All 50 state broadcasters’ associations say they are all for diversity and inclusion in their industry, but the FCC‘s reinstatement of its Form 345-B diversity reporting requirement is not the way to get it and is, in fact, not even legal or at best on the fringes of legality.

In comments to the Federal Communications Commission, the associations said that they have been leaders of industry efforts to improve outreach and promote nondiscrimination in employment. But they have also stood with the National Association of Broadcasters to “against efforts to reinstitute and enable regulatory practices found by the U.S. Court of Appeals to be unconstitutional,” because the form used “impermissibly pressure[s] broadcasters when making a hiring decision to achieve an FCC-favored outcome.”

In launching the July notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), the FCC said that nothing in the court decisions on the agency‘s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) data collection — which were based on how the regulator used the data — prevents the FCC from simply collecting the data and making it publicly available.

Broadcasters have argued that releasing the data to the public will pressure them to adopt impermissible race- and gender-based hiring decisions, which the courts ruled out, including by those filing petitions to deny license renewals based on that data.

Back in July, the FCC signaled it was considering restoring the mandate that broadcasters file data on the diversity of their workforces and that the data be available to the public. Democrats in Congress, and at the FCC, have long called for a return to that data collection.

The annual collection of Form 395-B data on workforce composition (race and gender) has been in limbo for two decades. The filing of the form was suspended in 2001 following a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling vacating part of the FCC's EEO requirements. Even though the FCC in 2004 revised the regulations on filing the form, broadcasters still did not have to file it due to unresolved issues about data confidentiality.

The FCC asked if there were a way to make sure that the employment data was used only for analyzing industry trends and agency reports to Congress.

The FCC is also pondering making the Form 395-B information anonymous rather than attributable to a particular station, as was the case before the filing was suspended. The state associations and the National Association of Broadcasters have said that if, despite their warnings, the FCC proceeds to collect the info, as a Democratic majority is likely to do once it has its three Democrats installed, it should definitely be on an anonymized basis. That would help guard against the filing of petitions to deny based on the data, they said.

A reported ransomware attack that affected the online live streams of Cox Media Group television and radio stations across the country entered its sixth day without a resolution on Wednesday, with no apparent end in sight.

Cox Media owns 33 TV stations in 20 markets, 65 radio stations in 11 markets and several multi-platform streaming video and digital platforms. The TV stations, in markets like Boston; Pittsburgh; Dayton, Ohio; Seattle; and Tulsa, Oklahoma are a mixture of major network affiliates like ABC, Fox, CBS, NBC and My Network TV and independents. Beginning on June 3, live online streams of its TV and radio station programming began to be affected.

According to Inside Radio, the attack was centered on internal networks and live streaming capabilities such as web streams and mobile apps at the Cox Media properties. Websites for the stations and most programming remained unharmed, but according to Inside Radio some live stream programming and newscasts had to be canceled. 

Inside Radio said Tuesday that the online feed for one Cox Media Group radio station (Atlanta's WSB-WSBB (750/95.5) returned to its desktop player and mobile app on Friday (June 4), but was down again on June 8.  A check of the station online on Wednesday afternoon showed that WSB-WSBB was back online. But other radio stations like Jacksonville, Florida ESPN Radio affiliate WOKV 690 were still offline. 

In addition, Cox Media Group’s corporate website also was inaccessible Wednesday. 

The attack apparently didn’t affect traditional broadcast or pay TV feeds for the channels. Dish Network, which reached a carriage deal with Cox Media for about 14 channels in December, said it experienced no issues with the broadcaster.

A check of its station websites on Wednesday, June 9 showed that the live feeds were still being affected. Charlotte, South Carolina ABC affiliate WSOC-TV,  Dayton, Ohio CBS affiliate WHIO-TV and Tulsa, Oklahoma Fox affiliate KOKI-TV posted disclaimers on their websites that live streams were currently unavailable and that the stations were “working diligently to bring it back online.” Other stations, like Orlando, Florida ABC affiliate WFTV offered partial feeds of past newscasts on their websites. 

Cox Media Group did not return repeated requests for comment.

