There's nothing in the media business quite like the drama and rhetorical sanctimony of a pay TV carriage war. 

Suddenly, pay TV operators and station groups, owned by publicly traded Wall Street companies and major hedge funds in many cases, become so very, very concerned about ... the poor consumer!

Well, with big conference championships in college football coming up on Friday and Saturday, and the usual full Sunday of pivotal week 13 NFL action set to unfold, there could be a lot of angry TV viewers out there. 

Fox is threatening a pay TV blackout with DirecTV on Friday if a new licensing deal isn't worked out, and Cox Media Group stations were blacked out on Dish Network in nine markets on Monday. 

Here are five upcoming games on the pay TV blackout precipice this weekend:

* No. 4 USC vs. No. 14 Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game -- USC is one win away from a College Football Playoff berth and is looking to avenge its only loss, a 42-41 heartbreaker in Salt Lake City last month. (Next TV is still patching the ol' drywall in our man cave. I mean, can someone cover the tight end this time?) On Friday, TPG-controlled DirecTV, which is the biggest pay TV operator in Southern California, could lose access to the Fox Broadcast Network owned and operated stations, which are set to broadcast the game starting at 8 p.m. EST. The carriage/retrans kerfuffle could also take FS1, FS2 and the Big Ten Network off DirecTV, which has 13.5 million subscribers nationwide. Update: A DirecTV rep told us that should Fox channels be taken down, it wouldn't happen until midnight Saturday on the West Coast, meaning Fox O&O's covering the Pac-12 title game would remain on DirecTV for the duration of the contest. Of greater concern to a broader pool of sports-loving DirecTV subscribers nationally could be Saturday morning's World Cup showdown between the U.S. and The Netherlands, set to kick off on Fox at 10 a.m. EST. 

* No. 3 Michigan vs. Purdue in the Big Ten Championship Game -- Next TV can never decide if dental implant surgery is more unpleasant than a good, ol' fashioned root canal. And we couldn't pick between Michigan and The Ohio State last weekend in their Big Ten showdown, either. "The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy if they're just another enemy, too." We think that's the way the saying goes.  Anywho, disregarding our ambivalence about things and people from the Upper Midwest, that matchup between top 5 teams felt like the conference championship to us. And anticlimactic or not, DirecTV viewers will also be shut out from actual Big Ten title game, such as it is, set to air at 8 p.m. EST Saturday, if their satellite TV company doesn't work out some cool rules with Fox ... pronto.

* No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 17 North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game -- Next TV has been down on Clemson all season long, impressing upon anyone who will listen that we weren't surprised at all when Notre Dame took them to the ol' woodshed. We just don't think they're physical enough this year. And we like the Tar Heels' chances of upsetting the Tigers -- a prospect that has to be inspiring to many Charlotte, N.C.-based Dish subscribers who might otherwise enjoy the game on Cox-owned local ABC affiliate WSOC-TV starting at 8 p.m. Eastern on Saturday. Sure, it's not like they're taking down a Final Four game featuring the Tar Heel hoopsters. But this still matters.

* Philadelphia Eagles vs. Tennessee Titans -- Fox Broadcast has six NFL games across its regional grid Sunday, and this is one of two week 13 contests pitting division leaders against each other. DirecTV subscribers might also miss the AFC East-leading Miami Dolphins taking on the NFC West topping San Francisco 49ers, also on Fox. That's not to diminish the other games on Fox this weekend: The Seattle Seahawks visiting the Los Angeles Rams will represent two NFC West teams fighting for their playoff lives. (Next TV's 16-year-old jock son still thinks Seattle coach Pete Carroll is his long lost uncle. During a blowout win during the Pete Carroll era at USC back in the aughts, a joyful Next, perhaps caught up in the moment of a Trojans touchdown as we so often were in those days, may have indicated that bogus family connection in an offhand remark to our impressionable young child. Anyhoo, our young meathead offspring, now teenaged and muscle bound, will be at SoFi Stadium to see his 'Hawks play the disappointing Rams on Sunday, thanks to his GF and her rich, connected talent-agent dad.) Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders visiting the New York Giants has even greater NFC East implications, since those two teams actually seem capable of getting to a Super Bowl. Also on the Fox slate, Next TV can't figure out the terrible in-game coaching decisions made by Detroit coach Dan Campbell, but we love how hard his guys play for him and we can't wait to see the Lions play Jacksonville Sunday. Even the fading Green Bay Packers visiting Chicago, another Fox game, will be interesting. (Will Aaron Rodgers sit down and let Jordan Love take over ... which Next TV thinks has been Green Bay management's secret plan all along, evidenced by they're inexplicably letting Rodgers' preferred target, Davante Adams, just walk out the door last spring?) DirecTV subscribers in Fox O&O markets might miss all of this drama Sunday ... unless they go OTA or have a close friend with a rich, connected father who can get them into the stadium. 

