the HOT List

As 2021 begins, RBR+TVBR has learned that Deb McDermott is shedding her ownership interest in the two stations Standard Media acquired from Citadel in May 2019. This gives her interest in stations serving Providence, R.I., and Lincoln, Neb., to Soo Kim. There's a likely explanation as to why this is being done.

Mediacom cable TV service subscribers in 12 DMAs across the U.S. presently lack access to at least one of their home market's Big Four affiliates. Why? Of course it's another retransmission consent impasse, which has led Mediacom -- by law -- to drop some 15 broadcast signals from its respective market lineups. The MVPD puts the blame on TEGNA.

A company that heavily invested in broadcast television spectrum across the end of the 2010s on Monday completed the sale of three full-power TV stations and a low-power TV translator. It marks the company's downsizing in a trio of major markets. It also heralds a turning point for a company that quietly installed a new CEO in late November.

Nearly one week ago, Verizon Fios started to warn its customers that "some channels" could be unavailable in the coming days. Why? It seems a retransmission consent pact with one broadcast TV station owner wasn't likely to get signed before the old one expired. Or was it? It turns out Verizon's howls about a potential "blackout" were premature.

If you watch NBC's affiliate in markets such as Buffalo and Portland, Ore., you're in no danger of facing any sort of channel change. The same can be said for NBC affiliates serving the Tampa Bay region and Columbus, Ohio. That's because the Peacock parent is starting 2021 with two valuable new affiliation agreements -- with some of broadcast TV's biggest players.

Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs has said the radio industry has a "youth problem." Now, he's taken a close look at the "Kids in America," to reference a big hot hit from this week in 1981. It appears the radio industry is too focused on music from 1981 and the listeners who remember them as hot hits, rather than as classics to enjoy alongside today's "best music."

On March 30, with COVID-19 pandemic concerns cratering media industry stocks and questions galore arising over the company's RSN deal with FOX, Sinclair Broadcast Group shares dipped to $12.25, a price last seen roughly eight years ago. Nine months later, SBGI has rebounded so strongly that it is just pennies away from its year-to-date high.

On July 13,  paperwork was submitted to the FCC seeking its approval of the sale of a former Tribune Media property serving the Big Apple. The buyer? A favored shared services partner of Nexstar Media Group. The Commission gave its blessing to the deal, and on Wednesday it formally closed.

With 2021 just two days away, what more could Dish deal with in a year that saw retrans tussles with The E.W. Scripps Co., Nexstar and Cox Media Group? Just ask the owners of a trio of TV stations that have taken the lead in the rollout of NEXTGEN TV and ATSC 3.0.

On October 19, a broker release obtained by RBR+TVBR revealed that Ramar Communications had agreed to sell The CW Network affiliate in Lubbock, along with two low-power facilities, to Gray Television. This required a closer look by the FCC, and it has just given its decision on the deal. It's saying yes to the transaction, brokered by Kalil & Co.

The FCC last week gave the green light -- with agreed-to conditions -- to Searchlight III UTD and ForgeLight's acquisition of a majority stake of Univision Holdings. This set the wheels in motion on reaching a closing date before the end of 2020, as originally envisioned. On Tuesday afternoon, the transaction was formally consummated.

Across December, stories of discord and disconnect dominated the headlines, as disgruntled MVPD customers were left to bemoan the loss of local TV stations due to two big retransmission consent fee impasses. As 2020 comes to a close, Gray Television can rejoice in its signing of a carriage agreement with the nation's No. 5 cable TV services provider.

On Wall Street, a "SPAC" is shorthand for a "Special Purpose Acquisition Company." The man who once owned Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners has just formed one, and it marks his desire to establish a media company that could be the latest entity to take advantage of growth in sports gaming and content focused on the bettor, if not broader areas.

The agreement restores Nexstar’s 164 local television stations across the country and Nexstar’s wholly-owned cable network, WGN America, to DISH Network’s programming line-up. WGN America will also launch on DISH’s streaming service, Sling TV, in early 2021. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Gray Television has 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 an ABC affiliate serving Sarasota and Bradenton, Fla., and two stations in South Carolina.