the HOT List

Veteran KTLA-5 in Los Angeles reporter Lynette Romero's departure from the station, announced by Sam Rubin on the air during a Sept. 14 newscast, was the talk of the town. It came as a surprise to many, and led one KTLA anchor to elicit an emotional response on-the-air last Saturday. It is now known that the nearly five-minute "apology" to viewers has cost him his job.

The combination of an intimate in-person affair and a more in-depth online program proved to be a big success for the TVB's annual Forward Conference, allowing attendees to gain insight and knowledge on a host of vitally important topics to TV industry leaders — most notably, measurement.

Two weeks ago, Sen. Ted Cruz pierced a dagger through the heart of the "Journalism Competition and Preservation Act." After bill co-sponsors John Kennedy and Amy Klobuchar discussed Cruz's desires on how the legislation should read, a compromise was reached, leading to a Senate Judiciary Committee vote today. It passed.

Sinclair Broadcast Group and a host of its shared services partners, including Michael Anderson-helmed Cunningham Broadcasting, could be on the hook for a significant portion of the millions of dollars in fines totaled up for apparent FCC violations of its Children's TV programming rules.

BIA Advisory Services has revealed its Top 10 by revenue for both the nation's radio broadcasting companies and for individual AM and FM radio stations in the U.S. What station is No. 1? It is hardly a surprise, as it has been in the No. 1 spot for seven consecutive years and continues to be a spoken word Goliath.

A California U.S. District Court Judge has denied a second Motion to Dismiss filed by one of the world's biggest quick-service restaurants, a move designed to kill a racial discrimination case against the chain submitted by Byron Allen-led Allen Media Group in May 2021. As such, the case, which appeared to be on shaky ground at the end of 2021, will now proceed to a jury trail. But, that won't be happening for several months.

First, it was the nation's No. 1 audio content creation and distribution company. Now, the parent company of all-things NBC and the Spanish-language Telemundo network is entering the metaverse. And, it is thanks to a newly forged partnership with one of the biggest global technology companies helping broadcast TV enter the NEXTGEN era.

The owner of such Boise, Idaho radio brands as "101.9 The Bull," "Wild 101," "My 102.7," and "BOB FM" has enjoyed formidable ratings and revenue success against such national publicly traded companies as Townsquare Media and Cumulus Media in addition to the Kalmenson family's Lotus Communications. Now, this locally owned and operated radio group based in Boise is putting ownership into the hands of its 46 employees.

On Sept. 7, a Republican Senator from Kentucky introduced a bill designed to give local broadcasters and newspapers "much-needed relief from outdated government restrictions." It seems the bill went largely ignored until late Tuesday, when one veteran trade journalist discovered it. But, is it DOA?

Mays founded the San Antonio Broadcasting Company back in 1972. The name was later changed to Clear Channel Communications. Today, it’s known as iHeartMedia.

In early May, RBR+TVBR first shared the news that TelevisaUnivision would be assuming ownership of a streaming platform that's home to films and series en español from a sibling of sorts, thanks to common ownership by Searchlight Capital Partners L.P. Now, that deal has closed, as Hemisphere Media Group claims it has gotten shareholder approval of its acquisition by Searchlight. One institutional stock holder disputes that shareholder OK.

There's a new man in power at Salem Media Group who has the ultimate say-so of what will transpire at its Broadcast Media division. The appointment of Allen Power is just one change, however, as part a realignment of the publicly traded company's AM and FM radio station unit. These changes will commence at the beginning of 2023.

Most recently, he led the Music and Non-Scripted Entertainment division at TelevisaUnivision, driving the group's global strategy. Now, the man known around the company as "Nacho" has been named President of U.S. Networks.

SiriusXM is on the hunt for more people willing to pay for its own music channels, and a wide array of specialty programming that ranges from Howard Stern to live sports action. To Simply Wall Street, that could be a sign that investing in SIRI may be worthy of a watchlist addition.

It was a key piece of legislation that the National Association of Broadcasters has been advocating for since Curtis LeGeyt assumed the leadership role from former Senator Gordon Smith. Now, Smith's former Republican colleagues have slayed legislation introduced by Amy Klobuchar that would have allowed radio and TV stations to collectively negotiate with "Big Tech" platforms to get what LeGeyt tells RBR+TVBR is "fair value" for content distribution.