the HOT List

In a move the Baltimore-headquartered company says is emblematic of its increased news investment, Sinclair Inc. is immediately expanding its nationally distributed news program to time slots at a dozen TV stations where, until now, syndicated fare had been airing.

 Rob Bonta shared that the agreement with the company led by CEO David Ellison "includes court enforceable guardrails to resolve the antitrust issues at the center of our case, protect competition and consumer choice, and provide for the production of significantly more films and a minimum of $1.5 billion in additional investment in domestic film production."

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Friday deferred a request from a quartet of Democrats running for elected office in the 2026 mid-term cycle that would have forced the FCC to issue a swift ruling on whether or not the "lowest unit rate" includes Political Action Committees or is limited to the candidates themselves.

The Media Bureau's Video Division has granted the company's Petition for Declaratory Ruling — triggering criticism from the lone Democrat serving as a FCC Commissioner and from a fired Commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission. It puts partial ownership of CBS in the hands of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the FCC have announced that they will be teaming up to conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. Word of the test, scheduled for mid-November, came via a Public Notice from the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.

A news helicopter covering a deadly collision between a sports utility vehicle and a Los Angeles Metro Bus crashed in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley early Tuesday evening, resulting in the death of an aerial reporter covering the scene for the NBCUniversal Local television stations serving Southern California and two others.

Two of the nation's largest television ownership groups — each of whom have invested significantly in the ATSC 3.0 digital broadcast standard — have come together for a joint consumer education campaign designed to increase awareness and understanding of NEXTGEN TV. 

Acting FCC Media Bureau Chief Alex Sanjenis has moved ahead with "procedures and other requirements" governing an application for review filed by four Democrats pertaining to the Commission's "lowest unit charge" political advertising rules.

An industry being reshaped by AI, streaming, and shifting consumer attention gets to listen to a voice who has spent three decades inside that disruption. That's why the Radio + Television Business Report is proud to be welcoming best-selling author Larry Bailin to Forecast 2027 on November 12 in New York.

In her new role, Ronna Steber is being asked to "drive advertising sales strategies and establish best practices throughout Gray’s extensive portfolio of top-rated local television stations and digital assets." She spent more than two decades at "FOX 56" in Lexington, Ky., before joining Gray eight years ago.

On Friday, the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee revealed that it would hold a nomination hearing this Thursday for the woman nominated by President Trump to serve as a FCC Commissioner.  Evidently, Ted Cruz didn't factor in the very real possibility that Danielle Thumann Severs may not be available to appear on Capitol Hill, given her stage of pregnancy

Continued strength in mobile advertising, coupled with a rise in political ad spend as the midterm elections near, has led BIA Advisory Services to update its 2026 U.S. Local Advertising Forecast. Now, it projects total local ad revenue to reach a dollar amount nearly 1% higher than its April estimate.

Some 111 local broadcast TV stations owned by Gray Media will now be able to distribute their local news and other station-originated programming to the nation, via the free streaming television platform owned by Allen Media Group.

There's new life to a fight to limit "lowest unit rates" to actual political candidates seeking election advertising at the cheapest price, rather than allowing political action committees and what the former Ohio Senator and now Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Ohio claims is "dark money" fueled by "National Republicans and their billionaire backers."

A TEGNA-licensed NBC affiliate ultimately under the ownership of Nexstar Media Group has told an Ohio federal district court judge that the firing of a photojournalist was justified and did not violate the station's collective bargaining agreement with a key workers' union.