TV and radio stations across the country. When asked whether there had been any attacks on their newsroom employees in 2020, one in five (20.5%) TV news directors said there had been.

Attacks against journalists were more common in bigger TV markets. In the top 25 markets, 39% said that a newsroom employee was attacked. That number was 29.4% for markets 26-50 and 24.4% for markets 51-100; after that incidents dipped below 10%.

RTDNA found that attacks were more common in the West, as well as among large newsrooms—38.3% of newsrooms with 51 or more staffers said a journalist experienced an attack. Network affiliation made no difference, according to RTDNA.

Almost half of all attacks were against crews covering what news directors described as “riots, protests and civil unrest.”

The survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2020, meaning that the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol, where a number of attacks against the media were documented, are not included in this report.

Some of the responses included details on how crew were surrounded and threatened during civil unrest last May; crew being hit with pepper spray; verbal harassment; vehicles damaged; journalists attacked on-air; reporters being shoved by police ; and more.

A majority of stations (86%) have said they have altered procedures to try and better protect journalists. Such measures include adding professional security for high-risk situations; limiting live shots; requiring more people in the field; giving instructions to bail if threatened; not wearing identifying logos; safety briefings; mandatory 10-minute check-ins; as well as other measures.

NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith, who has been a proponent of greater protection for journalists, gave this statement in response to the RTDNA survey:

“Broadcast journalists play an essential role in documenting pivotal moments in American history from the front lines. That has never been more important than during the past year. NAB is gravely troubled by this study reporting the unprecedented level of harassment, intimidation and violence directed at journalists covering the historical events of 2020. These unacceptable attacks on our nation’s free press undermine our very democracy by preventing journalists’ ability to report the facts and keep the public informed. We are grateful to the dedicated broadcast journalists bringing the truth to Americans during these dangerous times.”

For more information on the survey, visit RTDNA’s website.

PHILADELPHIA—Comcast has announced that eight out-of-market Hearst TV-owned stations will be removed for Comcast customers at the end of March and beginning of April. 

According to Comcast’s Xfinity website, seven markets will lose access on March 31 to neighboring Hearst TV stations, five more will lose access on April 6. According to TV Tech’s sister publication Multichannel News, this is part of a large retransmission consent agreement, which will keep almost 40 out-or-market stations available to Comcast customers.

While customers will lose access to these stations, Comcast says that the market’s local station affiliate with the same network will still be available in all of these areas.

Here are the markets that are losing an out-of-market Hearst-owned station on March 31:

• Twin City, Ga.; losing WJCL (ABC) 
• Horse Cave, Ky.; losing WLKY (CBS) 
• Newberry, S.C.; losing WYFF (NBC) 
• Tell City, Ind.; losing WLKY (CBS) 
• Connersville, Richmond, Lynn-Winchester, Ind.; losing WLWT (NBC) 
• Bedford, Ind.; WLKY (CBS) 
• Galax, Va.; losing WXII (NBC) 

The markets losing stations on April 6 include:

• Portales, N.M.; losing KOAT (ABC) 
• Chico/Oroville, Calif.; losing KCRA (NBC) 
• Las Cruces, N.M; losing KOAT (ABC) 
• Contra Costa/Solano County, Calif,; losing KCRA (NBC) 
• Santa Clara County, Calif; losing KSBW (NBC) 

Back in December, Hearst said that it would start charging for out-of-market stations, which would have resulted in Comcast dropping 38 stations in 35 markets. However, in some cases this could have resulted in certain markets losing news related to their actual state. For instance, residents in Bristol County, Mass., were in jeopardy of losing Boston’s WCVB (ABC) because it was also served but a Rhode Island ABC affiliate. Legislators representing Massachusetts sent letters to Comcast about this potential issue.

On Dec. 15, 2020, Comcast said it reached a deal with Hearst for it to continue carrying out-of-market stations free of charge.

This removal of stations, however, is part of a normal process of reviewing channel lineups, Comcast said.

The stations will be removed in the mentioned markets at 12:01 a.m. on the respective dates.

For more information, visit Comcast’s website. 

WASHINGTON—In today’s TV landscape, it is important that local news stations have the ability to provide high quality programming to strengthen localism. According to the FCC, localism may outweigh other points of consideration when determining if two stations are able to merge.

