the HOT List

The FCC is now a five-member body again—thanks to the Senate and a likely nod by the White House.

On November 7, 2022, a Class A FM serving a portion of Pennsylvania went silent, as the station's license expired due to a lack of its renewal. Nine days later, the station's license was reinstated. Now, this station is being acquired by Seven Mountains Media, adding to its Keystone State stable.

Jill Rosengard Hill, an EVP at Magid, on Friday delivered a Keynote address on the concluding day of the Media Ad Sales Summit, presented by Matrix Solutions. Hill put an exclamation point on broadcast TV's need to get on streamed devices should it wish to retain first-choice relevancy in the years to come.

The General Manager for the Nexstar Media Group-owned station serving Albuquerque as a dual CBS/FOX affiliate has passed away, the station announced late Monday.

Following a recent change of residence, our editor-in-chief invested in a $21 digital TV antenna and hooked it up to a television set in his home office. What was the result? He says it's best to perhaps stick with a MVPD if you truly want the TV service everyone deserves -- or, at least an vMVPD.

The team led by Vincent Létang has issued a report that backs up a forecast from Brian Wieser released earlier this month, concluding that full-year non-cyclical ad spend will grow by 8.9% — up from its previous prediction of 8.2% growth. For MAGNA, this represents one of the best performances in 20 years. That said, the headwinds will continue for broadcast radio companies.

Some 16 years ago, the Postal Service had a hit with the Alternative track "Some Great Heights." Today, Cumulus Media stations such as KFOG-FM in San Francisco or KBXR-FM in Columbia, Mo., may wish to play it -- in salute of the company's strong Q4 2018 results.

For quarter after quarter in recent years, the "local first" media company that derives the majority of its revenue from its digital advertising and marketing assets has prided itself on its non-broadcast revenue prowess. Now, it is linking up with the company founded by veteran radio industry executive Carl Parmer to help that radio station ownership group with its digital solutions dollar opportunities.

To the surprise of no one, Cumulus Media sold KLOS-FM 95.5 in Los Angeles to Meruelo Media. The sale price may have been the most surprising aspect of this deal. Meanwhile, a swap with Connoisseur Media was had, and the agreement shows who brokered the deal.

It already owns the FOX affiliate serving Northern Ohio's largest market. Now, Nexstar Media Group has signed an agreement that — pending FCC regulatory approval — will give it a duopoly with the acquisition of an independent television station licensed to Akron, Ohio, in a deal brokered by Kalil & Co.

Univision Communications' Spanish Word of the Day is abajo.That, translated to English, is "down." And, it is the only word that can describe the performance of the nation's biggest Hispanic-centric media company during Q1.

The Walt Disney Company's Entertainment segment saw its fiscal Q4 revenue grow by a healthy 14% year-over-year. However, a closer look at the results indicates the growth was largely due to Disney+ and OTT platforms; and content sales and licensing dollars. For the linear networks, challenges abound.

"This doesn’t happen that often!" MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson took a good look at the state of U.S. advertising following the Q1 earnings release cycle and has a startling revelation: He's raising the traditional media ad forecast and lowering its digital ad estimate.

The Board of Directors of the "Local First" media company that derives much of its revenue not from its small and mid-sized radio stations but from digital and programmatic ad solutions has signed off on a $50 million stock repurchase initiative. 

"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.