Legacy

HC2 Station Group, the rapidly growing broadcast TV station owner led by Philip Falcone, has just made another acquisition. This time, it is heading to Ohio and is acquiring a Class A that has HC2's Azteca America network on a digital multicast channel — and Telemundo on its main signal.

The Radio + Television Business Report wishes you and your family a very pleasant Labor Day holiday weekend. The RBR+TVBR newsroom will resume operations on Tuesday, Sept. 4 with the distribution of the Weekly Tech Roundup at 11am and your daily newsletter following the Closing Bell on Wall Street.

Mark your calendars: The FCC's Media Bureau has finalized the dates comments and reply comments are due to the Commission in regard to MB Docket Nos. 18-214 and 12-268. That's the NPRM that, if approved, would allow low-power broadcast media and FM radio stations to get repack money from the government.

There's money being left on the table at your radio and TV stations. How so? What's said during regular programming can be translated to ad dollars, and RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson will be probing Veritone Inc.'s Paul Cramer on how broadcast media can benefit. This will take place August 30 at 1pm Eastern during a free webinar.

The recent announcement from the FCC advising the proposed expansion of the Equal Employment Opportunity FCC office with additional staff and lawyers has many licensees on edge. Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner has some things to say about it.

Net revenue and operating income each soared for Entercom during Q2. When factoring in discontinued operations, net income also propelled upward. How did investors react? Entercom was up by nearly 21% in mid-morning activity on the NYSE and finished at its highest price in three months.

Last week the FCC “took a historic and long overdue step to increase ownership diversity in the broadcast industry.” An incubator program designed to establish greater broadcast media ownership diversity will come to fruition. Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel dissented. Now, one individual close to the push for the program tells RBR+TVBR it has a fatal flaw.

The nation's largest market, iHeartMedia, is a holdout against lifting the FCC's regulations on local radio station ownership limits. Now, a coalition of 10 radio broadcasting companies have spoken out in support of more consolidation — and have stated they're OK with a proposal drafted in June by the NAB. We have an RBR+TVBR Observation on this touchy topic.

CBS Corp. late Thursday recorded a strong Q2 that beat Wall Street estimates. What does our favorite Wall Street wordsmith, Pivotal Research Group's Brian Wieser, have to say about that? A "not impressed" meme would have sufficed, based on his take of the company's results. That said, he's convinced that Viacom's reunification with CBS is a done deal.

Entercom President/CEO David Field scrapped his midday appointment schedule and issued a statement Monday explaining how his radio broadcasting company's contract with USTN has ended — and how "relieved" Entercom is to be out of contract it inherited from its merger with CBS Radio. He also had some sharp words regarding USTN's lawsuit.

Radio and television automation firm ENCO and newsroom computer system (NRCS) specialist Octopus Newsroom have partnered to streamline news production and playout workflows for broadcasters across the globe.

Veteran D.C. communications attorney Erwin Krasnow was just as surprised as many of the brokers and attorneys RBR+TVBR contacted following the release Monday morning of a statement from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai that reveals he has "serious concerns" over Sinclair Broadcast Group's planned merger with Tribune Media. A draft hearing designation order was circulated by Pai. Is this a "deal killer?" Krasnow had some things to say about that.

The FCC on Tuesday (7/3) released its Broadcast Station Totals for the first half of 2018. The biggest headline from the new totals: FM translators and boosters, along with UHF translators, soared in number since New Year's Eve 2017. At the same time, there are slightly less full-powered radio and TV stations in operation.

Five months to the day that The E.W. Scripps Co. revealed that it was placing all of its radio stations up for sale, the soon-to-be visual media-focused media company has revealed who is purchasing its four FMs and KFAQ-AM in Tulsa. The answer? A privately held media company focused on Oklahoma that's based in Oklahoma City. Kalil & Co. was the broker in this deal.