the HOT List

On March 1, RBR+TVBR shared the news that Comscore, Inc. chief executive Bill Livek would be retiring. Now, his four-decade career is primed to conclude, as the company publicly traded on Nasdaq has looked from within the C-Suite in selecting its new CEO. There's also a new CFO/Treasurer, while a director on Comscore’s board since March 2021 has been designated non-executive chairman of the board.

As 2021 came to a close, the FCC received paperwork seeking approval of a low-power TV station's sale. The deal never closed. A new buyer came forth, and new filings were submitted for Commission approval. Now, the transaction has closed, putting this facility in the hands of a company that's been no stranger to purchasing UHFs or VHFs in recent years.

The individual who oversees Hearst Television has been selected to serve as the Television Industry Chair for the broadcast media industry's most prestigious leadership conference, Forecast 2023, scheduled for November 16 at the Harvard Club in Midtown Manhattan.

An effort to bring more diversity and inclusion to the broadcast television industry by attracting students from historically Black institutions of higher learning across Mississippi has taken its first step forward. It involves Gray Television, and one of its TV stations serving Jackson, Miss.

Earlier this week, RBR+TVBR put a spotlight on Audacy Corp., which is starting the second half of 2022 with some of its lowest closing prices for its stock across the last five years. But, Audacy isn't the only broadcast media company with Wall Street challenges as July begins.

On May 25, RBR+TVBR shared the story of Mario Rangel, a key employee at South Texas Radio and the chief of the Uvalde Volunteer Fire Department in Uvalde, Tex. His daughter, a Robb Elementary School student, was safe while 19 classmates students perished in a mass shooting that transpired just hours after Rangel left the school on Awards Day. Now, Rangel is dealing with a new matter impacting Uvalde — the silence of South Texas Radio's stations. South Texas Radio on Wednesday ceased operations.

He has served as senior director of news at WXYZ and WMYD, Scripps' ABC affiliate and independent local television stations in Detroit, since January 2021. Now, he’s moving to the City of Glittering Lights.

The two biggest cities in Northwest Louisiana, separated by the Red River, have become the latest to gain access to ATSC 3.0-delivered NEXTGEN TV signals. As such, better sound and improved picture are in hand for the few who have NEXTGEN TV-capable television sets in the Shreveport DMA.

The landmark 1964 "New York Times v. Sullivan" Supreme Court decision established libel laws for journalists in the U.S. A 2017 challenge set the stage for a possible review of the case by the nation's highest judicial arbiters. But, the Supreme Court has declined to consider the case — even though Justice Clarence Thomas believes it was warranted.

As far as Congress is concerned, it's only an advancement of committee-approved legislation — with two amendments — that will now see a full vote in the U.S. House. Yet, as far as the broadcast media industry is concerned, it's a major step forward toward securing the ability to air cannabis advertising.

On June 15, bidding quietly concluded in the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of construction permits for full-power television stations. Millions of dollars were raised, as seven bidders successfully snagged some 18 CPs. The biggest winners include Norman Shapiro and Gray Television. 

Brian and Kevin Lilly are known across the broadcast media industry for their ownership of television stations in northwest Pennsylvania and for broadcast TV services linking U.S. territories in the Caribbean to the mainland. Now, the Lilly brothers are teaming up to purchase a pair of digital low-powered television stations serving their home market of Erie.

How robust was the broadcast deal market in the first quarter of 2022? Volker Moerbitz of S&P Global Market Intelligence's Kagan unit crunched the numbers. The first three months of the year experienced the highest quarterly deal volume since the third quarter of 2019.

The Detroit-based owner of broadcast TV stations led by Catherine Badalamente has filed comments with the FCC expressing their concerns of TEGNA's privatization plan, which would put ownership of the company in the hands of majority shareholder Standard General and non-voting minority shareholder Apollo Global Management. Standard General offered a statement in response to GMG's claims.

On June 13, RBR+TVBR first reported on the sale of Emmis Communications' last full cluster of radio stations, in its home market of Indianapolis. At the time, it became known that the buyer of those properties, Urban One, would need to divest the facilties presently tied to WHHH-FM “Hot 96.3” in Indianapolis. A deal was consummated just days later, and with a Form 314 filing at the FCC made June 23, the buyer of WHHH's current home can now be disclosed.