the HOT List

As NEXTGEN TV deployments unfold, the NAB believes broadcasters have discovered an area "where straightforward clarification of the Commission’s current rules would help broadcasters preserve existing service to viewers and a gap in the Commission’s 2017 rules that must be addressed."

As some in the radio industry focus on the third reduction in force it has engaged in this year, investors are playing a different tune when it comes to their sentiments on iHeartMedia and its radio station operations. The company's shares are on a growth spurt, and is trading consistently at a level last seen in early June.

Here's something that's clearly an anomaly in COVID-19 times: A media company focused on radio broadcasting swung to net income from a net loss in the third quarter of 2020. Believe it or not, that's exactly what transpired for the purveyor of Christian-themed and conservative Talk radio stations commonly known as Salem Media Group.

Add the Washington, D.C.-based multimedia company superserving Black consumers to the list of media entities that are promoting the fact that, on a month-by-month basis, the COVID-19 fiscal recovery is real, and meaningful. But, how did Urban One perform on a year-over-year basis in Q3? How did its cable TV networks perform against its radio divisions?

In November 2019, Matt Britton’s provocative insights about Gen Z’s audio consumption, their impact, and that of technology on radio today and tomorrow scored a home run with Forecast attendees. If you were there, you heard his impressive remarks. If not, here’s your chance. Britton is coming to the virtual Forecast 2021 LIVE event with a brand-new presentation.

With Searchlight Capital Partners and ForgeLight LLC just weeks away from closing on their majority ownership interest acquisition of Univision, the two related groups -- along with Mexico-based Grupo Televisa SAB -- have appointed new independent members to a reconstituted Univision Holdings Inc. Board of Directors.

The two top Democrats on the House Energy & Commerce Committee want the FCC to cease all work on "controversial items" now that Joe Biden has been elected President, pending any attempts by the White House to change that. The demand came as the Senate Commerce Committee considered President Trump's FCC Commissioner nominee.

In a battle for ears and eyeballs, how does media, most especially "traditional media," cut through the clutter and win back people’s trust? That's a question New York radio talk show host Juliet Huddy will pose to Megyn Kelly during a Forecast 2021 Live session. The two-day event is scheduled for December 8-9.

Nielsen will now measure advanced TV audiences by integrating "big data" from set-top-boxes for the two DBS players in the U.S. and one manufacturer's smart TVs while also enabling addressable TV measurement. The "advanced TV" plan allows for "the creation of a stronger linear currency," Nielsen says, adding some 55 million devices to its national TV measurement.

The benefits a restoration by Congress of the minority tax certificate would bring to increasing the percentage of broadcast TV and/or radio station owners who are either women or people of color is a top topic in 2020. A FCC Symposium session held Friday shared its potential strengths by putting a spotlight on one who benefited from it the first time around.

The Q3 earnings parade continued Monday morning with the release of the results for broadcast TV station owner TEGNA. In its view, the "strength and durability" of its business model is what propelled it to "record" single quarter revenue in Q3 2020. Exceptional political dollars were a critical part of that "record" report card.

Things were indeed better for Townsquare Media in Q3, and digital growth and continued success from Townsquare Interactive are definitely positives. That's why the year-over-year revenue decline Townsquare saw isn't really so bad. "Our improvement from Q2 to Q3 is meaningful and strong," company CEO Bill Wilson said to RBR+TVBR via e-mail early Monday.

The board of directors of AT&T Inc. has selected an individual who served as Chairman of the FCC from 1997 through the inauguration of George W. Bush as U.S. President nearly 20 years ago.

"With due respect to President Trump’s rights to judicial review of election results, it is time to acknowledge the election of Joe Biden and to allow him the chance to bind our nation back together.” Gordon Smith said in a statement released Saturday by the National Association of Broadcasters.

The Q3 earnings parade continued Friday with more good tidings from the broadcast TV industry's biggest station owners: The E.W. Scripps Co. reported revenues that surpassed Street expectations, sending shares up by more than 9% in pre-market trading on Friday.