Meg James

Nielsen has widened its investigation into a ratings scandal in Los Angeles and uncovered evidence that a Univision Communications radio executive allegedly has been manipulating the ratings.

The measurement giant confirmed that the Los Angeles ratings scandal was larger than the company first thought.

Nielsen has sought to downplay the incident by saying there was only one problematic household in Nielsen's audience pool in Los Angeles. However, acting on a tip from a radio station insider, Nielsen widened its probe.

Nielsen determined that there were problems with a second house that participated in the sample audience. Nielsen discovered that an executive with Spanish-language media giant Univision Communications had access to Nielsen measurement devices called portable people meters.

“Subsequent to last week’s announcement about the delay in Los Angeles PPM Radio data, Nielsen has learned that a media affiliated household participated in the Los Angeles sample," Nielsen said, calling the breach "a serious violation of data integrity standards."

NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke, who acknowledges being a bit of a taskmaster, is in unfamiliar territory. He took over the top job at a time when NBC Entertainment was hemorrhaging $600 million a year. Now the network is poised to end the current prime-time season on top among coveted 18- to 49-year-olds -- the first time in 10 years that it will finish in first place in the ratings war.

The television networks are beginning to sell their commercial time for the upcoming season in the annual advertising auction known as the upfront market. Advertisers are expected to commit as much as $11 billion for network TV time, with about $8.5 billion of that earmarked for prime-time shows. NBC hopes to strengthen its lineup even more this fall with the addition of new shows including the political thriller “State of Affairs” and the romantic comedy “Marry Me.”

The ad market in 2014 has been weaker than expected, so NBC's dramatic improvement strengthens its hand in negotiations. NBC hopes that its newfound edge will help it grab ad dollars away from ABC, CBS, Fox and other competitors.

NBC's prime-time spots had been selling at a discount to the rates at CBS, Fox and ABC, which enabled the other networks to collect $500 million to nearly $1 billion more a year in revenue. Burke is determined that NBC will make strides in closing the revenue gap during this ad market.

Media company Viacom has significantly expanded its international footprint by buying television outlet Channel 5 Broadcasting in Britain.

Viacom -- which owns cable channels MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central -- said it has agreed to pay nearly $760 million to British press baron Richard Desmond for the over-the-air channel.

Several other US media companies had been interested in Channel 5, which launched in 1997 as Britain's fifth public broadcasting service. The channel notches more than 42 million viewers a month.

“The acquisition of Channel 5 accelerates Viacom’s strategy in the UK, one of the world’s most important and valuable media markets,” Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman said in a statement announcing the move. "We believe we will be able to invest in even more programming for Channel 5," Dauman told analysts. He said Viacom would pay cash for the channel.

Univision Communications is restructuring its radio division, eliminating dozens of workers at stations around the country as the company centralizes its programming functions.

Univision just confirmed that there had been layoffs, but it declined to say how many people had lost their jobs as part of the realignment. The nation's largest Spanish-language media company, which owns 68 radio stations, began trimming programming staff and some on-air hosts, including in Chicago, in an effort to cut costs.

Rather than rely on staff at the various stations, the company instead is creating three programming centers -- in Los Angeles, San Antonio and Miami -- to produce entertainment for the station chain. “The content teams ... will provide customized and localized content across all of our markets, digital, and beyond,” Jose Valle, president of Univision Radio, said in an open letter distributed by Univision.

Stations will continue to employ local staff members to work with advertisers.

Walt Disney and satellite TV provider Dish Network's sweeping new agreement could lead to changes in the way consumers watch television.

The comprehensive distribution deal is expected to become a blueprint on how the television industry treats the increasingly important digital rights for valuable programming. Wireless television service would create a new business opportunity for Dish, which provides service to 14 million customers. The planned service would be designed to appeal to the so-called never-connected generation of young people, who consume much of their entertainment via computers and tablets, and thus have been difficult recruits for traditional cable and satellite TV providers.

"It would hit a market that they want to reach -- single people, young couples -- those who don't otherwise subscribe to pay TV," said Michael Nathanson of the Moffett-Nathanson research firm. If and when it arrives, Dish's Internet service might look a lot like what Dish offers now — a set package of channels -- and not the "a la carte" service that some consumer activists have been demanding from the industry.