The first weekly looks at the play count for commercials airing on broadcast and cable TV stations, respectively, from Media Monitors are out. At Spot Cable, there's an auto insurance specialist that has soared to the top. That said, there's one brand that saw big gains last week at both Spot TV and Spot Cable.
David Ellison is fighting back against Netflix and its proposed $72 billion takeover of Warner Bros. — including HBO Max and the HBO cable TV channels — by commencing an all-cash tender offer that would see Paramount acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery's outstanding shares at a valuation of $30.
The big takeaway for the three-month period ending September 30? Ad revenues soared and enjoyed the fastest pace since the final stage of the post-COVID rebound in the first quarter of 2022.
That said, broadcast media's performance was a bit different.
In one week, customers to Verizon Fios cable TV services in two cities where Cox Media Group owns stations could be left in the dark. That's because the TV stations' owner and the MVPD can't seem to be in agreement on terms for a new retransmission consent accord.
With The E.W. Scripps Co. under a hostile takeover attempt by Sinclair and Nexstar Media Group awaiting a regulatory nod for its industry-changing proposed merger with TEGNA, Gray Media is moving forward with an initiative that adjusts that media company's indebtedness, with repayment due in seven years.