the HOT List

Of all of the discussions had on Thursday at the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) Executive Summit, held in the famed Studio 8H of 30 Rockefeller Center, there is perhaps one that sticks out in terms of importance — and for being the TV industry's biggest challenge: Measurement.

In 2020, after two decades at Nielsen, he rose to COO. Now, this longtime audience measurement, data and analytics thought leader and C-Suite executive has ascended to the Chief Executive Officer post, succeeding David Kenny.

MAGNA's fall 2023 U.S. ad forecast update was released Thursday morning just as the TVB Forward Executive Summit was starting in New York's famed "30 Rock." While the news is good for Digital, the outlook for traditional media is hardly as upbeat as the tunes Carrie Underwood song performed for "TODAY" just as ad industry leaders were ready to chat for TVB attendees inside Studio 8H.

To get the inside scoop what’s being discussed at the TVB Forward Executive Summit and to get a sneak peek at the Virtual Forward Sales Conference designed for account executives and sales managers being held on September 21, RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson took a moment to speak with longtime President/CEO Steve Lanzano in this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM. LISTEN HERE

It's been established that Sen. Maria Cantwell, the Democrat from the state of Washington, wants retransmission consent rules extended to virtual cable TV service providers. Broadcast TV companies want this, too. For pro-MVPD lobbyist the American Television Alliance, that's the last thing the U.S. needs, it has told Members of Congress.

The television and cross-platform measurement, analytics and attribution firm founded by Kristin Dolan, today the CEO of AMC Networks, has been sold to a growing TV ad measurement company that's gained attention from such partners as NBCUniversal over the last 5 years.

He's been associated with NBC, most recently serving as VP of Content Strategy for experimental Gen Z-focused multiplatform offering NBCLX. Early career stints include roles as a producer at KGO-7 in San Francisco and KPRC-2 in Houston. Now, this veteran news executive has been selected to head up many of the news efforts for CBS News & Stations' twin properties in Southern California.

With the season premiere of ESPN's "Monday Night Football" and the Buffalo Bills taking on the New York Jets in Aaron Rodgers' QB debut for the latter team just hours away from kickoff, Charter Communications and The Walt Disney Co. have agreed to end an 11-day retransmission consent impasse. Some predicted it would be a long-term harbinger of long-term changes that could upend the MVPD business.

The first 5G Broadcasting station in the U.S., which will become the first 24/7 5G Broadcast station in the world, will soon go live. The experimental channel sets the stage for high-definition programming and what LPTV advocate "SuperFrank" Copsidas calls "game-changing advances" in public safety and emergency response.

Yet another dispute over the dollars a broadcast television company believes it deserves to receive from a cable TV services company for the right to distribute its signals for profit has transpired. It sees Hearst Television enter a battle with one of the nation's two direct broadcast satellite companies.

A Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruling released Thursday finds that the embattled former owner of a LPTV station serving Philadelphia it lost control over, putting it in the hands of another party, must rely on the FCC to win back possession — and not the Keystone State's judicial system.

Despite widespread opposition from Senate Republicans, Anna Gomez is on her way to filling the long-vacant fifth seat on the Federal Communications Commission, thanks to a floor vote conducted Thursday in the upper body of Congress.

It took just minutes after it became clear that Anna Gomez had the necessary votes to win confirmation by the U.S. Senate of her appointment by the Biden Administration as a FCC Commissioner for the words of praise to arise from lobbying groups that will actively be working with her and her future staff. Also chiming in with positive comments: the Chairwoman of the FCC herself.

Respected broadcast media financial analyst and advertising forecaster Brian Wieser on Wednesday unveiled a new, original forecast of the U.S. advertising industry. It covers more than 20 different forms of media, and includes data through 2028 from 2016 on an annual basis. What does Wieser have to share about broadcast radio and over-the-air television?

She joined the FOX Television Stations duopoly serving the National Capital Region in 2017 as VP of Finance. Now, she's the new SVP/Manager at WTTG-5 and WDCA-20, taking a role last held by an individual who was just promoted to Executive Vice President of Ad Sales for Fox Television Stations.