the HOT List

With "stay-at-home" declarations and coronavirus-infected tallies changing by the hour, safely covering the news could present numerous challenges for a TV news organization. At TEGNA, VP/News Ellen Crooke is the "woman on the front lines," coordinating all of the efforts companywide as TEGNA seeks to keep as many away from their respective stations as possible.

With CBS preparing for the May 2026 end of The Late Show and host Stephen Colbert's final program, a FOX O&O that found itself at the center of a license renewal battle with Preston Padden believes it has its own solution to a forthcoming late-night void. And, it just may be taking a page from "Gutfeld!"

How can a local TV station weather the COVID-19 pandemic together with its audience, and local businesses that depend on foot traffic? Here's a lesson in how a broadcast media station can be an important business partner, courtesy of Michael Valentine, VP/Station Manager of TEGNA's flagship WUSA9 in Washington, D.C. — today's podcast guest. LISTEN HERE

It technically has an October 31 deadline to raise $25,000 to help it "defend the future of NJ PBS." But, the future of the public broadcasting operation serving the Garden State is now known — there will be no road forward for the unit of The WNET Group.

Sinclair Broadcasting Group has agreed to pay a $48 million civil penalty and abide by a strict compliance plan in order to close three open investigations at the FCC. This penalty is twice the prior record for a broadcaster, which was the $24 million paid by Univision Communications in 2007.

Journalist Gigi Stone Woods is moderating a Forecast 2026 panel discussion featuring MediaCo Chief Revenue Officer Brian Fisher and Audacy Chief Programming Officer Jeff Sottolano. Together, they'll reveal how legacy broadcasters are forging new weapons designed to storm the gates of the digital age.

In October 2017, Lilly Broadcasting stations were blocked, by law, from Dish subscribers in the absence of a new retrans agreement. From April 1-April 13, 2017, Lilly's stations and that of related entity SJL Broadcast Management were blacked out on DirecTV systems. Now, a new DirecTV battle is brewing, and Lilly and SJL stations are warning viewers of a potential loss of signal.

On difficult comps due to strong political advertising revenue one year ago, CEO Chris Ripley explained ahead of a Wednesday afternoon earnings call for investors that Sinclair delivered a strong third quarter, achieving the high end of guidance for advertising and distribution revenue.

A group of 24 licensees under the name "Broadcasters for Limited Program Origination" believe a GeoBroadcast Solutions LLC "Zonecasting" plan opens up an FM translator's ability to originate limited programming content, too. It's a bold request -- and could face stiff opposition from groups who insist FM translators are in no way similar to a full-powered FM's booster.

The Chief Legal Officer and head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs at the NAB has made it clear that any suggestions that retransmission consent is a relevant consideration when contemplating changes in the FCC's national television ownership rule are "unsound" and "wholly unmeritorious."

The 'Nick Cannon' show, a Debmar-Mercury offering, had become the darling of NATPE Miami, with strong interest seen by dozens of TV station owner groups. By early April, 90% national clearance had been seen for the show, with a Sept. 21 debut inked. Then came this week's anti-Semitic comments from Cannon, on a podcast he hosts. The TV show is being held a year.

Ogunquit, Me., isn't exactly a hub of U.S. Hispanic culture. Yet, in this small town resides a former print journalist who has chronicled — through his own lens — the history of Hispanic-targeted television in the U.S. Javier Marín doesn't hold back his questions and criticism, either.

On January 31, two Indianapolis TV stations fell dark on DirecTV, as a retrans consent deal agreed to by the stations' prior ownership lapsed. Six months later, a new deal remains absent. Now, the stations' owner has taken DirecTV parent AT&T to court. He's says it is now a matter of racial discrimination. AT&T responded with a statement to RBR+TVBR.

At 4:02pm Eastern on Sunday, as some were enjoying a relaxing long holiday weekend and a happy break from work obligations, The E.W. Scripps Co. and Dish Network finally got a little bit of celebration of their own. A five-week impasse that led the broadcast TV stations owned by Scripps to be blocked from Dish subscribers had finally come to an end.

The FCC has moved forward with the adoption of a key piece of regulatory action that it says will bring "improvements to the transparency and timeliness of the cross-agency review process for applications from companies with foreign ownership seeking to participate in the U.S. telecommunications market."