Now, according to the research firm Kagan, the US broadcast industry spent $4.11 billion on mergers in the fourth quarter of 2018 to cash in on the growing over-the-air TV market with deals for mergers happening with Raycom, Scripps, Gray, and Tribune to name a few.
That is just the start as just this week Gray closed on a $3.46 billion deal that will count toward the first quarter 2019 numbers. Other deals, including Scripps buying more networks, will be closing in the weeks and months to come.
This all comes as TV companies see the growth of cord cutting and antenna TV as a safe bet from declining cable TV revenues.
We are even seeing the start of new OTA TV networks like the relaunch of Court TV coming later in 2019. Other networks are planning expectations into new markets to take advantage of cord cutting. Keep an eye on this trend as ATSC 3.0, the new over-the-air TV standard, launches in the next few years.
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