the HOT List

ION Media has moved to take advantage of the FCC's anticipated return of its UHF Discount by pulling a duo of full-power UHF stations out of a trust created in late 2013 as a result of the bankruptcy of Roberts Broadcasting. At the same time, ION is acquiring its affiliate in Boise, Idaho, for an undisclosed price.

As the Senior Analyst of Advertising, Media and Internet at Wall Street equity research house Pivotal Research Group, Brian Wieser has gained a strongly positive reputation as a straight-shooter who provides some of the cleanest visibility on the state of broadcast media in the U.S. That's why the broadcast TV industry's C-Suite should be a tad anxious about Wieser's analysis of trends tied to the use of TV alongside commercial share for the calendar month of May 2017.

On June 12, the Media Bureau mailed the second of its Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) audit letters for 2017 to randomly selected radio stations. Among the recipients are stations owned by such companies as Alpha Media, Salem Media Group, Univision, and CBS Radio.

Ten months ago, Adam R Jacobson joined the Radio + Television Business Report as Editor-in-Chief. It marked his return to day-to-day coverage of the radio industry after a 10-year hiatus, giving him a unique perspective on the positives and negatives of the business. Ten months in, he's still fired up about what radio can do ... and has positively failed at. In his view, it's time for the radio industry to hire an ad agency to do what should have been done a decade ago.

Forget the naysayers down on Wall Street. Up in Times Square, the message was clear from some of the nation's leading radio and TV executives: Key ad categories are showing signs of life, bringing welcome news following a tense cycle of quarterly earnings reports highly dependent on political ad dollars that may or may not have lived up to expectations.

There's a disconnect between the C-Suites of the nation's biggest television industry media companies and the numbers-crunchers ensconced in the most influential financial investment advisement houses on Wall Street. This is one of the biggest takeaways from this week's "Media IR Day" in New York hosted by RBC Capital Markets.

A proposed transaction only made possible by the now-concluded FCC Spectrum Auction that would have allowed The Meruelo Group to pay $10 million for a channel-sharing agreement from Hero Licenseco was scuttled before the deadline for comments on the arrangement were due to the FCC. Now, Univision is seeking to do what Meruelo and Hero attempted to accomplish.

In a ruling made Thursday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the FCC may move forward with its return of the so-called "UHF discount" — setting the stage for what could be a flurry of deals akin to Sinclair Broadcast Group's announced acquisition of Tribune Media. Both the NAB and Free Press offered comments on the denial of an emergency stay of the rules.

In a turn of events that might have seemed stunning at any other time in presidential history, President Donald Trump — in a statement that was distributed just before midnight Wednesday (6/14) — indicated that he intends to nominate the Democrat to a whole new five-year term on the Commission.

The latest global forecast from IPG Mediabrands' "intelligence, investment and innovation" arm, MAGNA, concludes that the world's ad spend will increase for the eighth consecutive year. However, the rate of net advertising growth seen worldwide is noticeably smaller than in 2016—marking the slowest growth rate seen since 2014. And, absent of big-budget political ad spending in the U.S., the trends for 2019 and 2021 point to an even bigger slowdown in growth.

For the first time, long-form content represents the majority of time spent watching video on every screen. That's the top finding from the just-released Q1 2017 Global Video Index from software and services provider Ooyala.

Forget Taco John's: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai now has an opportunity to visit Torchy's, Velvet Taco or even the vegetarian/gluten free-friendly Tacodeli. Or, perhaps the JW Marriott in Austin, Tex., may want to have a plate of carnitas and carne asada at the ready. That's because Pai has been secured as a keynote speaker at the 2017 Radio Show's "Radio Luncheon" on Sept. 6 in Texas' capital city.

From mid-December through the last day of May 2017, TEGNA shares were placidly trading in the mid-$20 range. Then, on June 1, they fell off a cliff, tumbling to $15.27 per share. At the Closing Bell on Tuesday, TGNA shares were at $14.65—up 12 cents from yesterday's close. What ails the company formerly known as Gannett? Zacks Equity Research sought to find the answer.

The period between the execution of a purchase agreement for the sale of a radio or TV station and the transaction's closing may be viewed by many as a broadcaster’s vision of purgatory. To ensure a smooth transition, the seller needs to know how—and when—to communicate the sale to employees, advertisers and vendors. In this column from Erwin Krasnow and Doug Ferber, the broadcast media C-Suite is guided through the intricate process of communicating the decision to sell the station. Be sure to jot down their suggestions on engaging in the most effective communication to staff, once that Form 314 is filed with the FCC.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Saturday (6/10) made his first-ever trip to Wyoming, culminating what he told the Wyoming Association of Broadcasters was a "two-man buddy odyssey" that saw Pai drive from Milwaukee for nearly a week with his senior counsel Nick Degani. In an address to WAB Convention attendees, Pai applauded local broadcasters and the power of AM radio while noting how one Minnesota broadcaster believes the Main Studio Rule is a "killer." He also revealed his affection for Taco John's, his post-WAB address destination.