Radio & Television Business Report

The Maryland House Democrat believes the FCC's "extraordinary decision to require early renewal of eight Disney-owned ABC broadcast licenses breaks from decades of practice and causes severe constitutional problems by at least appearing to use the Commission’s licensing authority to censor protected speech." As such, "further Congressional oversight may be warranted."

"This was an excellent quarter for us," Josh D'Amaro, CEO of The Walt Disney Co., beamed as the parent of ABC Owned Stations began his company's fiscal third quarter earnings call. In the role for five months, D'Amaro couldn't be more pleased — even as the FCC under Brendan Carr has Disney's broadcast TV stations in its crosshairs.

Rumors first surfaced across the Queen City last week that a reduction-in-force was coming to The E.W. Scripps Co. On Tuesday, President/CEO Adam Symson addressed the "organizational changes" tied to a previously announced "transformation" at the broadcast TV station ownership group. He did so in an internal memo.

The second quarter 2026 earnings season has officially started, following last week's release of dollar-generation details from Graham Media Group's parent. Kicking off the publicly traded audio-and-video companies sharing their Q2 fiscal report card is the Washington, D.C.-founded organization led by CEO Alfred Liggins III.

It is a move that comes after a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing made by its sibling, Dish DBS: EchoStar's satellite-based consumer market-focused Hughes Network Systems, has moved forward with its own bankruptcy filing. Why? The decision is primarily due to its inability to repay some $1.5 billion owed to debtholders.

As RBR+TVBR shared earlier this week, Beasley Media Group has agreed to sell a Top 40 radio station in Charlotte and the facility presently housing an Alternative FM serving Las Vegas to K-LOVE Inc. Details including the sale price have now been disclosed.

The world's foremost platform for on-demand music and a growing slate of podcasts delivered what Pivotal Research Group CEO Jeffrey Wlodarczak considers to be a "solid" Q2 2026 results.  Spotify's guidance is equally positive for Wlodarczak, leading him to raise his target price on the company's stock by $20.

Canada's source for radio industry audience measurement data has moved forward with a new hybrid radio measurement approach for local markets. As Numeris sees it, "Radio Local+" marks "a pivotal step forward in how audiences will be measured across Canada." It's also being eyed as "a foundational milestone " in its broader audio strategy.

WorldCast Systems is bringing to market a new 1+1 control unit for Ecreso AiO Series FM transmitters. Combining Ecreso's decades of RF and FM transmission expertise with Audemat's heritage in monitoring, telemetry and control, the Ecreso SwitchOver is designed around a simple principle.

Beasley Media Group has decided to sell a Charlotte Top 40 station and an Alternative FM sibling serving the Las Vegas market to Educational Media Foundation. Once the transaction closes, the "KISS 95.1" morning show will relocate to another Queen City FM while KXTE's programming will move to KVGS-FM.

"These individuals have received induction by the determination of the Radio Hall of Fame 2026 Nominating Committee, who annually meet to determine inductees who contributed with greatness to the radio industry and have since passed away," the Chicago-based Radio Hall of Fame announced on Monday.

Is scale still the winning strategy in media, or has the math changed? A longtime financial analyst focused on broadcast media will tackle those questions on October 21 during an NAB Show New York session baring the name "The Future of Media: Consolidation or Spin-Off?"

When one looks back at 2026, some may call it the year The King Came Back — at least in quick-service restaurant circles. With an aggressive "sorry" campaign for past corporate foibles, Burger King is quickly seeking to restore its past glory. This effort includes a heavy Spot Cable effort, as seen in the latest Media Monitors report.

For years, audio advertising — broadcast radio, streaming audio and podcast alike — carried the same quiet problem. Buyers loved the format and they loved the audiences, but what they could not prove was reach. That is starting to change, and the whole category is better for it.

XR Extreme Reach and AdImpact have partnered to help deliver deeper data and insights across local TV and digital channels for political campaigns. The partnership brings together AdImpact's measurement data with XR's ad serving insights, and is designed to deliver local market visibility and faster reporting.

Advertisers can’t buy listeners who don’t hear ads, and AM/FM radio reaches nearly double the percentage captured by the combined ad-supported audience of Spotify, Pandora, and podcasts, according to new data from Edison Research at SSRS.