Radio+Television Business Report

The Supreme Court for New York State on Thursday set big monetary penalties against the largest broadcast TV ownership group in the U.S., asking it to repay DirecTV for fees associated with what is today an unaffiliated Washington, D.C.-focused facility branded as “DC News Now.” Nexstar will continue the battle.

A key Democratic U.S. Senator has written to the Acting Assistant Attorney General within the Department of Justice's antitrust division, urging Omeed Assefi to "closely scrutinize" the proposed acquisition of Fubo by The Walt Disney Company.

Cheryl McHenry has won acclaim and attracted generations of viewers to Cox Media Group's WHIO-7 in Dayton. In three months, the veteran news anchor at the CBS affiliate — one of the nation's most dominant — will be saying goodbye to viewers across Ohio's Miami Valley.

It has a 110,000-watt signal atop San Bruno Mountain, allowing this station to cover nearly all of the San Francisco DMA. That said, the Bay Area is notorious for its hills and valleys, which can make FM reception particularly troublesome. KQED-FM is now acting to resolve that problem in the East Bay.

A low-power television station serving a portion of the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico has entered into a Consent Decree with the Video Division of the FCC's Media Bureau to resolve issues pertaining to its application for a license to cover.

A newly released report from Pew Research Center finds that 63% of Americans believe inflation is a very big problem for the country. This is comparable to May 2024. But, it is down from 70% in 2022.

First announced at NAB Show 2024, the integration introduces a SPECai logo within vCreative’s vPPO platform, with expansion to vProMedia coming soon. The AI-driven process guides users through script creation with voiceover selection from various AI voices and music bed selection from Benztown’s libraries.

A pair of FM radio stations located in the cities of DeQueen and Nashville, Ark., have been sold, thanks to an agreement signed off by the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas.  Who is the buyer of these facilities?

Aaron Ishmael has gained attention for his ownership of radio stations in the Adirondack Region of New York. Now, his company has agreed to purchase an AM radio station in the Garden State, along with its two all-important FM translators.

Radio 7 Media has signed off on paperwork that, pending FCC regulatory approval, will place an AM radio station serving Pulaski, Tenn., and its associated FM translator, in the hands of a new owner.

While in Miami for a symposium with Hispanic media leaders, FCC Commissioner Anna Gómez took time out to visit the Paramount Global-owned WFOR-TV. Gómez has been vocal in her opposition to a Republican-fueled probe into a CBS News interview with Kamala Harris.

How did TelevisaUnivision perform in Q4? In the U.S., there was growth and it was fueled by ViX, the direct-to-consumer platform. In Mexico, there was none, impacting the overall results. The good news: the company's full-year net loss continues to decline, albeit slowly.

Over the years, David and Penny Drucker have bought and sold broadcast TV stations, including the divestment at the end of 2023 of a low-power TV station in Anchorage. Now, the Druckers are in the news again for their agreement to acquire a low-power TV property serving the San Francisco DMA.

A Boise, Idaho-based radio broadcasting company with stations here and in the Magic Valley region that includes Twin Falls is venturing into a neighboring state, thanks to a deal announced late Wednesday.

It's being touted as "a new integration that will enhance audience measurement capabilities and increase accessibility to Advanced Audiences." That's the result of an expanded relationship between audience measurement leader Nielsen and TransUnion.

Some news organizations are calling it a "power grab" by the White House. Talk of court challenges has already emerged. President Trump has used "the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America" to issue an Executive Order "ensuring accountability" for the FCC.

A Class C2 FM serving a small agricultural town in Wyoming is being sold to a major religious non-commercial broadcasting licensee.

Sage Weil has built a network of liberal-leaning Talk stations across the state of Wisconsin, and in late November 2024 agreed to purchase an FM licensed to Hayward, Wisc., from a licensee led by Mike Oberg. Now, Weil and Oberg have an agreement in place that expands Weil's Civic Media to the land of 10,000 lakes.

The multilayered roadblocks for Hispanic media are many, and SBS's head was on the attack at a symposium featuring FCC and FTC Commissioners. As far as Raúl Alarcón Jr. is concerned, fairness in getting Hispanic media its share of the ad dollars is paramount. Addressing Nielsen issues is also needed, he said.

There's an urgent need to "modernize" the FCC's "outdated" broadcast ownership rules. While those words could have easily come from former Chairman Ajit Pai, they were delivered at a Wednesday luncheon by the President/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters.