the HOT List

It's been a somewhat bumpy ride for Nexstar Media Group stockholders over the past six months, but a just-released report from S&P Global Ratings could bring some positive vibes to a company that still has one of the best-performing issues on Wall Street — even with the valuation gyrations.

Sinclair Broadcast Group intends to implement a reorganization in which a new holding company, Sinclair Inc., would become the publicly traded parent of Sinclair Broadcast Group and its subsidiaries.

At the 2022 NAB Show, the biggest news among broadcast technology executives was the announcement that Thomson Broadcast has signed a definitive agreement to acquire GatesAir from an affiliate of The Gores Group. Now, the man who has served as CEO of GatesAir since 2017 is retiring, and his successor has just been named.

To help ease the burden and avoid paying for too many subscriptions, consumers are turning to money-saving measures like password sharing and pausing subscriptions when they’ve caught up on their favorite shows. But, are more than pauses being seen?

The nation's biggest advocate for broadcast media companies on Capitol Hill has responded to the decision by Standard General, TEGNA and Cox Media Group to sue the FCC. It's filed an amicus brief supporting the challenge.

Two days ago, Standard General, the hedge fund led by Soohyung Kim, filed suit against the FCC in a Washington, D.C., Federal Appeals Court as part of its efforts to keep its TEGNA privatization effort on track. That hasn't stopped the Commission in any way from moving forward with its Hearing Designation Order.

The LPTV Broadcasters Association may not be pleased with the move, despite the legislation's name, but the FCC has just initiated a proceeding to implement the "Low Power Protection Act," enacted on January 5.

One of the two new Assistant VPs named by Gray Media Group has been Station Manager for two stations formerly owned by Meredith Corporation. The other also comes from Meredith, and spent many years as the Marketing Manager for two other properties now in the Gray family.

The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF) has unveiled its list of winners of the 48th annual Gracie Awards, which recognize outstanding programming and individual achievement "created by women, for women, and about women in all facets of media in news and entertainment."

NEXTGEN TV has officially arrived in the sixth-largest television market in the U.S. And, it is thanks in part to a conversion of facilities at KRON-4, the MyNetwork TV station owned by Nexstar Media Group, that has made the technological advancement happen in an area home to none other than Silicon Valley.

Brian Wieser, formerly of groupM and, before that, Pivotal Research Group, today helms his own strategic advisory firm. And, he's just penned a brief history "and future expectations" on "The Death of TV Advertising" —  a topic "that arises with some regularity for many decades." What's the key takeaway from this wordsmith of Wall Street?

While macro forecasts are downbeat and warning signals abound, they conclude that most media executives and ad forecasters, including two MoffettNathanson analysts, are still expecting this year’s ad market to be stronger in the last six months of 2023 than in the first half of year. Yet, there's one unanswered question: Where is this confidence coming from? 

The National Football League and RedBird Capital Partners have agreed to create a new media platform that will hold the exclusive rights to distribute NFL Sunday Ticket to bars, restaurants, hotels and other commercial venues in the United States starting with the 2023 NFL season.

In perhaps an unprecedented move, Standard General, the New York-based hedge fund led by Soohyung Kim, filed suit on Tuesday against the FCC in a Washington, D.C., Federal Appeals Court as part of its desperate efforts to keep its TEGNA privatization effort on track.

Three of the "Big Four" TV affiliates, plus the PBS Member station, serving Iowa's capital city are now offering ATSC 3.0-powered NEXTGEN TV broadcasts to locals with television sets capable of receiving the signals, or those with "dongles" enabling their TVs to acquire the improved digital TV channels.