the HOT List

The FCC on Monday fined the nation’s largest wireless carriers for illegally sharing access to customers’ location information without consent and without taking reasonable measures to protect that information against unauthorized disclosure. Sprint and T-Mobile face fines of more than $12 million and $80 million, respectively.

In 2020, a retransmission consent disagreement between Cox Media Group and Dish lasted five months. Two years later, no new accord could be agreed upon between the direct broadcast satellite company and the over-the-air TV station owner. Now, after 17 months, a new carriage agreement has been signed.

What's the state of NEXTGEN TV in the U.S.? Sinclair Inc. is pushing ahead with potentially lucrative initiatives tied to broadcast data fueling the "internet of things." Now Gray Television is sharing some of its more recent accomplishments as NEXTGEN TV continues to grow its nationwide footprint.

The Chief of the FCC Media Bureau's Audio Division has confirmed the Commission will soon release a public notice seeking comment on a recently filed remedial petition for declaratory ruling that seeks approval for specific foreign investors to hold ownership interest in Cumulus Media.

Standard General and its head, Soo Kim, have sued the FCC and its Chairwoman and Media Bureau Chief for actions that led to the FCC's decision to designate the now-failed transaction for a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge. Kim believes the failure to win Commission approval comes down to one thing: race discrimination.

Starting with the 2024-2025 season, the National Hockey League franchise serving the Pacific Northwest will see more than 70 non-nationally televised games appear on broadcast TV.  It's thanks to an agreement announced Thursday between the Seattle Kraken and TEGNA.

As CEO Wade Davis said with the release Thursday of TelevisaUnivision's Q1 2024 earnings report, “2024 started strong with great revenue growth and continued progress across our most important strategic initiatives." That said, Adjusted OIBDA was down 9% and domestic revenue was flat year-over-year, with improvements in Mexico fueling the growth.

Brendan Carr issued a statement late Tuesday following the release of a Memorandum Opinion and Order allowing the sale of WADL-38 in Detroit to proceed, but with several conditions. In Carr's view, "The FCC’s decision to redline the terms of a deal like this plainly exceeds the agency’s statutory authority."

For months, the FCC has been weighing how to proceed with the proposed sale of WADL-38 in Detroit by Kevin Adell to Mission Broadcasting. The ATVA and NCTA protested. The Commission raised concerns involving Nexstar's ties to Mission in this deal. Now, a resolution has arrived — with conditions.

The "non-compete" clause, which prevented a star talent from crossing the street for a specific period of time, has been banned. As the FTC Chair sees it, this final rule is engineered to "promote competition" and is designed to protect "the fundamental freedom of workers to change jobs, increasing innovation, and fostering new business formation."

Political activist Brent Bozell III wants the FCC to put the brakes on Audacy's emergence from debtor-in-possession status. Why? "There is no question that George Soros and his affiliated businesses are looking to control these radio stations to advance their particular brand of activism," he claims.

In the last quarter of every even-numbered year, the FCC is tasked to publish a "Communications Marketplace Report." Your opportunity to tell the Commission exactly how business is, and what it could be like, begins in early June.

The nation's No. 1 owner of broadcast TV stations on Monday afternoon filed its response to the FCC’s proposed fine linked to the company’s relationship with WPIX-11 in New York. "We will not be issuing any additional statement regarding the filing, which we will let speak for itself," a company spokesperson says.

Beasley Media Group's stock has moved from the Nasdaq Global Market to the Nasdaq Select Market. For shareholders, the move was designed to be largely transparent. And, it gives the company more time to meet Nasdaq's $1 minimum valuation and regain rule compliance.

Seven DMAs where The E.W. Scripps Co. presently offers The CW network as a local over-the-air offering via one of its broadcast signals will soon be parting ways with the Nexstar Media Group-owned offering, RBR+TVBR has confirmed.