In a new FCC paper, “Market Size and Local Television News,” the commission has three policy goals when considering local TV station ownership: competition, diversity and localism. The paper analyzes how the FCC’s structural regulation of station ownership affects the achievement of its policy goals.

A 2017 FCC Reconsideration Order, as well as the commission’s 2018 Quadrennial Review Notice of media policy goals, cited that diversity (primarily referring to diversity of voice) and localism could be relevant in an evaluation of a proposed merger of top-four TV stations—a typically prohibited practice—that serves the greater public interest.

The FCC says that in a typical situation, having more stations in a market will likely increase both the diversity of voices, as well as competition and localism. However, if a market is “out of equilibrium,” then the reduction of independent newsrooms could actually increase the quantity and quality of local news because it may help reduce the high costs of news production as revenue is increased and costs are split between the stations, according to the analysis.

To help prove this, the FCC estimated market size thresholds above which a market can likely sustain two, three or four or more local news operations, based on an acceptance criterion of either 50% or 75% to determine entry threshold values. Higher acceptance criterion lead to higher threshold estimates and make it more likely that a market may not be able to sustain the targeted number of stations. In markets below the threshold, mergers may be considered more favorable.

Using data from 2019 and a 50% acceptance criterion, market sizes for two, three and four or more local news stations came out to 35,000, 175,000 and 615,000 TV households, respectively. Using a 75% acceptance criterion, the results were 70,000, 310,000 and 800,000 for two, three and four or more operations.

“We expect our findings to be useful in merger deliberations to better understand the effects of a proposed merger on the Commission’s policy goals,” the FCC wrote in the paper. “In a merger analysis, the regression results and data from the market could be used to assess the likelihood that the market will sustain the current number of local news operations. In some markets, there may be a tradeoff between localism and diversity. A merger that eliminates a source of local news may be optimal, even though it reduces viewpoint diversity, if the merged entity improves the quality or increases the quantity of local news programming, strengthening localism.”

The full FCC paper is available online. 

RESTON, Va.—Comscore has achieved a major milestone: providing 1,000 local TV station clients with its local television audience measurement and demographic services.

“This is a monumental moment for Comscore and our customers,” said Bill Livek, CEO, Comscore. “Reaching this milestone is a testament of how our customers are looking for advanced ways to better service their clients and improve their profitability using Comscore’s services.”

The company, which this year marks its 10th anniversary, measures television viewership from return path devices across tens of millions of households in all local markers. Using this technique enables Comscore to look more closely, beyond age and gender, to transact on consumer behaviors, interests and lifestyles, the company said.

Comscore announced June 9 that it had inked a deal to provide Cox Media Group with local TV measurement services in six new markets, including Syracuse, N.Y.; Spokane; Wash.; Idaho Falls; Eureka, Calif.; Binghamton, N.Y.; and Alexandria, La. The deal also extends TV measurement in Yuma, Ariz.; Medford, Wash.; and Greenwood, Miss., it said.

More information is available on the Comscore website. 

WASHINGTON—The American Television Alliance (ATVA) has an objection to the NAB proposal made to Congress about providing coronavirus relief funds to TV stations. ATVA claims that the NAB proposal would allow large TV station conglomerates like Hearst, Tegna, Sinclair and Nexstar gain access to relief funds primarily meant for small businesses.

In its proposal, which was also supported by a group of newspaper associations and the National Association for Black Owned Broadcasters, NAB asked Congress to provide federal advertising funds for local media stations and allow them to qualify for the Paycheck Protection Plan. ATVA says the NAB proposal would classify each TV station as its own business, but says that the majority of TV stations are owned and controlled by large station groups.

“The PPP was designed by Congress to provide relief to small businesses in need, and is already stretched beyond its initial funding limitations,” said Jessica Kendust, ATVA spokesperson. “For NAB to suggest that even its very largest members be eligible for these funds once replenished, is not only misguided, but harmful to those who need it the most.”

“These conglomerates are obviously not ‘small businesses,’ nor are they simply collections of stations operating independently,” Kendust continued. “I urge our leaders in Congress to see through NAB’s misguided proposal and to direct PPP funds to the small businesses they were intended for.”

NAB declined to comment on ATVA’s press release.

WASHINGTON—TV stations have more flexibility to air live local community events, including religious services, during typical children’s programming time slots for a limited window thanks to an FCC decision. 

