the HOT List

We have all assumed that pro sports leagues will return to game play soon. "But what if that is a false assumption and these current plans are scuttled due to rising infections and over-crowded hospitals in states hosting the games?" It's a question MoffettNathanson's Michael Nathanson asks -- with an answer that could impact Beasley and Entercom.

Woodstock, Va., is exactly 94 miles from the main campus of American University, in Northwest Washington. Yet, that's the home for a low-power TV station that relocated there following the FCC's incentive auction. As such, it is co-located with a sibling LPTV facility already using the tower. Now, these two small TV signals are being sold to the owner of WJLA-7.

"While we don't have anything COVID-19 directly in the title for this presentation, the unprecedented times that we are in make it difficult not to have COVID-19 in the backdrop," notes S&P Global Market Intelligence arm Kagan Research Analyst Seth Shafer. With those words, the second of two virtual Kagan Media Summit webinars got underway. We have the details.

Revenue management. Revenue generation. Digital audience engagement. All are important for Radio, but perhaps the digital conversation gets a bit muddled because, well, it is still a foreign language to the traditional, linear audio content purveyor. This RBR+TVBR INFOCUS PODCAST could help make the revenue potential very clear for radio stations. LISTEN HERE

After a lengthy saga that has lasted nearly a decade, a valuable piece of property that had been home to the towers of WMAL-AM 630, serving the National Capital Region, has been sold to one of the nation's biggest residential home builders.

A group of 24 licensees under the name "Broadcasters for Limited Program Origination" believe a GeoBroadcast Solutions LLC "Zonecasting" plan opens up an FM translator's ability to originate limited programming content, too. It's a bold request -- and could face stiff opposition from groups who insist FM translators are in no way similar to a full-powered FM's booster.

With Richard Blumenthal asking a litany of questions to Ajit Pai and his Republican colleagues on a variety of subjects including the NTIA, the latest FCC Oversight Hearing conducted by the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee unfolded on Capitol Hill with a touch of social distancing -- but nothing different with respect to the queries and responses.

Across a 17-year tenure at Nexstar Media Group, Brian Jones was instrumental in helping chart the expansion of the local television broadcasting operation. More recently, he was the person in charge of Nexstar Broadcasting’s local market digital offerings. Now, Jones is stepping down, as he has announced his upcoming retirement.

The Media Rating Council (MRC) has granted continued accreditation to Nielsen's Local People Meter (LPM) market service. At the same time, the MRC has given its approval to Set Meter measurement services in 19 of 31 U.S. markets where the Set Meter is in use.

Late last week, just in time for Juneteeth, "emotion AI" television advertising research firm Realeyes released some intriguing data regarding consumer response to brands that rolled out Blacks Lives Matter-themed creative. Were the ads well received? Realeyes marketing head Max Kalehoff shares the details in this RBR+TVBR INFOCUS Podcast. LISTEN HERE

The enormous growth seen by Urban One has led seven company directors to sell shares and/or exercise options, "given the movement in the price" of both the company's Class D and Class A shares. The media company superserving African American audiences on Monday saw more volatile activity, with Class A shares dipping by nearly 50% before an after-hours rise.

In April, a prominent U.S. Senator was vociferous in his quest to quash Mandarin-language broadcasts targeting Los Angeles-area residents via a Mexico-based mega-watt AM. His argument? It was a mouthpiece for propaganda, funded in part by the Chinese government. Now, the FCC has effectively killed the operation -- because of a glaring omission on its FCC ask.

The first of two virtual gatherings in lieu of an in-person Kagan Media Summit in New York saw three leading broadcast TV executives share details on the state of their respective businesses in a roundtable discussion hosted by S&P Global Market Intelligence Managing Director of Research Robin Flynn.

After hearing updates from three companies covered by esteemed Wall Street analyst house MoffettNathanson at a conference held this week, the firm is moving forward with something it may not have anticipated just one month ago. It's raising its estimates for the second quarter and for the 2020 calendar year for both national and local TV advertising revenue.

While not quite as impressive as the year-over-year increases seen in March and April, as much of the U.S. was in strict shelter-at-home quarantines tied to the novel coronavirus, household consumer packaged goods (CPG) spending in May 2020 was still up significantly compared to one year ago.