the HOT List

In August 2019, the FCC revealed that several owned by Cumulus Media were in violation of a rule one Cumulus station broke before, resulting in a Consent Decree it ended up violating. The result? A hefty Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture. Now, despite the dissent of Geoffrey Starks, the Commission has signed off on a forfeiture order.

Jacobs Media on Wednesday offered a three-hour CES 2021 virtual tour of what’s hot for radio broadcasters. Xperi SVP of Broadcast Joe D’Angelo was one of the participants. What are his key takeaways from what he's seen so far? Joe shares all in this latest RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast, presented by DOT.FM. LISTEN HERE

A coalition of news organizations today sent a letter to federal law enforcement agencies calling for greater transparency and timely, vital information about the January 6, 2021 insurgency by supporters of President Trump on the U.S. Capitol Building and the possibility of further violence — including on Inauguration Day.

Even as social media companies struggle to combat misleading information on their platforms, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that 53% of adult American respondents receive their news on social media sites “often,” or “sometimes.” And, of the 11 social media sites asked about as regular sources of news in the study, Facebook sits on top.

Once again, retransmission consent negotiations gone bad generated many news headlines over the last six weeks. Yet, ACA Connects President/CEO Matthew M. Polka notes, those talks have mostly concluded. Polka says results "were consistent with what was expected as broadcasters continued to impose unconscionable rate hikes on consumers for what they call 'free TV.'”

Its broadcast properties include such CBS affiliates as WPEC-12 in West Palm Beach. And, that affiliation -- along with those for 12 other stations -- won't be changing anytime soon. However, nine CBS stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group aren't included in this group, and we've listed those stations.

Gray Television in late December 2020 moved forward with the submission to the FCC of a formal Good Faith Complaint against Frontier Communications in response to the MVPD’s failure to reach a new retransmission consent agreement tied to one of its legacy systems for three TV stations. On Monday, Frontier filed its response with the Commission.

Less than 24 hours after a major shakeup in its corporate ranks, Univision Communications has moved forward with its widely discussed plans to launch an advertising-supported streaming service serving Spanish-speaking U.S. Hispanics.

On Dec. 29, Searchlight III UTD and ForgeLight‘s acquisition of a majority stake of Univision Holdings from Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, TPG, Thomas H. Lee Partners, and Saban Capital Group formally closed. With that, Wade Davis succeeded Vince Sadusky as Univision's CEO. Now, major changes are coming to the C-Suite.

On Wednesday, Cox Media Group lit the PR cannons and lobbed a cannonball in the direction of Suddenlink, warning its subscribers that all CMG-owned broadcast TV channels were in danger of being "blocked" in lieu of a fresh retransmission consent agreement. Suddenlink responded. But, a deal couldn't be reached in time to prevent a "blackout."

In just days, Ajit Pai will become a former Chairman of the FCC, as Joe Biden is sworn in as the next President of the United States. On Friday, he addressed the Free State Foundation -- a group he last addressed one month before ascending to the top spot at the Commission. His focus was on how reforms made since 2017 bettered the FCC for good.

On a busy news day, there was a hot rumor catching fire among media brokers and analysts early Thursday: a major TV industry deal was about to transpire. By mid-afternoon, the news was confirmed. Quincy Media Inc., owner of 24 broadcast TV stations, is "considering" a sale of all of its assets.

Wednesday, January 6, 2021, was supposed to be the day when the Electoral College votes for U.S. President were counted in a largely ceremonial affair, sealing the victory of Joe Biden seen in the November election. That was hardly the case, as the U.S. Capitol was put on lockdown as Trump supporters disrupted the proceedings. Broadcast media sprang into action.

Liberty Broadband-owned GCI on Jan. 1 discontinued carriage of "FOX Alaska," "ABC Alaska," and "The CW Alaska" on a newly launched "skinny bundle" offering. It is pointing fingers at the broadcast TV station owner providing the three signals. Naturally, the broadcaster feels otherwise.

What can TEGNA shareholders expect in the way of Q4 and full-year 2020 results? While the official numbers won't come until March 1, TEGNA on Wednesday shared its preliminary results — along with a preview of what could very much be on the books for 2021.