the HOT List

Now that the asset purchase agreement has been signed, some market analysts are drawing attention to the valuation of KROI-FM, serving Houston from the south. Was it a steal of a deal, or was the price SBS is paying a fair price for a Black Gospel station with various formats to its name under Urban One ownership?

A 57-page Mandamus Request was submitted with the court on March 28. On Friday, it was denied. This puts the proposed TEGNA transaction, which also sees Cox Media Group majority owner Apollo Global Management take on a significant non-voting majority stake in a "new TEGNA," in serious peril.

Even as KROI and KTHT in Houston were placed in a trust, Urban One confirmed that had agreed to sell KROI “to a minority-owned broadcaster that is a new entrant to the Houston market.” All eyes turned to the company that recently acquired a pair of Florida FMs — divestitures tied to Cox Media Group. Late Thursday, SBS was confirmed as the buyer.

Brian Lawlor has just landed the first significant rights agreement as head of the recently created Scripps Sports division of The E.W. Scripps Co., and it involves Friday night telecasts of select WNBA games.

Just how over-the-air broadcast television can monetize broadcast internet was the focal point of an executive leadership roundtable discussion held Tuesday morning at the 2023 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

The world's foremost OTT brand has released its first quarter 2023 fiscal report. What's the key takeaway? A lower-than-anticipated new subscriber total was shared. Even worse, projections for Q2 that also fell below analysts' estimates were offered by Netflix.

Nexstar Media Group is taking its NewsNation channel, distributed via MVPDs across the U.S., to a 24/7 programming schedule. The new offerings commence on Monday.

Sinclair Broadcast Group has a leadership role unlike any other when it comes to NEXTGEN TV, broadcast internet and all that the new digital broadcast television standard will bring. For Wall Street, there's a gap between what's present and what's to come with respect to analysts' valuation of Sinclair stock. Could a rosy Q1 2023 earnings report help rev up the Sinclair stock price?

The answer, as computed by noted media-focused financial analyst Brian Wieser, may surprise some. Why? The biggest owner of broadcast radio stations is on the list, as is the world's largest purveyor of Spanish-language broadcast media assets.

The NAB and the FCC may be at odds over the pending acquisition of TEGNA by Standard General, but one thing is for sure when it comes to the future of TV: they've committed to work together to foster a public/private partnership designed to identify a roadmap to an orderly transition from ATSC 1.0 digital television broadcasts to the new ATSC 3.0 standard.

Radio and TV software provider ENCO, which is showcasing captioning capabilities and AI solutions for broadcast media at the NAB Show, has formally hit the accelerator on pure AI product development with the introduction of two ChatGPT-inspired products.

Standard General desperately needs the FCC to approve its proposed purchase of TEGNA and has taken the agency to court to push the Commission to give it the OK to move forward. Financing expires in roughly one month. That's why the Soo Kim-led hedge fun made "additional commitments" to TNG-NABET.

At the end of the day, there's been one constant over the 100 years of the NAB, even in today's dramatically changing media landscape: Localism. Yet, fragmentation took up much of the conversation as NAB head Curtis LeGeyt participated in a Welcome Session Q&A with Univision/Los Angeles journalist Gabriela Teissier.

Nielsen’s National Television Audience Measurement (TAM) service has just gotten a big vote of confidence from the non-profit industry association that for 60 year has worked to ensure measurement services are valid, reliable and effective. 

Sinclair Broadcast Group confirmed that it will build and operate “an innovative and interconnected broadcast platform to provide commercial services and solutions for national data distribution.