This comes as two major religious holidays take place, Easter and Passover, and the ability to air religious services are meant to encourage people to stay home rather than go to live services as the U.S. practices social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

“By making it easier for local TV stations to broadcast religious services and rituals to the faithful in their homes, we can enable both social distancing and observance,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

The waiver allows local broadcasters to air important local community content in place of weekly, regularly scheduled children’s programming without the requirement that it be rescheduled, per the FCC. Stations will be required to inform viewers that children’s programming has been preempted and encourages stations to reschedule that programming, along with providing rescheduling info to viewers.

The waiver will remain in effect until April 30.

Easter was Sunday, April 12. Passover continues until Thursday, April 16.

WASHINGTON—The vast majority of broadcast station ownership in the U.S. is still made up of white men, per the most recent data from the FCC’s fourth biennial report on broadcast station ownership, which represents how things looked in 2017. Prior to this report, the last bit of information available was from 2015.

The reports detail station ownership among full-power TV stations, Class A TV stations, low power TV stations, and AM and FM radio stations, both commercial and non-commercial.

For commercial TV stations, as of Oct. 1, 2017, only 6.2% of the 2,725 stations were owned by women—73 full power (5.3%), 19 Class A (5.8%) and 76 low power (7.4%). Numbers were slightly better with non-commercial stations, with women owning 13.2% of the 429 stations, but no Class A stations among them. These numbers are actually down across the board for women from 2015.

Hispanic/Latino persons owned 8.8% of commercial stations— 58 full power (4.2%), 45 Class A (13.6%) and 137 low power (13.4%)—but only 8 non-commerical stations (five full power, no Class A and three low power), for 1.8%. Levels were generally flat between 2015 and 2017 for Hispanic/Lations.

Other racial minorities—which include American Indian/Alaska Natives, Asians, Black/African-Americans, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders and persons of two or more races—owned 2% of commercial stations and 3% of non-commercial stations.Black/African-Americans own the most commercial TV stations among racial minorities with 239 of the 2,725 (8.8%); American Indian/Alaska Natives’s 58 non-commercial TV stations (13.5%) lead the way in that category. Full power and low power TV station numbers were down in this group, but slightly up with Class A stations.

The full report on broadcast ownership is available online.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Stark called the results “striking—but not surprising” in an official statement.

“I have said it before: America’s broadcasters must look like America,” said Starks. “We have much work to do—and it starts with us fulfilling our direct order from the Third Circuit to implement a data program that would help understand the impact of our regulatory efforts on the ability of women and people of color to own stations.”

He also said that it is unacceptable that in 2020 we are operating off of data that is more than two years old, and they must be better at gathering this data in a timely manner.

NASHVILLE—Standard Media Group is buying nine TV stations in six markets from Waypoint Media and Vision Communications for $59.2 million, the station group announced.

The TV stations include:

• WGBC-TV in Meridian, Miss., (Fox and NBC affiliate);
• WHPM-LD in Hattiesburg, Miss., (Fox affiliate);
• WNBJ-LD in Jackson, Tenn., (NBC);
• KJNB-LD and KJNE-LD in Jonesboro, Ark., (Fox and CBS);
• WPBI-LD in Lafayette, Ind., (Fox and NBC);
• WPBY-LD in Lafayette, Ind., (ABC);
• WYDC-TV in Elmira/Corning, N.Y., (Fox); and
• WJKP in Elmira/Corning, N.Y., (MyNet)

The deal also includes Waypoint’s news production operations in Little Rock, Ark., and a combination of 15 FM and AM radio stations owned by Star City Broadcasting in Lafayette, Ind., and Sound Communications in Olean and Elmira/Corning, N.Y.

“This is the second acquisition Standard Media has announced in 2019, and we are looking forward to adding these stations to our expanding broadcast group,” said Deb McDermott, Standard Media’s CEO. “We are also excited to begin working with the talented teams in each of these markets. Waypoint and Vision have been successful in building these station groups, and our focus will be on continued growth with a focus on quality news.”

In May, Standard Media Group announced the purchase of Citadel stations in Providence, R.I., and Lincoln, Neb.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. It is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.

More information is available on the Standard Media Group website.

WASHINGTON—The local commercial broadcast industry, both TV and radio, helps generate $1.17 trillion of Gross Domestic Product and 2.47 million jobs to the American economy through direct and stimulative effects, according to a new study from Woods & Poole Economics, supported by BIA Advisory Services.The broadcast industry’s impact is based on direct employment, ripple effects and as an advertising medium.

