the HOT List

The current CEO of Salem Media Group is stepping aside and will transition to the newly created role of Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Who will succeed Ed Atsinger III as Salem’s Chief Executive Officer? Look no further than its President of Broadcast Media. There's also a new COO on the horizon at Salem.

If passed, which may not transpire given the days left in the current Congressional session, the "Low Power Protection Act" would open up a filing window qualifying LPTV stations to apply for and receive Class A status. The NAB is supportive of this bill.

Should a low-power TV station CP be able to relocate without any restrictions, making them as lucrative as ever to potential buyers? One licensee says yes, and has filed a Petition for Reconsideration with the Commission with the intent of undoing a special condition given to his LPTV's CP that must keep it in place for at least one year before any possible move can be made.

The Walt Disney Company had decided to spin three top-market AM radio stations that have served as the longtime homes of ESPN Radio. As part of the deal, the buyer would assume the long-term Local Marketing Agreement Disney has with Emmis Broadcasting for the operation of WEPN-FM in New York. Now, financial details regarding the transaction are known.

As the clock struck midnight on Friday, December 17 in New York, all Disney-owned channels, including ESPN and local ABC stations, became unavailable on YouTube TV. A monthly price reduction from $64.99 to $49.99 for its customers went into effect. By Sunday evening, it was all over, with all Disney-related live channels and on-demand content back on the vMVPD.

It's been a busy week for Standard Media Index, with new data releases galore since Monday.  The latest info to come from SMI: Ad spend in November of 2021 grew 10% compared to the same time a year ago. The comparisons to 2019 are even rosier.

Everyone in the nation's second-largest market now has access to a trio of stations broadcasting in NEXTGEN TV, the ATSC 3.0-powered digital broadcast standard. Making it possible across the Southland: Nexstar Media Group and FOX Television Stations.

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group has signed a purchase agreement that, pending FCC approval, gives it the FOX affiliate serving the Montgomery, Ala., DMA.

The audio content creation and distribution company that owns podcast companies Cadence13 and Pineapple Street and the eponymous streaming app formerly known as Radio.com received a much welcomed upgrade from a Wall Street financial house on Tuesday. The move from B Riley Financial helped Audacy Inc. shares climb by more than 5%, sending volume to more than double its daily average.

It took more than 26 years, but "CBS62" in Detroit is finally getting its own local newscasts. There will also be a "FAST" Channel for the Motor City to be added to the CBSN platform. While management is excited, the most recent launch of a major-market news department at a Big Four TV station, in Boston, was not met with immediate success.

When it comes to Wall Street wizards who have an active pulse on broadcast media, there are perhaps no two more-attuned analysts than Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson. Over the last several years, their MoffettNathanson has served as a leading voice of how media companies are performing and trending. Soon, their equity research firm will be a sibling to Silicon Valley Bank.

On November 28, every FOX Network station in the U.S. aired what appeared to be a 45-second promotional message that, in its first three seconds, features the Emergency Alert System (EAS) tone. The penalty could be severe for FOX as the FCC investigates the incident. How big could that fine get? Look at what Beasley Media Group may need to pay for its own EAS transgression.

An Executive Session of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will not consider the nomination of Gigi Sohn for the fifth FCC Commissioner's seat during a December 15 executive session. What does this mean for the liberal Democrat assailed by key Senate Republicans for President Trump-era Tweets lambasting Fox News as "state-sponsored propaganda"?

A "deluge' of ads from expanded legalized sports betting and the return of midterm political ad spending in 2022 are expected to aid U.S. broadcasters’ rebound from the pandemic. That's the key conclusion from S&P Global Market Intelligence Senior Research Analyst Justin Nielson, who works in the Kagan arm. 

In what some may call a direct admonition of Elliot Evers' “CXR Radio Station Trust" and its lobbying efforts to the FCC conducted by respected communications attorney David Oxenford, the Chief of the Media Bureau has ordered the divestment of two FM radio stations in Florida to transpire no more than 60 days past the current deadline date of December 17.