the HOT List

Viewership across "over the top" (OTT) and connected TV (CTV) is showing no signs of slowing down. We know that. But, a new ZypMedia report could sound alarms at broadcast TV and radio companies looking to siphon as much money from local digital as possible.

After nearly 3 1/2 years of serving the TV industry with a commercial supply-side platform and private marketplace offering stations, agencies and brands a programmatic approach to buying and selling broadcast television inventory at scale, Cox Enterprises -- which is mourning the loss of its 100-year-old matriarch -- is shutting Videa down at the end of Q1.

In early April 2019, as the NAB Show in Las Vegas unfolded, DuJuan McCoy earned national attention for striking a $42.5 million deal to enter Indianapolis. Now, McCoy is in the spotlight as he's learning firsthand just how difficult inking retransmission consent agreements can be. McCoy's twin Hoosier properties are at risk of going dark across AT&T's trio of TV services.

Everyone in the know knew it was inevitable. On the final day of January 2020, it became official. Joe Ianniello is leaving ViacomCBS and will "ensure a smooth transition" for his successor, who will become President/CEO of CBS Entertainment Group -- the all-things CBS arm of the newly recombined company -- on March 23.

As the CMO of a global data science and marketing technology company notes, the Super Bowl isn't as super of a draw as it once was. Yet, that's not stopped networks and broadcast media companies from hiking ad rates. What does this mean for radio or TV stations airing the Big Game? Can media outlets with other "tent pole" events, or shoulder programming, also benefit?

What NFL team FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks supports may not be widely known, but his presence in Miami on Monday had little to do with Super Bowl LIV. He was at the Mandarin Oriental, where he addressed the NAB Joint Board of Directors. He delivered an address on what it means for broadcasters to adequately serve the public interest in the 21st Century.

It's been no secret that Miami-based Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) has been looking to pare property and assets it believes are not absolutely necessary to retain anymore. This explains why it is parting ways with a full-power TV station in Houston after nearly nine years of ownership. What's perhaps more noteworthy is who the buyer is.

The FCC's Enforcement Bureau revealed on Tuesday that it has been conducting an investigation into whether Salem Media Group violated the FCC's live broadcasting rule. It appears that Salem was involved in a violation of the Commission's regulations, as the company has agreed to a consent decree.

Until Monday, a legal battle that started in August 2018 against the former Tribune Media and Sinclair Broadcast Group was still on in America's First State. Now, it has concluded, thanks to a settlement that gives Tribune's new owner -- Nexstar Media Group -- cash and another TV station. The resolution also brings Nexstar the Rio Grande Valley's CBS affiliation.

In July 2019, a legal fight launched by America's four major broadcast television networks sought a final ruling on whether or not Locast's nonprofit IPTV model was permissible. Two months later, the service -- Locast -- countersued. Now, Locast is drawing attention for pushing ahead with the streaming of local broadcast TV channels in an Iowa market.

Two weeks ago, word first surfaced about major job losses at iHeartMedia. At the same, three senior programmers were promoted to Division EVPs for iHeartRadio’s National Programming Group, including a six-year Regional SVP/Programming for iHeartMedia’s Allentown/Harrisburg Region. Now, iHeartMedia has solidified its Pennsylvania leadership.

Thanks to its just-struck sale by Entravision Communications, a Las Vegas TV station is poised to drop Spanish-language programming in favor of English-language second-run crime dramas and a smattering of original shows and movies, delivered by the West Palm Beach-headquartered company led by Brandon Burgess. It ends three years of Entravision ownership.

In an announcement distributed just after the Jan. 9 Closing Bell on Wall Street, Cumulus Media revealed that EVP/CFO John Abbot will exit the company following the distribution of its Q4 and full-year 2019 results. Since then, the radio broadcasting company's stock has been in a free-fall. There's no word of yet as to who will succeed Abbot.

After more than two years, the fight is over for Norman Shapiro's Weigel Broadcasting. An entity seeking a Commission denial of a license transfer to the Chicago-based operator of digital multicast TV networks including MeTV has failed in its attempts to prevent Weigel from completing its acquisition of a Class A TV station that serves one of America's biggest markets.

Hispanic media company Entravision is struggling: Its radio stations are underperformers, its Headway digital arm is exposed to a ravaged Argentine Peso, and its TV stations aren't lighting up the world, either. Investors have reacted on Wall Street, with EVC heading to a fresh five-year low on Thursday.