the HOT List

In 2020, she was ranked as one of RBR+TVBR's top Local TV Leaders, based on her longtime presence in the Motor City and as the head of the local NBC affiliate since 2008. It is now known that this nationally recognized VP/GM will soon retire from the Graham Media Group-owned station, ending an exemplary career in broadcast television.

For the fifth year in a row, representation of people of color in local TV news improved overall and, for the fourth year in a row, a record high percentage of the local TV news workforce are people of color. That's according to the final installment of the 2021 RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey.

A pair of FM radio stations serving the Delmarva region are being sold by the Ron Stone-led Adams Radio Group. Who's the buyer of these rockin' radio properties? Look no further than the local CBS affiliate. The deal is noteworthy, as it marks a cross-ownership move bringing radio stations to a TV station owner

Univision Communications has unveiled its plans for what it calls "a comprehensive global streaming service" that includes both free ad-supported and premium subscription-based options. This service would launch in the U.S. and Latin America in 2022.

The one-day conference, which attracts C-Suite media executives and Wall Street observers each year to the Harvard Club, grows in its 19th year with the addition of  broadcast television industry topics of conversation, insight and growth. 

The readers of RBR+TVBR have once again spoken, with nominations for the Broadcast Best Finance Leaders of 2021. It’s a ranked Top 15 list, as it was in 2020, and honors industry professionals who have demonstrated leadership prowess, fiscal skill, and the acknowledged respect of their peers. Who's at No. 1?

In addition to owning over-the-air television stations across the U.S., Gray Television is the parent of video production companies such as Raycom Sports, Tupelo Honey, and RTM Studios. Now, Gray is seeking to better monetize its internal content production portfolio when presenting to CMO, brand managers and advertising agencies.

Even with chip shortages hampering new auto inventory, squelching advertising dollars, Sinclair Broadcast Group is hitting all cylinders. With mid-term political dollars on the horizon and sports betting revenue projected to be significant, Sinclair's chief executive is excited about the "big uplift" that's already underway.

The VAB, the broadcast television industry's sales advocacy organization, has released a White Paper that finds that, based on the input from more than 200 marketers, 92% of these ad budget decisionmakers are adopting audience-based buying — at least to some degree.

An "expansive collaborative effort" is now underway to launch NEXTGEN TV service in the Nation's Capital, and it is calling on the academic resources and tech team of Howard University's public broadcasting TV station in Washington, D.C., to get the ball rolling.

He's been the leader of the company he founded with the purchase of an AM radio station in Secaucus, N.J., in the early 1980s — a property that served as the foundation of Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS). Now, Raúl Alarcón Jr. is handing his Presidential title to the individual that serves as SBS's Chief Operations Officer.

S&P Global Market Intelligence Senior Research Analyst Justin Nielson speaks with RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson to offer a preview of the 2021 Kagan Media Summit. You can listen to what he says right now in the latest InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM. LISTEN HERE

"As [the] economic recovery is stronger and faster than anticipated in several of the world’s largest ad markets — the U.S., U.K. and China, in particular — and consumption accelerates, brands need to reconnect with consumers," says MAGNA's Vincent Létang. Here in the states, that will yield the highest growth rate for the advertising market since 1981.

You've heard the reports about the demand in the 2021 Upfront season being quite strong. But, there's an ugly truth that MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson can't get past. Starting in 2015, TV ad spend, most likely due to declining cable network impressions, has "decoupled" from U.S. economic growth. The erosion forecast isn't pretty.

Today's sale of several unbuilt LPTV stations by DTV America, controlled by HC2 Holdings, is just one of many seen over the past several weeks. More could be on the way, as the Media Bureau has just issued a reminder to "certain permittees" of new digital LPTV translator stations that their construction deadline is fast approaching.