the HOT List

A writ of mandamus is defined as an order from a court to an inferior government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties. That's what the appellants in Free Press v. FCC want the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to issue, so Nexstar Media Group's approved merger with TEGNA gets unwound.

FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gómez, in a letter to the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, has all but told the company under FCC scrutiny to fight what she calls "censorship" as its ABC Owned Stations face an early license renewal. Gómez also took the opportunity to unveil a "double standard" in Commission "targeting."

When it comes to the National Football League's championship telecast, there clearly is a super year-over-year difference when it comes to Super Bowl-related revenue. That's the key reason why advertising revenue experienced a double-digit decline during the fiscal third quarter of 2026 for FOX Corporation.

Is the longtime daytime TV chat show airing on the ABC Television Network a program that shouldn't be exempt from equal time rules because it is a news offering? The Walt Disney Co. emphatically says it is, in a Petition for Declaratory Ruling filed with the FCC that has Anna Gómez's stamp of approval.

Scripps executives expressed their frustration with Nielsen during the broadcast TV station owner's Q1 2026 earnings call on Friday, assailing an audience measurement change Scripps believes favors cable networks, and puts Scripps Networks offerings at a disadvantage.

With her husband, they created one of the largest Christian-themed non-secular television networks in the world in 1993. Now, nearly 4 1/2 years after Marcus Lamb's passing, the matriarch of the Lamb family is being mourned, as Joni Lamb, who assumed the role of President from her late husband, has died.

Minutes before RBR+TVBR's daily news deadline, The E.W. Scripps Co. released its first quarter 2026 earnings report. While C-Suite leaders including CEO Adam Symson will not host a call for analysts and shareholders until Friday morning to discuss the results, the key takeaways are very clear.

The Nexstar Media Group founder and Chairman/CEO steadfastly believes his 30 year old company's acquisition of TEGNA, being challenged in two federal appeals court cases, "is a critical step in solidifying our future and ensuring we can continue providing these essential services to the public."

Chalk up another defeat at the FCC for DirecTV, as well as a coalition of state cable associations; a coalition of pan-Asian and Pacific Islander public interest groups; the Civil Rights Coalition; Business Forward; and Chris Ruddy-owned Newsmax. Their efforts to deny a pair of Gray Media transactions have failed.

As a cable TV industry pioneer and owner of the Atlanta Braves MLB team, Ted Turner was audacious, leaving an imprint across multiple decades. In recent years, health challenges literally crippled him. Now, Turner Enterprises has confirmed his passing at the age of 87 after a long battle with Lewy Body Dementia.

Nexstar Media Group finds itself not only appealing a California Eastern District Court's preliminary injunction preventing it from integrating TEGNA's assets, but also defending its deal in the D.C. Circuit. And, it may have an ally in the Commission itself. How so? The FCC says the court has no jurisdiction, because a final agency action hasn't yet happened.

As Paramount owns CBS, which holds broadcast licenses regulated by the FCC, any financial links to sovereign wealth funds from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi should be subject to strict scrutiny from the Carr Commission, Anna M. Gómez said.

On April 1, a retransmission consent agreement could not be signed in a timely manner, resulting in a "blackout," by law, of all Scripps-owned stations on one of the nation's largest cable TV providers. A little more than a month later, a new deal has been reached with Comcast-owned Xfinity.

On March 20, iHeartMedia shares finished at $2.49 per share, erasing all gains seen since mid-September 2025. Then came an uptick in value, punctuated by rumors of a potential SiriusXM merger. Since then, "IHRT" shares are on fire, and are at their highest valuation in more than three years.

The nation's largest owner of broadcast TV stations, entangled with DirecTV in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit over its merger with TEGNA, has petitioned the Supreme Court to review a Second Circuit ruling that reversed an antitrust win — one that is wholly tied to retransmission consent negotiations.