the HOT List

The FCC is planning to increase application fees and add new fee categories for broadcasters. And, the NAB says, that's not cool. That's why it has filed comments with the Commission arguing that broadcasters already fork over to Washington a disproportionately large share of the agency’s costs, relative to the benefits received.

The NAB brief, filed with the Supreme Court on Monday night, largely sides with the Republican majority of the Commission in its view that the Third Circuit Federal Court of Appeals "overstepped authority" in striking FCC’s "modernization" of its local ownership rules.

Forecast takes it a step beyond numbers and inside sources, including insights and analyses from outside experts to deliver a broader, more objective big picture view. Here's what we'll be talking about and whose sharing their perspectives this year at Forecast LIVE!

Serving Western Kentucky's Purchase region, along with a portion of Southern Illinois and Southeastern Missouri, are a pair of UHF digital stations providing MyNetworkTV and FOX programming to the market, respectively. Until today, they've been licensed to Sinclair. With regulatory approval, that will soon change -- to Soo Kim's gain.

If you’ve always wanted to attend the 18th annual Forecast conference, presented virtually this year as Forecast LIVE, but were unable due to the travel or expense, this is your opportunity. The event will play out over two sessions, Tuesday, December 8, and Wednesday, December 9. It may never happen again – don’t be sorry and miss it!

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.