Direct employment from local commercial broadcasting, which includes jobs at local stations to advertising and programming, is estimated to be more than 318,000 across the country, with more than $53 billion annually in economic impact. Just on the TV side, that works out to more than 188,000 jobs and more than $31 billion in GDP.

One-third of those 318,000 jobs are tied to industries supporting broadcasters, like telecommunications, public utilities, manufacturing, transportation and retail trade.

The ripple effect from local broadcast is even wider, contributing more than $132 billion GDP and more than 794,000 jobs in other industries, per the report. “A job in local television and radio broadcast stations multiplies itself by helping create jobs in construction, farming, mining, state and local government and all other economic sectors,” said the study.

However, the largest impact of local broadcast is the role it plays as a forum for advertising. An estimated $988 billion in GDP and 1.36 million jobs come from local broadcast TV and radio as a result of its advertising.

In a statement regarding the Woods & Poole study, NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith said: “America’s local broadcast radio and TV stations play a unique role in every community across the country. They keep citizens informed with local news, viewers entertained with the most-watched programming and families safe with lifeline emergency information. But broadcasting plays a pivotal economic role as well, creating hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs while helping hometown small businesses reach local consumers through advertising.”

The complete study from Woods & Poole can be found here.

WASHINGTON—Local news is not immune from the digital revolution, as evident from a recent survey from Pew Research Center. Receiving responses from nearly 35,000 adults, the gap between Americans that prefer to get their local news from television vs. online now only stands at 4 percent, though TV still remains on top at 41 percent (online is 37 percent).

CINCINNATI—In relation to the Nexstar Media Group and Tribune Media proposed merger, the E.W. Scripps Company has announced that it has acquired eight television stations in seven markets. The new stations include two CBS, two Fox and four CW stations, bringing Scripps total station footprint to 59 in 42 markets, giving the company a 30 percent reach to U.S. TV households.

Scripps acquired seven stations in six markets for $505 million, while also paying $75 million for WPIX, the CW affiliate in New York City. The other stations are KASW, the CW affiliate in Phoenix; WSFL, the CW affiliate in Miami-Fort Lauderdale; KSTU, the Fox affiliate in Salt Lake City; WTKR, the CBS affiliate, and WGNT, the CW affiliate in Norfolk, Va.; WTVR, the CBS affiliate in Richmond, Va.; and WXMI, the Fox affiliate in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Scripps now has nine markets were it operates more than one station. These are also the first stations for Scripps in Virginia and Utah.

The company says that it will finance the transaction with a combination of term loans and unsecured debt. In addition, it is giving Nexstar the option to buy back WPIX from March 31, 2020, through the end of 2021.

The deal is set to close at the same time as the Nexstar-Tribune merger.

“This acquisition represents another step in our plan to improve the depth, reach and durability of our broadcast television station portfolio while adding nicely to the company’s free cash flow operation,” said Adam Symson, president and CEO of Scripps, in the announcement.

ATLANTA—Apollo Global Management and Cox Enterprises have struck a deal that will see Apollo acquire a major interest in Cox Media Group’s broadcast television stations across the country. Cox Enterprises, which will retain a minority stake in the stations, will combine with Apollo to create a new company that will operate the stations and be headquartered in Atlanta.

The stations that are part of the acquisition are in most cases local news leaders in their areas, covering nine states and a combined 31 million viewers. The stations, which make up the entirety of Cox Media Group’s television portfolio, include:

• WSB-TV, ABC (Atlanta)
• WFTV-TV, ABC (Orlando, Fla.)
• WRDQ-TV, Independent (Orlando)
• WSOC-TV, ABC (Charlotte, N.C.)
• WAXN-TV, Independent (Charlotte)
• WPXI-TV, NBC (Pittsburgh)
• WHIO-TV, CBS (Dayton, Ohio)
• KIRO-TV, CBS (Seattle)
• WHBQ-TV, Fox (Memphis, Tenn.)
• WHBQ-TV, Fox (Memphis)
• WFOX-TV, Fox (Jacksonville, Fla.)
• KOKI-TV, Fox (Tulsa, Okla.)
• KMYT-TV, My Network (Tulsa)

Cox Media Group also provides programming sales and other operation services for WJAX-TV, CBS, in Jacksonville.

The deal with Cox will also see Apollo take over Cox’s other media platforms in Ohio, which include the newspapers Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and Journal-News, and radio stations WZLR (95.3 FM and 101.1 FM), WHKO (99.1 FM) and WHIO (95.7 FM and 1290 AM).

