the HOT List

With the new fall season about to start and excitement about ATSC 3.0’s future possibilities – including addressable advertising – there are many who believe broadcast television stands on the precipice of a grand transition. It’s a shift that begins, as Steve Lanzano sees it, with a wholesale shift in how TV is measured.

Less than two weeks ago, a daily newspaper serving the "duck and rice capital of the world" lost its daily newspaper ... or so it thought. Right up to what was to be the final edition, suitors lined up with bids to buy the publication. One radio broadcasting company was successful.

In 1978, a veteran journalist known for her coverage of Washington politics joined what was then known as National Public Radio. In 1988, she would join ABC News. Now, journalists and everyday listeners are paying tribute to Cokie Roberts, who has died of complications from breast cancer.

The FCC on Monday voted in favor of a deal allowing Nexstar to merge with Tribune Media. But, the Commission's approval was far from unanimous. A party-line 3-2 vote is to thank, and Mike O'Rielly's view couldn't be more divergent than that of the two Democratic Commissioners.

Thirteen months ago, the discussion among media executives and around the FCC was whether Tribune Media would be successfully merged with Sinclair Broadcast Group. What a difference a year makes. Nexstar has just won FCC approval of its planned acquisition of Tribune.

Thirty-one Nexstar Media Group-owned television stations have no fear of participating in a "great affiliation swap" anytime soon. A new multi-year agreement has been signed by the broadcast TV company and FOX that will also include all now-former Tribune FOX affiliates.

Wayne Dowdy, through his North Shore Broadcasting, operates two FM stations and an AM on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, to the north of New Orleans. Since 2011, he's also been the debtor-in-possession of nine properties. Now, the stations are being transferred — to North Shore.

With Entercom Communications reeling from what has yet to be officially confirmed as a major ransomware attack, a "network penetration" tester shares how media companies can best avoid the level of problems faced by the radio broadcasting company in an exclusive interview with RBR+TVBR.

On July 16, local TV stations owned by Meredith Corp. in 12 DMAs including Phoenix, Nashville and Atlanta were blocked by DISH due to a retransmission consent impasse. Nearly two months later, a new agreeent has finally been signed by the media company and the DBS provider.

Four low-power FM radio stations serving a big college town in Virginia, along with a fifth operating in a small town just north of this municipality, are being fingered by Saga Communications for acting too much like commercially licensed FMs. It wants their license renewals nixed by the FCC.

RBR+TVBR has confirmed that the entity that owns and operates both NBC and Telemundo broadcast TV stations has shifted away from traditional ratings points to gauge an advertising campaign's effectiveness. Instead, it will use impressions.

The FCC on Monday released a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture to CBS for its use of a "modified version" of actual EAS codes and Attention Signal in an April 2018 episode of "Young Sheldon." CBS argues the use is protected by the First Amendment. Top D.C. lawyers have something to say about that.

An Illinois media company that owns three radio stations and a collection of newspapers this year turns 100 years old. It won't make it to 101 years: The company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is agreeing to sell all of its assets. The buyer is local.

The airing of a simulated Emergency Alert System (EAS) tone is a serious violation of FCC regulations and has already resulted in Consent Decrees to settle infractions tied to a Meruelo Media FM, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and two cable networks. Now, CBS is in trouble.

A station that debuted 40 years ago found itself in the middle of a controversial station sale in fall 2013, forcing Gray Television to sell the facility to a minority broadcaster. The husband-and-wife team that bought it is now selling it. The buyer is an innovative Fresno-based multicast pioneer.