* Cleveland Browns vs. Houston Texans -- Normally, we'd recommend the 4:25 EST game with the other Ohio team, the AFC North-leading Cincinnati Bengals playing the AFC West-topping Kansas City Chiefs. But this marks the Browns debut of controversial quarterback Deshaun Watson, playing his old team in his first NFL game back after serving an 11-game suspension for downright creepy (at best) behavior involving numerous female message therapists. Unfortunately for Dish customers in Dayton, Ohio, unless a deal with Cox Media comes together by Sunday, they won't be able to see either AFC contest on local CBS affiliate WHKO-TV without an over-the-air antenna or a subscription to another pay TV service besides Dish.  ■

Cox Media Group said it named Jodie Fleischer managing editor and Josh Wade as executive producer of its newly created Investigative Unit.

Fleischer is returning to CMG. Most recently she was an investigative reporter at WRC Washington. She starts her new post immediately.

Wade is currently senior investigative producer/photographer for CMG’s WSB Atlanta. He’ll start his new post in June.

“Cox Media Group remains dedicated to journalism excellence and our expanded investigative unit will build on that commitment by allowing us to have a bigger and more positive impact in our communities,” said Marian Pittman, executive VP of content, product, and innovation at CMG. “I’m thrilled to welcome Jodie back to CMG and watch her grow our investigative acumen and scope. She is dedicated to uncovering the facts and can leverage CMG assets on all platforms. Josh’s new role exemplifies how CMG invests in its people and promotes internal talent who can accelerate our news leadership across more platforms than ever before. I look forward to watching Jodie and Josh’s impact across our company and investigative journalism.”

Fleischer spent 15 years with CMG as an investigative reporter at WSB-TV and a reporter for WFTV, Orlando. Awards she’s won include a duPont-Columbia University award, an IRE award, Murrow Awards and Emmys.

Wade’s work has won 15 Emmys, 11 Murrow’s and a duPont. He began his broadcast career as a weekend editor in Austin, Texas and joined CMG in 2002. ■

DuJuan McCoy, CEO and owner of Circle City Broadcasting, has teamed up with Cox Media to launch the Multicultural News Network (MNN).

The network, which is scheduled to launch second quarter 2021 is billed as "an unbiased national forum for the voices of America’s underserved multicultural communities."

McCoy said it will be a national cable network "just like CNN and Fox News."

The launch comes amidst a national reckoning about the country's historic treatment of Blacks and other minorities and how that inequality needs to be addressed.

MNN will include live daily news serving diverse communities, which includes "Blacks, Hispanics, LGBTQ communities, Asians, Native Americans, people of Middle Eastern descent, and others.

The network will be based in Indianapolis, co-located with Circle City's WISH-TV. McCoy will be chairman and CEO of the network and anticipates opening bureaus around the country.

“We believe MNN will change the way Americans view news while providing a national platform for many underserved, diverse communities that are voiceless in America’s current national news media landscape."

"CMG strongly supports increasing diversity in media and providing authentic, unbiased platforms for underserved voices to be heard," said CMG chairman Steve Pruett.

