the HOT List

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.

That's the question Frank DiPietro of financial advising blog The Motley Fool sought to answer. In a comprehensive review of the streaming audio company's financial health, DiPietro put on his thinking cap and wondered if Pandora Media is better off without a merger with its much-discussed potential suitor, Sirius XM Holdings.

Four years after his last appearance at the American Cable Association's just-concluded ACA Summit, Ajit Pai was pleased to be back -- this time as FCC Chairman. ACA President Matthew Polka was even more pleased with Pai, in particular on his efforts regarding rural broadband expansion and infrastructure investment.

A 25-year Democratic Congressional veteran representing parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn and the Chair of the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology have served notice that a bi-partisan push to create a "radio tax" has just begun. The NAB chimed in, and we've got a RBR + TVBR OBSERVATION on the hot-button issue of performance royalties for radio.

IPG Mediabrands' MAGNA has released its 2017 advertising forecast for U.S. media, and domestic ad spend is expected to grow by 3.7% this year. But, to little surprise, it is digital ad sales that will power this growth. Meanwhile, it believes radio advertising will continue to struggle in 2017 due to weakening pricing power.

U.S. financial markets enjoyed a strong Thursday session on Wall Street, as two media companies continued to see another day full of growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average improved 69.17, to 20,728.49. The Nasdaq Composite was up 16.80, to 5,914.34.

Roughly 12 months after it began, the FCC's first-ever broadcast incentive auction is over. Bidding in the assignment phase of the forward auction concluded on Wednesday, and this marks the end of the auction's final phase.

"While we need to look at raising the overall ownership caps within a market, there is little reason to maintain the subcaps." Those words were among the biggest delivered Tuesday afternoon by Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, who opened the Hispanic Radio Conference with a declaration that the ownership of eight FMs in a market is something he's willing to allow.

Public relations and marketing agency Ketchum has expanded its audience insights offering with a body of shoppers that it has identified and named GenZennial. What is a "GenZennial"? Perhaps the better question is, "What does this mean for a media property that relies on this segment of consumers for ratings and revenue?"

To the surprise of no one in the radio industry, Hubbard Radio's all-News WTOP-FM 103.5 in Washington, D.C. is the No. 1-billing radio station in 2016, according to just-released data from BIA/Kelsey. But, what did the nation's top 10 billing radio stations look like last year? Click here for the answer.