the HOT List

Nathan Simington and his new Chief of Staff, Adam Wax, have joined together for an opinion piece for an online news organization in which they emphatically support the FCC's investigations into CBS over alleged "news distortion." At the same time, Wax and Simington want big changes to "reverse compensation."

Radio Ink and Radio + Television Business Report are proud to announce that Cox Media Group Executive Vice President and Head of Radio Rob Babin and Nexstar Networks President Sean Compton will serve as co-chairs for Forecast 2026. The event is scheduled for November 12 at the Harvard Club in New York.

Graham Holdings Company, the diversified publicly traded business that is parent to Graham Media Group, this week released its Q1 2025 earnings report. How did the broadcast TV division, led by Catherine Badalamente, do?  Revenue was on the decline in the first three months of this year.

While digital dollars are on the rise, macroeconomic issues continue to cloud Cumulus Media's P&L sheet while the end of a partnership with The Daily Wire — producer of "The Ben Shapiro Show" and founded by the conservative talk host a decade ago — also impacted the bottom line.

It was the first item on a lengthy agenda that also considered17 bills ranging from "fog observations and geographic forecasting" to the Deploying American Blockchains Act. Now, it's very clear that there'll be no blocking the advancement of President Trump's nomination of Olivia Trusty to serve as a FCC Commissioner.

Charlie Grisham has become one of the nation's most outspoken advocates for local television consumption and advertising. Now he has a message for skittish local businesses: 'Big Tech' is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising, so they should follow their lead because local TV works. 

He's been the head of the television advertising advocacy group known colloquially as TVB since January 2010, and has been a key advocate of linear television across the last 15 years in an era where digital advertising growth continues to accelerate. At the end of 2025, Steve Lanzano will officially retire as President/CEO.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has filed a lawsuit against the President of the United States and other Trump Administration officials over electronic communication that sought the termination of a trio of CPB board members.

All five FCC votemakers have OK'd a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would provide more coherent and clearly stated foreign ownership requirements for those seeking to purchase a radio or TV station in the U.S. This means a comment period in which the NAB will undoubtedly state its case is coming soon.

"People close to the discussions" have told The Wall Street Journal that Paramount Global will continue "to abstain from particular corporate diversity initiatives," one step it will take to meet FCC approval of Skydance Media's proposed merger with the company through an acquisition of National Amusements, Inc.

The longtime President/CEO of family-owned Morgan Murphy Media, a woman who led the company for some 43 years, has passed away at the age of 79 — just weeks after stepping down from the chief executive role to become board chair.

The all-new 30-minute video podcast, presented by dot.FM, features an exclusive conversation between RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson and Foster Garvey Office Managing Director and Principal Brad Deutsch. The discussion focuses on the many anticipated regulatory changes coming for Radio and TV.

She's all but certain to become the next FCC Commissioner and on April 9 participated in a nomination hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. It is now known that the Committee will vote on Olivia Trusty's nomination on April 30, which would set up a full Senate vote.

It finished Wednesday's trading session on the Nasdaq Global Market exchange at exactly $0.2699 and just before Noon on Thursday was down by more than 12% in value. Why? Investors likely learned of a SEC filing made following the close of trading indicating that Cumulus Media has decided to shift its publicly traded shares to the OTC Markets.

Media segment revenue was up 24% in Q1 2025 for Rogers Communications. Alas, that segment pales in comparison to Rogers' Wireless and Cable businesses. With Wireless growth up 1% and Cable growth flat, Rogers still managed year-over-year revenue and EPS growth. But that growth missed analyst forecasts.