the HOT List

It's a surprising move. And, The Walt Disney Co. confirmed it on Thursday afternoon. Peter Rice is out, and Dana Walden is taking on his responsibilities.

Before taking key positions at the two most high-profile media companies serving U.S. Hispanics, he spent 16 years at Discovery Communications. That company, which is now Warner Bros. Discovery, has lured back Luis Silberwasser, who is exiting TelevisaUnivision.

Global advertising expenditure is forecast to grow 8% in 2022, according to Zenith’s latest Advertising Expenditure Forecasts report, published today. Yes, this represents a "minor downgrade" from the 9.1% growth rate Zenith published in December 2021. Here's the positive news: linear television advertising is forecast to grow — even if it's by a fairly small percentage. But, there are clouds on the horizon.

In short, the NAB says it would “drive listeners away” from FM and put public safety at risk. The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) and National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) couldn't disagree more.

A series of top radio and television broadcasting companies were singled out for their "outstanding service to their communities" at the Celebration of Service to America Awards held Tuesday night in Washington, D.C. The event also saw the introduction of a fellowship named in honor of the retiring SVP/Programming at Hearst Television.

The NAB is vociferously arguing against a FCC proposal that would allow using FM Boosters for program origination — the lynchpin of GeoBroadcast Services’ ZoneCasting technology. In short, the NAB says it would “drive listeners away” from FM and put public safety at risk.

Among the big news coming out of the Motor City from Pearl TV — updates from the ATSC 3.0 standard’s application in the automotive industry coming out of the Motown 3.0 Open Test Track. 

The ATVA this week filed an ex parte letter with the FCC addressing its concerns surrounding a NAB proposal that would allow originating stations to arrange for “host” stations to transmit their ATSC 1.0 multicast programming. The pro-MVPD group took the time to suggest "modest improvements" to the plan.

In a surprise announcement, a newly formed Santa Fe, N. Mex.-headquartered media company superserving U.S. Hispanic consumers has agreed to acquire 18 AM and FM radio stations from TelevisaUnivision. To be clear, LMN is only purchasing a portion of TelevisaUnivision's Univision Radio stations across 10 markets. We have the list of stations "LMN" is buying.

With the 2022 ATSC NEXTGEN Broadcast Conference scheduled for June 7-9 in downtown Detroit, Alchemedia SG has revealed that its Broadcast Services Core, integrated with other IP services, "seamlessly transported IP data to a moving automobile traveling between four adjacent Michigan broadcast transmitters."

The licensee of WQZS-FM 93.3 in Meyersdale, Pa., Roger Wahl, has been fingered by the Commission's Enforcement Bureau for failing to fully participate in a license revocation hearing tied to his status as a convicted felon.  It's something ALJ Jane Hinckley Halprin has warned Wahl about. How she responds to the Bureau's Motion could seal Wahl's fate.

It's being billed as the biggest thing to hit the market since the conversion of analog TV signals to ATSC 1.0 broadcasting in 2009. NEXTGEN TV, delivered by way of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast technology being rolled out on a volunteer basis across the U.S., has arrived in the San Joaquin Valley's biggest city. At the same time, it is now live in Upstate South Carolina, too.

His Twitter profile refers to him as "The Future Governor of Minnesota." But, it is now known that this proclamation will not reflect the 2022 race for the state's highest office. Cory Hepola, the former KARE-11 news anchor and WCCO-AM in Minneapolis-St. Paul on-air host, has suspended his third-party campaign.

Used by TV and radio broadcasters across the U.S. to manage, execute, and scale ad sales, the WO Traffic v22.0 release introduces the platform’s addressable ad replacement product for live streams. WideOrbit says this will help individual stations and station groups in the generation of new revenue.

RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson recently spoke with Anne Schelle, the Managing Director of Pearl TV, on what's next for NEXTGEN TV on the marketing front. He also asked if Pearl TV had an idea of how many people are consuming ATSC 3.0-powered broadcast TV today, and about the exciting new RUN3TV platform. Hear what Schelle has to say now! LISTEN HERE