Ransomware attacks have been on the upswing and the U.S. government warned last week that companies should be diligent in trying to prevent them. After energy company Colonial Pipeline paid $4.4 million to stop a ransomware attack that shutdown its East Coast operations for a few days in May, the U.S. Dept. of Justice said it has recovered about $2.3 million of those funds. 

A day after live streams for its radio and television stations were attacked by hackers in an apparent ransomware incident, Cox Media Group properties across the country were still largely unavailable.

Cox Media owns 65 radio stations in 11 markets, 33 television stations in 20 markets, and several multi-platform streaming video and digital platforms. The TV stations, in markets like Boston; Pittsburgh; Dayton, Ohio; Seattle; and Tulsa, Oklahoma are a mixture of major network affiliates like ABC, Fox, CBS, NBC and My Network TV and independents. 

According to a report in Inside Radio, the attack began on the morning of June 3, and was apparently centered on internal networks and live streaming capabilities such as web streams and mobile apps at the Cox Media properties. Websites for the stations and most programming remained unharmed, but according to Inside Radio some live stream programming and newscasts had to be canceled. 

The attack apparently didn’t affect traditional pay TV feeds for the channels. Dish Network, which reached a carriage deal with Cox Media for about 14 channels in December, said it experienced no issues with the broadcaster. 

Cox Media representatives did not return requests for comment, but according to reports, several stations informed employees to shut down their work computers and phones on June 3.

NBC News reported that at least two stations — ABC affiliate WFTV in Orlando, Florida, and NBC affiliate WPXI in Pittsburgh — were affected, with WFTV telling workers to stay home Thursday.  Other reports claimed that Cox stations in Charlotte, North Carolina ABC affiliate WSOC-TV and Tulsa Fox affiliate KOKI-TV were affected as well. As of Friday afternoon some reports said a few of the stations were beginning to resume their online streams, but streams for Cox Media radio stations were still unavailable.

As of 6 p.m. ET Friday, online streaming for Cox Media’s Alexandria, Louisiana ABC affiliate KLAX-TV, Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB-TV, Boston Fox affiliate WFXT, Dayton, Ohio CBS affiliate WHIO-TV, Charlotte ABC affiliate WSOC-TV, Orlando ABC affiliate WFTV and Tulsa Fox affiliate KOKI-TV was either unavailable or showing partial replays of old newscasts. 

Streaming services like Hulu Live, which carry local broadcast streams, also were impacted. Hulu Live temporarily replaced WSB-TV’s broadcast feed with ABC News Live until the local feed was restored. 

According to a report in cybersecurity publication The Record, Cox Media employees were saying earlier this morning that they had shut down their systems in time and that they “should be back up and running soon.” 

The attack comes shortly after some high-profile ransomware incidents, including the May hack of the Colonial Pipeline which choked off gasoline supplies up and down the East Coast for days. Colonial  reportedly paid $4.4 million to hackers to get fuel flowing again. Earlier this month, meat producer JBS shut down nine beef plants in the U.S. after a similar ransomware attack.  

On Thursday, deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger issued an open letter urging companies to take security precautions to protect against ransomware attacks.

Allen Media Broadcasting, a unit of Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios, said it has completed its purchase of 11 television stations from USA Television for $305 million.

The deal was first announced in October. The stations include affiliates of the four major broadcast networks and are located in Alabama, Indiana, Oregon, California, Mississippi, Minnesota and Iowa and increases Allen Media’s broadcast holdings to about 15 stations.

Allen and Entertainment Studios have been an aggressive buyer of media properties over the past two years. In 2018 he purchased The Weather Channel for about $300 million, followed by Bayou City Broadcasting, a station group with four TV properties in Indiana and Louisiana for $165 million in July 2019. In August 2019, Allen personally partnered with Sinclair Broadcast Group in the latter’s purchase of 21 regional sports networks from The Walt Disney Co. 

Related: BCHOF 2019 Moment: Byron Allen’s Speech 

“Over the past six months we’ve invested nearly $500 million to acquire best-in-class, top-tier, broadcast network affiliates,” Allen said in a press release. “We plan to invest approximately ten billion dollars to acquire ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox television stations over the next three years with the goal of being one of the largest broadcast television groups in America.”

