the HOT List

For 22 years, he was the anchor of CBS Sunday Morning and also served as the host of the  long-running radio vignette The Osgood File. Now, many have paused to pay tribute to Charles Osgood, who has died of dementia at the age of 91. 

A "comprehensive multi-year agreement" has been reached between the nation's No. 1 owner of broadcast TV stations and the audience measurement service provider.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. has moved forward with its defense against claims from the Attorney General for the State of New York that it engaged in “a deliberately lengthy and burdensome cancellation process” by having the case play out in federal court, and not in state court.

The owner of a noncommercial FM serving a small Southern Oregon community has received notification from the Audio Division of the FCC's Media Bureau that the station was operating from an unauthorized location — the wrong tree in his yard —for more than one year. As such, KQCF-FM is no more.

He joined Scripps in 2008 and has counseled its leadership team on every major decision since then. Now, Bill Appleton plans to retire at the end of 2024. Who will succeed him? A Philadelphia Inquirer reporter who decided to go to law school and take a job at Baker Hostetler, where Appleton once practiced.

The President/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters is applauding Members of the House of Representatives for their passage of H.R. 4250, legislation Curtis LeGeyt says "acknowledges the critical role of journalists on our democracy."

While Townsquare Media has not received a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, it will be paying $500,000 to the U.S. Treasury by entering into a Consent Decree with the FCC that will have the Bureau's investigation into the matter — which involves two AM radio stations in Idaho — closed.

As expected, the Federal Communications Commission has moved ahead on a party-line 3-2 vote with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will establish an agency regulatory policy requiring rebates for MVPD consumers who face programming "blackouts" due to a retransmission consent impasse.

David Oxenford, the respected Wilkinson Barker Knauer Partner, believes many of the headlines suggesting the FCC's power would be diminished if Chevron deference disappears for federal agencies are a bit too heavy. If anything, any change could be beneficial for those challenging the Commission on its rulemaking decisions.

The Supreme Court of the United States on Wednesday morning heard oral arguments on what has emerged as a major administrative law question: Should it overrule, or "clarify," a 1984 decision holding that federal courts should defer to an agency's reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous law?

As Wednesday began, the independently-managed and unconsolidated subsidiary of Sinclair Inc. revealed that it plans to emerge from bankruptcy as a "going concern" and continue its operations, as a Restructuring Support Agreement with Diamond's largest creditor groups has been agreed upon. Amazon is involved ... as is a big Sinclair Inc. payment to DSG.

Nearly two years ago, Cumulus Media received a hefty NALF from the FCC for not adhering to its Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) regulations at 4 FMs and 1 AM serving the Albany, Ga., market it used to own. Now, the Commission has spoken with just a slight reduction of the financial penalty.

For the past five years, Jim Howard has served in the role of chief executive of Marketron, known for its broadcast media ad revenue management products. Now, he will shift back to the role of Board Chair as Jimshade Chaudhari takes the CEO post. Concurrently, Marketron REV has been sold.

Comcast Corp., which failed to reach a fresh retransmission consent agreement with Mission Broadcasting, went to the FCC to address its concerns that all of the carriage agreement discussions were not conducted "in good faith." Now, the Commission has spoken — and it agrees with the Xfinity parent's assessment.