the HOT List

Roland Martin recently signed on as a contributor to the Black Information Network (BIN). He's one of two esteemed keynote interview participants at RBR+TVBR's Black Media Symposium, presented by Triton Digital. The hour-long live event is on Wednesday, and RBR+TVBR spoke with Martin for an advanced look at what's up for discussion.

Come Wednesday, Emmy-winning commentator and journalist Ed Gordon will serve as a co-keynote interview participant in RBR+TVBR's Black Media Symposium, presented by Triton Digital. The hour-long live event on Facebook Live and the RBR+TVBR YouTube channel is a free event. RBR+TVBR spoke with Gordon, who offers a preview of what's to come Aug. 19.

Omar Thompson is a panelist on the August 19 Black Media Symposium, and he spoke with RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson ahead of the event in this fresh InFocus Podcast. How are marketers are responding to Black consumer needs? Get the answer in this 10-minute listen! LISTEN HERE

How did Meredith's Local Media Group fare in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2020? Viewership is up thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, and two new syndicated daytime programs based on national media brands are forthcoming. The financial picture? Meh.

In a preview of what attendees can expect to learn from the August 19 Black Media Symposium, RBR+TVBR spoke with event participant DuJuan McCoy. He's the owner of two TV stations in Indianapolis. Are there positives to being an independent operator at this time? How has 2020 impacted initial plan of action? We get the answers.

Sumner Redstone, a towering figure in the media industry who served as Chairman/CEO of National Amusements, Inc., and was the controlling shareholder of what is now ViacomCBS, has died. He was 97 years old.

On January 31, two Indianapolis TV stations fell dark on DirecTV, as a retrans consent deal agreed to by the stations' prior ownership lapsed. Six months later, a new deal remains absent. Now, the stations' owner has taken DirecTV parent AT&T to court. He's says it is now a matter of racial discrimination. AT&T responded with a statement to RBR+TVBR.

From Jerry Springer to the syndicated game show Family Feud in prime-time, a full-power TV station licensed to Sterling, Colo., that uses a Class A low-power facility in Denver as a rebroadcast partner has made a name for itself as "K3." Now, "K3" is a step closer to getting Dish Network from adding its main feed and digital multicast channels to the local lineup.

The long-awaited closing of the former tower site of WMAL-AM in Washington, D.C., brought in millions of dollars. Now, a big tower portfolio deal with a Boca Raton, Fla.-based company is in the works. The deal couldn't come soon enough: The company's Q2 results were greatly hampered by COVID-19, and negative adjusted EBITDA was seen.

Fact: The E.W. Scripps Co. enjoyed a Q2 revenue gain, thanks largely to more TV stations in its stable. Fact: Scripps' operating expenses surged as the COVID-19 pandemic impacted ad revenue. As such, the media company that has agreed to sell its podcasting business to Sirius XM for $325 million saw a much wider net loss, as local media profit declined by 41%.

As RBR+TVBR reported late Wednesday, NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith on August 4 was believed to have suffered a stroke. On Thursday evening, Smith was strong enough to a pen a letter to his "friends," in which he confirmed it was prevented.

In 1964, the FCC first adopted rules to restrict the duplication of programming on commonly-owned broadcast radio stations operating in the same geographic area. The current version of the rule was adopted in 1992. As of today, the rule's end is on the way. And Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks isn't wholly pleased.

What is perhaps the biggest topic of interest in D.C. for radio and TV broadcasters right now? We get the latest on Lowest Unit Rate regulatory policy, the FCC's station license renewal period now underway and the political file rule, among other things, from Brad Deutsch at Foster Garvey in this fresh RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast. LISTEN HERE

"Business fell off a cliff," Gray Television head Hilton Howell Jr. said at the start of the company's Q2 2020 earnings call. "It was deep, and unknown." Yet, Howell continued, as the quarter deteriorated, each month got better. "In every cloud there is a silver lining," he said, with an air of optimism. "Our business slowed less than we feared."

On Sept. 19, 2019, the former Tribune Media properties, including WGN America, officially joined the Nexstar Media Group family. As such, it's only natural that Nexstar's second quarter earnings showed year-over-year growth, even during a crippling pandemic. So ... how did Nexstar perform on a same-station basis?