ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIACA, VIAC) and Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXST) announced a multi-year agreement to renew nine CBS network affiliations for Nexstar stations, reaching approximately 3.5% of the U.S. audience and nearly four million television households. The deal extends CBS/Nexstar affiliations that were set to expire later this year and covers two top-50 market affiliates, WNCN-TV in Raleigh, NC and KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, NV.
In August 2019, ViacomCBS and Nexstar completed an affiliation agreement covering 19 Nexstar stations in 15 markets, reaching approximately 5% of the U.S. audience and nearly six million television households. The agreement announced today, coupled with the August agreement and other prior renewals, marks the long-term extension of substantially all of the ViacomCBS affiliation agreements covering 49 Nexstar television stations.
Nexstar is the largest independent operator of CBS affiliates, covering 14% of the U.S. and serving more than 15 million households. Nexstar owns and/or operates CBS affiliates in 41 markets. Nexstar’s CBS affiliates are also locally available to subscribers on CBS All Access, CBS’ digital subscription video on-demand and live streaming service, and distributed across cable and satellite television services as well as virtual multichannel video programming distributor platforms.
The latest agreement consists of renewals for these Nexstar-owned CBS affiliates: WNCN-TV in Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, NV.; KGPE-TV in Fresno-Visalia, C.A.; WYOU-TV in Wilkes Barre-Scranton, PA. (Mission Broadcasting); KVEO-TV in Harlingen-Brownsville, TX.; WTAJ-TV in Johnstown-Altoona-St. College, PA.; KXMC-TV in Minot-Bismarck-Dickinson, ND.; WVNS-TV in Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, WV.; and KREX-TV in Grand Junction-Montrose, CO.
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children โ isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More