the HOT List

Three high-powered Democrats have written to the Chair of Paramount Global expressing concerns as to whether the parent of CBS News and Stations "may be engaging in potentially illegal conduct" involving the Trump Administration in exchange for regulatory approval of its merger with Skydance Media.

With the main ballroom at capacity, the 2025 MFM conference kicked off in earnest on Monday with an in-depth and revealing panel discussion featuring three key CFOs representing broadcast media moderated by the Publisher/President of the Radio + Television Business Report and Radio Ink. 

On May 5, Connoisseur Media's acquisition of Alpha Media was officially announced, with Brigade Capital Management contributing much of the cash to make the transaction happen. Late Monday, the official stock purchase and exchange agreement requiring the FCC's approval appeared in the LMS.

The fate of Wendy McMahon has been discussed by media observers for weeks. On Monday, an internal memo sent by McMahon to staff yielded the answer that is not wholly unexpected: she's stepping down as President/CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures.

With renewed vigor and CEO Joe Annotti fully energized about this year's event, the Media Finance Management 2025 Conference formally kicked off Monday following a Hearst Television-sponsored welcome reception on Sunday evening with welcome remarks from the President/CEO of the NAB.

For some companies, including Charter Communications, the services it offers have lasting consumer value. This could explain why it is agreeing to acquire Cox Communications in a multi-billion deal announced early Friday by the two companies.

The blockbuster multi-billion proposed transaction that sees Charter Communications acquiring Cox Communications will result in a new Cox that takes on Charter's Spectrum MVPD identity. Who will lead this new version of Cox, once the transaction is completed?

The Chairman of the FCC is praising the agency's initial findings and anticipated savings resulting from a top-to-bottom review of its contracts — a task carried out under an executive order from the White House drafted by the Department of Government Efficiency.

The National Hockey League franchise serving the Tampa-St. Petersburg market will soon be bringing its telecasts to broadcast TV, following the lead of its in-state rivals, the Florida Panthers, and two NHL teams in the Western U.S.

A high-ranking Democratic Member of the Senate Commerce Committee and a colleague who serves as his party's Ranking Member for the legislative body, have written to the Chairman of the FCC pleading for a vote on the proposed merger between the parent of CBS News and Stations and Skydance Media.

A rule that requires TV broadcasters to provide an aural representation of visual, non-textual emergency information that is displayed during non-newscast programming, such as radar maps or other graphics, on a secondary audio stream will not be enforced for another year. And, it's a move the FCC itself acted on.

Urban One, the media company superserving African Americans through radio and cable television properties, has released first quarter results its CEO, Alfred Liggins III, says "were broadly in line with expectations." But, were those expectations positive? Hardly, and Digital growth was absent.

One of the two stations in Nebraska's biggest market that John Hannon will lead is today operated via an LMA agreement between its owner and Sinclair Inc. This will soon change, as Sinclair is moving forward with buying the property outright, creating a duopoly.

As RBR+TVBR first reported on Monday, Sinclair Inc. has agreed to acquire a LMA partner that serves as the ATSC 3.0 lighthouse for the Omaha-Council Bluffs market outright, creating a duopoly. To the east, Sinclair has engineered a similar LMA-to-purchase deal, creating a duopoly in a second Hawkeye State DMA.

NBCUniversal opened Upfront Week at Radio City Music Hall on Monday with a tart tongue from Seth McFarlane and bravado that saw the Comcast Corp. unit take verbal swipes at all of its digital competitors while touting "the greatest collection of content any single company has ever collected in a single year."