the HOT List

Gray Television may not have the same level of national top-of-mind consumer recognition as such broadcast peers as Tribune, Hearst, Sinclair or Meredith Corp., but that could change in just a matter of months. Its merger with Raycom Media is one of the year's top media and marketing deals, and Gray's Q3 guidance may be even sweeter than its Q2 results.

Last week the FCC “took a historic and long overdue step to increase ownership diversity in the broadcast industry.” An incubator program designed to establish greater broadcast media ownership diversity will come to fruition. Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel dissented. Now, one individual close to the push for the program tells RBR+TVBR it has a fatal flaw.

In a surprise announcement, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises revealed that Hispanic media industry veteran Luis Silberwasser will be leaving the company on October 1. He's served as Telemundo Networks President for four years, and his exit comes amid widely reported turmoil at Telemundo's No. 1 competitor — Univision Communications. It also comes as Azteca América is gearing up for a massive relaunch.

If Wall Street needed proof that a publicly traded radio industry pure-play was still a great investment, Beasley Broadcast Group certainly delivered the goods with a strong Q2 earnings report. At first, investor sentiment appeared to be poor. Beasley shares headed south yet again with a nearly 4% dip in the first half hour of Friday's trading before attempting a rebound. It worked.

CBS Corp. late Thursday recorded a strong Q2 that beat Wall Street estimates. What does our favorite Wall Street wordsmith, Pivotal Research Group's Brian Wieser, have to say about that? A "not impressed" meme would have sufficed, based on his take of the company's results. That said, he's convinced that Viacom's reunification with CBS is a done deal.

Are some of the nation's largest broadcast TV station owners guilty of artificially inflating the price of their advertising through collusion? That's what a Mobile, Ala.-based law firm focused on personal injury, which is an active TV advertiser, believes. As such, the firm — Clay, Massey & Associates — filed suit against six companies in an Illinois Federal District Court.

The FCC Thursday morning moved forward with plans for its first 5G spectrum auctions. Why is this of importance to broadcast media? The arrival of 5G wireless technology will likely revolutionize how consumers enjoy both audio and video content, paving the way for -- perhaps -- the ultimate end of over-the-air broadcasting in the coming decades.

"Have you ever wondered how radio, television and other media outlets decide what shows to broadcast or to cancel?" That's the opening pitch in a letter randomly received last week at a Florida household from Nielsen. Here's the scoop on how the nation's dominant audience measurement company seeks PPM panelists.

August 1 marked Cumulus Media’s grand return to the NASDAQ Global Market. While there wasn't much activity for "CMLS" shares, there was a lot of volatility. Even so, Cumulus' closing price is better than the value of its short-lived "CMIA," as the company led by CEO Mary Berner begins another new chapter following her company's emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

It's no secret that Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media very much wanted FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to hold back on issuing a Hearing Designation Order and sending their proposed merger to an Administrative Law Judge. But, how Sinclair sought to sway Pai, and its maneuverings, had only been the stuff of hearsay. We now have a clear picture of Sinclair's efforts to postpone the HDO. An unconfirmed call between Pai and Sinclair's EVP/General Counsel, Distribution and Network Relations was part of Sinclair's failed attempt.

Cox Media Group's Kim Guthrie has made it clear in comments made exclusively to RBR+TVBR that its radio stations aren't for sale, and that it wants a merger or partnership for its TV stations, rather than a full-blown divestment. That hasn't stopped the rumormongers from suggesting that Guthrie is not being truthful, and a new hire by Cox Enterprises has only fueled such talk among industry observers.

As the first half of 2018 came to a close, it is clear that the upcoming midterm elections are giving media a needed boost in their advertising dollars. But, was the boost big enough to overcome softness across many of the radio and TV industry's core advertising categories? Matrix Solutions' 2018 Midyear Ad Spend Report provides the not-so-pleasant answer.

Fraudulent Inducement. Breach of Fiduciary Responsibility. Misappropriation of Trade Secrets. Those are the charges brought against one of the nation's biggest radio broadcasting companies by a provider of traffic and weather information to local and syndicated radio stations across the country that's had its fair share of bumps and bruises in the last six months.

The former flagship radio stations of the now-defunct Journal Communications, which ended up in the hands of The E.W. Scripps Co. following its April 2015 merger, are being sold by Scripps to a local owner with a familiar last name to radio industry executives and observers. Kalil & Co. is the broker, and is shopping around Scripps' other available properties.