Cox has reportedly been looking for a strategic partner for its stations since this past July. With Apollo, Cox says that it will maintain its management and operating structure at the stations.

“We look forward, in collaboration with Cox Enterprises, to supporting the high standards to which each station operates and contributing to the platform’s future growth and prosperity,” said David Sambur, senior partner at Apollo, in the press release.

This transaction will be subject to customary regulatory review and closing conditions.

WILMINGTON, N.C.—It was more than a week ago when forecasters first predicted the Carolinas could take the brunt of Hurricane Florence. That’s when WWAY-TV's general manager opened the station’s hurricane preparedness plan — a strategy established in 1964 — to begin preparing station infrastructure and personnel for what looked to be a monster storm.

“This storm isn’t like anything that has ever hit here,” says Andy Combs, general manager of the Morris Multimedia-owned ABC/CBS/CW-affiliate station. “[Hurricane] Hazel in 1954, might be a better comparison, or even [Hurricane] Diane [in 1955], but I really don’t think it is fair to put this storm in the same category. This is going to be a rain producer.”

The station is planning on getting hit by 20 to 30 inches of rain over a 48-hour period, Combs says. 

Combs calls the plan the “Holy Grail” of preparedness, a step-by-step guide to making sure no detail is overlooked as WWAY readies for hurricanes. Those steps include: sandbagging and barricading entry points to the station’s six-month-old studios; securing local and out-of-state fuel sources to keep the 2,000-gallon fuel tank for station’s transmitter generator juiced in the event of a power outage; and keeping a road crew on standby should they need to repair the track through the swamp that surrounds the station’s 1,996-foot tower.

WWAY has taken many other important steps, including deciding who will leave and who will pitch in to help. The station staffs about 70 people, including news personnel and engineers— 28 will have to stay to line up a tower crew to inspect the structure once the storm has cleared. Others will help to secure a backup generator and antenna if needed. And of course the station needs to make sure its reporters stay safe -- they'll take to bunkers, secure shelters and the station’s studios.

The station shares its tower and transmitter site with WECT and WSFX, Raycom Media’s NBC and Fox affiliates, respectively.

“Right now, we are focusing our efforts on WECT and WSFX in Wilmington, WMBF in Myrtle Beach, and WCSC in Charleston,” says Steven Ackermann, vice president of news at Raycom. He added that the group’s stations in Savannah, Ga. and Charlotte, N.C. are also getting special attention because of the latest forecast and uncertainty over the exact track of the hurricane.

Raycom has what Ackermann describes as “a pretty elaborate procedure” honed over many years for the group’s regional stations to back up their sister stations as needed. “If needed, we bring in corporate resources and extend the reach beyond the region,” he adds.

The group has moved assets into place, with a focus on protecting its coastal stations in the direct path of the storm. It also has plans to ensure the safety of the Raycom employees who stay to maintain their stations’ over-the-air, cable and digital distribution paths to viewers.

“Those are our two primary focuses: safety and sustaining our audiences,” Ackermann. Raycom drills employees, especially field personnel, on the importance of staying safe.

“There are plenty of ways to get pictures of wind blowing and waves and everything else. But our mission as local broadcasters is to be there for the duration for our communities,” he says. “Standing on the beach in the middle of a Category 4 hurricane doesn’t necessarily provide anybody with useful information. But keeping our infrastructure in place and getting that mission critical information out does perform a real community service.”

Even if Hurricane Florence forces personnel at Raycom’s coastal stations to evacuate, the group has contingency plans to control those stations remotely. If the towers and antennas remain intact, Ackerman plans to continue broadcasting to viewers.

The same is true for Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns multiple stations in the hurricane track, including WCTI and WYDO in Greenville, N.C., WLFL and WRDC in Raleigh, N.C., WCIV in Mount Pleasant, S.C., WPDE and WWMB in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and WACH in Columbia, S.C., says Scott Livingston, senior vice president of news at Sinclair.

Sinclair demonstrated the benefit of remotely controlling a station during Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, when its station in San Antonio took over control of its Corpus Christi, Texas, station to provide 36 hours of continuous coverage.

For Florence, Sinclair will produce around-the-clock hurricane coverage from WJLA in Washington, D.C., and a special feed from the station that will stream across all of its websites.

“That stream will also be a backup for our stations in South and North Carolina if we need to completely shut down operations and evacuate, which would be the worst-case scenario,” says Livingston.

The station group has already allocated additional resources to augment hurricane coverage from its affected stations. “We’ve mobilized more than 25 journalists from across Sinclair sister stations to work with our local stations,” he says.

More than 50 LiveU IP newsgathering units, along with people and other resources, will assist with coverage. “It’s a great example of leveraging our resources to provide what we think will be unmatched coverage across the group,” he adds.

Gray Television is preparing WITN, its NBC affiliate in Greenville, N.C., which is in the direct line of the hurricane, as well as surrounding stations in Augusta, Ga. and Virginia for the storm, says Mick Fass, vice president of broadcast technology for the station group.

“Based on where they are located, we are specifically concerned about flooding and the reality they could be stranded there for days,” he says.

The group is checking generators and making sure fuel tanks at its stations studios and transmitter sites are fully stocked. Gray also plans on bringing along extra resources, including an IP satellite truck to maintain internet connectivity in the event Hurricane Florence knocks out service, says Fass.

Gray’s strategy is to set up the resources it will need to maintain coverage in the areas likely to be affected by the hurricane. “Our biggest fear is that once the storm hits, we will not be able to get resources into the community,” he says.

At Capitol Broadcasting Company (CBC), preparations have been ongoing for more than a week, at both WILM in Wilmington and WRAL in Raleigh, N.C., says Peter Sockett, director of engineering and operations.

“We carry six days of fuel at the studio,” says Sockett, who adds both stations have generators at their studios and transmitter sites.

“If everything goes well, we won’t touch it, but we have deals with local diesel guys to top it off daily if we need fuel and they can make it to us,” he says.

At WRAL, three uninterruptible power supplies, any two of which can carry the full load of Capitol Broadcasting, are in use, adds Sockett.

Sockett has already had telephone calls from GatesAir and ERI, assuring him that both vendors are prepared to supply backup transmitters, antennas and other RF components in the event of a catastrophic outage, he says.

As for its actual storm coverage, WRAL has deployed three SNG trucks to the coast and has 20 LiveU IP newsgathering backpacks, as well as ENG microwave units at the ready.

“All the trucks are fueled up and tested. All of the event sites are tested, and the shop truck has 100 gallons of diesel so we can go out and top off the live trucks so they don’t have to leave their locations,” says Sockett.

However, there is one unexpected wrinkle in the station’s preparations, he says. The CBC office where WRAL is located is undergoing a renovation, and the front wall of the building has been temporarily replaced with plywood. Construction workers have feverishly been reinforcing the plywood, adding additional braces, to sustain the temporary wooden wall in the storm.

“I’ve brought in a truckload of sand, and we have put in 300 sandbags in various places,” says Sockett. “We’ve also brought in those big two-inch firehose pumps and cut some holes for the water so we can pump it out if needed.”

And it’s this sort of unpredictability that all broadcasters in the region are now grappling with.

“I feel like we are as prepared as we can possibly be at this point,” says WWAY’s Combs. “But there are certain things that are out of our control. Mother Nature ultimately has the final say.”

Editor’s note: NAB has sent out an email with helpful information for stations affected by the hurricane. It is available online.

CHANTILLY, VA—BIA Advisory Services—a provider of data-centered market research, analysis, strategic consulting and valuation services for the local media industry—projects that local TV station revenue will reach $27.7 billion, up from $26.2 billion in 2017.  

Anticipating higher ad revenues driven by political ads, BIA Advisory also projects $18.2 billion for over-the-air ad revenue, up 5.8 percent—and $1.1 billion for digital revenue, up 6.3 percent—compared to 2017. And retransmission consent agreements between local TV stations and cable/satellite companies will contribute another $8.4 billion to the industry’s total revenue this year.

“This year will be particularly interesting to watch in terms of political and digital. Local television is at a juncture where strategic decisions will be key to their success,” said Mark Fratrik, senior vice president and chief economist at BIA Advisory Services. “We anticipate political advertising will generate significant ad revenue for local television this year, in particular for over-the-air revenue. Of all media, television still dominates in political years, even as campaigns integrate more digital advertising into their overall strategy.”