Standard Media Group said it has purchased nine television stations in six markets from Waypoint Media and Vision Communications for $59.2 million.

The stations include affiliates of the Big Four networks and MyNetwork TV and include: WGBC-TV (Fox and NBC) in Meridian, Mississippi; WHPM-LD (Fox) in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; WNBJ-LD (NBC) in Jackson, Tennessee; KJNB-LD and KJNE-LD (Fox and CBS) in Jonesboro, Arkansas; WPBI-LD (Fox and NBC) and WPBY-LD (ABC) in Lafayette, Indiana; and WYDC-TV (Fox) and WJKP (MyNetwork TV) in Elmira/Corning, New York.

Also as part of the transaction, Standard Media is purchasing Waypoint’s news production operations located in Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as a combination of 15 FM and AM radio stations in three markets owned by Star City Broadcasting in Lafayette, Indiana, and Sound Communications, LLC in Olean and Elmira/Corning, New York.

“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,” Standard Media CEO Deb McDermott said in a press release. “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.”

The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in Q1 next year.

“We are thrilled to hand off our station group to Standard Media. We see them as very similar career broadcasters and operators that understand the future of our business. This bodes well for our employees, our advertisers and the communities we serve,” Waypoint Media founder Mike Reed in a press release.

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP acted as legal advisor to Standard Media. Kalil & Co., Inc. acted as exclusive financial advisor to Waypoint and Vision.

Entertainment Studios continued to add to its broadcast portfolio Tuesday, agreeing to purchase 11 television stations from USA Television Holdings for $290 million.

The deal is another step in what has been an aggressive acquisition strategy by the independent producer and distributor founded and led by entrepreneur Byron Allen. In the past 18 months, Entertainment Studios has bought The Weather Channel for an estimated $300 million, acquired four TV stations from Bayou City Broadcasting for $165 million and partnered with Sinclair Broadcast Group on its purchase of 21 regional sports networks from the Walt Disney Co. 

The most recent purchase involves properties in Alabama, Indiana, Oregon, California, Mississippi, Minnesota and Iowa and beefs up Allen’s Allen Media Broadcasting unit to 15 stations.

“I have known Byron Allen for decades and we are delighted that these stations will now be part of his dynamic company, and that Heartland management will continue to guide them,” said USA Television CEO Robert S. Prather, Jr. in a press release. “These stations are dedicated to their local communities and this transaction will enable them to become even stronger on both their broadcast and digital platforms.”

RBC Capital Markets acted as sole financial adviser to Allen Media Group, while Moelis & Co. was the sole financial adviser to USA TV. 

"This is another milestone for our company, as we have now agreed to purchase our second broadcast network affiliate station group within the past three months, and continue to aggressively look for other opportunities to grow our global media company through strategic acquisitions," Allen said in a press release. 

E.W. Scripps said it has completed the purchase of 15 TV stations in 10 markets from Cordillera Communications for $521 million.

Scripps first announced the deal in October. The purchase gives Scripps 52 stations in 36 markets, reaching about 21% of U.S. TV households.

The stations are:

• WLEX, the NBC affiliate in Lexington, Kentucky
• KOAA, the NBC affiliate in Colorado Springs, Colorado
• KATC, the ABC affiliate in Lafayette, Louisiana
• KSBY, the NBC affiliate in Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo, California
• KRIS, the NBC affiliate, and KAJA, a Telemundo affiliate, in Corpus Christi, Texas
• KPAX and KAJJ, the CBS affiliates in Missoula, Montana
• KTVQ, the CBS affiliate in Billings, Montana
• KXLF and KBZK, the CBS affiliates in Butte-Bozeman, Montana
• KRTV, the CBS affiliate, and KTGF, the NBC affiliate, in Great Falls, Montana
• KTVH, the NBC affiliate, and KXLH, the CBS affiliate, in Helena, Montana

Related: Scripps: Cordillera Buy is Just the Beginning 

“This acquisition furthers Scripps’ strategies to increase the financial durability and operating performance of our broadcast portfolio,” said Scripps president of Local Media Brian Lawlor in a press release. “We welcome these stations’ employees to the Scripps team and look forward to working together to continue our strong commitment to journalism and serving local communities.”

