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More than 90% of communications and media business leaders expect digital revenues to grow this year and more than a third anticipate double-digit percentage gains. That gains are expected is not surprising, but the optimism is even greater this year than last, according to the latest survey by KPMG LLP, the audit, tax, and advisory firm.

Although the total number of viewers for cable channels has remained consistent , the top 10 pay-TV channels are grabbing a bigger share of the market, industry analysts say. Collectively, viewership for the 10 largest channels -- USA, TNT, Fox News, Nick at Nite, History, TBS, A&E, Discovery, ESPN and ABC Family -- is up 5% compared with last summer.

Dish announced that subscribers are now able to watch television content on their iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. On the same day, Motorola and Verizon FIOS kicked off an effort to bring TV to a new digital tablet.  Cablevision also recently stated that it is developing video applications so that subscribers can access content from their iPads (and related devices).

One in five broadband households in the United States intend to buy a new television by the end of the year, with 73% of those buyers opting for an Internet-connected "smart" TV, according to a new Parks Associates report.   Demand for Web-enabled television is nearly twice that for 3DTV, underscoring the appeal for lower-cost video entertainment derived from the Internet compared to 3D.  "Smart TVs are now pushing into the mainstream, whereas previously smart-TV buyers were largely early adopters and those from high-income households," 

Cable operators lost 3.8% of their subscribers in the top 15 markets during the first quarter, according to a new report by SNL Kagan, which found that satellite and telco providers picked up nearly the same number of video customers. While the number of cable subscribers fell to 23.2 million from 24.1 million in big cities, satellite saw a small increase of 0.1% to 10.6 million. Telco subs jumped 24% to 4.4 million.  Overall, the number of multichannel subscribers fell 0.1% to 38.2 million in the quarter in the biggest 15 markets. In some big markets, the total number of multichannel video subscribers fell significantly. New York registered a 0.8% drop. In Chicago, subs were down 2.3% and in Dallas they were off 5.2%. The biggest drop was registered in Atlanta, where there was a 5.2% decrease. Subs also fell in Detroit, Phoenix, Seattle and Minneapolis/St. Paul. In Los Angeles, the number of multichannel subscribers rose 3.9%. Gains were also seen in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Houston, and Tampa/St. Petersburg.

The FCC  has officially removed the Fairness Doctrine from its rulebook, along with the doctrine's personal attack and free response corollaries, plus 83 other media-related rules the FCC says are no longer needed.  The FCC has not enforced the doctrine, which required broadcasters to affirmatively seek out opposing viewpoints on controversial issues, in almost a quarter century, but it continued to cast a shadow over the agency from the viewpoint of many Republicans, broadcasters (particularly religious broadcasters) and others concerned about the speech regulation implications of its return.

Affiliate organizations for the four major networks filed joint comments with the FCC which provided factual evidence that the retransmission consent negotiation process is working just fine, and that MVPD attempts to acquire FCC intervention were nothing more than a search for an extra competitive advantage.

Appealing to broadcasters to "ignore the hyperbole" and focus on the opportunity, FCC Chairman Julies Genachowski has called on TV broadcasters to join the FCC in devising a new spectrum allocation scheme for broadcasting that would free up spectrum for wireless broadband and, perhaps, make some broadcasters richer. "Accept our offer to work with us constructively on fleshing it out, improving it where appropriate and finding a real win for the country and all stakeholders," the chairman said at a much-anticipated speech at the NAB.   A by the Radio and Television News Directors Association, in association with Hofstra University, says the amount of local TV news content is on the rise -- now amounting to five hours, 18 minutes daily, a record 18-minute increase over a year ago. This confirms what we have been hearing recently: Many stations are adding earlier morning newscasts, and early afternoon ones as well. Some of the latter is caused by Oprah Winfrey leaving the airwaves, as stations shift to news rather than slotting in another nationally syndicated talk show.


For stations, adding more local news feels like the right move -- even if stations don't have an exact dollars-and-cents goal. The Radio and Television News Directors Association, in association with Hofstra University, says the amount of local TV news content is on the rise -- now amounting to five hours, 18 minutes daily, a record 18-minute increase over a year ago.This confirms what we have been hearing recently: Many stations are adding earlier morning newscasts, and early afternoon ones as well. Some of the latter is caused by Oprah Winfrey leaving the airwaves, as stations shift to news rather than slotting in another nationally syndicated talk show.

According to the Reuters News Service, Disney chief executive officer Bob Iger told shareholders  that he was keeping his options open when it to ABC, even possibly spinning the network off from Disney. ABC has come under scrutiny lately, specifically in its news division. 

It's been almost a year since TV broadcasting completed its transition from analog to digital, but approximately 500 stations on VHF channels are still concerned about duplicating the coverage and reception they enjoyed in analog. "Low VHF [chs. 2-6], no matter what you do, is not going to accommodate digital television very well," said David Donovan, president of the Association for Maximum Service Television.  

Congress has called on the satellite and broadcast industries to maintain the status quo and keep delivering distant network TV station signals even if the license that allowed them to do so expired   According to a letter to some of the key stakeholders ---   including DirecTV, Dish Network and distant signal distributor National Programming Service -- the chair and ranking member of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees urged them to " temporarily maintain the status quo in such an event in order to avoid disrupting the provision of "lifeline" network programming to hundreds of thousands of Americans."

By 2013, industry watchers expect, three out of four U.S. households will be watching television on HD sets. Right now, according to Opinion Research, adoption stands at two-thirds of homes boasting an HDTV. The future for 3-D HDTV isn't as rosy despite increased vendor product activity.

Nielsen reports that  99.4% of US homes receive digital television signals. Since releasing a report a month ago, there has been 572,000 homes making the switch and since the June 12 nationwide transition date, 1.8 million homes became digital. This leaves 710,000 homes still without digital signals. Nielsen Media Research is also telling clients that viewers who watch shows online through "TV Everywhere" services from Comcast, Time Warner Cable and others could be counted toward overall TV ratings -- but that the full implementation of its system to track such Internet services will not be available until early 2011.

The number of households watching Internet videos on television sets is growing to 24 million in the next five years, according to research firm In-Stat, and revenue generated by Web-to-TV streaming services will be $2.9 billion by 2013. "Once Web-to-TV video becomes simple and convenient, mass consumer adoption will follow quite rapidly," said Keith Nissen of In-Stat.

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