the HOT List

In a Wednesday afternoon vote inside the Rayburn House Office Building on the south side of Capitol Hill, the FCC's future as a more efficient and transparent agency became clearer. The House Energy and Commerce Committee moved forward on a vote of H.R. 4986, the "FCC Reauthorization Act of 2018," following a morning mark-up on the legislation. It includes a provision for a boost in post-Spectrum Auction repack funds. And, it freezes the Commission's fiscal budget.

On February 8, Shelley Chapman, Judge for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, approved Cumulus Media’ Incentive Compensation Programs. Chapman’s order means hundreds of employees will see the pay out of their 2017 incentive bonuses, tied to the Cumulus 2017 and 2018 Incentive Compensation Programs. An objection to the company's incentive compensation plan filed Tuesday by U.S. Trustee William Harrington led multiple news organizations to report that Chapman's OK of the bonuses was now in jeopardy. That's not the case, Cumulus noted on Wednesday morning.

Thanks to advances in mobile, video and wireless technologies, consumers now enjoy an abundance of options. What will this mean to your bottom line at the end of 2018, and beyond? Deloitte believes it has some answers worth noting, thanks to its just-released 2018 Media and Entertainment Industry Outlook. Streaming is huge. But, Deloitte notes, this has helped spawn "several other important developments." These developments could greatly impact your company's day-to-day activities.

If it weren't for the 18 radio stations acquired by Beasley Media Group from the former Greater Media in November 2016, the last three months of 2017 wouldn't have looked so hot. With the inclusion of the stations, Beasley enjoyed a solid revenue gain and strong net income growth — despite a big dip in operating income. 

Monday was a busy day for the FCC's four Commissioners and its Chairman, Ajit Pai. Meetings were held across the day with several advisors in tow, with the discussion ranging from the FCC's AM-FM subcaps rules to rural radio policy repeal and the FCC's Class C4 facility proposal. Participating in these meetings, representing broadcasters, were the leaders of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) and the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC).

Fifteen years ago, a media company primarily known for its radio holdings and its leadership by an African-American woman attracted the industry's attention. Today, this company no longer owns radio stations ... and has just shed its last two owned and operated broadcast holdings. Those properties are low-powered TV stations in the Garden State.

Investors seem pleased with Viacom's results for the first three months of its fiscal 2018. Ninety minutes into Thursday's trading, shares were up by 8%. Shares finished up 7.2%. That's thanks to a Q1 earnings per share that beat Wall Street consensus estimates. But, earnings were down.

“In Watch, we had a strong year," Nielsen CEO Mitch Barns said of his company's audience measurement segment that includes its TV and radio ratings services. But, Nielsen's struggles continue in its Buy segment, which offers marketers and retailers insight on consumer purchasing behavior. There was also a big non-tax charge that hurt Nielsen's net income. These factors led to a sell-off of Nielsen shares less than an hour into Thursday's trading on Wall Street, with NLSN off nearly 10% at the Closing Bell.

On January 22, an entity comfortable with locking horns with the FCC went at it again. Prometheus Radio Project took the Commission to court, with the Media Mobilizing Project joining in a case filed with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Today, the Court gave its ruling to the two entities: Motion denied. This means the Commission may move forward with its rules reform, without delay.

Morgantown may be the home of West Virginia University, but for viewers of DBS providers such as DirecTV and DISH Network it wasn't the home of network affiliates based in an area to the south of the city. That's now changed, thanks to a successful petition filed with the Commission that brings stations owned by Gray Television and Nexstar Media Group to this all-important city in the Mountaineer State.

The Walt Disney Co. had a solid fiscal Q1 2018 that beat the forecasts of several Wall Street analysts. But, all is not well in the Mouse House, and Pivotal Research Group's Brian Wieser took a closer look at what went right for the company. The answer: Theme parks are hot, while broadcast and cable TV are not.

One year and one week ago, MMTC President Emeritus and Senior Advisor David Honig requested that the FCC move forward with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on a 2014 plan that would create a new class of FM stations. This would allow hundreds of Class A stations to upgrade. On Monday, the NPRM was circulated by the Media Bureau.

 On the afternoon of Oct. 19, 2017, the MyNetworkTV affiliate serving the state of Hawaii suddenly faded to black for DirecTV subscribers across the state. The station — KFVE-9 in Honolulu — still hasn’t returned to the lineup. On Oct. 20, a "Good Faith Negotiation Complaint" against DirecTV was filed by KFVE's licensee with the FCC's Media Bureau. A decision arrived Monday morning, Hawaiian time, and KFVE GM John L. Fink won't be happy.

A television broadcasting company all-too familiar with waging war against cable companies over retransmission fees has raised its battle flag in a challenge that has led Charter Communications to yank 11 stations from Syracuse to Spokane. In multiple markets, viewers were left scrambling to determine how to watch Super Bowl LII.

A series of transfer agreements of varying dollar amounts were filed and entered Friday by New York-based U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Shelley Chapman that absolve the nation's No. 2 radio broadcasting company by number of stations of its debts to the companies involved. The filings follow actions by the court on Thursday that negates a separation agreement for a former Westwood One executive. An engineering firm in Upstate New York spoke to RBR+TVBR about the thousands of dollars its owed.