About Broadcasting & Cable

Broadcasting & Cable

Broadcasting & Cable (B&C, or Broadcasting+Cable) was an American telecommunications industry trade magazine published by Future US. Founded in 1931 as Broadcasting, it covered the business of television in the U.S. — programming, advertising, regulation, technology, finance, and news — for more than nine decades. Based in New York City, it was published monthly in its final years, with editor Bill Gannon and ISSN 1068-6827. Its website was nexttv.com/bc. On August 6, 2024, Future announced that the magazine would cease publication after its September 2024 issue; the final issue was dated September 30, 2024.

For many years, Broadcasting & Cable stood as the periodical of record for the broadcast industry. Founded by Martin Codel, Sol Taishoff, and Harry Shaw, it was published biweekly until January 1941, and weekly thereafter. Subsequent mergers, acquisitions, and industry evolution brought a series of name changes — including Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising and Broadcasting-Telecasting — before it returned to the original Broadcasting and adopted the name Broadcasting & Cable in 1993.

Publication at a Glance

Founded October 15, 1931, and based in New York City (though based in Washington, D.C., for much of its early history, covering the industry from a Washington perspective), Broadcasting & Cable was a monthly trade magazine in its final years, published by Future US. Its final issue appeared September 30, 2024. In addition to the newsweekly, B&C operated a comprehensive website offering a forum for industry debate and criticism.

Founding by Taishoff, Codel, and Shaw

The first issue of what was first called Broadcasting was published on October 15, 1931, founded by Sol Taishoff, Martin Codel (Codell), and Harry Shaw. In the 1930s, the magazine published about 80 pages every other week, including feature stories, personnel announcements, advertisements for new stations and programs, notes on the newly established Federal Communications Commission (1934), news about technology and regulations, and classifieds — anything concerning the new industry and its use of the airwaves. Scholars have called Broadcasting "perhaps the most influential of radio industry trade magazines" and likely the longest-running broadcast-related trade publication in the U.S.

The Name Changes

The magazine became Broadcasting/Telecasting in 1945, reflecting the rise of television; the name changed back to Broadcasting in 1957. In 1993, it became Broadcasting & Cable, reflecting the cable era. Each name change tracked the evolution of the American electronic media industry — from radio to broadcast television to cable — which the magazine chronicled throughout.

Ownership History

The magazine was sold in 1986 to Times Mirror for $75 million, from the publisher Sol Taishoff's son Larry. Five years later, in 1991, it was sold to Cahners (later Reed Business Information, the organizer of MIPTV and MIPCOM) for $32 million. In December 2009, Reed Business Information sold Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News, and TWICE to NewBay Media, owned by private equity firm The Wicks Group — an acquisition announced by NewBay CEO Steve Palm and Reed Business Information-US CEO John Poulin. In 2018, the British media company Future plc acquired NewBay Media.

Influence and Heyday

In its heyday, the magazine had a strong influence with regulators and Capitol Hill insiders — a consequence of its decades covering the industry from Washington, D.C., before relocating much of its editorial operations to Los Angeles and New York. For many years it stood as the periodical of record for the broadcast industry, the trade paper that regulators, station owners, network executives, and advertisers all read.

The Final Years

After a few years under Future, the publication's print schedule became erratic, and in 2020 it was printed mostly monthly. On August 6, 2024, Future announced that the magazine would cease publication after its September 2024 issue and switch to a digital-only format as part of sister website Next TV. However, Next TV as a whole ceased publishing new content at the end of September 2024 — ending the title entirely. The news of the closure was received with dismay across the industry press, where the magazine's reporters and editors had covered television's business for generations.

A Wave of Trade Magazine Closures

The closure of Broadcasting & Cable came amid a wave of trade magazine shutdowns in 2024: on June 6, 2024, the U.K. publishing group Informa announced it was closing its TBI TV trade magazine after more than 35 years of publication, and two months later Future announced it was closing both Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News. The September 30, 2024, final issues closed a chapter on more than 90 years of continuous broadcast trade journalism.

Legacy

From its 1931 debut as a radio trade paper through its decades as the television industry's paper of record, Broadcasting & Cable documented the business of American broadcasting — its regulation, its technology, its advertising, and its finance — with unmatched continuity. Its archive remains a primary source for the history of American radio and television.

The Next TV Transition

The August 2024 announcement framed the closure as a digital transition: the magazine would switch to a digital-only format as part of sister website Next TV, with its online home at nexttv.com/bc. But Next TV as a whole ceased publishing new content at the end of September 2024, so the digital afterlife was brief. The magazine's website had offered a forum for industry debate and criticism alongside the newsweekly — a digital extension of the trade-paper function the magazine had served since 1931.

The Library of American Broadcasting maintains a history of B&C documenting its founding and evolution — a resource for researchers tracing the magazine's path from Sol Taishoff and Martin Codel's 1931 radio trade paper to the final September 30, 2024, issue.

Legacy and the Historical Record

For decades, Broadcasting covered the industry primarily from a Washington, D.C., perspective — a vantage point that gave it unusual influence with regulators and Capitol Hill insiders in its heyday. The magazine's proximity to the Federal Communications Commission, whose 1934 creation it covered from the start, made it essential reading for station owners navigating licensing, ownership rules, and regulatory shifts. As the industry consolidated and the magazine relocated much of its editorial operations to Los Angeles and New York, it retained its role as the trade's paper of record — the publication where the business of broadcasting, from Washington rulemakings to Hollywood dealmaking, was chronicled week after week for more than 90 years.

Scholars of American media history treat the magazine's archive as a primary source. A 2022 study of women in early American radio drew on Broadcasting's 1930s issues — its roughly 80 biweekly pages of feature stories, personnel announcements, station and program advertisements, FCC notes, technology news, and classifieds — to document how the young industry negotiated the image of radio and the role of women within it. That the magazine published continuously from October 15, 1931, through September 30, 2024, makes its archive one of the most complete records of American broadcasting's business history in existence.

Official Website

The magazine's website was nexttv.com/bc, operated as part of Future US's Next TV digital brand. The site carried industry news and the magazine's digital content through September 2024.