the HOT List

John Fullam recently announced his retirement as SVP/Market Manager for Entercom's five-brand, four-station Denver-Boulder radio group. We now know who is succeeding Fullam in the role.

A man PBS calls "a giant in journalism known for his tenacity and dedication to simply delivering the news" died peacefully in his sleep at home on Thursday, at the age of 85. Within hours, former colleagues, peers, TV journalists and Americans were reacting to the loss of NewsHour co-founder Jim Lehrer.

The final full day of NATPE Miami action saw Nexstar Media Group founder and CEO Perry Sook receive a newly established leadership award named in memory of NATPE's founder. Sook spoke later in the day as part of a Wednesday afternoon Station Group Summit, ahead of a session on media cross-measurement advancements presented by Nielsen.

Unbeknownst to some, one of the Cox Media Group assets that didn't get spun into a new entity controlled by Apollo Global Management is Videa -- the provider of a live, supply-side marketplace for broadcast TV station inventory. It's now under Cox Enterprises control, and that's given it a fresh opportunity to expand its relationships with television station owners across the U.S.

While the radio industry has been vociferous in its negative reaction to widespread job cuts in the programming and on-air realms at the nation's No. 1 owner of AM and FM stations, Wall Street has sung a different tune. The slicing of employee salary and benefits at a company with $5.75 billion in debt is perhaps a good thing. As such, iHeart stock is at a post-bankruptcy high.

Want a president of the U.S. who can "rebuild America." If so, you may just be fueling a massive influx of political ad dollars at spot television from the campaign of one Mike Bloomberg. The latest Media Monitors Spot Ten TV report shows the Bloomberg campaign ranking at No. 1 by ad campaign — dominating all ad brands and categories.

For all of the hoopla over NEXTGEN TV seen at the NAB Show and at CES, the promise of robust audio and visual channels and all-important addressable advertising was absent from a NATPE Miami opening session focused on "the future of TV." It's perhaps a warning sign for television that, based on this panel, the industry's future is exclusively in the over-the-top realm.

Back in July 2017, Symphony Asset Management attracted the radio industry's attention for its role as the holder of some $280 million in iHeartMedia term loans. Today, the San Francisco-based unit of Nuveen has declared a position in iHeart, based on its acquisition of a notable chunk of publicly issued stock on Dec. 31, 2019.

The company missed its earnings per share forecasts by 7.5%. Its radio stations in key markets such as Canada's largest, Toronto, lag those of its competitors. Corus Entertainment has its challenges, and analysts in Canada are now revising their forecasts, Simply Wall Street notes.

A series of moves involving the top-rated commercially licensed FM in Austin and a Corpus Christi, Tex., FM acquired by Educational Media Foundation in 2019 is taking place. It effectively gives EMF a city-grade signal over San Antonio for one of three full-powered FM modifying their facilities. The odd man out: An FM translator operator in the Alamo City.

Soo Kim’s stature in the media industry rose significantly in the summer of 2019, thanks to his teaming with longtime friend Jeff Smulyan in the creation of a new entity that now owns two New York radio stations. Then came Standard’s purchase of a big chunk of TEGNA stock. Now, TEGNA is balking over Kim’s board seat need.

While there are costs and revenue synergies to be delivered and assets to be divested, Wall Street analyst Michael Nathanson thinks that the structural pressures facing the industry will negatively weigh on ViacomCBS’s basic and premium cable networks as cord cutting and the attendant pressures likely accelerate. With that said, there is one big unresolved issue facing ViacomCBS.

What are the key products and trends shaping broadcast media today and across the next decade? RBR+TVBR's Weekly Tech Roundup is pleased to present to you the answers from a FOX Business anchor and FOX News Radio podcast host who is well-versed in bringing key highlights and takeaways from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to consumers.

That was just one of the questions Westwood One President and Cumulus Media EVP/Marketing Suzanne Grimes answered last week at a special Consumer Electronics Show "Innovation Series Summit" hosted by Shelly Palmer. Grimes participated in the event at the Wynn Resort and was a keynoter. We have full details of her appearance, and what was said in Las Vegas.

The FCC has adopted a Consent Decree that terminates an investigation into the monitoring practices of some 11 television towers by a company that no longer exists. The publicly traded entity that now owns this defunct operator's holdings agreed to the settlement. In doing so, it's forking over more than million dollars to the U.S. Treasury, with reimbursement from the now-defunct TV company.