the HOT List

It could be months before the power grid is restored in Bay County, Fla., where Gray Television and Nexstar Media Group, in addition to iHeartMedia and locally owned radio stations, are slowly recovering from devastation caused by Hurricane Michael. Also impacted is Sinclair's FOX affiliate in Albany, Ga.

"This is an interesting quarter, obviously, as we'll get into," Emmis head Jeff Smulyan noted during his company's fiscal Q2 2019 earnings call for financial analysts and investors. Net revenue dipped by more than $10 million, "fueled by a very tough June, one of the toughest months we've had." But, the biggest news involves TagStation LLC and NextRadio. Both are "dramatically reducing" operations.

In seven separate Form 314 filings made with the FCC on Tuesday, reflecting the unique licensee names used by the nation's No. 1 owner of AM and FM radio stations, iHeartMedia officially presented to the Commission its Chapter 11 restructuring plan -- and how it plans to operate once it emerges from debtor-in-possession status. The biggest takeaway from the filings involves the role Liberty Media will have.

"Congress never intended for satellite TV legislation that permits 'unserved homes' to import distant network TV signals to live in perpetuity," the NAB argues. That language paints a clear picture of how broadcast media's chief Capitol Hill lobbying group feels about the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act. The NAB wants it to die.

What sort of interference protection should big, booming Class A AM radio stations, which reach multiple states after dark thanks to skywave reception, have in the modern age? That's exactly what the Commission would like to answer, and it is turning to the public for assistance in reaching its conclusion.

"Bob Pittman's approach to business is something I find inspiring," notes Ross Kaminsky. Who's that? Kaminsky is the morning host at iHeartMedia-owned Talk KHOW-AM 630 in Denver. On Friday, Kaminsky's on-air guest was the big boss himself: iHeart Chairman/CEO Pittman.

For 17 years, Jack Swanson commanded as PD two of the nation's most successful spoken-word radio stations: KGO and KSFO. He had been associated with KGO since 1983, and on Oct. 14, 2011 notified station staff via an e-mail that he was exiting KGO and KSFO. His plan? Swanson said he was "heading for some small island very far away to rest, and think and reinvent." Siesta time is over, after a stint at a KGO crosstown rival.

Three months ago, DISH Network removed all Univision Communications networks, O&O TV stations and affiliate stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entravision from its satellite and Sling TV services. Today, one of the most bitter retrans fee battles continues, with no end in sight. Yet DISH says it cares about Spanish-speaking customers ... and wants them to learn English.

Many small towns and cities have seen major changes over the last 30 years. This includes, in some cases, a seismic shift in the number of multicultural consumers that now reside in the community. Some 90 miles north of New York City, a municipality that lost its major employer some 25 years has been reborn. Millennials are partly to thank. As we learn in this podcast, Latinos are the real growth driver.

One of the most prolific buyers of broadcast television stations in recent months has undoubtedly been HC2, the entity that now owns the Azteca América network and a big mix of fully licensed facilities and LPTVs in key markets. HC2 has just added another Class A station to its stable -- this time in the Golden State.

In February 1996, Royce International agreed to sell a Class B 50kw New Rock station serving Sacramento for $25 million. The seller is still trying to reverse the deal. Guess what? He has failed yet again—this time at the Supreme Court of the United States. 

For months, TagStation LLC and the team behind its NextRadio app worked hard with Apple to get its smartphones to include an enabled FM chip, which would allow users to access local radio stations. Apple has been a stubborn player. Now, a Southern California-based tech company has brought FM radio, data-free, to an iPhone.

Telecom policy has dominated the efforts being championed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in recent months. But, he says, he hasn't forgotten the media side of the ledger. Continuing his Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative push, with the support of fellow Republicans Brendan Carr and Mike O'Rielly, Pai revealed on Monday two proposals to update the Commission media rules "to reflect today’s marketplace."

With the recent approval by Congress of a new spending bill, it expressed a preference for the FCC to ensure that MVPDs, including cable operators, will continue to receive priority access to funds that reimburse MVPD costs incurred by the relocation of TV stations that have been assigned new channels. That's how the ACA sees it, and it stressed this point in a filing.

In Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon, change was the key focus of testimony delivered by one of Wall Street's top media industry analysts during a "State of the Media Marketplace" hearing convened by the House Energy & Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. His comments put vMVPDs on notice, and could impact broadcast TV stations.