the HOT List

Here's a research study that's of particular interest to the "AARP" demographic. Broadbeam's "Video & Audio Usage Among Adults 55+" report concludes that while elder Americans remain slower to adopt new technologies than younger audiences, both the COVID-19 pandemic and financial concerns have pushed older adults towards more rapid adoption.

Salem Media Group has entered into an agreement to purchase the assets of an AM radio station and its FM translator serving Miami. It’s a move that will likely see Salem add to its mix of Spanish-language radio properties.

It was feared that the nation's No. 1 owner of broadcast television stations would fail to reach a new retransmission consent agreement with Verizon FiOS by the time the clock struck midnight on October 15. That's exactly what happened as Saturday began, and Nexstar has come out swinging against the regional cable TV services provider.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, appearing on the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)"Let It Be Known" news program, said that radio geo-targeting is one thing at the top of his agenda. It's a huge win for GeoBroadcast Solutions, which seeks Commission approval of FM booster program origination.

How powerful are television advertisements when it comes to recall? A new Comcast Advertising report demonstrates that ads "in the TV environment" have "a unique ability to drive memories." That's great news for broadcast television, as it competes for ad budgets — and dollars — against mobile and digital video platforms.

The war between the NAB and GeoBroadcast Solutions, the Chris Devine-helmed company seeking FCC approval of program origination from FM boosters — the lynchpin to the commercialization of its "ZoneCasting" technology — has been further enflamed with the revelation that four licensees want their names removed from a petition in front of the Commission that lists each of them as GBS supporters.

In April, he quietly exited the role of President/GM of KNBC-4 in Los Angeles, a role he'd been appointed to in September 2011.  Would Steve Carlston soon be reemerging, perhaps across town after any sort of noncompete agreement was fulfilled? The answer is now known, and it is an emphatic yes.

SiriusXM has unveiled plans that will see the 2023 opening of a broadcast center on a busy stretch of one of the world's most popular entertainment and holiday destinations. 

A private equity consortium composed of a one-time dissident shareholder has completed its all-cash acquisition of Nielsen Holdings plc, a transaction that, including debt, is being valued at $16 billion.

Across its history, the 92.3 MHz frequency has been home to Disco, Howard Stern, Nick Cannon and, as of today, Alternative rock. Starting Thursday, October 27, it will now offer "all news, all the time" as part of a simulcast of a longtime AM radio station once part of the Westinghouse family.

It went on the market in August 2020. Now, a buyer has emerged for the three-story Howard Street complex that houses iHeartMedia's offices and studios in New Orleans. The facility is just north of WDSU-TV's longtime home and three blocks from the famed St. Charles Streetcar.

"Today we said goodbye to the legendary KGO." That's the startling announcement that came on Thursday morning from the storied news and information station serving the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose market for 80 years. A pre-recorded loop began playing in the middle of regular programming. It likely won't stop until Monday, when "810 AM begins a new era."

On July 12, a Federal Appeals Court vacated a FCC order mandating disclosures for foreign government-sponsored programming. It was a victory for advocacy groups such as the NAB, MMTC and NABOB, which teamed up to challenge the rules. Now, the Commission is starting all over again in its quest to "strengthen the process for identifying foreign governmental entities."

As the FCC considers a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would green-light program origination from FM boosters — key to "ZoneCasting" — a Republican House Member from South Carolina has been joined by 12 colleagues who are taking the fight to stop the GeoBroadcast Solutions technology from lift off straight to Jessica Rosenworcel herself.

Respected media business reporter Sara Fischer of Axios is gaining attention of her own for a "scoop" posted Tuesday morning to the digital media news organization's website — Audacy Corp. has, according to Fischer, hired bankers to explore the sale of Cadence13, a podcasting arm.