the HOT List

With ATSC 3.0 upgrades reshaping the broadcast television industry, the Adell family is selling its UHF station serving Detroit. The buyer is a close shared services partner of the nation's No. 1 owner of broadcast TV stations.

He has been familiar to broadcast media leaders from at least fall 1992, thanks to his $1 million investment in the radio company Randy Michaels was associated with — Jacor Communications. Outside of broadcast media, he is remembered as a billionaire "real estate magnate." Now, Sam Zell is being mourned, as he has died due to complications from a recent illness at the age of 81.

With the acquisition of The CW Network by Nexstar Media Group, a big overhaul of the prime-time programming skein has been seen. With many shows not returning and the arrival of LIV golf on the network for weekend viewing growth, Nexstar head Perry Sook is now ready to create a "Big Five" group of TV networks by unveiling The CW's first-ever seven-day schedule.

The fight for the survival of AM radio has just entered an important, pivotal new chapter, and it sees unlikely political leaders on Capitol Hill coming together in a rare show of bipartisanship to ensure there is AM radio access in every vehicle in the U.S.

A Thursday meeting at the FCC on two remaining issues the hedge fund led by Soohyung Kim believes are holding up Standard General's proposed acquisition of TEGNA has been scheduled. And, ahead of that meeting, "new disclosures and commitments" have been provided in response to what Standard General calls "a response to the FCC's "invitation to negotiation."

A representative for JCIR, which handles investor relations communications for the company, acknowledged this, noting only that there are "multiple reasons" for why a company would put a stop to the trading of its publicly held shares. What are those reasons? An internal e-mail ahead of an official announcement notes that Audacy Inc.'s share price is so low, the NYSE is initiating a proceeding to delist its stock.

Publicly traded media and telecom companies in the U.S., Canada and Bermuda raised $2.46 billion through capital offerings in March. But, the latest data from S&P Global Market Intelligence data and analysis show a big year-over-year slowdown in capital raising in all categories but one.

It's official: The CEO role at Twitter has been given to the Chairman of NBCUniversal's Advertising and Partnerships group. An announcement from NBCU early Friday confirmed that Linda Yaccarino was leaving that position, effective immediately. Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted the news about Yaccarino later in the day.

It's widely known that there are fewer active brokers in the media industry than at any point in the recent past. Now, S&P Global Market Intelligence has confirmed it, even with a revision to its data just completed by Volker Moerbitz. The 2022 numbers come in lower than at any point since 1985, when its Kagan unit began its broker rankings.

Two years ago, Joe Crowley emerged as the Chairman of pro-recording industry lobbying group musicFIRST. Now, there's a change in leadership, with Crowley exiting. His duties will be divided up by two individuals serving as co-Chairmen.

A meeting held Wednesday at the Commission with TEGNA, Standard General and even its main opponents was designed to bring Soo Kim and Co. closer to a needed full FCC vote on the proposed purchase of TEGNA by his hedge fund. However, the "Hail Mary" needed to save the transaction from disintegrating may have failed.

On April 28, Gray Television scored a major "groundbreaking" broadcast TV rights deal with the WNBA and NBA franchises serving Phoenix. At the time, it cautioned that any on-air broadcasts were dependent on pending litigation. As it turns out, the deal has been voided by a bankruptcy judge in the Diamond Sports Group reorganization case.

Yes, the overall numbers were impacted by a significant non-cash impairment charge. But, more importantly, net revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance was exceeded in Q1 against difficult comps. Furthermore, the adjusted EPS Townsquare Media registered in Q1 beat the consensus estimate of financial analysts covering the "Local First" media and digital advertising company.

“Nexstar’s first quarter financial results once again outperformed consensus expectations across all key financial metrics." That's the good word from Nexstar Media Group founder and Chairman/CEO Perry Sook, as the nation's biggest broadcast TV station owner reported higher net revenue on significantly lower net income. 

Fox Corporation swung to a net loss in its fiscal Q3, but there's one key reason for that — a big legal settlement with Dominion Voting Systems Corp. While that impacted the bottom line, it was a FOX News Channel matter. For the Television segment, the third quarter of 2023 was a strong one, replete with growth.