the HOT List

Three full-power TV stations and a digital Class A facility that's home to the MyNetwork TV affiliate have joined the list of stations that are now broadcasting with NEXTGEN TV, the new digital standard tied to the rollout of ATSC 3.0. The moves add Austin to the list of locales where NEXTGEN TV is now alive.

The first session of a week-long all-virtual Radio Show kicked off Monday with a highly positive conversation that sent one clear message: AM and FM radio has its benefits, and this has been seen across the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just after 10am Eastern on Friday, one of the biggest announcements in recent memory regarding the future of broadcast media was confirmed by the Chairman of the FCC himself. The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in FCC vs. Prometheus. This puts the matter of ownership rule modernizaton in the hands of the nation's highest legal body.

Late Thursday, the House of Representatives — led by Democrats — approved The Heroes Act, which includes PPP provisions to radio and TV stations. But, don’t cheer just yet.

Promising “not a Zoom conference, but something unlike anything you’ve experienced before,” TVB President/CEO Steve Lanzano welcomed a record-breaking group of attendees to Thursday's all-virtual TVB ALT FORWARD conference. The day-long event included a vibrant conversation on TV consumer measurement, and impressions, featuring the CEO of Graham Media Group.

With shares trading Thursday morning at 17 1/2 cents ahead of a planned voluntary deregistration of its publicly traded stock announced in late July, Spanish Broadcasting System has formally confirmed that it is exploring refinancing opportunities.

The FCC has moved forward with the adoption of a key piece of regulatory action that it says will bring "improvements to the transparency and timeliness of the cross-agency review process for applications from companies with foreign ownership seeking to participate in the U.S. telecommunications market."

Here's something that could result in a license revocation hearing if found guilty as charged. The owner of the "Austin Radio Network," comprised of a pair of FM radio stations serving Texas' state capital region, was indicted Monday for a felony evidence-tampering charge related to the March 2019 death of a local man.

TEGNA has reached a deal with a major Hispanic-targeted media company that will give it improved signal coverage in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. The deal illustrates just how valuable UHF signals have become in a digital TV world.

With all of the discussion on trust, and all of the dollars poured into local news by broadcast TV, the following information may seem frustrating. Alas, it's another sign of the digital times. Some 26% of U.S. adults polled by Pew Research Center say they get their news on the massive Google-owned video sharing site known as YouTube.

FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly is already preparing for the future. In communication to RBR+TVBR, he confirms he is leaving no matter who wins the 2020 U.S. presidential race. On Friday, he also released a blog post offering what may very well be his final thoughts on media rule "modernization" -- and the need to further deregulate local ownership rules.

The situation on Wall Street for the company led by Ed Christian and Sam Bush is far from bright, with respect to Saga shares. They're down by more than $6 a share since the start of August, and since mid-August have largely been below the COVID-19 fueled dip seen at the start of the pandemic.

Senate action is now needed to propel the bills into Federal law. Among the legislation: a bill that would require the FCC to consider, with the input of its Office of Communications Business Opportunities, market entry barriers for socially disadvantaged individuals in the communications marketplace.

On West Palm Beach's Australian Avenue, a low-rise white structure bearing the ION Media logo is within walking distance of the offices and studios of NBC affiliate WPTV-5, one of the crown jewels of The E.W. Scripps Company. Call it serendipity: From today, the two operations will become siblings thanks to a multi-billion deal that brings ION to Scripps.

With the blockbuster transaction announced Thursday that will see The E.W. Scripps Co. merge with ION Media, some 23 ION stations will be divested in order to meet regulatory approval. It now appears ION's Denver O&O is one of the properties that will likely be spun, and it is thanks to a Scripps deal that doesn't involve ION at all.