Scripps also emerged as one of the buyers of Nexstar-Tribune stations being divested as part of that deal. In March, Scripps said it would purchase eight stations in seven markets from Nexstar-Tribune for $580 million, bringing its total number of stations to 60 in 42 markets, covering about 30% of U.S. TV households. That deal is contingent on the Nexstar-Tribune merger closing.

Private equity firm Apollo Global Management has agreed to purchase a majority interest in 14 television stations owned by Cox Media Group, as well as a controlling stake in newspaper and radio assets Cox owns in Ohio.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But news that the deal was on the radar was first reported earlier in the week by Reuters, which slapped a $3 billion price tag on the transaction. 

Cox Enterprises, Cox Media’s parent, will maintain a minority stake and will create a new company with Apollo to operate the stations, headquartered in Atlanta.

Related: Report: Apollo Nears Purchase of Cox Stations 

According to Cox, the stations involved in the deal represent its entire TV station portfolio: three ABC affiliates -- WSB-TV in Atlanta; WFTV-TV in Orlando, Fla.; and WSOC-TV in Charlotte, N.C.; an NBC affiliate (WPXI-TV) in Pittsburgh; two independent stations -- WRDQ-TV in Orlando and WAXN-TV in Charlotte; three CBS stations -- WHIO-TV in Dayton, Ohio; KIRO-TV in Seattle and WJAX-TV in Jacksonville, Fla.; four Fox affiliates -- WHBQ-TV in Memphis; WFOX-TV in Jacksonville, Fla.; WFXT-TV in Boston; and KOKI-TV in Tulsa, Okla. Rounding out the list is MyNetworkTV affiliate KMYT-TV in Tulsa.

Apollo Funds also will purchase a majority stake in Cox Media’s other platforms in Ohio: newspapers the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and the 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 first put the stations on the block in July. In a press release, Cox Enterprises CEO Alex Taylor said he was pleased a buyer was found that shared Cox’s vision and commitment to continue investing in the business.

“These stations have decades of experience breaking barriers and delivering the news and information their communities need daily,” Taylor said. “We wanted to find a company that is committed to investing in broadcast television now and in the future, and we found that in Apollo.”

Barclays PLC, Moelis & Company LLC and BDT & Company, LLC served as the financial advisors and Eversheds Sutherland LLP and Covington & Burling LLP served as the legal advisors to Cox Enterprises in this transaction.

RBC Capital Markets LLC, Guggenheim Partners LLC, and LionTree Advisors, LLC served as the financial advisors and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Greenberg Traurig, LLP served as the legal advisors to the Apollo Funds in this transaction.

“We are extremely excited for our funds to acquire a majority interest in Cox Media Group’s broadcast television stations and are humbled by Cox Enterprises’ decision to entrust us to steward these stations and carry on the Cox legacy. We have an extraordinary amount of respect and admiration for the journalistic integrity, news quality, and commitment to community across Cox Media Group’s broadcast stations,” Apollo senior partner David Sambur said in the release. “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.”

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. 

E.W. Scripps CEO Adam Symson, on a conference call to announce its $521 million purchase of 15 stations in 10 markets from Cordillera Communications, said the broadcaster still has room for more, urging potential station targets to keep the station owner in mind when putting their systems on the block.

“We continue to have the capability for a transformational acquisition, and we intend to aggressively pursue the opportunity,” Symson said on a call with analysts to discuss the Cordillera deal. “We encourage you still, not to count out Scripps as a buyer.”

There are plenty of opportunities to expand its footprint -- Cox Enterprises said in July it was exploring strategic options, including possibly selling its 14 stations. And in August, Tribune Media abandoned its merger with Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Related: Kagan: TV Spins Dominate Deal Market 

Cordillera mainly operates in smaller communities -- its biggest markets are Lexington, Ky.; Corpus Christi, Texas; Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Lafayette, La. -- and has its largest presence in Montana  with five stations in Missoula, Billings, Butte-Bozeman, Great Falls and Helena.

“Montana is becoming a very meaningful state in political spend,” Scripps Local Media president Brian Lawlor said on the call, adding that while they aren’t huge, the Cordillera stations are No. 1 in all five markets. “They’re getting more than significant revenue from Montana,” he said.

Cordillera has been aggressive on the retrans front in the past -- its Corpus Christi stations were dark to Time Warner Cable subscribers for about five months in 2012, and it has had much shorter disputes with Dish Network and DirecTV in 2015.

Symson wouldn’t say what the retrans impact of the deal would be, but added that there is a “a little retrans opportunity here.”

In the second quarter, Scripps reported a 12% increase in retrans revenue to $74 million. Cordillera is privately held.

The deal will beef up Scripps total number of stations to 51 in 36 markets, covering 21% of U.S. television households. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019. Methuselah Advisors acted as financial advisor and Cooley LLP acted as legal advisor to Cordillera Communications. BakerHostetler acted as legal advisor for Scripps.

Symson has been on a “buy-sell-swap” strategy to help beef up Scripps portfolio over the past year, and the purchase of Cordillera’s 15 stations will go a long way towards that. In August, Scripps paid $55 million for two ABC affiliates owned by Raycom in Florida,and has sold off its radio stations to focus more on its core TV business. 

“Investment in the television business is a value creator, and we’re working to seize opportunity by pursuing deals that both lift our operating performance and add to our scale,” Symson said. 

Television station ad revenue is expected to grow at a 3% compound annual rate over the next five years, according to a new report from Kagan.

Kagan, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, says TV stations generated $30.84 billion in revenue in 2016, including advertising and retransmission consent payments. Radio station generated another $17.7 billion in revenue.

TV advertising revenue is expected to decline 6.5% to $21.38 billion in 2017, a non-election, non-Olympic year, with rises in other revenue categories (including 18% in retransmission consent, to $10.23billion) not fully offsetting the loss. But in 2018, ad revenue will increase to $23.43 billion, with the Winter games and mid-term political campaigns. 

Kagan says that while political ads will remain important, the TV station business is expected to become less reliant on the traditional spot marketplace, with a bigger share of revenues coming from retransmission and digital reducing the swings from even and odd numbered years.

TV station mergers & acquisitions volume fell to $7.3 billion in 2014, according to research house SNL Kagan, short of the $11.4 billion recorded in 2013 as consolidation in the sector slowed.

 According to Kagan, five large TV stations mergers worth between $684 million and $2.7 billion were tallied in 2013, but only two such deals – the largest being Media General’s $2.5 billion purchase of LIN Media – were recorded in 2014. Kagan blamed the consolidation slowdown partly on increased Federal Communications Commission regulations regarding broadcast ownership.

Overall, 145 full-power TV stations changed hands, bringing the average price per station to $49.1 million, compared to 286 full-power TV station sales for $38.9 million average in 2013, Kagan said. The average forward seller’s broadcast cash flow multiple for TV stations remained steady at 8.1 times (8.2 times in 2013).

Total broadcast M&A volume reached $8.7 billion for the year, according to Kagan, mainly fueled by a big increase (48%) in radio station deal volume. In total, 258 AM and 501 FM stations were sold, vs. 219 AM and 419 FM stations in 2013. The average price for an FM station rose from $2.0 million in 2013 to $2.5 million in 2014; average prices for AM stations rose slightly from $0.76 million to $0.86 million.

SNL Kagan revised its retransmission consent fee projections, saying Monday that it expects broadcasters to reap $9.3 billion in charges by 2020, nearly twice the $4.9 billion they are expected to gain in 2014.

The growth projections are based on rising per-month, per subscriber fees for TV station owners in recent negotiations, Kagan said in a statement, as well as a new set of expectations for what broadcast networks are asking in programming compensation from their affiliates. This comes despite recent regulatory efforts to  chip away at TV stations bargaining positions. SNL Kagan’s projections call for retrans revenues to rise to $8.78 billion by 2019, versus their 2019 projection of $7.64 billion from last year.

