the HOT List

With TV station group consolidation on the minds of brokers, marketers and industry leaders, Tribune Broadcasting President Larry Wert fired off a warning shot to all who see mega-mergers as a perfect solution to continued growth. "There's a lesson for deregulation," he said. "Look at radio in the 1990s." Meanwhile, a top Scripps exec says too much local news could be a bad thing for a TV station.

Insights into OTT behavior, and how broadcast TV can benefit, was a highlight of the many sessions at NATPE Miami on its first day of panels and presentations. But, there's also a measurement component that's vital to both broadcast TV and radio at stake, with the ever-encroaching OTT universe a possible friend—rather than a dollar-draining foe. Two top Nielsen executives spoke exclusively with RBR+TVBR on the important topic.

Tuesday at NATPE Miami, Facebook Head of Global Creative Strategy Ricky Van Heen unveiled a trio of new shows coming to Facebook Watch, including a program featuring noted outdoors adventurist Bear Grylls. The announcement provided the perfect context for a "View from the Street" discussion on what "FANG" (or "GAFAN," to use current Silicon Valley parlance) is most dangerous to traditional media. The answer from financial analysts who cover media stocks may surprise you.

In a lively standing-room only NATPE Miami session held early Tuesday, four top Wall Street analysts gave various warnings to broadcast and cable TV regarding audience trends and the spectre of global digital players entering the U.S. market. Among the discussion points: What's accelerating the changes in how Americans consume video content, and why "internally created problems" aren't the drivers of change.

Today’s consumers have instant access to an unprecedented range of screen-based entertainment options – from live and on-demand TV, to videos on YouTube, to gaming, to social media. One thing that has not expanded, however, is consumers’ disposable time. How can your media property cut through the clutter? A new study from Hub Entertainment Research may have the answer for making your content a consumer priority.

For 38 minutes on early Saturday morning across the Hawaiian islands, a full-on nuclear scare sent families into a panic. A message alert went out from the State Emergency Management Agency on Oʻahu, stating a "ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii." It was a false alarm. What did one radio group on the island of Maui do? We have the exclusive report.

Tuesday morning will see the start of a flurry of sessions that kicks off NATPE Miami, one of the world's largest TV marketplaces and executive gatherings. Come Thursday, Futuri Media CEO and co-founder Dan Anstandig will get the spotlight shone on him, and a tool he thinks will help guide broadcast TV to more relevant news coverage -- and, in turn, better ratings and revenue. Its a tool that has been used successfully at Radio: TopicPulse. 

An individual who has been called "a practical visionary" and "unbelievably brilliant" by former U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller is now confirmed as the opening keynote speaker at the ninth annual Hispanic Radio Conference, set for March 13-14 in Miami.

On Thursday, President Trump reportedly used the word “s--thole” to describe such nations as Haiti and those in Africa with less-desirable immigrants than other nations. The reaction was swift. Perhaps most startling was the NPR hourly newscast at 2pm Eastern Friday, which featured Senate Minority Whip Dick Durban (D-Ill.) recounting the entire conversation involving Trump -- with the vulgarity uncensored for full effect. What should your station do? Respected D.C. Communications attorney David Oxenford has some advice.

The great migration for television broadcasters who relinquished their spectrum in the FCC's Incentive Auction and entered into channel-sharing agreements with other stations has officially commenced. One of the first stations to turn off its transmitter for the last time is in Boston. It's a property that Sunbeam Television turned in to the FCC in exchange of $162,108,481 from wireless companies.

Emmis Chairman/CEO Jeff Smulyan touched on the positives and negatives impacting his company during its fiscal Q3 2018 earnings conference call on Thursday morning. But, determining its pro forma performance required a look at the company's 10Q filing with the SEC and a supplemental pro forma one-sheeter posted to the Emmis website. Here's the full story of where Emmis stands against the radio industry today.

If you weren't convinced that broadcast media is on the cusp of a possible at-home consumer renaissance, NPR and Edison Research just served up a bright report right on cue, as stormy weather blew east and the sun returned to Southern Nevada on Wednesday. Thanks to a 2017 holiday sales surge, some 16% of Americans now own a voice-activated smart speaker.

That's what Financial Times' Los Angeles-based Matthew Garrahan reports. If true, 21st Century Fox will soon be making a Form 314 filing with the FCC that will see the transfer of control of "about" 10 stations from Sinclair Broadcast Group.

In October 2014, the owner of two FM radio stations in Pittsburgh went on a shopping trip. After 30 years of happily serving this reimagined Rust Belt city, a quartet smack dab in the middle of America was snagged. Today, Steel City Media is actively growing all six of its stations. How, in a world of corporate media and quarterly earnings reports watched by Wall Street, is this being done? It's all about relationships.

"PN1362" arrived Monday at the Senate Commerce Committee, sent by the White House. The action would reappoint Republican Brendan Carr to a five-year term as a Commissioner, starting July 1, 2018. It marks the Trump Administration's second attempt at keeping Carr at the FCC through June 2023.