the HOT List

Over 2021, forfeiture notices in the thousands of dollars have been issued right and left by the Bureau. Now, two have been issued to a Mississippi licensee who may have to fork over a total of $38,000 in fines. The stations involved aren't even full-power facilities.

A mysterious advertisement featuring an emergency alert system (EAS) code aired across several FOX stations on Sunday during its live coverage of National Football League action. The spots were immediately shared across social media and with the FCC, which could be moved to immediately draft a proposed forfeiture notice of sizable monetary value.

Broadcast media's biggest voice Inside the Beltway has "serious concerns" about Gigi Sohn. While her nomination is not being opposed by the NAB, it is very disturbed by her involvement in a now-shuttered service that purported to be a non-profit local TV-by-IP service that skirted around retransmission consent accords.

Mark December 1 at 10:30am Eastern on your calendar. That's when Gigi Sohn and Alan Davidson will get their Senate Commerce Committee nomination hearings for roles at the FCC and NTIA, respectively. The two Biden Administration picks are highly polarizing, and Senate Republicans are expected to do everything in their power to stop them from being seated.

A group of plaintiffs have sued the four audio media companies in a Dallas Federal District Court, arguing that they should be held liable, in some way, for airing programming tied to "a known fraud recidivist." Their complaints are tied to the FINRA-barred former broker who is behind the "Smart Oil & Gas Show," a syndicated radio program.

Following close examination of new COVID protocols from the Dutch government and consultation with key IBC stakeholders, IBC2021 recently declared that it is "firmly set" on delivering a safe and valuable event in Amsterdam from December 3-6. That all changed on Tuesday, with event organizers abruptly cancelling the event amid a high volume of vendor cancellations.

Measurement of national television "in a more precise manner" is the promise Nielsen seeks to deliver by enhancing its Nielsen Individual Commercial Metrics. This, it believes, will help transition audience estimates to a methodology based on individual ads — and not commercial minutes. What does this mean for broadcast media AEs and sales pros?

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted in favor of the Biden Administration's "Build Back Better" reconciliation package — a bill that includes provisions in the Local Journalism Sustainability Act. Will it pass the Senate, where Senators Manchin and Sinema could rewrite what the House passed in order to win over the support needed for a final OK?

After coming off a strong September, October 2021 all-media investment volume reached a new year-to-date high, leading into the holiday push. That's according to Standard Media Index's U.S. ad tracker. How does radio, in particular, rate compared to other media?

Small to mid-sized players continue to enjoy strong cash flow and boast low leverage levels. Forecast 2022 was the exclusive home for a discussion on their current performance, with The Cromwell Group's CEO joined by the owner of WISH-8 and WNDY-TV in Indianapolis, JVC Broadcasting's President/CEO, Lilly Broadcasting's CEO and noted broker and licensee Larry Patrick all participating.

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Pearl TV — the business organization led by Anne Schelle representing U.S. broadcast television companies — has shared the first images of an upcoming NEXTGEN TV holiday brand marketing campaign. For Pearl TV, the effort is designed to "deepen consumer awareness and engagement."

For the first time in its 19-year history, Forecast 2022 offered attendees an exclusive series of conversations that encompassed both the radio and television industries. And, welcoming broadcast TV leaders to Forecast was welcomed across the board — in particular by Borrell Associates CEO Gordon Borrell, who moderated an event-closing “Super Session.”

The former Republican Senator from Oregon, who has served as the NAB's head since November 2009, received the Radio Ink Lifetime Achievement Award at Forecast 2021, held Tuesday at the Harvard Club. Among those praising Smith: Caroline Beasley and Jordan Wertlieb.

Is investment in a publicly traded broadcast media company a wise one? Has Wall Street responded to the much-heralded benefits of NEXTGEN TV and the potential nontraditional revenue growth tied to the new ATSC 3.0 digital broadcast standard? Those are just some of the questions addressed at a Forecast 2022 morning session.

"A meeting is only as good as the results it inspires and/or achieves." Those are the words of Streamline Publishing President and Publisher Deborah Parenti as she welcomed a capacity in-person crowd of the broadcast media industry's top leaders at Forecast 2022, held at the Harvard Club in midtown Manhattan.