the HOT List

It's not often that an unlicensed television station gets detected by the FCC Enforcement Bureau and be liable for a sizable forfeiture payment. Yet, that's exactly what the Commission did today to the operator of a Kentucky-based low-power TV stations.

The fate of 327 applications for new FM translator stations is now certain, thanks to a Memorandum Opinion and Order released today and adopted Monday by the FCC's Commissioners.

What's next for iHeartMedia, and perhaps for the radio business, now that it has new owners — namely two large financial investment management firms? The Global Head of Restructuring Data at Debtwire, which provides news, data and analysis on debt markets, shared his thoughts with RBR+TVBR.

In September 2018, RBR+TVBR reported on a big change from Nielsen Audio in its diary-measured markets. It seeks to “transform” the measurement of these markets from a quarterly or two times a year view to year-round measurement with monthly reporting. One radio industry professional says its not true. Nielsen responded.

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.

For months, the radio industry has waited with bated breath for an announcement that involved Lew Dickey Jr., co-founder of Cumulus Media. Would he be returning to the industry? On Thursday evening, British Standard Time, Dickey formally revealed what he's up to.

When it comes to the state of broadcast television in the coming years, there's one advantage that will continue to make over-the-air stations vitally important to CMOs: Reach. That was a key point made during an Opening Keynote not at a NATPE Miami session, but at the Media Ad Sales Summit next door.

A big crowd doesn't necessarily translate to big business wheeling and dealing. That's exactly what many NATPE 2019 attendees are saying. Several high-level individuals who spoke with RBR+TVBR both on the record, and off the record, agree that NATPE today is all about OTT, and no longer important for them.

If there was one key takeaway from a Tuesday morning NATPE 2019 panel session with the title "How Wall Street Watches TV," it was this: Does Wall Street watch television ... or is it in lock-step with Madison Ave. millennials who have gone over-the-top on OTT and the ever-growing "D2C" manner in which video content is being delivered and consumed by U.S. households?

As one of the television industry's biggest international executive and program-selling conferences slowly began its first day of sessions and meetings, attendees at NATPE 2019 were delivered a major announcement that came not from the Fontainebleau resort but from an upscale Northern Virginia town close to Dulles International Airport. Just after 9am Eastern, the Reston, Va.-based Comscore revealed that it now has a wider, more comprehensive partnership with Comcast's over-the-air television stations under the NBC and Telemundo banner.

The long, bumpy path to an emergence from debtor-in-possession status is officially nearing its terminus for the nation's No. 1 owner of radio stations. On Tuesday, iHeartRadio filed a 210-page redlined version of its organization plan, which it hoped would meet the approval of the bankruptcy judge overseeing its case. That happened.

In the last week, one newly launched app has received a lot of attention and has created some noteworthy buzz. Why? It could absolutely destroy commercial radio's lifeblood -- ad dollars. Introducing Ad Block Radio. We've got an RBR+TVBR Observation on the rollout, which scares one industry vet. 

As CNN's Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter notes, the partial shutdown of the Federal government has resulted in a near-cessation of activities at the FCC. How this has impacted the Commission was shared by Jessica Rosenworcel.

Steve Dodge, who entered the radio industry some 30 years ago with the 1988 purchase of eight stations and in 1995 sprouted American Tower Corporation, passed away Wednesday evening as a result of a bicycle accident. RBR+TVBR looks back at his incredible achievements in this exclusive retrospective.

There will be no courtroom battle between CBS Corporation and its former President/CEO with respect to his separation agreement with the media company. Rather, binding arbitration is the choice of Les Moonves.