Howard Beale

ESPN’s new all-access streaming service is good news…unless you’re a cable or satellite provider, or one of the many broadcast TV companies that rely on said providers. ESPN is probably the last big reason why most people still subscribe to cable or satellite TV. Now that ESPN is putting everything on its new streaming service, I suspect the holdout subscribers have a very good reason to cut the cord for good. That’s obviously bad news for cable and satellite providers. It will also set off a domino effect that means bad news for broadcast TV companies that rely mostly on retransmission revenue from said providers. Cable and satellite providers now have more leverage to say no when broadcast companies seek higher fees come negotiation time. Some companies are feeling the squeeze as I type. For example, Scripps reported a $10 million quarterly loss “as a result of declining legacy pay TV subscribers.” Gray reported a $2 million drop in retransmission revenue in its latest quarterly report as well. These losses are very small compared to the revenue both companies made. However, with ESPN’s newfound devotion to streaming media, the omnipresent threat cord cutting poses to local TV is going to get worse. It's yet another reason why 2025 is a bad year to be in linear broadcast TV.

Gray has a job opening that may suggest the company might pull a TEGNA and consolidate its creative services marketing departments. The job opening is for a video editor/producer for Gray Creative Group, which “handles the marketing and content initiatives support for all Gray-owned and operated TV stations.” I’m not 100% convinced that Gray will pull a TEGNA here. When Gray bought out Meredith, the company had to rebuild the local creative services departments that Meredith eliminated in a “make ourselves look better to prospective buyers” cost-cutting move prior to the buyout. It makes me wonder if Gray Creative will just fill in gaps at local stations that can’t hire marketing producers.

Two things of note involving TEGNA: The company has a job opening for a “director of content” to oversee its Florida stations, WTSP Tampa and WJXX/WTLV Jacksonville. FTVLive reported a few days ago that TEGNA planned to effectively merge both stations, so it looks like the company is making good on that plan. Another interesting note: WJXX/WTLV GM Tim Thomas’ LinkedIn profile shows he is now the GM at WTSP as well. Also, TEGNA CEO Mike Steib seems to be in a selling mood. In a phone call with industry analysts, he said, “We are buyers of anything that’s a fit for our mission and our company. And if there’s anything someone wants to buy from us at a price that is more than it is worth to our shareholders, we’re interested in selling it.” TEGNA might be in a buying mood if the FCC does loosen or eliminate the ownership cap, but I think TEGNA knows it can make more money by selling stations to the likes of Nexstar or Sinclair.

Graham Media might be trying out a new way of managing stations. Per Rick Gevers, Graham’s WKMG in Orlando, Florida will not hire a new general manager, and “department heads [will] report to their corporate supervisors.” It reeks of Scripps and its station manager concept, where many stations replaced GMs with an existing department head who added “station manager” to their job title…while still running their respective department. The common link here? Sean McLaughlin, the ex-Scripps news VP who landed at Graham.

How many people total are watching? Having 46% of the audience sounds impressive, but if the total audience size is -- for example -- 10,000 people, then big whoop. Ratings no longer matter as they once did. Broadcasters typically earn more-than half of their annual revenue from retransmission fees versus core advertising. Who needs to fight for viewers when you're getting the same check every month from the cable companies?

Let’s talk about something that’s a little more substantial… Scripps recently released its latest financial report after a nearly one-month delay, and we finally know why. The company needed the time to basically shore up its debt and kick the can a bit further down the road. Even the delay itself didn’t buy Scripps enough time to have a financial report worth praising. Here’s the total numbers for 2024 (with 2023 in parentheses for comparison) for Scripps Local Media: Core advertising: $552.2 million ($598.8 million) Political ad revenue: $342.8 million ($32.9 million) Retransmission/distribution revenue: $764 million ($752.3 million) Political ad revenue clearly saved the Scripps budget, because core advertising took yet another hit. Retransmission revenue grew from the previous year, but not by much. Scripps doesn’t have too much leverage against cable and satellite companies as some of the bigger competitors do. But it’s also possible that the cable and satellite companies have little juice left to squeeze out. In short, Scripps is somehow still afloat, but the boat is definitely leaking. Former KSTP news director Kirk Varner questions whether the bad news at Scripps could be a sign that some TV stations may eliminate local news altogether in 2025.

According to a post on Reddit, the layoffs affect every station in the Scripps group. Some worse than others. No details on exact layoffs just yet. This sounds like Scripps is desperately trying to make its upcoming quarterly report look good or at least not entirely terrible. The fact the company delayed its earnings report alone is a sign of trouble.

Further verification: https://thedesk.net/2025/02/tegna-lays-off-national-verify-fact-check-team/

This is definitely the newest trend in news consolidation. Allen already did it to its Wisconsin stations, Morris won't be the last either.

https://old.reddit.com/r/Broadcasting/comments/1i7nzaf/allen_reversal/ It's only a rumor at this point, but the Broadcasting subreddit has been pretty spot on about things like this. Perhaps even Byron Allen realized this was an incredibly dumb move.

Today is the last day for TEGNA's creative services and marketing departments. All are being laid off in favor of centralized creative services. I saw an example of the new TEGNA creative services AI-driven TV ads...and wow, it's not good. I'm sure it's cheap, and that's what matters to the bottom line, but wow it's bad.

Here's a new thread specifically for the Imagicomm pending sale.

Imagicomm Communications is getting out of the TV news business. Paywalled articles at News Blues and the Radio & Television Business Report say the company plans to sell the TV stations it purchased from Apollo (dba Cox Media Group), including: KYMA (Yuma, AZ) KIEM / KVIQ (Eureka, CA) KPVI (Pocatello, ID) KLAX (Alexandria, LA) WABG / WNBD / WXVT (Greenville, MS) WICZ (Binghamton, NY) WSYT (Syracuse, NY) KOKI / KMYT (Tulsa, OK) KMVU / KFBI (Medford, OR) WHBQ (Memphis, TN) KAYU (Spokane, WA) KFFX / KCYU (Yakima, WA) With President-elect Trump due to become President Trump in less-than one week, it seems clear that the broadcasting industry truly believes a Trump administration will be pro-merger. Many of these are small-market stations that probably turn very little of a profit, if any, so anyone’s guess is good at this point about what happens next.

You "guess it is still too scandalized?" My goodness, that's an understatement. Matt Lauer is persona non grata at NBC. He will never be allowed back on "Today" in person, even if it's a one-off appearance to wish a former co-worker well. NBC would sooner bring back J. Fred Muggs (kids, ask your grandparents) than Lauer. As for where Matt Lauer is now? Probably still laying low in the NYC area.

It is a win, small as it is, but the wins will not last. Broadcast's monopoly as THE place for live sports is no more. It's still the number-one reason why people watch broadcast TV, but the major sports leagues have already put some games on streaming services. I get it, Gray's just trying to grab any fruit off the tree, and I don't blame them for it. But this is not a hurrah for broadcast TV. It's a metaphorical fleeting jab from a boxer who's two or three more blows away from a knockout.