the HOT List

Could this be Nielsen's "Tragic Thursday"? CEO Mitch Barns' retirement at year's end was announced -- along with confirmation that Nielsen is conducting "an in-depth strategic review" of its Buy segment. This news came alongside lackluster Q2 results showing flat revenue growth and a sharp drop in net income. At the Closing Bell, NLSN shares were down 25.3%

The wordsmith of Wall Street, Brian Wieser, took a magnifying glass and a full moment to fully examine Nielsen's Q2 2018 results. He called them "weak," and then slashed his price target on the company's stock. That said, he believes the market is discounting Nielsen stock -- and it is still worthy of an investment.

A long-awaited FCC Oversight Hearing started with Democrats assailing President Trump for a late-night Tweet on Tuesday that slammed the FCC for having an Administrative Law Judge consider Sinclair Broadcast Group's proposed merger with Tribune Media. Chairman Pai and the Commissioners were asked what they thought of the Tweet.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has delivered a major blow to nonprofit organizations including Free Press, Common Cause, and Prometheus Radio Project by dismissing their May 2017 petition seeking a reversal of the FCC's restoration of its so-called "UHF Discount."

In mid-March, Cox Media Group President Kim Guthrie told RBR+TVBR that talk of the company selling off nearly all of its radio stations was unfounded. It turns out that the chatter focused on the wrong media: Cox has confirmed that it "will explore strategic options" for its 14 TV stations, including partnering or merging the stations into a larger company.

Some 75 miles to the west of Huntsville, Ala., are the cities of Florence and Muscle Shoals. It is here that an affiliate of The CW Network has made headlines throughout 2018 for its inaccessibility to DISH subscribers in the Huntsville DMA for the last six months. Now, it is in the news because of an ownership change. The buyer? Nexstar Media Group.

Rep. Steve Scalise returned to work on Sept. 28 as the survivor of a shooting while at a Congressional baseball team practice three months earlier. Now, he's set to make himself known as the man who wants to do away with one of the thorniest matters facing broadcast TV companies and MVPDs of all shapes and sizes. The NAB isn't pleased. The American Cable Association and ATVA are.

In late June, Beasley Broadcast Group noted in an SEC filing that it "may offer and sell" up to $250 million in stock, debt securities, warrants and units "from time to time in one or more offerings." Guess what? The company on Monday announced a proposed offering of shares of its Class A common stock. Investors revolted.

How did the national advertising market fare during the second quarter of 2018? The latest Standard Media Index data is in, and there was growth in the quarter. This came despite a "modest decline" in National TV, when factoring out the biggest sporting event on the planet.

Beasley Broadcast Group shared its preliminary estimated financial results for Q2 2018 and for the first six months of the year in an SEC filing made Monday. The 8-K filing also includes the company's best guess on just how many millions of added revenue it would have seen from Q2 2017 to Q1 2018 from its newest acquisition — a station Beasley signed on 34 years ago.

With negative reports about the health of and atmosphere at Univision Communications meriting headlines across the trades and business news, the company is firming up its Puerto Rico asset ownership thanks to changes in the FCC's Duopoly rules. It's forking over a few million dollars to do so.

Under FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, there has been a change in how the Commission offers a peek at what will be up for discussion at its Open Meetings — and possibly be approved, thus becoming a rule of law. Pai's "glasnost" is voluntary. An Illinois House member wants to make it the law, and one Commissioner approves.

It was certainly a big day for Entercom Communications, which effectively traded a Country station in the nation's ninth-largest market for the top-rated player. But, it was also a historic Thursday for Beasley Broadcast Group: That Country station, in the words of CEO Caroline Beasley, is "coming home." In this exclusive interview, she shares why the homecoming of WXTU is a pivotal move.

In the 22-page Hearing Designation Order that sees the Sinclair-Tribune merger headed to an hearing presided by an Administrative Law Judge, the petitioners who have standing in the matter were revealed. They include 12 groups, including a key voice on Capitol Hill for small and independently-owned MVPDs.

A 22-page Hearing Designation Order released Thursday by the FCC details how, among the applications filed with the Commission, three stick out like sore thumbs. These deals raise "significant questions as to whether those proposed divestitures were in fact 'sham' transactions," the FCC writes.