The Council for Research Excellence said it will study response bias in address-based audience samples and use the information to try improving diary-based TV audience measurement practices. The study will look at three TV markets of varied size: Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Albuquerque-Santa Fe, N.M.; and Paducah, Ky./Cape Girardeau,Mo./Harrisburg, Ill. “Sampled homes in all markets will be mailed a short questionnaire seeking answers on media equipment ownership and general viewing patterns,” the council said. “We need to learn whether expanded media-related equipment ownership can be obtained from diary samples, whether return-path data can improve diary measurement and how much ‘TV program’ viewing is done now … in what are currently defined as ‘non-TV homes,'” said Ceril Chagrin, executive vice president of Univision Communications and chairman of the council’s Sample Quality Committee.
E.W. Scripps Q1 TV revenue gained 44 percent to $99.6 million from a year earlier on its acquisition of McGraw-Hill’s station group and higher ad sales. Retransmission consent revenue nearly doubled from a year earlier to $7.8 million. Expenses for the TV station group increased 31 percent to $81.7 million as a result of the acquisition. Total sales at Scripps increased 15 percent to $207 million, while its net loss shrank by about 50 percent to $4.4 million.
Discovery Communications Q1 sales increased 16 percent to $1.1 billion from a year earlier, the company said. Profit fell 27 percent to $222 million on higher costs and a one-time gain recorded in the year-earlier period. The company said it expects total 2012 sales of $4.55 billion to $4.65 billion and adjusted operating income before income tax, depreciation and amortization of $2.125 billion to $2.2 billion. Shares fell 6 percent Tuesday.
Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., asked Verizon about its plans for wireline and broadband telecom, in a letter sent Monday to CEO Lowell McAdam (http://xrl.us/bm6qgp). Doyle, a member of the House Communications Subcommittee, said he’s been following “with great interest” Verizon’s proposed transactions with SpectrumCo and Cox Communications. “I believe we share the same goal of robust deployment of wireless service across the nation and that valuable spectrum assets should be put to best use for the American people,” he said. “At the same time, I am concerned about continued investment in the wireline telecommunications and broadband infrastructures in this country.” Doyle asked McAdam about when the company plans to roll out its FiOS service in lower-income Pennsylvania communities, whether the company will continue to deploy FiOS in markets currently served by SpectrumCo and Cox and whether the company plans to continue to invest in network maintenance and upgrades of its DSL network. Doyle asked McAdam to justify the company’s decision to couple standalone DSL service with voice services for new subscribers (CD May 7 p8). A Verizon spokesman said the company is reviewing Doyle’s letter.
The FCC Wireline Bureau seeks comment on an application for transfer and control of Sage Telecom to TSC Acquisition Corp., said a public notice released Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bm6qe9). Comments are due May 22 in docket 12-119, replies May 29.
Nexstar Q1 sales gained 20 percent to $83.6 million from a year earlier on higher political ad sales, management fee revenue and retransmission consent revenue. The TV station owner brought in $2.8 million in political ad sales, compared to $560,000 a year earlier. Retrans revenue increased 70 percent to $14.5 million, and it earned $1.9 million in management fees compared to $500,000 a year earlier. It swung to a profit of $3 million from a $6.3 million net loss.
Charter Communications said it added 20,000 video subscribers during Q1 on a net basis from Q4, for about 4.2 million total. That’s still about 4 percent lower than the total number of video subscribers it ended Q1 2011 with, but the addition of 20,000 subscribers this quarter was an improvement from a year earlier when it lost 24,000 video subscribers. Charter also added 140,000 broadband customers and 31,000 phone customers on a net basis this quarter from year’s end, for 3.6 million and 1.8 million total respectively. Q1 sales gained 3.2 percent from a year earlier to $1.83 billion. Its net loss shrank 14 percent to $94 million. Shares gained 5.1 percent Tuesday.
Three more regional wireless carriers will start carrying Apple’s iPhone May 18, they said. The carriers are Bluegrass Cellular in Kentucky, Golden State Cellular in California and Next-Tech Wireless in Kansas. The announcements came a month after six small carriers started to carry the device. As with other regional carriers, the new entrants will be offering the device at $50 below the standard pricing available through Apple and the major carriers.
The Media Bureau seeks comment on a petition that urges the FCC to amend the over-the-air-reception devices provision. The Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association filed the petition for a rulemaking and argued that if extended to state and local government regulation, “the very language that preserves a property owner’s prerogatives with respect to common areas he controls would also subject those prerogatives to divestiture at the hands of state and local governmental authorities,” the bureau said in a public notice (http://xrl.us/bm6qc5). Comments are due June 7, replies June 22. OTARD rules cover municipal limits on antennas.
The California Public Utilities Commission dismissed its review of the already failed AT&T/T-Mobile acquisition (http://xrl.us/bm6p6x). Given that the parties have abandoned the deal and withdrawn their application at the FCC, it’s no longer necessary for CPUC to making findings on the effect of the deal on California consumers, the state regulator said. Due to the time and effort that parties expended on developing a record in the proceeding, CPUC will preserve the record for other proceedings. It said that will allow for future use of confidential documents produced in this review, while preserving confidentiality, and ensure that this record is available to be made part of any future merger application or investigation involving AT&T or T-Mobile.