Today we announced our revised forecast for the television industry. Previously we had been somewhat more conservative in our estimates because it was difficult to read which way the economic winds were blowing. And while the first half of this year showed that the winds were moving in the industry’s favor, we also feel that …

Perhaps the most controversial part of the FCC’s recent National Broadband Plan (NBP) was the possible reclaiming of 120 MHz of spectrum presently being used by local over-the-air television stations. In the NBP the FCC suggests that some broadcasters may voluntarily turn back their spectrum, “hook up” with another local broadcaster and co-locate at that …

By Mark Fratrik and Steve Passwaiter
Everyone expected a rebound in 2010 for the network upfront selling season. With a recovering economy and a strong political advertising marketplace for the second half of 2010, the networks were expecting a strong, active selling period. What was not expected was the speed in which this network upfront selling …

The recent court ruling in favor of Comcast to limit the power of the Federal Communications Commission over Internet traffic, and the FCC chairman’s reaction to that decision dominated discussions during Pike & Fisher’s 6th Annual Broadband Summit. The role of the FCC in the entire area of the Internet and the attempt to …

In the opening keynote address at the Pike & Fisher 6th Annual Broadband Summit, Edward Lazarus, chief of staff of the Federal Communications Commission, talked about the role of government in providing electricity to rural areas as a great example for a government role in ensuring adequate access to broadband Internet service. Lazarus cited several …

Economists are always searching for market revealed information from businesses. Whether it is quarterly data on sales, revenues and profits or decisions made by businesses in their day-to-day operations, this information provides insight into the “economics” of the business and its industry.
Today’s announcement that AT&T is changing the pricing structure for Internet data plans, just …

In a posting on Radio Business Report on Monday, May 24th, Glenda Shrader Bos and Richard Harker extolled Jeff Smulyan’s speech at our Digital Strategies for Broadcasting Conference as one that “cautioned broadcasters about pursuing technologies that are ‘very cool,’ but not likely to be profitable.” That speech by Jeff and his subsequent question and …

The afternoon session “Reinventing Local Radio” showed that radio stations are doing the transforming themselves. Jeff Haley of RAB; Tom Davis of Davis Media/Tide Radio; and Erik Hellum of GapWest Broadcasting all cited examples of how radio stations are successfully expanding into new lines of business. They are truly transforming their radio stations into local …