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It appears the COVID-19 novel coronavirus did more than quarantine humans. It killed, or put on ice, the consummation of many radio and TV station transactions. How bad was the second quarter of 2020 for brokers? It was the lowest in terms of quarterly deal volume since Kagan first started tracking broadcast station mergers and acquisitions in 1983.

A Northern Virginia-based business and network engineering consulting services firm that works closely with the broadcasting industry has just launched a new practice division. As Widelity Corporation describes it, the division is "one that could save radio and television stations thousands of dollars in FCC fines." Really? Doubters should listen to this podcast. LISTEN HERE

The latest U.S. broadcast station totals from the FCC show a significant drop in the number of licensed radio stations during the quarter. Meanwhile, the post-spectrum auction repack process has continued to reduce the number of commercially licensed UHF properties. Then, there is the number of FM translators licensed for broadcast: It continues to surge, in a big way.

With America heading in to the Independence Day weekend, the organization dedicated to promoting local media marketing solutions to the advertising community — via broadcast TV — lit a sparkler of its own Thursday. It issued a statement on "trust and ad-supported media" that addresses the #StopHateForProfit movement squelching ad dollars to social media.

The FCC in December issued a $151,005 fine against one Boston-based pirate radio operator targeting the Haitian community. Another pirate doing the same thing across three different signals was handed a record-setting $453,015 fine for his actions. On Wednesday, the Enforcement Bureau signed off on Consent Decrees with each of the admitted radio pirates.

Four Salt Lake City broadcast television stations have become the latest over-the-air properties to begin offering ATSC 3.0 "next generation" digital broadcast TV signals. It's the latest launch in a West Coast market for NEXTGEN TV, and involves duopolies owned by Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Tony Coles, a veteran radio programmer who serves as Division President of the iHeartMedia Markets Group, has been selected to launch an all-new 24/7 all-news audio service "dedicated to providing an objective, accurate and trusted source of continual news coverage with a Black voice and perspective." The move is in response to positive "Black Lives Matter" marketer moves.

The NAB on Monday filed reply comments with the FCC regarding its rulemaking on proposed regulatory fees for Fiscal Year 2020. In doing so, the biggest lobbying voice in Washington for broadcast media reiterated its call to freeze the fees, putting any halt to an increase in the dollars collected from radio and TV stations -- especially given the COVID-19 pandemic.

A #StopHateForProfit movement that started June 17 initially targeted Facebook and, specifically, sought to squelch online advertising on the platform across the month of July. It appears marketers have responded a bit stronger than what the hashtag harriers intended. A wider boycott is being seen. So ... have your radio stations' responded?

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.