Dish Network is gearing up for a possible blackout of 18 television stations owned by Apollo Global Asset Management in seven states, offering the broadcaster an extension to its existing deal, with pay, through Feb. 2 to ensure its customers don’t lose access to the NFL Playoffs and the Super Bowl.

The Apollo stations are: KLAX-TV (ABC, Alexandria, La.); WICZ-TV, (FOX, Binghamton, N.Y.); WBPN (MNT, Binghamton, N.Y.); KIEM-TV (NBC, Eureka, Calif.); KVIQ-TV (CBS, Eureka, Calif.); WABG-TV (ABC, Greenwood-Greenville, Miss.); :WABGD-TV, (FOX, Greenwood-Greenville, Miss.); WNBD-TV, (NBC, Greenwood-Greenville, Miss.); WXVT-TV (CBS, Greenwood-Greenville, Miss.); KPVI-TV (NBC, Idaho Falls-Pocatello, Idaho); KMVU-TV (FOX, Medford-Klamath Falls, Ore.); KFBI-TV (MNT, Medford-Klamath Falls, Ore.); KAYU-TV (FOX, Spokane, Wash.); WSYT-TV (FOX, Syracuse, N.Y.); WNYS-TV (MNT, Syracuse, N.Y.); KCYU-TV (FOX, Yakima-Pasco-Richland-Kennewick, Wash.); KSWT-TV (CBS, Yuma AZ - El Centro, Calif.); KYMA-TV (NBC, Yuma AZ - El Centro, Calif.)

“Apollo Global Management, the new owner of the former Northwest Broadcasting stations, has recently been warning its viewers that they may lose their local channels on Dish,” Dish said in a statement. “Apollo, which is in contract renewal talks with Dish, has been demanding nearly double its current rate to carry its stations. Dish is doing everything in its power to strike a fair deal on behalf of customers.”

On its station websites, the Apollo stations are warning Dish customers that if a deal isn’t reached by 7 p.m. on Jan. 18, they may lose access to programming.

“Our existing agreement with Dish expires at 7:00 p.m. EST on January 18, 2020,” said station WICZ on its website. “If no deal is reached before that date, you will lose live access to the shows, sports and local news on WICZ-TV, which you rely on and are paying for. We are continuing to negotiate with Dish, but Dish has refused to agree to reasonable terms for the valuable programming we provide.” 

Dish also said it was granted a temporary restraining order on Wednesday (Jan. 15) to prevent Apollo from blocking out 14 stations it purchased from Cox Media last year. Dish said that Apollo has been warning Cox viewers that they may lose access to those stations, despite Dish and Cox having renewed a multi-year contract in March 2019.

The Cox Media stations are: WSB-TV (ABC, Atlanta); WFXT-TV (FOX, Boston); WAXN-TV (IND, Charlotte, N.C.); WSOC-TV (ABC, Charlotte, N.C.); WHIO-TV (CBS, Dayton, Ohio); WFOX-TV (FOX, Jacksonville, Fla.); WFOX2-TV (MNT, Jacksonville, Fla.); WHBQ-TV(FOX, Memphis); WFTV-TV (ABC, Orlando, Fla.); WRDQ-TV (IND, Orlando, Fla.); WPXI-TV(NBC, Pittsburgh); KIRO-TV (CBS, Seattle); KMYT-TV (MNT, Tulsa); KOKI-TV (FOX, Tulsa).

Apollo’s Charlotte, N.C. ABC affiliate WSOC-TV said on its website that carriage of the channel by Dish had been temporarily extended and that the company remains in negotiations.

“We are simply seeking a fair deal, which adequately values the award-winning news, sports, entertainment, weather and traffic programming that is paramount to our local viewers,” WSOC-TV VP and general manager Cedric Thomas said in a statement on its website. “In fact, we are asking for far less than what Dish pays for national networks even though our ratings are much higher. More importantly, those national networks offer no local news, provide no information about local school closings, have no local employees, and offer nowhere near the same high-quality, compelling programming that we provide.”