Kagan estimates that the average retrans fee will rise to $1.32 per subscriber per month by 2017, putting TV stations above all but five basic cable networks in terms of affiliate fees per sub per month, with networks such as ESPN ($7.72) and TNT ($1.92) all still above that average mark. Most RSNs are projected to be significantly above this $1.26 benchmark.

SNL Kagan has also updated their reverse retrans projections, or the money that flows back to networks from their affiliate stations. Kagan nnow predicts that reverse retrans could increase from $1.53 billion in 2015 to $3.22 billion in 2020.

CBS Television Station Group and The Weigel Group believe they have found the answer for television viewers who can’t get enough of I Love Lucy and Star Trek reruns, with the planned launch of the new Decades digital network, a channel dedicated to programming from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Decades will be available over the air via CBS owned and operated station’s digital sub-channels – for example, in New York, the CBS affiliate will continue to be available digitally on channel 2.1, while the oldies channel will be available on channel 2.2. Decades also will be available on cable, satellite and telco TV systems.

The channel will offer more than 100 iconic series from the 1950s, 1960, 1970s and 1980s from the CBS library, including Happy Days, Cheers and the aforementioned I Love Lucy and Star Trek. In addition, the channel will air theatrical and made-for-TV movies and historical and cultural broadcasts from the archives of CBS News and Entertainment Tonight.

Other broadcasters have utilized their digital sub-channels to broadcast classic TV shows – in 2011, Tribune Broadcasting unleashed Antenna TV in markets where it owns stations – in New York, it uses Tribune’s WPIX’s digital channel 11.2 -- to offer viewers a steady stream of Mr. Ed, McHale’s Navy and Barney Miller reruns. And RetroTV, owned by Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Luken Communications, has offered classis programming like I Love Lucy, Lassie and Doctor Who on digital broadcast channels since 2005.

The CBS venture seems a bit more ambitious in that it seems to be opening up more of its library, including movies and news programs. For example, one feature of the network will be the Decades Retrospectical, a daily one-hour program that will be produced around the news events and cultural touchstones of a specific day, week or other time frame or theme. Those events can be as diverse as the Happy Days “jump the shark” episode, the Apollo moon landing and The Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

“Decades is the most ambitious and creative subchannel programming service that has ever been created,” said CBS Television Stations president Peter Dunn in a statement. “We are thrilled to partner with Weigel Broadcasting, the leaders in this space, to make smart use of our stations’ spectrums and our companies’ considerable programming assets. This service will be a tremendous new business for CBS and all of the other stations across the country that participate, regardless of their primary network affiliation.”

Decades is expected to debut during the second quarter of 2015, with CBS’s 16 owned and operated stations serving at the launch group, such as New York City (WCBS), Los Angeles (KCBS), Chicago (WBBM), Philadelphia (KYW), Dallas (KTVT), San Francisco (KPIX), Boston (WBZ), Detroit (WWJ), Minneapolis-St. Paul (WCCO and its satellite stations KCCO and KCCW), Miami (WFOR), Denver (KCNC), Sacramento (KOVR), Pittsburgh (KDKA) and Baltimore (WJZ).

Weigel, which operates MeTV,a similar classic TV network, will be responsible for securing affiliation agreements for Decades with other stations across the country.

“Decades takes the digital broadcast network platform to a new level,” Weigel president Norman Shapiro said in a statement. “Viewers will ‘Relive, Remember & Relate’ to the events that touched their lives and generations past. The events, themes and programming possibilities are endless. We are truly honored to be chosen as the company to develop the CBS Television Stations’ diginet product, and look forward to the launch of Decades next year."

Activist investor Carl Icahn recently bought nearly 15 million shares in Gannett Co., or 6.6% of its outstanding stock, adding that he wants to play a role in its plans to split its publishing and broadcasting units.

According to a 13D filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, required of holders of 5% or more of a public company’s stock, Icahn began acquiring shares of Gannett in mid-June, about two months before the company disclosed it would split its 46 television broadcasting stations and publishing unit (including national newspaper USA Today) into two separate publicly traded units. The split, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, would create two pure play publishing and broadcasting stocks. Some analysts have speculated that the Gannett split, and others proposed by Tribune Co. and E.W. Scripps, could create a second wave of consolidation among owners of TV stations and give them more clout in retransmission consent negotiations with pay TV distributors.

