the HOT List

What's the key takeaway from the 82-minute Supreme Court hearing of oral arguments in "FCC v. Prometheus," the cross-ownership rule remand appeal? Several justices seemed confused by what they are being asked to judge, and the Justice Department's Deputy Solicitor General serving as the FCC's counsel was definitely on the hot seat.

The U.S. Supreme Court for exactly 82 minutes on Tuesday morning heard a consolidated oral argument in "FCC v. Prometheus Radio Project," the Commission's appeal of a lower court's remand of its cross-ownership media rule rewrite. Fletcher Heald & Hildreth attorney Davina Sashkin provides an exclusive analysis of what transpired in this podcast, presented by DOT.FM. LISTEN HERE

Over the long MLK Day holiday weekend, a report from one Wall Street observer that claimed noted investor Warren Buffet had snagged "a 24.9% passive stake" in The E.W. Scripps Co. attracted much attention, including that of RBR+TVBR. Scripps now says that's not what's happening. Rather, Buffett is helping Scripps out with its ION Media purchase.

This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NATPE Miami conference is a virtual affair. And, it kicks off Tuesday (1/19) with four days of sessions that very much includes production -- in addition to content, research and investment.

What is the relationship between the number of independent local television news operations in a market and the size of the market, as measured by number of television households? That's a question two members of the FCC's Office of Economics and Analytics have addressed in a "Working Paper" that points to further DMA-level consolidation of news operations.

The controversial donation-based local broadcast TV streaming service that bills itself as a "digital translator" has entered yet another market. This time, Locast is planting stakes in Wisconsin — a timely move for Green Bay Packers fans looking forward to viewing their next National Football League playoff match.

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.