the HOT List

Yet another battle royale over retransmission consent fees has started. This time, it involves one of the nation's two direct broadcast satellite (DBS) companies and the company that Standard General, headed by Soo Kim, and Apollo Global Management seek to own.

Serious allegations against a high-profile on-air personality at a radio or TV can create myriad concerns for the individual being targeted by their accuser. It can also present a host of challenges for the employer of the person being accused. What's a manager to do if a situation mirroring that of Hubbard Broadcasting in Chicago surfaced at their stations?

Monday's big service outages for social media giants Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are tied to a denial of service (DNS) issue. It's not a cybercrime, but it is a huge threat to broadcast TV and radio. How can one prevent it? Cyber security expert Steve Morgan's upcoming Forecast 2022 appearance couldn't be more timely to tackle the subject.

Given the average price of a TV equipped with NEXTGEN TV capabilities, we just had to catch up with Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle. Are consumers really coughing up more than $1,000 for a new set, and at an impressive rate of new TV set sales? Schelle shares all in this fresh InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM. LISTEN HERE

The technological advantages HD Radio can bring to an AM radio station hasn't stopped licensees from turning in their licenses for forlorn stations in the kHz band. Saga Communications did so last week. Now, another licensee has done so, in Portland, Ore.

Next year will likely be another record-breaking political cycle. How big? One competitive ad intelligence SaaS company is projecting $8.9 billion in political media spend — the highest ever for a midterm cycle. But, a breakout of dollars solely going to broadcast TV suggests a significant percentage of political dollars are going elsewhere.

For Foster Garvey PC and a coalition comprised of 18 licensees, the Commission's proposed rule for how the Commission can recommence the collection of data on the Broadcast Station Annual Employment Report needs an update. The gender choices listed simply aren't enough, given today's USA.

Who knew that the Chief Research Officer of the TVB would be as hard-hitting as a 60 Minutes journalist? Hadassa Gerber proved to be quite the moderator at a TVB Forward Conference session on "the future of measurement," the first of a series of panelists delivered across the TVB's virtual affair on Thursday.

The local broadcast TV industry in 2022 will generate $21 billion in advertising revenue, with $19.3 billion in over-the-air (OTA) revenue and $1.7 billion in digital. Those fresh estimates are courtesy of BIA Advisory Services. And, they point to a healthy 26.5% increase over 2021 for the industry.

The Enforcement Bureau of the FCC has entered into a Consent Decree with ViacomCBS that settles an investigation over violations of the Commission's accessibility rules at the company's Pluto Inc. TV service. As such, ViacomCBS is paying a civil penalty to the U.S. Treasury and is not being fined by the Commission. A compliance plan has also been ok'd.

Three leaders associated with the MMTC have responded to a Media Bureau docket that seeks a review of EEO compliance and enforcement in the broadcast and multichannel video programming industries. In short, the MMTC leaders believe that, "While data collection is one essential element of an EEO compliance program, it is hardly the only element."

Legislation that two House Members who sit on the powerful Energy & Commerce Committee say would free up new airwaves for wireless broadband use by the public has been teed up in the lower body of Congress.

In late 2019, Richard French’s RNN and Ted Bartley‘s NRJ struck a deal that saw French's broadcast TV company acquire 8 stations in a $81.2 million deal in which Moelis & Company served as the seller's broker/financial adviser. Now, RNN is selling one of those properties. The buyer? Look no further than the ABC affiliate in the 50th state.

With many insights for radio and for television found in a just-released Futuri/SmithGeiger study, we asked Daniel Anstandig, founder and CEO of Futuri Media, to summarize much of the 36-page report. He obliged and is our guest on the latest InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM. LISTEN HERE

Following a V-shaped recovery in 2021, growth rates are bound to slow down somewhat in 2022. That said, MAGNA on Monday revealed that it still anticipates double-digit growth, bringing the market above the $300 billion mark for the first time.