the HOT List

Brian Donlon brings a wealth of experience that includes time at A+E, CNBC and ESPN, among other locales. What's his vision for Scripps News, as it seeks to carve itself a place in an ever-competitive national broadcast news environment? We learn more in this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.fm. LISTEN HERE

Title II broadband classification has been a bitter, divisive issue since former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler made that rulemaking happen. This ushered in "net neutrality," erased by the Pai Commission on party lines. Now, with Democrats finally with a FCC majority, the road to net neutrality's return has gotten one step closer.

In February 2023, the parent of ABC Owned Stations and ESPN revealed that Disney would reorganize its media and entertainment businesses. Starting with fiscal Q4 2023, investors will finally get a look at how ESPN is doing compared to the rest of its media assets. How healthy are the ABC properties? It's still not crystal clear.

A new forecast by WARC Media puts retail media ad spend at a healthy year-over-year growth rate when examining 2023 dollars to 2024 forecasts. The data also show that retail media, primarily used to drive sales, is moving beyond paid search formats into video, audio and out-of-home through cross-channel partnerships.

The battle against Open AI LLC and Mark Walters has taken a turn back toward a Georgia state court, rather than being tried on a federal level. That's what the Salem-syndicated host and podcaster seeks. But the artificial intelligence pioneer thinks otherwise — it wants Walters' case completely dismissed.

For the last several years, MVPDs have waged a war against broadcast TV companies wanting higher retrans fees, arguing that it would lead to higher bills to consumers. Absent from those conversations has been the suggestion of a la carte pricing. A newly released report supports that idea, given what's consumed.

Add Gray Television to the list of companies seeking to win over investors who may be a bit skeptical about the mid-term and long-term health of television — especially as some of the most respect analysts continue to predict advertising declines for the next several years.

U.S. television should be gearing up for a significant reduction in inventory over the next four years. That's a "conservative assumption" from Brian Wieser, the noted media industry financial and advertising trends analyst.

Two of the "Big Four" owned-and-operated TV stations, along with the two big PBS Member stations, the Telemundo station, and a largely unknown digital Class C facility, have launched ATSC 3.0-powered broadcasts. But, what about the other stations, which are among the most-watched in the U.S.?

The broadcast media company with a stake in eSports has received written notice from the Listing Qualifications Department of the Nasdaq Stock Market that its Class A common stock has failed to make the minimum bid price requirement necessary to keep it on the exchange.

The nation's largest minority-certified Hispanic multimedia and entertainment company has filed a lawsuit against a Texas entrepreneur who agreed to expand his website to broadcast television through the acquisition of Mega TV, only to fail to meet its payment obligations, resulting in the deal's dissolution.

The nation's No. 1 owner of radio stations — including a host of spoken word AMs offering everything from FOX Sports Radio and BIN: Black Information Network to Premiere Network's roster of conservative talk hosts — has told the FCC that it "must do no harm to AM radio" as it is under court order to wrap up its long-overdue 2018 quadrennial review of its rules.

The executive will oversee what the company calls a cross-platform initiative focused on creating partnerships between the company’s influencers, marketers and brands.

It didn't take long for one of the cable TV industry's chief lobbying groups to criticize two Notice of Proposed Rulemakings from FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that would offer cable television subscribers a rebate when a broadcast TV station is unavailable due to a retransmission consent impasse.

As she sees it, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has brought forward a pair of proposals that "would further the FCC’s strategic goal to empower consumers in the media marketplace." While the NAB and broadcast television companies may be cheering, pro-MVPD groups could quickly cry foul.