the HOT List

"While conditions remain quite challenging, they have improved significantly since April when the economy bottomed out," Entercom leader David Field said in an internal memo distributed to staff early Wednesday. As the audio media industry seeks to recover from COVID-19 related ad dollar nosedives, Field's words are perhaps the industry pep talk that's been needed.

As Washington tries to understand the why behind the withdrawal of Republican Mike O'Rielly's renomination as a FCC Commissioner by President Trump, media industry executives are asking what happens next for O'Rielly. There's no easy answer, but at least one communications attorney has illustrated what could transpire in the next six months.

We knew it wouldn't be pretty. But, just how downbeat would Beasley Media Group's second quarter results be? Analysts and investors got the answer Tuesday morning. Year-over-year net revenue tumbled by 54%.

After reaching its COVID-19 fueled depths in April, the ad marketplace is slowly returning to the pre-pandemic levels in June. That's according to the latest data from Standard Media Index, which shows that in June, the national ad marketplace dipped by "only" 9%.

In mid-June, it became known that the owner of nine Mid-Missouri radio stations — in addition to a publishing arm, a digital media services division, and a branding and voiceover segment — was highly interested in entering Southwestern Missouri. Don Zimmer was doing due diligence on an opportunity. Now, he's formally moving ahead with market entry into Springfield. 

What role could the release of Entercom Communications' second quarter financial results, set for August 7, have on its stock valuation? That's a question that Zacks Equity Research sought the answer to. Here's what it has to say.

According to the most recent iteration of the FCC's FM Table of Allotments, a Class C1 FM licensed to Granado, Tex., some 70 miles southwest of Houston, had been added. That posed a problem involving Lone Star State licensee Roy E. Henderson. But, it wasn't of his hand. Rather, the Media Bureau made a mistake.

As part of his virtual Luncheon Series address to conservative Washington, D.C. think tank The Media Institute, FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly made it clear that he's very displeased with the lack of diverse media ownership in the U.S. But, what will he do to help remedy the situation?

Since her departure from Nielsen as SVP/GM of Multicultural Growth and Strategy, Gil has played an integral role in the growth and strategy of NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. Now, Gil is taking on a wider role as part of what the Comcast unit calls "a realignment of its leadership team."

Preferred shareholders who are in a long-running battle with the Hispanic media company asked the Media Bureau to decline SBS's request to withdraw a "PDR," noting that it relates to ongoing litigation in a Delaware Chancery Court between the two parties. What, then, did Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey declare?

In January, a settlement put to rest a vociferous squabble between failed merger partners Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media, which saw competing breach of contract claims. The end of the battle put the wheels in motion on delivery of cash and a Kentucky TV station to Tribune's new owner, Nexstar Media Group. Six months later, the deal is being consummated.

The Spring 2020 audience estimates for nine markets will be the last for Nielsen Audio. But, it has nothing to do with its “optimization plan,” announced in early July.

On New Year's Day 1989, Miami's WSVN-7 embarked on an uncertain journey. With loose ties to then-new FOX, it invested heavily in flashy, sensationalist TV journalism that revolutionized the daily newscast. It's thanks to WSVN-7 and WHDH-7 in Boston owner Ed Ansin, who has passed away.

The latest retransmission fee impasse has arrived. And, it blocks 60 local TV stations owned by The E.W. Scripps Co. from reaching Dish consumers. Scripps' Local Media President, Brian Lawlor, blamed Dish for its "refusal to negotiate to a fair agreement."

In the petition for review, filed Friday, the nation's biggest voice in Washington for broadcast radio and TV argues that the Commission's order authorizing unlicensed usage of the 6 GHz spectrum band unlawfully fails to protect existing licensed users in the band from potential interference arising from unlicensed operations.