the HOT List

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.

RBR+TVBR has confirmed the sale of Royce International's three FM radio stations, and the deal's approval by California Central District Federal Judge Jesus G. Bernal. Nevertheless, embattled licensee Ed Stolz has submitted a plan with the court that would allow him to keep the radio stations -- a plan a noted broker that's the receiver of these stations says falls short.

As broadcast TV companies such as Nexstar Media Group have seen their stock values fully recover from the COVID-19 influenced swoon of six months ago, the radio industry has failed to experience the same recovery. For Beasley Media Group, Tuesday's closing price for its stock is far worse than its March 23 dip -- and a low not seen since early 2009.

Silicon Dust was already making networked TV tuners and DVR devices when ATSC 3.0 pivoted Nick Kelsey’s attention. Intrigued, he turned to Kickstarter last April to raise $50,000 for a 3.0-capable device. The response? It was incredible, he says in this report from Cora Leighter.

By 2016, Mike Hubbard had built a sports radio and television network and enjoyed a successful political career as the first Republican Speaker of the House in Alabama in 136 years. Today, he's embarking on a four-year jail sentence for ethics violations tied to his non-broadcast career. As such, he's spinning his radio assets in a deal that's bound to get a lot of attention.

With all eyes on a controversial and expected White House nomination of the Supreme Court successor to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg likely reaching the Senate this week, a key Republican Senate leader has expressed doubts that moving forward with a vote on Mike O'Rielly's FCC replacement is in the cards.