the HOT List

Forget about 2020 comps: Townsquare Media is offering Q3 2021 comps to two years prior, and the results are strong. The local digital and radio broadcasting company is reporting third quarter net revenue that falls short of Q3 2019 by just 1%.

Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson, the respected Wall Street financial analyst house, offered some conflicting answers about the negative impact supply chain issues have ad on advertising demand in an investor note distributed Friday. It seems he has more to say about the matter, and Nathanson has now shifted his concerns to the radio business and TV industry.

For 23 1/2 years, she was one of the most recognizable anchors at the ABC affiliate serving Atlanta — the flagship television station of Cox Media Group. In April, two masses on her brain and subsequent surgery to remove them revealed she had the most common type of brain cancer. On Thursday night, Jovita Moore lost her battle against the aggressive, incurable disease.

If investors truly want to gauge the financial health of the broadcast media industry, all they need is a full day of undivided attention to no less than eight CEOs, as Thursday, Nov. 4 has emerged as a monster day for Q3 2021 earnings releases for publicly traded radio and television companies. Here's a glance of what's on the calendar.

With Barry Diller's IAC purchasing the National Media arm, and all other assets, of Meredith Corp., and Gray Television in the home stretch in its acquisition of Meredith Local Media, following needed spin-offs to meet regulatory approval, this will be the final fiscal Q1 report from Meredith of interest to the TV industry. How did Meredith's TV arm do? As is typical in non-political years, tough comparisons are at play.

The nation's biggest owner of radio stations has repurchased and cancelled all of its outstanding shares of Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock. To do so, it used cash on hand, wiping 60,000 outstanding shares out of existence.

The lobbying efforts of Florida Democrat Ted Deutch and former Congressman Joe Crowley have turned an important corner on Capitol Hill. Support for the "American Music Fairness Act" is on the rise. That said, the NAB reminds us that those seeking to impose new royalty fees on broadcast radio stations have much more work to do.

After months of questions from across Washington, D.C., the White House on Tuesday formally nominated Jessica Rosenworcel to serve as the first woman to officially serve as Chair of the FCC. At the same time, President Biden selected Gigi Sohn to serve as a Democratic Commissioner. While Sohn's nomination will certainly trigger Republican opposition, Democrats were pleased.

With so many broadcast media proposals at the FCC and confirmation that the White House is giving Jessica Rosenworcel the official position as Chairwoman, what should radio and TV station C-Suite leaders keep their eyes on? A Forecast 2022 session picks up where a recent InFOCUS Podcast left off, with noted D.C. attorney Frank Montero moderating a panel you won't want to miss.

There's already chatter about what could come for the Rosenworcel Commission -- or, perhaps, what won't come. Ahead of his exclusive Forecast 2022 appearance, BIA Advisory Services SVP/Chief Economist Dr. Mark Fratrik shares his views on whether or not "regulatory burdens" seen under the Wheeler Commission could come back. Deregulation? Don't count on it, he says in this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM. LISTEN HERE

If one of your radio or television stations is a member of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB), here's a chance for your sales team to benefit from getting a piece of the action in a multimillion-dollar ad campaign signed off by one of the biggest champions of multicultural marketing today: Marc Pritchard.

On October 20, RBR+TVBR reported that Gray Television is amending and restating its senior credit facility while concurrently seeking an additional incremental term loan valued at $1.5 billion. The broadcast TV station owner plans to use the funds to help pay for its merger with Meredith Local Media.  On Monday, Gray had more to say regarding how it will handle the final bill for those Meredith television properties.

Audacy Inc., which one week ago gained attention in San Francisco for saying goodbye to the Alternative format after 35 years with a change at KITS-FM to Adult Hits, has just said "Bye, Buckaroos" to the only Country music station covering the Big Apple and the majority of the New York Tri-State area.

How can the FCC improve the regulatory fee process for broadcast licensees of radio and television stations? The NAB has some suggestions, and offered them to the Commission in a filing submitted Thursday by the leading lobbying voice in Washington for AMs, FMs, UHFs and VHFs across the U.S. 

The top two executives at the helm of the nation's No. 1 audio content creation and distribution company have distributed an internal memo to all employees that describes in detail how all will "never 'return to the office' as well all knew it."