the HOT List

Nexstar Media Group's NBC affiliate serving Georgia's Coastal Empire is warning viewers of a possible "black out" due to retransmission consent negotiations between the TV station owner and the provider. It's a scenario playing out in other markets where Xfinity and Nexstar have a presence.

Once every U.S. market gets NEXTGEN TV, could it be too late? While that's perhaps an outlandish question to some in broadcast television, news from the U.K. that all TV output will be available exclusively online within the next 10 years or so is a startling reminder that 6G discussions are already underway in Washington, D.C. — and that the next iteration of wireless technology could hurry the obsolesce of broadcast signals.

With the voluntary rollout of ATSC 3.0 and NEXTGEN TV, the desire to have a digital UHF facility, which provides better market coverage than a VHF channel, is more important than ever. That explains why Gray Television seeks FCC approval to shift two of its stations in the Lone Star State to more optimal UHF channels.

The National Defense Authorization Act, released Tuesday evening, did not note the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act across its mammoth 4,408-page text. This sets up a do-or-die scenario for the legislation that Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar spent months seeking to emerge from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In a questionable voice vote, the American Music Fairness Act emerged from the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Democrat Jerrold Nadler, and is now up for a floor vote by the full House of Representatives. Should Radio be concerned? Yes, but not alarmed, as Ranking Member Jim Jordan says the bill is DOA.

He previously led ARK Multicasting. Today, Vern Fotheringham has decided to partner up with Greg Herman by forging a 60/40 partnership that involves a transfer of control of several LPTVs to a new licensee.

Westwood One, today owned by Cumulus Media, was the brainchild of Norm Pattiz. He would go on to enjoy a lengthy career in radio and in podcasting, which included the short-lived but widely remembered launch of "Pirate Radio" in 1989. Pattiz died on December 4 at the age of 79.

Adweek on Monday shared details of groupM's "This Year Next Year" global end-of-year forecast, just hours after MAGNA released its December 2022 update to its 2023 global prognostications. What's the key takeaway? The U.S. outpaced the rest of planet Earth in 2022. But, the totals groupM came up with were lower than what it projected six months ago.

Does Ed Markey have enough influence to get the car and truck makers to say yes to ensuring kHz-based signals stay on OEM receivers in new vehicles. Given the growing removal of AM radio from EVs due to interference — caused by the cars and not by the signals themselves — that may be a herculean task.

Seven years and four months after successfully bidding for a construction permit in Auction 98, the winning company failed to move forward. In 2017 its long-form application for the permit was dismissed. Now it is in receipt of a formal Order of Payment from the FCC demanding the downpayment it owes.

Evoca TV faces its biggest challenge to date: funding woes. It's working diligently to resolve them, CEO Todd Achilles shares. But, if that proves unsuccessful, Evoca TV "will discontinue operations and programming" on December 31.

The 2023 U.S. Local Advertising Forecast has just been released by BIA Advisory Services, and now that all the numbers have been crunched, it has its prediction of just where media advertising revenues will be in 13 months. They'll be down by some $800 million. 

Add Cox Media Group to the list of broadcast television station owners that are presently engaged in a retransmission consent agreement impasse with a direct broadcast satellite company. This time, it involves Dish, and the "black out" sees each side, to little surprise, pointing fingers at one another.

In late January, the Attorney General of the State of Texas took action in response to what he perceived was a violation of the state's consumer protection laws. It involves Google, and iHeartMedia. Six other states followed suit, and the Federal Trade Commission got involved, too. Now, Google and iHeart are settling the matter, with the latter forking over much less than the digital Goliath.

A host of FOX Networks Group MVPD-distributed and broadcast channels will go dark at the end of Friday on a major DBS TV service provider, should a retransmission consent agreement fail to materialize. As such, the company's over-the-air FOX stations are at risk of being blocked — by law — from paying subscribers.