Radio & Television Business Report

Just like industry peer Beasley experienced, Discord chat rooms about investment opportunities — as seen on social media platform X — are actively talking up iHeartMedia stock. With 30 minutes to go in trading on Thursday, their posts appeared to be working, with "IHRT" shares up by more than 8% from Wednesday.

On October 9, Nexstar Media Group shares dipped below the $200 mark, and headed downward through November 14. One month later, growth in the company's stock price has resulted in another stab at an all-time high for "NXST" on Nasdaq.

The President of the Center for American Rights — a right-wing lobbying group intent on getting the FCC to probe NBC, ABC and CBS for "news distortion" — is suggesting the Commission should reclaim valued spectrum from any public radio or TV station should they fail to meet their respective operational budgets. 

Perry Sook told an investor conference on Monday that the proposed merger of TEGNA and his Nexstar Media Group, which pushes the No. 1 single owner of broadcast TV stations well above current regulatory caps, is the direct result of President Trump winning the 2024 U.S. presidential election. 

David Ellison is fighting back against Netflix and its proposed $72 billion takeover of Warner Bros. — including HBO Max and the HBO cable TV channels — by commencing an all-cash tender offer that would see Paramount acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery's outstanding shares at a valuation of $30.

Two entities within noncommercial giant Minnesota Public Radio have agreed to settle a matter in which Emergency Alert System tones inadvertently aired across nearly 550 broadcast radio stations during a program provided by the BBC. The consent decree involves a big U.S. Treasury "voluntary contribution."

It serves an area just northwest of Reading, Pa., as a rebroadcast service of "Word FM," a regional Worship Music noncommercial radio network. Pending FCC approval, this FM translator will be held by a new licensee — a local broadcaster that gains an all-important MHz signal for an AM nearly left for dead in 2019.

Standing up for AM and FM stations in the face of the ever-flailing American Music Fairness Act (AMFA) at a Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Intellectual Property hearing on Tuesday afternoon was the President of a small licensee in Greenville, N.C.

Over-the-air radio captures 34% of total audio time and 64% of all ad-supported listening among adults 18 and older, Edison research shows. Nearly two-thirds of the ad-supported audio heard in the U.S., including podcasts and streaming platforms, comes from radio.

For nearly a decade, radio stations using the default Barix logins have been subject to hijack. In the most recent situation, a fake EAS tone played on a loop across the afternoon of November 23. The FCC chimed in. Now, Barix is addressing the long-standing issue.

On October 31, RBR+TVBR first reported on the sale of a Rock station serving Bangor formerly owned by acclaimed author Stephen King, by Rock Lobster Radio LLC. On Monday, details of the deal that will see Mix Maine Media owner and President Jay Hanson add the FM to his stable of stations were revealed.

They're at it again. Three days after word surfaced that Verizon Fios was nearing an impasse over a fresh retransmission consent agreement with Cox Media Group, threating a "blackout" of the company's Pittsburgh and Boston stations, respectively, a new potential tussle over carriage rights fees has surfaced for the regional MVPD.

Gray Media plans on commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States of America with a company-wide storytelling project that showcases how local people, places, and moments have shaped the American story.

The offering, says Nueva Network, "combines Latino cultural intelligence with modern ad-tech to give brands a single, scalable way to reach U.S. Hispanic audiences across digital audio, video, and Connected TV."

Global advertising spend is now on course to close out 2025 with growth of 8.9% to $1.19 trillion, an upgrade from WARC’s September forecast. Why? Don't look to linear media, as WARC says the change is due to strong results from "Big Tech" platforms and a muted impact on global trade from tariffs.  

Half of Generation Z (Gen Z) interns expect 20% of their jobs to be automated by AI when they start full-time roles, but 92% are confident in their ability to adapt to AI advancements in their fields. That's according to a new survey from KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm.