With 59 stations covering 64% of the U.S., Ion Television has the largest station-group footprint in America. Yet, it's something of a sleeping giant, with lots of off-network product and no local programming. Ion emerged from bankruptcy in late 2009 and is now privately owned; President/CEO Brandon Burgess says the company is poised to grow. Burgess speaks with B&C's Michael Malone about his growth road map. In terms of original programming, he says the company has had success with an off-network syndicated model. "[But] I do hope and think we have to revive our original aspirations. And we need …

Nokia Siemens Networks will buy Motorola's telecom network equipment business for $1.2 billion, getting a stronghold in the North American market and taking No 2 position in the cut-throat mobile gear market. Nokia Siemens Networks -- a 50-50 joint venture of Nokia and Siemens -- has struggled to make a profit in the $82 billion market, which was hit hard by the recession. Nokia Siemens Networks said it expects the deal to give it incumbent relationships with more than 50 telecom operators and to strengthen its position with major carriers like China Mobile, Clearwire, KDDI, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and …

Seeking a solution to the antenna flaw that is dropping calls for some iPhone 4 users, CEO Steve Jobs said yesterday that employees started a round-the-clock effort to improve the reception amid complaints since the device's debut on June 24. Jobs offered customers free rubber cases that prevent the dropped calls by covering the external antenna on the left-hand corner of the iPhone. That will stop users from gripping it in a way that interferes with reception. He is giving full refunds to buyers who are still dissatisfied. While just 0.55 percent of users complained, Jobs said the reception …

A number of major TV players are taking a cue from the Internet in an effort to generate more bang for the buck in small-screen advertising -- and even their own promo campaigns. "Contextual advertising" has a connection to the content of the program that precedes each commercial break. Execs see the technology-enabled shift to the kind of user-targeted advertising found on the Internet as an important weapon in the ongoing battle against DVR ad-skipping. The concept is based on how Google does business with its vaunted search engine. Take TBS' airing of the movie "Mamma Mia!" for example. …

When it comes to negotiating new carriage agreements between cable companies and local TV stations and sister cable channels, the trend increasingly is to negotiate in public. That's what happening between Time Warner Cable and Walt Disney Co. for a new contract to carry Disney's ESPN, Disney Channel and some local ABC television stations. Time Warner, the country's No. 2 cable operator, provides cable TV services to 2 million households in Southern California, reports the Los Angeles Times. Unless an agreement is reached before the Sept. 2 deadline, sports fans won't see "SportsCenter," disappointed kids missing …

All of Gannett's 81 local newspapers and seven of its 23 TV stations will sell Yahoo! advertising inventory as part of a new local advertising partnership. This partnership will extend Gannett's local media organization reach to cover as much as 80% of the total digital audience in each market. Says Gracia Martore, president, COO, CFO at Gannett. "Working with Yahoo! will allow us to offer targeted advertising messages with unmatched local audience reach." As part of the agreement, Gannett may also provide select local content for programming across Yahoo! properties in the U.S., including the Yahoo! homepage. A phased …

As daytime soaps move toward extinction, it's not just restless housewives and the unemployed who suffer -- it's advertisers, which prefer soaps to the game and talk shows that are replacing them. Though the alternatives are cheaper and easier for networks to produce, media buyers say soaps are still one of the most cost-effective buys on broadcast television. "They are even more efficient than much of daytime cable programming," one ad buyer said. "I would be disappointed if all of the soap operas disappeared." When CBS' "As the World Turns" airs its final episode this September, the Big Three …

Fade whatever is left of the family hour: It's about to get even racier out there. Prime-time TV this fall is going to be filled with even more blatant sexuality and raunchy language. That's due, in part, to FCC's regulations on indecency, which were struck down by a federal appeals court that termed them "unconstitutionally vague," essentially loosening strictures against profane language on the small screen. And it's not just about those fleeting expletives. The CW has been upping the quotient of sexy goings-on on "Gossip Girl" and its updated "90210"; CBS turned a blind eye to a contestant …

Cable operators represented by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association told the FCC that it has no legal authority to classify any part of broadband Internet access service as a common carrier. That position came response to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's proposed "third way," in which the FCC would reclassify the transmission element of broadband under some Title II common carrier regs. NCTA said trying to reclassify the service, which a prior FCC concluded should be regulated under the lighter-touch Title I information service classification, was "fundamentally at odds" with the nature of the Internet." NCTA argues that the …

Should the winning media agency in a new business pitch be required to pay the client a $1 million-plus "signing-on" fee for the privilege of handling the account? Or should all agencies be required to pay a pitch fee to demonstrate a good-faith commitment to winning an account they're contending for? wonders Adweek. Two recent overseas media pitches have had the industry buzzing over such questions for the last two weeks. Agency executives and search consultants were critical of the tactics imposed by the clients: travel company Thomas Cook for a U.K. review and Reckitt Benckiser for a …