Pleased with early results from a trial in Cox‘s Orange County, CA, market, Disney-ABC TV Group said it will allow cable MSOs, DBS ops and telcos to participate in a local ad-supported VOD initiative if they agree to disable “fast-forwarding” capabilities. ABC will provide net programs to participating affils, who may insert 1 locally-sold, 30-second spot within each half hour of programming in those markets where ABC VOD is available. The total number of ads to appear in the VOD eps is not yet determined. The Cox trial, initially announced at The Cable Show last year, involves disabling of the fast-forward option for all on demand ABC content. Market research from Knowledge Nets/Statistical Research shows that 93% of trial participants find advertising acceptable in exchange for free access to content, and that 27% would not have watched the content at all without on demand availability.

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Friday–March 20

What’s Next? Dissecting Nexstar-Tegna’s Closing, Legal Challenges

While Nexstar says its $6.2 billion deal with Tegna has closed, there is still the matter of eight state attorneys general and DirecTV suing to block the deal. On Friday, the coalition of states filed a motion for a temporary restraining order that would prevent any integration and consolidation of Nexstar and Tegna.

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