Radio+Television Business Report

The head of ACA Connects, a pro-MVPD lobby that has regularly pointed fingers at broadcast TV station owners in retransmission fee disputes, says the proposed combination of TEGNA and Nexstar is bad news for consumers.

The new agreement, which is retroactive to January 1, 2022, represents what the groups call "a historic rate increase for BMI that reflects the company’s superior market share in the radio industry."

It's a Class C FM with a booming signal licensed to the state capital of Washington that can be heard as far south as Astoria, Ore., and well into the Seattle-Tacoma area. Pending FCC approval, it will become the latest addition to the stable of stations owned by Amador Bustos. Kalil & Co. was the seller's broker.

He joined iHeartMedia in 2020 as PD for "95.5 The Bull" in Las Vegas and has experience in the Country, Top 40 and Hip-Hop formats, even serving as "Country Format Captain" for Alpha Media. Now, he'll be overseeing what comes out of the speakers for the company's four Las Vegas audio offerings.

Nexstar Media Group has reached a formal agreement to acquire TEGNA. And, in terms of EBITDA, it puts Nexstar in the same league as FOX and Paramount Skydance, something Nexstar founder and Chairman/CEO Perry Sook believes will put his company in broader media industry conversations in a bigger and meaningful way.

One prominent advertising trends analyst believes the proposed acquisition of TEGNA by Nexstar Media Group will not reverse the downward trajectory for core advertising dollars for the industry.

Perry Sook, in prepared comments distributed prior to a conference call with key media industry financial analysts but not with TEGNA representatives, singled out "the initiatives being pursued by the Trump administration" for making a $6.2 billion proposed all-cash acquisition of TEGNA a possibility.

Nexstar, the nation's single-biggest licensee of broadcast TV stations, is purchasing all of the stations under the TEGNA banner. It's a proposed transaction that could only have come together thanks to an Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling just weeks ago and the FCC Chairman's pledge to "Delete, Delete, Delete."

It is formally known as Marquee Broadcasting West, and it is led by COO Gene Steinberg on a day-to-day basis. Owned by Brian Lane and CEO Patricia Lane, this bicoastal radio and TV station owner has just agreed to purchase the radio properties of Bicoastal Media in Southern Oregon.

Four networks. One screen. Zero flipping. That's a feature DirecTV pioneered in the late-2000s. Now, it has launched seven new multiview "Mix Channels" on its streaming platform.

The exclusive global provider of Philips Professional Displays and complementary products has adjusted its EMEA sales and global marketing management teams, with two promotions made by the company.

GatesAir has brought to market its latest high-efficiency RF product with the release of a new transmitter infrastructure for its entire range of DAB/DAB+ transmitters. To be introduced at IBC2025 in September, the modernized architecture is designed to improve efficiency percentages by upward of 50%.

ARC Software Inc. has entered into an agreement with Christian FM Media, a provider of programming content for Contemporary Christian formatted stations. This makes ARC the primary affiliate research and management tool for the organization.

IP compliance monitoring and multiviewing specialist Mediaproxy has brought to market a new version of its Monwall multiviewer platform. It includes two new features: Instant Replay for live incident review and the ability to monitor HTML content directly within mosaic outputs.

After reaching its highest diversity levels on record, radio newsrooms experienced a significant setback in workforce diversity during 2025. According to the Radio Television Digital News Association, minority representation dropped nearly five percentage points, erasing gains made since 2023.

The junior United States Senator from California has sent a formal letter to the Chairman of the FCC asking him to "clarify" the terms and conditions for approving the $8 billion merger between Skydance Media and Paramount Global — "including any role played by President Trump or his associates in influencing the FCC’s actions."

The passage of the Rescissions Act of 2025 defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and left the organization without operating funds for the next fiscal year. This led to a wind-down of CPB operations. Now, the CPB says it can't absorb the costs and manage the Next Generation Warning System grant program.

In broadcast TV, sports partnerships are becoming more numerous than ever. AM and FM radio remain equally important for pro and collegiate sports, and a new partnership will pair University of South Florida Athletics with a group of stations owned by Beasley Media Group.

A Class D AM with 1kw daytime power and 22 watts after dark to protect CFRB-AM in Toronto and WINS-AM in New York has been sold, along with its all-important FM translator serving a city along the banks of the Ohio River.

The publicly traded parent company of Hispanic consumer-focused Estrella Media and of venerable New York radio brands WBLS and "HOT 97" has a new Chief Revenue Officer, reporting to CEO Albert Rodriguez.