| | #1 Sinclair to Acquire Tribune Media for $3.9 Billion | Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it has signed a $3.9-billion deal to acquire Tribune Medias 42-station broadcast group covering 33 markets. Sinclair currently owns or runs 173 TV stations. Tribune's portfolio includes 14 Fox affiliates, 12 CW affiliates, six CBS affiliates, three ABC affiliates, two NBC affiliates, three MyNetworkTV affiliates and two independent stations. | WHY THIS MATTERS: The deal, which will reshape the U.S. broadcast landscape, comes in the wake of the FCCs recent vote to ease ownership caps. In addition to its television stations, Tribune owns cable network WGN America, digital multicast network Antenna TV as well as minority stakes in the TV Food Network and CareerBuilder. | 5 TAKES: B&C | Variety | THR | The Wrap | Deadline
| | #2 Comcast and Charter Partner on Wireless | Cable giants Comcast and Charter announced Monday that they have reached an agreement to collaborate on the development of technical infrastructure for wireless operations with the hope of saving money on their forays into mobile services. | WHY THIS MATTERS: The two companies have already announced their own separate wireless plans, taking advantage of Mobile Virtual Network Operator agreements with Verizon Communications that allow them to re-sell wireless service on Verizons cellular network in their respective territories. Comcast unveiled Xfinity Mobile in April and plans to make it available throughout its footprint later this month. Charter, which also has a Verizon MVNO, has said it plans to release a wireless product next year. | 5 TAKES: MCN | Variety | Bloomberg | The Verge | Engadget
| | #3 TiVo Renews IP Licensing Deal with Frontier | TiVo announced that it has renewed a multi-year product licensing agreement with Frontier Communications. | WHY THIS MATTERS: The deal names TiVo as the exclusive provider of advertising for national advertising campaigns in Frontiers interactive programming guides program listings grid and provides Frontier with a license to the TiVo intellectual property portfolios. The agreement will enable Frontier to target ads based on demographic info for several of Frontiers largest markets in states such as California, Florida and Texas. | 2 TAKES: MCN | CED
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| | I don't think anyone knows the absolute science with certainty of what sort of sampling and exposure on SVOD does and whether a platform of 12 million [Hulu] versus a platform of 40 million [Netflix] is actually helpful or occasionally hurtful. AMC CEO Josh Sapan |
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| | SVOD Trials: The Jury Is Still Out By Les Luchter, MediaPost Nearly one-third of free trials of streaming video-on-demand services turn into paid subscriptions, according to research from Parks Associates. Thats supposed to be a pretty good conversion rate (like a baseball batting average), but Im not so sure. Just try subscribing to Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime without getting a free trial. Impossible! More
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| VIDWeek June 12-16, 2017 Learn More The Programmatic Summit June 12-13 | The Stewart Hotel, NYC Learn More Social TV Conference June 12, 2017 | The Stewart Hotel, NYC Learn More Next TV Summit June 15, 2017 | Convene Conference Center, NYC Learn More Next Wave Of Leaders June 16, 2017 | The Stewart Hotel, NYC Learn More The Digital Media Tech Leadership Summit June 20-21, 2017 | Tampa Airport Marriott, FL Learn More
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