the HOT List

Atlanta-headquartered Gray Media is celebrating the first new combination of top-four rated television stations this decade, as the Carr Commission has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules and will allow the company to complete its purchase of the FOX affiliate serving the Rochester, Minn., market. 

The E.W. Scripps Co. confirmed that it has entered into a transaction support agreement with lenders representing more than 70% of the aggregate principal amount of its 2026 and 2028 term loans. It also entered into commitment letters with accounts receivable securitization providers for a new securitization facility.

Sinclair has been said to be a seller of non-essential broadcast television assets in recent months. Now, that chatter has turned into an asset sale agreement, as the company is turning to a former Bally Sports sales executive as it agrees to sell five television stations, including its Milwaukee property.

Linear television remains the most important influence — by far — among a variety of different media platforms, through all stages of a consumer's purchase decision process. That's the key conclusion from a just-released TVB study that highlights the importance of media platforms that influence consumers during the purchase decision process.

Saga Communications provided a strategic update ahead of the broadcaster’s Tuesday earnings call over digital growth, cost alignment, and corporate governance improvements. The company also expressed concerns over recent board nominations.

A group of Democrats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate are taking aim at FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and the Trump Administration, on the grounds of FCC "weaponization." It's a claim made in recent weeks by Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gómez.

How are TV news audiences engaging across cable, satellite, and digital platforms? That's a question answered in the just-released "State of TV News 2025" report from Harker Bos Group's Crowd React Media division. What it means for the future of news organizations could impact your budgets as well as ND decisions.

Entravision's Media revenue gained 30% in Q4 while Advertising Technology & Services revenue growth was a robust 49%. That said, Entravision's cost of revenue, direct operating expenses, and "selling, general and administrative expenses" rose. Add in a hefty impairment charge, and Entravision saw a wider net loss.

Come April 1, the Chief Legal Officer at iHeartMedia will be pursuing a new opportunity outside of the company. Where is Jordan Fasbender going? Look no further than the properties Comcast will soon be spinning off from its NBCUniversal unit.

If you think the reduction-in-force efforts happening at a variety of broadcast media companies in recent weeks — and even today, at Audacy — are unique to those operations, think again. All U.S.-based employers announced 172,017 job cuts in February. That's the highest total for the month since 2009.

"With management’s decision to no longer disclose subscriber counts from Q1 onwards, it is unlikely we will be able to track the quarterly or regular cadence of how subscribers grow from here — aside from key milestones," MoffettNathanson notes in an investor report focused on Netflix. So how much more room can subscribers grow?

The updated forecast shows “slight” adjustments to previous estimates for 2025, with advertising revenue (excluding political) adjusted up by a meager 0.03 percent from the last forecast and total local ad revenue, including political spending, adjusted up by 0.1 percent.

A person with knowledge of the situation noted that some 6% of ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks employees are losing their jobs as part of the effort. Many are based in New York.

It looks like Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) has a new, bipartisan fight on behalf of local broadcast radio companies on her hands, as a non-binding resolution that opposes "any new performance fee, tax, royalty or other charge" on domestic AM and FM stations has been introduced in the U.S. Senate for the current Congressional session.

Brendan Carr spent Monday in Barcelona for the MWC Barcelona conference, a major global gathering devoting to mobile technology. Carr delivered a Keynote Address of approximately eight minutes in length before joining a group discussion. The big takeaway? "In America ... we are returning to our free speech tradition."