the HOT List

On September 1, the nation's No. 1 broadcast television station ownership group completed its $35 million purchase of KUSI-51 in San Diego from McKinnon Broadcasting Company, in a deal brokered by Kalil & Co.  With the transaction's closing, Nexstar Media Group officially has a duopoly in "America's Finest City." And, KUSI has a new VP/General Manager.

A total of 41 television stations with a reach of nearly 22 million television households across the U.S. will not be participating in any "great affiliation swap" anytime soon.  It's thanks to a new agreement reached between Nexstar Media Group and one of the nation's "Big Four" networks.

As RBR+TVBR reported on August 22, the chief programming executive at NPR will conclude her tenure at the end of 2023, ending a nearly 30-year tenure that includes on-demand audio innovations. On Sept. 11, Eva Rodriguez will become Executive Editor. These changes came after the June arrival of Daphne Kwon as Chief Financial Officer. On Tuesday, it became known that the Chief Executive Officer of NPR will be stepping aside.

What are the ramifications when a leader of a broadcast media company deletes text messages over several years, even though there may be a legal obligation to keep them accessible as items that could be needed for an ongoing court case? In the case of Griffin Communications, it is a matter of negligence, and not a bad faith action. 

Millions of Charter Communications Spectrum customers who rely on their cable TV services to consume the local ABC Owned Station are in the dark. And, in every U.S. market where Spectrum operates, access to 25 cable channels including ESPN has been denied. Welcome to the latest retransmission consent impasse, and it impacts The Walt Disney Company and the dominant MVPD in the nation's two largest markets.

Sinclair Broadcast Group has signed a fresh multi-year deal that not only renews station affiliations but returns The CW in 21 markets where DirecTV has been unable, by law, to bring the network to local viewers since July 12.

For those who believed a scheduled auction of all of his radio stations, as ordered by a Nevada federal bankruptcy judge, marked the finality of a long, twisting ownership tenure for Ed Stolz and his Royce International of three FM radio stations, an AM radio station, and two FM translators, think again.

The former General Manager of NBCUniversal-owned WTVJ-TV in Miami, who is also known as the first President of the company's Spanish-language Telemundo broadcast television network, has died at the age of 80.

A bankruptcy auction of Ed Stolz's former radio stations is on schedule for October 26. At the request of trustee Michael Carmel, his FCC counsel is distributing information to a variety of media brokers to attract interest and attention to the bidding opportunity. More than 40 media brokerage firms, including some of the largest in the U.S., were contacted.

It is formerly known as Emmis Communications and was once a formidable operator of radio stations across the U.S. Now known as Emmis Corporation, the publicly traded company founded by Chairman Jeff Smulyan has shared that it has received "overwhelming support" from shareholders to amend its articles of incorporation, as outlined in its proxy statement.

Since May 2017, she has served as VP/GM of WKRN-2 in Nashville, the ABC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group. Now, she's earned a significant promotion, and has been appointed Sr. VP/Regional Manager for the company's broadcasting division, starting September 5.  This means this Music City USA leader will be moving to Nexstar's headquarters in Irving, Tex.

Today, KRON-4 is a Nexstar Media Group property, thanks to its merger with Media General. With a decision by CBS News & Stations to end affiliation with The CW Network in multiple markets, that network — majority-controlled by Nexstar — is heading to KRON.

Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), the Hispanic multimedia company ready to refocus exclusively on its digital and audio assets, released its Q2 2023 financial results late Monday. How did SBS do? Net revenue climbed 1%, but a rise in expenses negated the ability to generate a profit.

It's a unique Adult Standards operation that is licensed to use an FM translator covering the state capital of Washington. It is operated as a non-profit, and it could now be on the hook for a hefty fine. Why? It lied to the FCC about the status of a construction permit, fibbing its status for a good seven months.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission are reminding broadcast media stations across the U.S. that a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System will take place on the first Wednesday of October.