the HOT List

It could be happening. Or not. Rocky Mountain Public Media, home of RM PBS and two audio services, is exploring a merger with two other noncommercial audio entities serving a portion of Colorado.

Anna M. Gómez has taken action to ensure everybody knows just how she feels about the lack of a full Commission decision on the biggest broadcast TV merger in modern times — Nexstar's merger with TEGNA, which came via Media Bureau approval with the granting of rule waivers by Erin Boone.

For the GOP, further rule "modernization" 30 years after the passage by President Clinton of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is of interest. For Democrats, countering consolidation by protecting diversity of voices and opposing the Media Bureau's approval of the Nexstar-TEGNA merger, is Issue No. 1.

Activists organized by Free Press gathered outside of the FCC's L Street headquarters to condemn Chairman Brendan Carr for his record on "media consolidation and threats to press freedom." A billboard on wheels accompanied the five protestors.

Todd Parkin, a former head of sales for the Bally Sports regional sports network, had agreed to acquire various TV stations from Standard Media, Imagicomm, and Sinclair Inc., respectively. Now, filings made at the FCC suggest Parkin will not be moving forward with the announced acquisitions.

In the streaming and digital media universe, the IAB NewFronts have successfully proven to be big a challenger to the traditional mid-May Upfront Week in New York. Across three days in lower Manhattan, digital advertising solutions earned a big spotlight, with Comcast Advertising on Wednesday unveiling a notable product.

She was a Regional VP at Cox Media Group and most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of Audacy Inc. Now, she’s joining iHeartMedia-owned RCS Worldwide to oversee the RCS brand of radio programming software, in addition to the Media Monitors, Mediabase and Florical Systems product lines.

In August 2025, RBR+TVBR first shared the details surrounding an agreement signed by Gray Media to acquire a group of television stations across 10 markets from Allen Media Group. On Monday, the FCC's Media Bureau granted the transfer of control request, allowing the deal to proceed toward closing.

In an internal memo shared to Audacy staff by Regional President Mark Hannon, the company confirmed that the Sr. VP and Market Manager for the company's stations in the City of Brotherly Love will be concluding his career in Radio. It ends 36 years in the industry for David Yadgaroff, starting in late May.

Could Nexstar Media Group's now completed merger with TEGNA somehow be unwound? The latter is what California Attorney General Bonta and seven other state Attorneys General seek, as Rob Bonta filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Friday in an effort to reverse what's already been done.

The Media Bureau head granted, with minor conditions, Nexstar Media Group's merger with TEGNA. It all but erases the 39% national ownership cap, setting up a court challenge being waged by eight state Attorneys General and DirecTV. Divestures have been agreed to, but the terms make it clear any sales are unlikely.

It's not so much a surprise that it happened, but that it happened on March 19 perhaps caught some industry observers off-guard. The $6.2 billion transaction that rewrites local media ownership rules is now complete, with both the Department of Justice and the FCC granting approval of TEGNA's takeover by Nexstar.

It played an integral role in getting the word out that eight Attorneys General have sued to try to stop Nexstar from completing its merger with TEGNA. Now, DirecTV has confirmed that it has filed its own federal antitrust lawsuit with the aim of doing what Washington lobbyists couldn't — killing the transaction.

A new study released Wednesday by Pearl TV, the NEXTGEN TV marketing arm, suggests a large majority of viewers of broadcast TV that rely on an antenna would invest in a set-top box to get ATSC 3.0-powered channels — a move that would "preserve access to free local television."

A new study from the Video Advertising Bureau finds that Americans "overwhelmingly trust" TV news over any other digital media source. When isolating that group of respondents to potential voters, the VAB finds that they are almost nine times more likely to trust TV news than social media platforms.