the HOT List

It was a Valentine's Day that saw the Biden Administration's nominee for FCC Commissioner, Gigi B. Sohn, spend nearly three hours of her time inside Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building for the third and possibly final confirmation hearing convened by the Senate Commerce Committee. How did the hearing go?

SBS has agreed to sell the five broadcast television stations airing its MegaTV Spanish-language network — as well as its headquarters building — to a Lone Star State entrepreneur that will rebrand the TV operation and refocus its programming on conservative political commentary and news en español.

The NY State Broadcasters Association has vociferously responded to proposed federal legislation that would ban sports wagering advertising, slamming the bill for its potential negative impacts on broadcast station revenue. For NYSBA, the bill is particular concerning as it was introduced by a House Member representing Albany.

Indeed, the quarter was a poor one for Disney's Linear Networks. Furthermore, while Direct-to-Consumer revenue grew by 13% year-over-year, its operating loss surged by 78% — a sign that Disney+, which experienced a dip in subscriber growth for the first time, is stumbling.

A highly publicized proxy fight between ABC Owned Stations and ESPN parent The Walt Disney Co. and an activist investor has concluded. The reason: Bob Iger, who suddenly returned as CEO in November 2022, replacing Bob Chapek, has committed to do everything that Nelson Peltz has been advocating for since the start of 2023.

Fox Corporation on Wednesday released its second quarter results for fiscal 2023, and it saw an adjusted earnings per share of $0.48. This, according to Zacks Equity Research, reflects a 269.2% year-over-year increase for the company. And, the EPS in the quarter beat its consensus estimate by 4.35%.

Challenges. How are multicultural broadcast media owners and managers overcoming them today? "They are resilient," says Michelle Duke, President of the NABLF and the association's Chief Diversity Officer. "They've built strong companies. They've been quite successful." That set up a lively FCC diversity symposium discussion on how many are tackling any obstacles to growth.

Is media ownership as diverse as the consumers they seek, and does having diverse content only go so far when the C-Suite isn't reflective of the America of today? Horowitz Research's Adriana Waterston asked this in a presentation during the FCC's Media Ownership Diversity Symposium.

A large bipartisan group of House of Representatives Members have again signed a non-binding but important resolution to thwart any legislation that would impose a performance fee, tax, royalty or other payment on broadcast AM and FM stations in the U.S. and its territories. It comes in response to Thursday's introduction in both houses of Congress of the pro-music industry "American Music Fairness Act."

It's well-known that SBS Chairman/CEO Raúl Alarcón Jr. enjoys a "supermajority" of voting shares in the publicly traded company. But, when it comes to the shares he doesn't control, exceeding the 25% foreign investment benchmark has been sought for several months. The FCC on Friday made its decision, allowing SBS to increase its intake of whatever other foreign currency it wishes.

The one piece of legislation AM and FM station owners should be most fearful of has reared its head once again in both houses of Congress. The American Music Fairness Act — the musicFIRST-backed legislation that would enact a new series of royalty payments for Radio — was reintroduced in both the U.S. House and Senate on Thursday.

Television ad sales advocacy group TVB's just-released report, conducted by GfK, examines multimedia usage and effectiveness, while exploring the ways individuals consume traditional, digital, and streaming media. Comparisons of media reach, time spent with media, daily news sources, most trustworthy news sources, and level of community involvement are among the topics TVB delves into.

It's a full-power semi-satellite of the CBS affiliate in Eugene-Springfield, Ore., and serves the North Bend region of coastal Oregon. Until now, it has called VHF Channel 11 home. Now, station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group is asking the FCC for a channel change to a more-desirable digital UHF home.

"Spotify reported an overall nicely better than expected Q4 operational and financial results with premium/advertising MAU’s nicely better than expected," says Pivotal Research Group's Jeff Wlodarczak, who raised his target price on Spotify in response to the quarterly report. Investors were also excited about Spotify's quarter, but why ... given the exceptional loss created by podcast investment?

Naysayers insist that AM and FM radio is irrelevant with anyone under 30. Of course, that's hardly true. Now, details of a successful ad campaign targeting prospective online university students shows that broadcast radio generated "significant incremental reach" for the advertiser.