Radio & Television Business Report

While the FCC opens the door to deregulation for traditional broadcasters in the wake of unregulated digital competitors, Commissioner Nathan Simington has suggested a second, concurrent way to level the playing field: bringing streaming platforms under the same rules that govern cable and satellite providers.

Fresh off a blockbuster deal to acquire Alpha Media, Jeff Warshaw reveals he believed he was in line to become the next CEO of Audacy. Instead, the Connoisseur Media CEO is now suing Soros Fund Management, alleging they cut him out of the deal he helped orchestrate.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is facing increased scrutiny over the agency's delay in implementing a rule that would expand emergency alerts to more than a dozen languages. Despite unanimous Commission approval in October, the rule’s rollout has stalled, drawing criticism from members of Congress, local leaders, and a sitting FCC commissioner.

If 20/20 is perfect vision, then the price that Cox Media Group has agreed on to sell its five-station radio cluster in Tulsa, Okla., to a local eye doctor and entrepreneur may be a very good omen, as CMG makes its second full-market divestiture in as many years.

Emergency Alert System hardware vendor Digital Alert Systems has issued a strong rebuttal to the NAB, defending its opposition to a proposed FCC rulemaking that would allow software-based EAS processing. In formal reply comments, the company refutes NAB's argument that the company's concerns are grounded in commercial self-interest.

A long-running talk and religious format station in Chattanooga, Tenn., is facing possible license revocation after decades on the air. The FCC has issued a formal Order to Pay or to Show Cause to Bible Talk Chattanooga (WJOC-AM) licensee Sarah M. Fryar, citing a failure to pay regulatory fees going back to 2016.

iHeartMedia, already the largest podcast publisher in the U.S. by audience reach, is betting that the platform's fans can expand its digital dominance into live, appointment-based listening across its terrestrial broadcast properties with a new true crime radio program set to premiere next month.

Hope Media Group has officially unveiled its new 50,000-square-foot Ministry & Media Center in New Caney, TX, giving a first look at the Christian broadcaster’s updated headquarters. The building anchors the Valley Ranch Entertainment District and is part of a larger HMG operational consolidation.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez issued a forceful rebuke of what she described as a coordinated federal campaign to intimidate journalists and pressure news organizations into silence, warning that regulatory power is increasingly being used as a political weapon, saying, “If I get fired, it isn’t because I didn’t do my job—it’s because I insisted on doing it.”

Cumulus Media has appointed Justin Schaflander as Vice President and Market Manager for its Atlanta cluster, after bringing the former iHeartMedia executive back to the Peach State following a two-year stint in Los Angeles with Good Karma Brands.

A new broadcast sales technology platform is aiming to modernize how stations and agencies map and plan audio campaigns. bisqqit introduces the first geo-coded mapping and planning software built specifically for retail-focused radio advertising.

What began as a smartphone phenomenon is now knocking on TV’s front door. Brands are no longer treating influencer marketing as just a social media play - instead, they’re reshaping ad strategies to push creator-led content onto connected TV platforms. It’s a shift that could permanently alter who competes for television’s most coveted revenue.

A new national survey on trust in news sources finds that traditional broadcast and cable television still command some of the highest levels of public confidence, despite the proliferation of digital-first platforms, streaming news services, and algorithm-driven content delivery.

The 2025 Hispanic Radio Conference is set to bring together some of the biggest names in radio, advertising, and media advocacy for two days of conversations shaping the future of Spanish-language broadcasting from AI to Gen Z.

The Media Financial Management 2025 conference concluded Wednesday in Arlington, Va., and the MFM association and its CEO Joe Annotti are already looking ahead to its 2026 affair, which will see a full integration with Financial Executives International (FEI) for the first time.

VideoAmp’s VALID identity graph is being integrated with Captify’s Search Intelligence and proprietary semantic technology. This, says VideoAmp, is designed to deliver "breakthrough, intent-based insights" into ad effectiveness.