Radio & Television Business Report

Strong political ad performance. Incremental ad dollars from 2026 FIFA World Cup coverage across the company's FOX affiliates. Streaming-related ad dollars in "legacy" Nexstar markets are on the rise. Those are the key reasons why Nexstar Media Group had a "record" second quarter, with TEGNA financials woven in to the results.

The Commission says this marks "a significant milestone in the successful conclusion of the first-ever spectrum Incentive Auction." Furthermore, the FCC notes, "The return of these funds reflects the FCC’s commitment to fiscal responsibility, efficient program administration, and reducing the national deficit."

Nearly two years of union negotiations between the owner of the ABC, CBS and FOX network affiliates serving California's Central Coast and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) have failed to reach a resolution, leading IATSE Members to strike across Wednesday.

The broadcast television station ownership group that also owns tower manufacturer Dielectric and has emerged as the ATSC 3.0 industry shepherd delivered what CEO Chris Ripley called "strong" second quarter results.  Indeed, revenue and adjusted EBITDA each grew year-over-year. But did they meet analyst expectations?

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."

The licensee of a Milwaukee radio station since 1972 which is poised to become the latest property in the Civic Media stable — along with a 61-year-old newspaper serving the Black community of Milwaukee — has entered into a Consent Decree with the FCC's Media Bureau to resolve a transfer of control violation in November 2024.

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.

The broadcast of "a remarkable FIFA Men's World Cup" helped tilt the scales for Fox Corporation in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, as the launch of direct-to-consumer streaming platform FOX One also paid dividends for the company led by CEO Lachlan Murdoch.

AI is transforming the content search and discovery experience, but an ungrounded large language model (LLM) can only answer based on its training data. This, says Gracenote, limits its ability to stay current. In the world of TV, this limitation can have a negative impact on the user experience.

The University of Florida's commercial radio stations are getting a new sales partner: the publicly traded licensee led by Chris Forgy. The company will take over advertising for the Gainesville AM/FM pair in September in an arrangement that also makes Saga Communications a partner in training the school's journalism students.

AI is transforming the content search and discovery experience, but an ungrounded large language model (LLM) can only answer based on its training data. This, says Gracenote, limits its ability to stay current. In the world of TV, this limitation can have a negative impact on the user experience.

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.