Verizon Communications said it has reached a retransmission consent agreement with Cox Media, ending a four-day blackout of its stations in four separate markets.

The stations -- WFXT (Fox) in Boston, WXPI (NBC) in Pittsburgh and WSYT (Fox) in Syracuse -- went dark to Verizon customers in those areas on Dec. 31. s In a statement sent to Multichannel News at 7:37 p.m. Saturday, Verizon spokesman David Weissmann said a deal had been reached.

“We’ve been able to reach an agreement with the owners of WXPI, WFXT, and WSYT and will be able to restore their programming to our Fios® TV customers shortly,” Weissmann said in the message. “We appreciate the patience of our customers and value their business.”

Cox Media’s WSYT station website -- purchased as part of a larger deal by Apollo Global Management in February -- confirmed that a deal has been reached. 

“Verizon Customers: We’re back on! Thank you for your patience,” WSYT’s website stated. 

Cox Media Group is nearing the finish line in the months-long process of selling 14 television stations across the country, with private equity giant Apollo Global Management said to be close to a deal to purchase the properties for about $3 billion.

News that Apollo was close to a deal was first reported by Reuters. A deal was expected to be announced as soon as this week. 

In a statement Tuesday, Cox Media said it is still evaluating its options with the stations.

“This process is ongoing, and we are not disclosing any information on the process or interested parties at this time,” Cox Media said in a statement. “We will make an official announcement once a decision has been made.”

Cox put the stations on the auction block in July. The stations include ABC, NBC, Telemundo, CBS and Fox affiliates in nine states and reach more than 31 million viewers in markets like Atlanta; Boston; Seattle; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Tulsa, Okla.; Dayton, Ohio; Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville, Fla.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Charlotte, N.C.

Apollo has been an aggressive investor in TV stations. It agreed to purchase Northwest Broadcasting, which owns about 12 stations in the Pacific Northwest, last year and is one of the bidders to purchase certain TV stations to be divested as part of Nexstar Media’s $6.4 billion purchase of Tribune Media. 

The three cable giants that own NCC Media said they have named GroupM programmatic leader Nicolle Pangis president and CEO of the national cable advertising sales organization.

Pangis had been global chief operating officer at GropuM’s [m] Platform, where she oversaw strategic partnerships, product management and technology development. Prior to [m] Platform, Pangis was global chief revenue officer of Xaxis, an early programmatic digital media business, then its global chief operating officer.

“NCC has an excellent reputation in the linear ad space, and will now extend that leadership position into the advanced ad business,” said David Kline, executive vice president and president of media sales at Charter Communications. “Nicolle, now armed with premium multiscreen television content, great viewership insights and the scale required to deliver on advertisers needs, combined with her past experiences in programmatic digital, is the perfect combination needed to drive NCC to great heights.”

NCC Media is owned by Charter, Comcast and Cox, and is looking to grow its data-driven media business with both linear networks and addressable advertising.

“NCC Media is a trusted media partner for many of the world’s largest advertisers, and I’m thrilled to join the company as we launch the next phase in our development,” Pangis said. “I’m excited to build out the teams and platforms that truly unlock the best of NCC Media and empower our partners and brands with the best products as the evolution of addressable media continues.”

In April NCC created a new division that will design, deploy and sell unified advertising solutions across its participants’ national footprint. The group will build products that deliver targeted audiences across linear and video on-demand platforms.

Related: Comcast, Charter, Cox Form New Advanced Ad Group

“We are excited to have Nicolle on board to lead NCC’s transition,” said Billy Farina, senior vice president at Cox Media. “This is another step in future-proofing NCC and a clear sign that we are reinventing the business to meet the demands of brands and marketers.”

Cox Media, Cox Communications’ ad sales division, has locked in an exclusive, multi-year deal to represent AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain’s local on-air advertising opportunities during Vegas Golden Knights games, including pre-game and postgame programming.

Starting with the new NHL expansion team’s second season this fall, Cox Media will also serve as the exclusive sales rep for the AT&T-owned regional network for national on-air advertising during Vegas Golden Knight game broadcasts.

Financial terms were not announced, but the agreement covers pre-game, post-game and in-game on-air advertising opportunities, as well as other opportunities allotted to the network’s distributors, Cox Media said.

“This opportunity to sell the Network’s advertising time in Vegas Golden Knights games is a great addition to Cox Media’s portfolio of offerings for our clients and we are thrilled to be working with AT&T SportsNet and representing advertising opportunities in games of the city’s first major sport franchise,” Brett Burke, VP of sales for Cox Media’s Las Vegas market, said in a statement.

Consumers aren’t comfortable with their data being collected by smart TVs, according to a survey conducted by Videa, Cox Media’s automated ad platform.

The survey found that 48% of consumers said they were somewhat, mostly or completely uncomfortable with advertisers collecting smart TV data.

Related: Vizio Settles Smart TV Data Collection Complaint

Only 39% said they are somewhat, mostly or completely comfortable with their data being collected by advertisers. The answer most given, at 21% of respondents, was that they were completely uncomfortable with the data collection.

Related: When Smart TVs Get Too Personal, What's the MSO Role?

The study also asked about cord-cutting. Consumers surveyed said they would miss live programming or specific programs if they gave up their pay TV subscriptions. They also said they would miss news channels, weather, sports, channel-surfing and the variety they now get.

In these divisive times, the survey also found that the majority (61%) of respondents said they had some or a lot of trust in the information they get from local news organizations.

A survey last year bythe Pew Research Center found that 22% of the adults it surveyed had a lot of trust in local news, and that another 60% had some trust, for a total of 82%. That compared to 18% who had a lot of trust in national news organizations and 59% who had some trust. Social media garnered only 4% of respondents who said they had a lot of trust, and 30% had some trust.

Related: Pew: Older Demos Drive Mobile News Growth

Videa’s survey found that 59% of the respondents said they get their local news from TV, compared with 38% via social media, 36% from print and 36% from local radio.

Among viewers who said they had a clear preference, 62% said they trusted local news over national news, while 38% said they trusted national news more.

Of those trusting local news, 31% said they trust it because there is less bias or no political agenda, the survey found.

Videa's survey was conducted online with 1,145 adults responding between March 21 and March 22. The figures have been weighted to make they representative of all U.S. adults.

NICOLE BUIE

TITLE: VP, Marketing, Cox Media

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Buie led an initiative that streamlined Cox Media’s operations and made the unit more efficient; Buie has held 10 positions at Cox with all but two created to specifically solve a business problem or address evolving needs within the company.

QUOTE: “‘How’ you work is more important than the ‘what.’ In other words, accomplishing things on your checklist is an important part to achieving goals. … ‘How’ you do the work is what will set you apart and make you successful.”

— Nicole Buie

Nicole Buie is a triathlete, which means she must be proficient in several sporting disciplines to be successful. Most athletes focus on doing one thing well: they’re strong swimmers or cyclists or they can run for miles without bonking. Triathletes have to be good at all three of those things — at the same time. Buie’s professional career and acumen in the office are similar.

Officially, Buie serves as Cox Media’s vice president of marketing and was recently tapped to serve as an officer of Cox Communications. Unofficially, Cox Media staffers consider Buie to be the company’s “chief culture officer” because of her emphasis on the health and wellness (physically and mentally) of employees. Seven years ago, she implemented Cox Media’s Zen room — a place to think without distraction during hectic days. Today, Cox regularly hosts yoga and mindfulness classes enterprise-wide.

Buie’s team regularly holds meetings in the “Inspiration Bunker,” an office-turned-collaborative work space that she created. It encourages free thinking, creative brainstorming and offers an opportunity to find a new perspective while tackling difficult tasks.

Buie’s emphasis on culture and diversity extends beyond just the space in which her team works. She’s known for energizing her team at all levels through a variety of tactics designed to inspire them personally and professionally. For instance, she’s been intentional about the role of millennials at Cox Media and in the industry, ensuring their voices are heard.

