the HOT List

On May 18, bidding concluded in an auction of cross-service FM translator construction permits. This FCC auction, which was designated "Auction 99," raised more than $225 million. Some 11 bidders won 11 construction permits. Here are the details.

The blocking of critics by President Trump from his personal Twitter account is a violation of the First Amendment, a Federal judge in New York has ruled. What does this mean for your Twitter-using air talent? Several D.C. attorneys shared their thoughts with RBR+TVBR. How this may impact your business should not be overlooked.

While FCC Chairman Ajit Pai certainly has his fans, every Democratic Member of the House E&C Committee — which has Commission oversight — has taken him to task for his lack of candor and his "repeated evasive responses" to their queries. Their latest complaints came in a letter sent to Pai on Tuesday.

Speculation is rampant that Univision Communications is finalizing a formal announcement that a former LIN Media CEO who then stewarded Media General's merger with Nexstar has been given the CEO role at the fiscally challenged Hispanic media company. This individual also spent a decade as CFO of Telemundo and is presently on WAPA parent's board of directors.

Lotus Communications is one of the few radio broadcasting companies that owns radio stations with Spanish-language and English-language programming. How is the company capitalizing on this? And, is there one thing that's particularly important when inking that contract with a client? Company President Jim Kalmenson shares all in this latest Hispanic Radio Podcast.

Six days ago, iHeartMedia submitted a "NT 10Q" filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission with details on what the nation's No. 1 radio broadcasting company expected to report as its Q1 2018. We now know that iHeart was mostly correct with its math. It turns out that the company's consolidated net loss is a bit wider than it predicted.

RBR+TVBR has confirmed that the U.S. Department of Justice has put into question Meredith Corp.'s planned acquisition of a Sinclair Broadcast Group TV station. Sinclair agreed to divest the station as part of its continued efforts to win regulatory approval of its Tribune Media merger. The station has now been put into the Sinclair Divestiture Trust and could end up with a different owner.

The CW affiliate serving the Duluth, Minn., market, is trading hands. The news comes as the station has been yanked by DISH Network -- a move that's the result of yet another retransmission fee dispute between station owner and a DBS provider.

With spin-off deals in place and under Commission review, the FCC on Monday opted to establish a firm comment period on its consideration of Sinclair Broadcast Group's proposed merger with Tribune Media. Based on what was shared, this puts the final date for public input on the controversial deal in mid-July.

A Class B AM covering much of the Baltimore-Washington corridor that has a long, rich history in D.C. is being acquired by a leading broadcasting company with a rich history of its own in the Nation's Capital. The transaction also marks the end of radio station ownership for an entity controlled by the man who controls the NFL's Washington Redskins.

It's been a tough month for Hispanic-focused media company Entravision. Its stock is at levels not seen since September 2014. Its CEO acknowledged that Q1 was "a difficult quarter." Now comes word that the company’s independent registered public accounting firm has been dismissed.

A war between CBS Corp. and the Shari Redstone-controlled National Amusements Inc. is on. In a vote held Thursday afternoon in defiance of an attempt by NAI to weaken and/or negate its outcome, CBS Corp.'s Board of Directors voted 11-3 to dilute NAI's voting interest from approximately 79% to approximately 20%.

In early April, RBR+TVBR reported on an effort by Gray Television launched in January to get DirecTV and DISH Network to add a CBS affiliate serving eastern Kentucky. At the time, more than 2,200 filings were made in response to Gray's FCC petition. The Commission on Wednesday ruled on the matter.

With iHeartMedia seeking to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a quarterly conference call with investors was not expected. A glimpse of how the company did in Q1 was, and iHeart delivered ... via a hard-to-find SEC filing that had many of the details. A mixed financial performance is expected.

What is being hailed as "the first fully-digital attribution service for broadcast radio that will transform the way advertisers plan, buy and measure their audio campaigns to better optimize the unparalleled reach of radio" has been launched by the nation's No. 1 radio broadcasting company.