the HOT List

Emmis Communications Chairman/CEO Jeff Smulyan addressed participants on his company's fiscal Q1 2018 conference call Thursday morning by hinting that the sale of Class B WLIB-AM 1190 in New York is still a work in progress. He also noted that the company is looking at other ways to bring in some cash, while Emmis EVP/CFO and Treasurer Ryan Hornaday offered specifics on sales strengths and weaknesses.

With new FCC leadership comes new insight into whether or not one of the nation's largest MVPDs discriminated against Game Show Network, violating Commission rules. In 2015, an Administrative Law Judge said Cablevision did. Today, the Republican-majority FCC responded to the now-Altice USA owned Cablevision's appeal of the ALJ decision by reversing it — effectively denying GSN's complaint on a party-line vote.

In a Wednesday midday webinar, Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs and Amplifi Media CEO Steve Goldstein teamed up to talk about how new in-home technologies are affecting radio listeners. They shared insights from Jacobs Media’s Techsurvey13, and we listened in for you to provide the key takeaways on why radio's place in the home is going retro.

A March 8 House Communications and Technology Subcommittee oversight hearing of the FCC was scrubbed, as it was scheduled just hours after a similar hearing conducted by the Senate Commerce Committee. It has yet to be rescheduled, despite assurances it would be held by the end of July. Now, Democratic leaders are pressing hard for a date.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) will convene a nomination hearing at 10am on Wednesday, July 19, for FCC Commissioner nominees Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr.

Adjusting to change is essential when facing relentless competition compounded by ongoing disruption and slow growth. Citing data and analysis, PwC's 2017 Global Entertainment and Media Outlook offers compelling insights into how media and consumer-focused entertainment companies are adapting, investing, experimenting and innovating amid six areas of change. We've got details for all RBR+TVBR members.

To little surprise, the biggest of the digital media darlings that have captivated the hearts of consumers and marketers are at little risk of a financial meltdown. But, are Google and Facebook perhaps overheated? That's a question Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser sought to answer, and his analysis, released Tuesday, suggests these two behemoths of social media presently have "heightened downside risks."

In an e-mail letter distributed Monday to all Entercom employees — and submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by CBS Corporation — the soon-to-be new steward of what will soon be the former CBS Radio stations revealed who's in and who's out once those AM and FM properties become the property of the Philadelphia-based radio broadcasting pure-play. Here's the big takeaway: Scott Herman will not be joining Entercom and is going his separate ways.

As the neutral party working with both broadcasting companies and wireless services providers, Vertical Bridge, the independently owned tower owner and manager, believes “over the top” delivery of programming — OTT — is the freight train that can’t be stopped for creators, distributors, advertisers and sales execs. That’s why Alex Gellman, CEO and co-Founder of this Palm Beach County, Fla.-based company, is not an individual those excited about the next-generation broadcast TV standard, ATSC 3.0, should have a conversation with.

The next 38 months or so will see a metamorphosis of the nation’s communications grid. Some 987 channels will be moving. Wireless carriers are already taking the steps necessary to move forward with their newly gained spectrum. In the first of a two-part RBR+TVBR INFOCUS report, top executives from Vertical Bridge share how they see the company as a neutral player on the flight deck of a major endeavor that's already set sail for the telecommunications industry.

Thanks to the rapid ascent of "over-the-top" (OTT) viewing of full-length scripted programming, reality shows, sports, and news programming, TV isn't just that box in the living room anymore. Srini Dharmaji wants every member of the broadcast TV industry's C-Suite to fully understand this. In the RBR+TVBR INFOCUS report, we examine how social and digital platforms are now, more than ever, essential extensions of VHF and UHF stations.

Some very big TV deals were the prime movers behind the quarter’s M&A total, according to Kagan (part of S&P Global Market Intelligence). And a single deal, the fourth-largest TV deal of the century, accounted for 85% of the M&A total. The TV segment contributed $4.22 billion of the total, with $3.82 billion coming from Sinclair Broadcast Group’s successful bid for Tribune Media Co., which it announced May 8.

Norsan Communications and Management, Inc. (“Buyer”) and Thomas B. Daniels and Limited, Inc. (“Seller”) of North Charleston, SC, have closed on the sale of Radio Stations WAZS-AM Summerville, SC, WZJY-AM Mount Pleasant, SC, FM Translator Stations W239AL and W280EX North Charleston, SC, and Television Stations WAZS-LD North Charleston, SC, and WJNI-LD North Charleston, SC.

The FCC has received a bounty of comments regarding its proposal to do away with the main studio rule. Leading the way was the NAB, which had this to say ...

Now that the second half of 2017 is here, one network radio operation has set its sights on advertiser growth. As Skyview Networks EVP/GM Jeanne-Marie Condo sees it, Q3 and Q4 are looking strong. That's all thanks to a new client perspective on the power of network radio and national ad sales, she tells RBR+TVBR in an exclusive interview.