A FORCE OF NATURE IN THE OFFICE

Buie has been named one of Multichannel News’s Wonder Women in 2016, but her co-workers have considered her a wunderkind for years. Billy Farina, senior vice president of advertising sales at Cox Media, was quick to scoop Buie up after parent company Cox Enterprises bought NewCity Communications in 1996.

“Nicole is a force of nature,” Farina said. “She is one of those people you want on your team when you go into battle. At the same time, you want her in your corner during times of calm. She truly is a Wonder Woman, both inside the office and out of it.”

Innovation and improving operations is something Buie has been doing since her first job working at an ad agency in Florida. Later, at NewCity Communications, she led the creation of a buyer’s guide that changed the way local media was purchased in Orlando. It was the first of its kind in Florida, and media sales executives in Orlando and other cities are still using it today.

If Buie’s career has an overriding theme, it would be invention and change. She has held 10 positions with Cox since joining the company 22 years ago and all but two were jobs that were specifically created based on evolving needs or to solve a business problem, she said. Buie has taken on a number of high-priority projects that have reshaped the company and reinforced its brand. For instance, Buie was integral in Cox Media’s “transformation,” launched in 2007, which reshaped the entire company. The multiyear initiative changed 90% of all positions at Cox Media in one way or another.

AGENT OF TRANSFORMATION

The process for Cox Media, the first company to undergo transformation at Cox, included centralizing the division’s traffic and billing systems. The task was arduous and painstaking given the fact that after years of adding legacy systems with every acquisition, each operating division was using different hardware and software. Farina likened the job to keeping an airplane in the air while changing out the engine.

“It was the wild, wild West of cable so standardizing all those systems took time,” Buie said. “The business wasn’t broken — yet. We saw the change happening in traditional media, and we wanted to be ahead of the curve.”

In the end, the reorganization resulted in a more efficient and effective business. But it also meant a reduction in staff. With its well-known family-like atmosphere — the Cox family has long owned the company — staffers tend to stick around for decades. So when it came time to reduce head count, Cox Media gave workers more than a year’s notice. It provided stay bonuses to employees who were asked to support the transition. The reductions were hard, but according to Farina, Buie is not afraid of taking on difficult tasks herself and leading teams through the change.

Buie is proud of the confidence her leaders and peers have in her. “After my pursuit of a promotion to VP, my boss suggested I move out of the research and marketing function and into operations. I thought he was completely crazy,” she said. “I didn’t know the first thing about traffic and billing, or insertion gear, or encoding commercials. But he said I was a strong, effective people leader — and that was enough for him. This is when I learned how important it was to have good people around you, ask good questions … then work your butt off to identify, understand and solve company problems.”

Buie isn’t the kind of executive who stands in front of a room and pitches “her” ideas, according to colleagues. Instead, she empowers her team to come up with ideas and solutions and she will create opportunities for them to explore growth. That doesn’t mean she won’t push staffers to go beyond their comfort zones. She has high expectations. But she also cares about how they’re doing and what they’re doing to expand their professional horizons.

“Nicole has the ability to make everyone around her better at what they do and everyone around wants to be better,” Farina said. “She is constantly finding ways to get more done and at the same time knows exactly when to step back and let those she leads achieve new highs in their own performance.”

Cox Media, the ad-sales unit of Cox Communications, has teamed with TubeMogul to help advertisers buy ads on linear TV and digital video ads using a common interface, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. 

According to the report, Cox Media will use TubeMogul’s platform to target specific audiences and create campaigns across TV and Web video inventories.

The agreement is the latest on the programmatic front, adding automated features to the process of buying and selling ads.

It also expands on other programmatic-facing work underway at Cox Media, which has also been working with companies such as clypd, AT&T AdWorks and AudienceXpress on its automated advertising initiatives. Mike Zeigler, VP of business development and operations at Cox Media, told Multichannel News in a recent interview (subscription required) that all of Cox Media’s inventory is available through programmatic systems.

“There is no carve,” he said. “We don’t consider it a remnant business.”