[Read: Global Consumer Spending On Entertainment Media To Reach $439B By 2021]

BIA Advisory claims that the local TV industry is offsetting flat over-the-air revenues by expanding its multiplatform advertising to deliver content more effectively in today’s multi-touch point content ecosystem. The firm estimates that location-targeted mobile ad spend will be $22.1 billion in 2018, which includes $3.1 billion of additional mobile advertising sold by traditional media players, including TV broadcasters and other traditional media.

“Mobile advertising is a smart play for television because it offers a unique opportunity to leverage existing assets, such as news and weather, through sponsored mobile websites and applications,” Fratrik adds. “These types of efforts are important as over-the-top—or OTT—services continue to attract viewers.”

BIA Advisory published these findings, along with a comprehensive profile of all 210 television markets plus Puerto Rico, in the first-quarter edition of its “Investing In Television Market Report,” as well as its software database, Media Access Pro, an analytical data service that delivers comprehensive information on the radio, TV and newspaper industries. BIA also delivers nationwide and local market forecasts in BIA ADVantage, a local market intelligence dashboard. 

WASHINGTON—Twelve TV stations were expected to turn in their licenses by Oct. 25 once they received their multimillion-dollar auction payments, and they all complied. However, an additional 14 stations have also gone off the air, according to the FCC. These stations had said they planned to share, but instead decided to turn in their licenses instead.

Read the full story on TVT’s sister publication Multichannel News.

For more information on the repack, visit TV Technology's repack silo.

WASHINGTON—While viewers may have more options than ever on what to watch on TV, the number of TV stations providing content continues to decline, per the latest FCC report on total broadcast stations in the U.S.

The new report, which covers 2017 up until Sept. 30, tallies the total of TV broadcast stations at 7,890. That is down from the 2016 report at the same time of 7,963 and more than 500 less than what it was in 2012 (8,402). Part of the decline comes from the spectrum repack, which has results in 12 stations in the process of going off the air since selling their spectrum. 

The overall numbers may be decreasing, but the type of stations have proven to be fluctuating over that five year period. UHF Commercial TV stations have decreased from the 2016 number of 1,035 to 1,019; meanwhile, VHF Commercial TV stations have seen a slight uptick from 352 to 359. On the Educational TV side, UHF have netted a loss of two stations since 2012 (288 down to 287) and VHF has gained two (107 to 109).

Class A UHF and VHF stations have both seen a decrease in the five years, but VHF experienced a slight recovery in 2017, adding eight stations to bring its total to 24; UHF dropped from 401 in 2012 and 2016 to 379 in 2017.

A similar case occurred with UHF/VHF translators. While down from the 1,162 operating in 2012, VHF translators bumped up to 864 in 2017 from 501 in 2016. UHF translators actually grew from 2012 (3,013) to 2016 (3,292), but dropped to 2,886 in 2017.

For UHF low power TV stations, however, 2017 marked an overall growth from its 2012 numbers. FCC reported that 1,595 UHF low power stations are operational, up from 1,583 in 2012 and the 1,422 in 2016. VHF was the inverse; there were 397 VHF low power stations in 2012 and after totaling 553 in 2016, that number came back down to 369 this year.

In total, including radio stations, the FCC reported that 32,975 broadcast stations are currently operating in the U.S. The full statistics are available here.

WASHINGTON—The United States gained 144 low-power TV licenses in 2016 despite the uncertain future of LPTVs, which are not assured a channel assignment in the post-incentive auction repack. According to the broadcast station tally released by the Federal Communications Commission Jan. 5, 2017, there were 1,966 UHF and VHF lower-power TV licensees as of as of Dec. 31, 2016. The count as of Dec. 31, 2015 was 1,822.

Overall, 1,365 U.S. broadcast licenses were added in 2016, for a total of 32,397 at the end of 2016 versus 31,032 at the end of 2017. As noted in Wireless Estimator, 68 percent of the 1,365 additional licenses comprised radio boosters and radio and TV translators. A total of 147 UHF and 38 VHF translators were added. The rest of the 68 percent were AM and FM boosters and translators.

There were eight fewer full-power TV stations in 2016—one less VHF non-com, five fewer VHF commercial and two fewer UHF commercial stations. There were 12 more Class A stations in 2016 than in 2015. Full-power AM and FM radio gained 36 licenses in 2016.

Non-Class A LPTV as well as translator licensees were not permitted to participate in the television spectrum incentive auction, now in its fourth stage. Consequently, these licensees are not guaranteed a channel assignment after the auction concludes.

See more TV Technology coverage at our spectrum auction silo.