the HOT List

In a move that "ensures performers are protected and empowered" in the era of Artificial Intelligence, the SAG-AFTRA performers' union has teamed with Ethovox to ensure performers can participate in a consensual A.I. model.

It's a move that Audacy Inc. says is part of its corporate "re-imagination," and it involves a new head of Senior VP of Research and Insights, as Idil Cakim has departed to start her own business. Now in the role is an individual that most recently served as the Vice President of Ad Sales Research at WBD and started his career in key sports-focused roles.

Starting November 4, a veteran of CNN will begin overseeing the programming strategy for all non-news programs the ABC-owned station in New York is involved with — including "Live with Kelly and Mark," the WABC-TV based syndicated program born as "The Morning Show" with Regis Philbin some 40 years ago.

Even with a 3% dip in early trading on Tuesday, a reaction to a third quarter revenue miss, American Tower Corp.'s NYSE-traded stock has proven to be one of Wall Street's best bets for investors. Shares are up 25% over the last 52 weeks, despite flat activity year-to-date.

Justin Antoniotti has hit the ground running in each of the locales he's been a local TV leader. Now, he's in charge of standout properties in mid-America. To learn a little bit more about KMBC-TV & KCWE-TV and their presence in a vibrant Kansas City marketplace, we welcome him to the InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM.

In the face of leadership uncertainty in Washington come January 2025, the broadcast media community faces several challenges, concerns, and opportunities that center on a number of key questions. An esteemed panel of top broadcast attorneys will address these concerns at a Forecast 2025 panel featuring NAB Chief Legal Officer Rick Kaplan.

It already owns the FOX affiliate serving Northern Ohio's largest market. Now, Nexstar Media Group has signed an agreement that — pending FCC regulatory approval — will give it a duopoly with the acquisition of an independent television station licensed to Akron, Ohio, in a deal brokered by Kalil & Co.

For more than forty years, he was a familiar face to morning news views of TEGNA-owned WWL-TV in New Orleans. On September 18, he stepped away from the station after revealing that he was recently diagnosed with a "fairly aggressive" form of cancer.  On Saturday, Eric Paulsen passed away. He was 74 years old. 

The nation's No. 1 owner of broadcast TV stations already enjoys the highest valuation of any publicly traded media company on the stock market. Now, Nexstar Media Group can revel in the fact that it has pushed its stock price back to a level last seen in early August.

Three decades of service as Beasley Media Group's Chief Financial Officer will conclude at the end of October for Marie Tedesco, as the publicly traded radio station owner in markets such as Tampa-St. Petersburg, Boston, Detroit and its home of Fort Myers-Naples has revealed her successor.

Looking for what promises to be a realistic, no-holds-barred analysis of the current and future value of broadcast assets? A Forecast 2025 panel discussion to be moderated by someone with leadership experience in both radio and TV is just the place you'll want to be.

The individual who served in the role today held by Adam Symson between 1985 and 1998 has died at the age of 89. Larry Leser is being remembered by many across the industry, including former Scripps head Rich Boehne, who calls Leser "a brilliant strategist, decisive and never afraid of taking risks.”

Four individuals, including a child, have died as a result of a helicopter accident that led to the collapse to a radio tower in Houston, crippling broadcasts for two TelevisaUnivision FMs. The FAA is investigating; the FCC may be next. According to KTRK-13, the red aviation obstruction lights at the top of the structure "have a history of not working."

TelevisaUnivision's third-quarter 2024 performance in the U.S. bested that of Mexico. It is thanks to retransmission consent revenue gains, and big political ad dollar growth. This positions new CEO Daniel Alegre, who has a tech background, in a positive spot as further monetization of digital assets appears likely for the Hispanic media Goliath.

The S&P Global Market Intelligence Radio & TV Annual Outlook for 2024 is out, and the conclusion is simple: political advertising, at a record level, is helping to send total advertising revenue for the year up by some 9.3% from 2023. Minus those election-focused dollars, however, core ad categories aren't so active.