the HOT List

For the last decade, musicFIRST has made it its mission to establish itself as the No. 1 advocate for artists’ rights. These efforts have been stepped up in a big way since the arrival in January of Chris Israel. Who is he, and why is he leading a push on Capitol Hill that has captured the attention -- and support -- of such House members as Darrell Issa, Marsha Blackburn and Ted Deutch? This RBR + TVBR INFOCUS pieces reviews Israel's rise, and that of musicFIRST.

“TV’s Advanced Audience Platform” has advanced in its efforts to bring the precise targeting of digital ads to television advertising by choosing Accenture as the runner for OpenAP — the television industry’s first open platform for cross-publisher audience targeting and independent measurement.

A K Street nonpartisan organization that considers itself "the lawyers for our democracy" has asked the FCC to review broadcast filings from the Judicial Crisis Network, which has spent millions of dollars on advertisements urging U.S. senators to confirm President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, but allegedly did not provide the disclosure required under federal law.

The FCC's lone Democratic Commissioner, Mignon Clyburn, has found a friend in Congress in support of her quest to have the minority tax certificate returned for radio and TV broadcasters.

At the shareholders meeting, NLSN stock owners will be asked to vote for nine Board of Director nominees, each of whom will serve a 12-month term. They'll also get to voice their views on CEO Mitch Barns' multi-million dollar salary as NLSN shares are at their lowest point since Nov. 2013.

The number of pay-TV subscriptions in the U.S. and Canada will dip from a peak of 112 million in 2012 to 102 million in 2022. While this marks a 9% decline, Dublin, Ireland-based Research and Markets believes its findings do not point to "a massive cord-cutting problem." Should multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) be pleased with this finding?

In a midday Wednesday address at D.C.-based conservative think tank The Hudson Institute, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai presented what he sees are four key problems regarding data collection and economic analysis at the Commission. His solution? The creation of the "OED" -- the Office of Economics and Data.

The future of an AM in the Valley of the Sun will not include a successful banker who made headlines in 2001 for his participation as an aviator in the London to Sydney Air Race. That's because this individual, and his wife, have lost ownership of this facility some 5 1/2 years after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

The budding feud between two fast food companies could be a good thing for broadcast TV, based on the latest data from Standard Media Index.

In a complex deal, John Malone's Liberty Interactive Corp. — a sibling of Sirius XM — has acquired Anchorage-based General Communication Inc. in a transaction with an "undiluted equity value of $1.12 billion." This will set in a motion a series of events that will put an end to the Liberty Interactive brand.

Station-level social media data for the top 100 U.S. local television markets is being woven in to BIA/Kelsey's signature data and analytical software — MEDIA Access Pro — and the new ADVantage advertising dashboard offering.

Arkansas' Christian Connection has another shot at victory in its quest to shift seven counties from two different DMAs to the Jonesboro, Ark., local satellite carriage television market.

Eastern New Mexico University may be used to being in the doghouse, but it's now been admonished by the FCC for its improper use of an FM translator to deliver programming via satellite to a full service FM in Midland, Texas.

Now that the spectrum auction has closed, Raycom has exercised its option and is ready to take on the Crescent City's home for Peter Griffin, Homer Simpson and 34-year veteran newsman John Snell. The purchase price is upward of $50 million, and this station was once owned by Emmis Communications for more than a decade.

If the estimates of UBS analyst John Hodulik are correct, a wireless carrier said to be courting Sprint and one of the nation's biggest MVPDs are the top two bidders in the just-concluded Forward Auction.