Nielsen said it reached a multi-year agreement to provide Antietam Broadband, which serves Washington County, Maryland, with TV measurement services in the Washington, D.C. market.

Nielsen will help Antietam determine the local performance for individual cable networks on which it sells advertising. Antietam will also price its commercial inventory on Nielsen local TV ratings data.

“Nielsen’s data is the best on the market and the addition of broadband only measurement in the new year will allow us to effectively showcase our value and the growth of our audience,” said Tony Heaton, director of media services, at Antietam Broadband. 

“As a full-service telecommunications provider, we have recognized the mission critical need to use Nielsen data in order to provide the highest level of service to our community,” Heaton said. “We are also excited about Nielsen's commitment to impressions in local TV, which will benefit not only us, but the entire industry.” 

Also: TV Measurement Reaches the Crossroads

Antietam Broadband offers digital TV, high-speed internet and digital phone services. It was founded in 1966 and acquired by Schurz Communications in 1968.

“Antietam Broadband is a valued client, and we are thrilled that we will be providing our capabilities to support their success,” said Catherine Herkovic, executive VP, managing director, Nielsen Local TV. “Antietam’s support and enthusiasm for impressions based buying further demonstrates this need across the industry, and we are looking forward to continuing to empower them with the insights that will enable them to go to the next level of advertiser effectiveness with their clients.” 

South Bend, Indiana-based Schurz Communications has signed onto to deploy Nrby, a mobile collaboration platform for technology workers.

Schurz will first deploy the platform with its Antietam Broadband division based in Hagerstown, Maryland. Nrby said Schurz also plans to launch its platform across its four other broadband properties — Winona, Minnesota’s Hiawatha Broadband; Sergeant Bluff, Iowa’s Long Lines Broadband; Burlington, Vermont’s Burlington Telecom; and Mericopa, Arizona’s Orbitel Communications – possibly by the fourth quarter of 2019.

Related: WOW Signs Onto Nrby’s App-Based Productivity Tools for Techs

The Nrby app, which run on the iOS and Android-based smart phones of field techs, provides operators with the ability to identify and repair potential network outages before they occur. They also offer technicians the ability to alert their peers of potential hazards.

For example, a tech might see a coax hanging low after a storm. He can pin the issue in the Nrby platform, notifying his broader group about it, and initiating a conversation as to whether it’s in fact a problem, and what might be done about it if it indeed must be fixed.

“Schurz is serious about taking the next step in its mobile digital evolution and the Nrby platform is a perfect fit for service providers like us that are seeking new efficiencies across the board,” said Tom Williams, Schurz Communications’ VP of engineering and technology. “The safety of our field workers and our customers, however, remains Schurz’s chief business concern, but also one that can now be improved through the implementation of technology. Nrby’s Solo Worker safety feature alone was worth Schurz investigating the platform further. It’s breadth is impressive.”

The American Cable Association has taken issue with Nexstar's online effort to sell the importance of its signals to local government and the impact of their absence from Antietam Broadband, with which it is currently at a retrans impasse.

ACA president Matt Polka blogged that Nexstar was pressuring a local government (in Hagerstown, Md.) to take its side in the dispute. While he called the request preposterous, he added that government oversight was in order, specifically the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and FCC attention to the proposed Nexstar-Tribune merger, which ACA has big problems with.

By citing the station's role in public safety in calling for local government help, says ACA, Nexstar "wants elected officials to pressure a private company to raise cable bills for their constituents."

For its part, Nexstar's WDVM Hagerstown has posted a series of short stories on its website pointing to the local news, sports, consumer and emergency info and other content Antietam subs are missing during the impasse, a variation on the more common theme of TV stations during impasses, which is that cable subs can access the signals over-the-air—with some stations even handing out over-the-air antennas to make the point.

In the story Polka was citing, WDVM staffers and execs attended a City Council meeting to demonstrate to the mayor and council the station's "commitment to the community." While the council did not appear prepared to weigh in, WDVM VP and GM Andrew Wyatt "wants the city to get involved," WDVM reported. "The city in general has an obligation and a duty here to try to keep the public safe. Our TV station does a great deal to keep this community safe," said Wyatt, according to the station website.

Calling for government intervention is not new. Both sides of retrans impasses have in the past sought FCC help, suggesting the other side was not negotiating in good faith. But as a general matter, broadcasters have fought government intervention in retrans disputes, arguing that it is a marketplace negotiation, while cable ops say that it is, instead, a thumb on the scale for broadcasters.

Polka used the opportunity to widen his criticism to the retrans regime writ large: "Nexstar’s actions confirm our longstanding view that something is fundamentally wrong in the retransmission consent marketplace more generally," said Polka. "As Congress renews key satellite television legislation this year, it should consider Nexstar’s behavior – and commonsense reform to protect the public from such behavior."

The FCC under previous management declined to make blackouts a de facto bad faith negotiation tactic.