In the SEC filing, Icahn, who has a reputation for buying large stakes in companies and pushing for management and operational changes, said he believed Gannett shares were undervalued. Although he has not yet met with Gannett officials, the document stated that Icahn and his representatives “intend to have discussions with representatives of the Issuer's management and board of directors relating to the planned separation, corporate governance, capitalization and capital allocation.” 

About 29 Hearst Television stations in 25 markets across the country went dark to Dish Network subscribers Tuesday night after the parties failed to reach a retransmission consent agreement by the 9 p.m. Central Time deadline.

But the parties appear to differ on the reason for the blackout – Hearst says it’s not over money (which is typically at the heart of these disputes.)

"It appears that Dish does not have a problem with the rates we are seeking," said Dan Joerres, president and general manager of Hearst’s Baltimore station WBAL-TV, in a statement. "But the Dish negotiating team is seeking other terms that we don't have in our deals with any other cable or satellite distributor or telco, nor do we have them in our current deal with Dish. Frankly, we are scratching our heads as to why Dish would hold their own customers and our viewers hostage for terms that are radically off-market."

WBAL did not elaborate.

Dish was equally vague in its own statement, saying Hearst is using the blackout to make demands the satellite giant apparently is reluctant to identify.

 “Hearst blacked out its channels to use viewers as bargaining chips as it makes unreasonable demands on Dish and its customers,” Dish executive vice president and chief commercial officer Dave Shull said in a statement. “We offered to keep the channels on while we try to reach a deal, but Hearst refuses to put viewers first.”

Hearst noted that it has a history of successfully negotiating retrans deals with no disruptions of service. And it insisted it did not black out its station – its programming is available over the air as well as via other distributors.

Dish said it had offered a short-term contract extension to Hearst while it worked on a compromise, but Hearst declined. The two parties continue to negotiate.

 “We are actively working to negotiate an agreement that promptly returns this content to DISH’s programming lineup,” added Shull in his statement.

Dish spokesman John Hall declined to elaborate.

The impasse comes about a month after Dish worked out a landmark carriage and retrans deal with The Walt Disney Co., that included extensive digital rights and the opportunity for Dish to use content from five Disney cable channels and its ABC broadcast network stations for a future over the top Internet video service. Many analysts believed that deal would be a template for future deals for the satellite giant.

The Hearst action includes ABC, NBC, CBS, The CW, My Network TV and independent stations in the following markets: Albuquerque, N.M.; Baltimore; Boston; Burlington, Vt.; Cincinnati; Des Moines, Iowa; Ft. Smith-Fayetteville, Ark.; Greensboro, N.C.; Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Honolulu; Jackson, Miss.; Kansas City, Mo.; Louisville, Ky.; Milwaukee; Monterey-Salinas, Calif.; New Orleans; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Omaha, Neb.; Orlando, Fla.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Portland-Auburn, Maine; Sacramento, Calif.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.

Broadcast station M&A rose 30% in the first quarter, with total transactions valued at $3.33 billion in the first quarter, according to SNL Kagan.

The first quarter tally was driven by Media General’s plans to merge with LIN Media in a deal valued at $2.6 billion, including debt.  The 9 times forward looking cash flow valuation on that deal helped drive overall multiples in the quarter to 8.9 times cash flow in the period. Without the Media General deal, the TV multiple would have been 8.5 times, which is still 0.3 points higher than 2013's average, according to SNL Kagan.

In addition the Media General deal, other big transactions in the period included the $364 million sale of Post-Newsweek's WPLG in Miami to Berkshire Hathaway,  and the $190 million sale of nine stations from Quincy Newspapers Inc. and Sagamore Hill Broadcasting to Granite Broadcasting Corp. and Malara Broadcast Group.

According to SNL Kagan, about 107 TV stations traded hands in the period. The average TV station price in the quarter was $31.1 million.