the HOT List

In two weeks, Spotify will release its Q2 2019 results. Strong revenue growth is expected. There's just one problem: a hefty operating loss is expected, and the size of this loss could greatly vary. Could the music industry's royalty-hungry associations be its biggest problem? Or, is it pricey subscriptions?

The FCC has established a pleading cycle for the transfer of control of Cox Media Group's radio stations, which has already been done for Cox's TV stations and Dayton holdings. Interestingly, it has also opened up a comment period on a petition seeking increased foreign ownership in the "new" Cox Media Group.

A New York-based company has developed a smartphone App that allows the user to get the audio tied to what's being seen on a muted TV screen within their immediate proximity. The big win for broadcast TV? User metrics, which could be a boon for AEs and the sales team.

Whatever your view, the nation's children's television programming rules have just been changed, a move set to bring more ad time -- and revenue -- to broadcast television in an era when public television, cable TV and, more importantly, digital video platforms are more apt in delivering this kid-friendly product to American audiences.

With the approval of the Report and Order, several changes to the nation's "KidVid" rules are set to take place. RBR+TVBR has broken them down for you, along with providing details on a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

The FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai is doing its part to help the environment while perhaps also getting a commendation from the Lorax. In an unanimous vote, the Commission voted to update its carriage election notice rules by eliminating its paper requirement.

More than five months have passed since former CEO Bryan Wiener and ex-President Sarah Hofstetter exited Comscore -- a company that positioned itself as a worthy competitor to Nielsen. Now, its stock has dipped to yet another all-time low, despite a big international product launch.

Some 23 years after the sale of a Class B radio station in Sacramento by Royce International to Entercom, former owner Ed Stolz has been committed to rewinding the deal or, at the very least, getting the FCC to deny license renewal applications tied to Entercom in the market. He's failed again.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal and a host of other D.C. leaders dove into the latest retransmission fee agreement failure to plague America -- one that pits the soon-to-be largest owner of broadcast TV stations in the U.S. against AT&T and its DirecTV and U-Verse services.

Pending further appeal from the U.S. government, on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services, pharmaceutical companies and broadcast and cable TV companies are now off the hook from being forced to display the prices of prescription drugs in any advertisements shown to viewers.

Over the last several years, an affiliate of The CW Network serving a Florida market has had its issues with DirecTV. Today, those difficulties are worse than ever: it's been absent from the DBS provider for more than six months -- and nary a word has been said about it.

"Nexstar pulls or threatens to pull their stations from the customers of TV providers to increase fees for stations far beyond their value," says DirecTV and U-Verse parent AT&T in response to the impasse with the broadcast TV company that has led to a "blackout" of its stations.

Univision Communications has confirmed that its Board of Directors is reviewing strategic options for the company. It comes in a response to a Wall Street Journal article, citing unnamed sources.

Hurricane Michael caused extreme damage to a group of FM stations then-owned by Powell Broadcasting Company. Rather than rebuild the station’s facilities, Powell abandoned them, and in May 2019 agreed to sell three of them to a Fort Lauderdale-based attorney. He's now spinning them for a big profit.

As first reported by RBR+TVBR via Twitter late Monday, Stephens Media Group is acquiring 37 radio stations from Mapleton Communications. It's a deal that sees the family-run company take a giant leap forward on a national scale. But, it may not like all of that attention.