the HOT List

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.

"I hate change," notes Rishad Tobbacowala, one of the world's leading advertising industry voices. That said, change is necessary -- especially for those who fear it the most. This was the central theme of a keynote address offered to 2018 Radio Show attendees early Thursday.

In a lower-level conference room beneath the cacophony of consultants, vendors, air talent and radio industry C-Suiters parading around the 2018 Radio Show at the Bonnet Creek Resort, top-level executives at Hubbard Radio held court early Wednesday morning with CEO Ginny Morris and President/COO Drew Horowitz. Who knew that a deal was in the works?

With slides that show increased pressure on the radio industry shown by a top Wall Street investment analyst and three industry group heads expressing their thoughts on how radio can continue to thrive -- and, perhaps, stay alive -- in the coming years, one clear message was shared at the Radio Show's Broadcast Finance 2018 breakfast conference.

The House of Representatives late Tuesday passed the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act (MMA), sending the first reform of music copyright law in decades to the White House for President Trump's expected signature.

Nine months after Cumulus Media silenced an 11,700-watt FM station in rural Stockton, Mo., the No. 2 commercial radio broadcasting company by number of stations has decided to part ways with the facility. The new owner just picked up "La Campesina" in the Phoenix market, making it a busy week already for this Wisconsin-based non-profit buyer.

On Friday, Sept. 22, 2017, Sirius XM formally grabbed a piece of Pandora Media. It set the stage for a possible all-out acquisition by the satellite radio operation of a pioneering streaming audio entity that had somewhat lost its luster. Just after sunrise on Monday, one year later, the two companies formally ended their year-long flirtation with a marriage announcement.

Don't think for a minute that Entercom Communications lacks the scalability of a Hispanic media giant such as Univision. The same can be said for Comcast's NBCUniversal Hispanic Enterprises and its Telemundo broadcast television network.

On August 28, the American Cable Association argued in comments filed with the FCC regarding Gray Television’s proposed purchase of Raycom Media that the "considerable national consolidation" resulting from the deal "will raise retransmission consent prices." The ACA on Friday submitted its Reply Comments to the FCC on the matter, and it is sticking to its argument that retrans fees will go up if the deal is OK'd.

In one week, the third quarter of 2018 comes to a close -- as does the Radio Show, produced by the RAB and NAB. Just how is the deal-making marketplace shaping up in 2018? Kalil & Co. VPs Lou McDermott, Fred Kalil and Todd Hartman eagerly stepped up to the plate to offer their take on the transactions marketplace.

What is the state of the media marketplace in the U.S.? That's a question Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn would like as close to a definitive answer to on Thursday, when the subcommittee she chairs will hold a hearing devoted to the topic.

For the last five years, the total news share for Cox Media Group's WHIO-7 has averaged 74% of news viewing. With the Dayton Daily News and News/Talk WHIO-AM & FM in its stable, the company enjoys an unprecedented advantage in this Miami Valley city. But WHIO-TV wanted more — specifically, communities in the Lima, Ohio DMA. The Lima request was contested, and the FCC has just ruled on the matter.