the HOT List

Despite efforts by the NAB and the nation's broadcast TV networks to derail it, Locast is pushing ahead with the streaming of local broadcast TV channels in markets where it can gain access. In January, it was Sioux City, Iowa. Now, it's a market where Univision and Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) have a stake in the action.

ViacomCBS shares tumbled by nearly 18% on Thursday as investors reacted ferociously to the company's poor Q4 showing and a "strategic update" provided by President/CEO Bob Bakish. The quarter saw the company swing to a net loss on a 3% dip in revenue.

Standard General Founding Partner Soo Kim has responded to a unanimous decision by TEGNA's Board of Directors to decline his firm's nomination of four individuals to seats on TEGNA's Board. In a letter to Standard General's shareholders, Kim asked recipients to look toward Wall Street, as TEGNA continues to engage in "value-destroying M&A strategy," which underscores "the urgent need for change."

“We have entered 2020 with positive momentum from execution across our entire business, and are on track for a record year.” So says TEGNA President/CEO Dave Lougee in response to a decision by the company's Board of Directors to declare a dividend payable April 1 to shareholders of record on March 6. There's also news of a shift on TEGNA's Board of Directors, and it doesn't involve Soo Kim.

Nielsen has released its findings of a special survey into U.S. consumer sentiment toward streaming platforms. It offers some noteworthy differentiation points between the video and audio worlds, and the path broadcast TV and radio each must take to maintain relevant -- and profitable -- in the 2020s and beyond.

In a late Tuesday announcement, Entercom Communications dropped a bombshell that will end decades of Rock programming on a Westborough, Mass., FM largely heard in the Boston market.

How did the evolving owner of radio stations, now with its hand in eSports and podcasting, do in the last three months of 2019? Net income grew, but net revenue and the all-important non-GAAP Station Operating Income (SOI) measure were each down.

On Feb. 12, 1990, a multi-faceted media company was born in the back of a diner located 15 minutes to the east of Utica, N.Y. Today, Ed and Pam Levine's Galaxy Media is celebrating 30 years of serving New York. It's a tale that reinforces radio's ability to be local, and successful, in an era of digital media.

While Nexstar Media Group shares have dipped a smidgen since then, upward activity over the last seven days -- punctuated by a strong session on a day when shares are going ex-dividend -- shows investors are highly positive over where Nexstar stock is expected to go.

Five months ago, rumors surfaced that Luken Communications was undergoing a major structural change, and that a co-founder whose surname was used to brand the company was fully out of the picture. That is confirmed, and Luken Communications is no more. A successor company is now in control of five of its six digital multicast networks.

A Federal court judge on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit that sought to prevent the merger of wireless carriers T-Mobile and Sprint. It's a decision advocates say will have a major positive impact on the rollout of 5G wireless technology services in the U.S. Among those cheering is FCC Chairman Ajit Pai -- a big proponent of rapid 5G rollout across the U.S.

New research from Christine Moorman, T. Austin Finch Sr. Professor of Business Administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, suggests an election year’s continuous exposure to comparisons, such as how candidate A differs from candidate B, can disrupt a manager’s typical decision-making process.

Voice-enabled advertising, with a focus on in-car radio station consumption, could bring marketers and radio groups results they've been clamoring for. It's already happening in Australia, with one radio station group getting notice by marketers across the continent.

Meredith Corp. on Thursday released its fiscal Q2 2020 results, and they were strong -- even for local media, which saw dips primarily caused by the disappearance of political ad revenue during the period. For a non-political Q2, it was a record for Meredith. Investors reacted positively, sending MDP soaring by more than 15% in Thursday's trading on the NYSE.