the HOT List

Nielsen has just released the National Television Household Universe Estimates for the 2020-2021 TV season. The big takeaway: The number of TV homes in the U.S. increased by 400,000 year-over-year. Furthermore, the number of persons aged 2 and older in U.S. TV Households also jumped — by 0.2%.

On Friday, new images posted by Gray Television's KPLC-7 in Lake Charles, La., show just how lucky the news team was by not broadcasting from the station. These images were coupled by new information regarding the damage sustained to the SagamoreHill-owned CBS affiliate, a low-power facility, in Lake Charles.

Educational Media Foundation has been one of the most prolific buyers of radio stations in recent years. Now, the nation's second-largest licensee of FMs is grabbing more stations. This time, the company led by CEO Bill Reeves is grabbing a piece of "The Point," and a trio of FMs located in the Granite State.

When the former LBI Media emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, company co-founder Lenard Liberman was stripped of his CEO duties and replaced by Peter Markham, ahead of a wholesale company name change to Estrella Media. Now, Liberman has returned as a broadcast station owner. And, it involves La Isla del Encanto -- Puerto Rico -- and broker Kalil & Co.

There's a new Audience Measurement GM at Nielsen. In this newly created role, the audience measurement and data analytics company's Chief Technology Officer for measurement products is getting a promotion -- and will be charged with unifying linear TV, advanced TV (AVOD) and digital video tools and services.

In this exclusive audio interview with RBR+TVBR, the News Director of WJHG-7 and WECP-LP 18 in Panama City Beach, Fla., recalls the horrific aftermath of Hurricane Michael, which ravaged the market in October 2018. With federal aid lacking, her stations' news department sprang to action -- an effort just honored by the NAB Leadership Foundation. LISTEN HERE

Don't think the COVID-19 impacted audience estimates are of value to a network radio group's sales team? You're not alone. The Network Radio Research Council (NRRC) on Tuesday formally recommended that all network/national buying and selling be based on the Fall 2019 Nationwide survey.

On July 23, Salem Media Group shares achieved a year-to-date high. Whatever excited investors then disappeared by the time Salem's Q2 2020 results surfaced earlier this month. Since then, SALM has been in a nosedive. Now, with Monday's Closing Bell, Salem has a dubious achievement: Its shares are now valued at just under $1 per share.

Wall Street analyst Michael Nathanson has released an investor note in which he begs Fox Corporation C-Suiters to consider a sale of its networks and O&O TV stations. In doing so, Nathanson offered some perspective on the enterprise value of four "major pure-play station operators." The result: Gray's enterprise value is higher than that of FOX stations and the network.

Saturday night was a special one for Gray Television, a Graham Media Group property, and radio stations owned by Townsquare Media, Bonneville International, Alpha Media and a growing privately held operator in Missouri. That's because all are owners of stations honored during the National Association of Broadcasters Leadership Foundation's 2020 Service to America Awards.

On May 29, RBR+TVBR was first to report on Gray Television‘s decision to acquire low-power TV station KATH-LD 5 in Juneau, and translator KSCT-LP 5 in Sitka, Alaska, from GCI’s Denali Media Holdings. Signing off for the buyer: Nancy Johnson, GM of Gray’s NBC affiliate KTUU-2 in Anchorage. Now, Gray is grabbing control of another GCI property.

A broadcast TV company led by Ohio-based Dennis Thatcher is grabbing two additional stations that hold shared services contracts with Nexstar. The seller? Sheldon Galloway's operation.

Today, as the U.S. celebrates "National Radio Day" and WWJ's 100th anniversary is observed, its success continues despite ongoing worries that the "Radio" will be forever lost as in-vehicle entertainment-filled dashboards become commonplace across all cars and trucks. What's the view on radio's presence in the car from Fred Jacobs?

As part of our salute to WWJ/Detroit's 100th birthday and to Radio, RBR+TVBR has placed its focus on Detroit. For the latest RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast, we engaged Detroit Public Media President/CEO Rich Homberg in a conversation that spans from life at a PBS Member station to recipes for success built on a 12-year tenure as WWJ's VP/GM. LISTEN HERE

Are social justice initiatives designed to elevate the Black community in the U.S. "trendy," or representative of a real sea change?  What role does Black Media play in this ... and what exactly is Black Media? Key Black media leaders tackled these topics and more during Wednesday's first-ever Black Media Symposium, a RBR+TVBR online event presented by Triton Digital.