Radio+Television Business Report

Sports viewership is up, and it's rising fastest among younger fans. Hub Entertainment Research's latest wave of “Evolution of Sports – What’s the Score?” has all of the details.

The NBCUniversal Local property known as "NBC 5 Chicago" is preparing for the September 14 debut of a live, half-hour weeknight program devoted to Windy City sports, entertainment, pop culture, and special guests. Toyota has been brought on as the title sponsor of the offering, which will take the 6:30pm Central time slot. 

With the Trump Administration and Canada's PM, Mark Carney, dancing a tariff tango, some may wonder if the resulting effects will include, to some extent, a pullback on advertising commitments across North America. Not at all, a newly released global ad forecast from Madison & Wall shows.

The broadcast standards association is being honored with a 2026 Technology & Engineering Emmy Award by the NATAS for its "pioneering development" of next-generation TV broadcasting standards that establish the industry’s first fully IP-based broadcast standard to reach commercial scale.

The E.W. Scripps Co. has introduced a new Local Media leadership structure, something it calls "the latest step in its companywide transformation to reorient the business around consumers’ changing media habits." The changes result in the elimination of more than two dozen positions at the broadcast TV station ownership group.

A television station licensed to Cunningham Broadcasting but operated by Sinclair Inc. via a Joint Sales Agreement will soon become a Sinclair O&O, creating a "triopoly" in the Silver State's second-largest market. At the same time, this station's sibling in Elko, Nev., is also being sold by Cunningham to Sinclair.

According to official signal coverage maps, it is an FM translator with a signal covering portions of Dearborn, Mich. In mid-July, based on a FCC Enforcement Bureau's investigation, it was determined that the mini-FM's signal and transmitting power was far greater than its authorized 85 watts could provide. 

A pair of progressive political action groups, along with a collection of viewers of ABC stations, have responded to formal opposition to their request to become plaintiffs alongside The Walt Disney Company in its ABC-focused federal lawsuit against the FCC being argued in U.S. District Court.

Seven broadcast television stations owned by Byron Allen-led Allen Media Group won't be giving up their ABC Television Network affiliations anytime soon. A new multi-year agreement is now in place.

With a "hold separate" order forcing Nexstar from having any involvement with TEGNA's operation — including being barred from its board of directors — any possibility of merging newsrooms in New Orleans, where Nexstar owns WGNO-TV is a distant one. That was just reinforced with the naming of a WWL-TV ND by TEGNA.

In a further commitment to women's sports and a national television platform for its further fan connection and growth in popularity, Scripps Sports has reached what it calls "a landmark partnership" that represents the first season-long coast-to-coast domestic TV package for a league that's all about women on ice — with sticks in hand.

A Los Angeles-headquartered multimedia company rooted in U.S. Hispanic media that today derives the majority of its income from digital advertising solutions on Tuesday quietly gave birth to a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel devoted to "noticias." It boasts a four-anchor delivery scheme.

Media, content, consulting and entertainment opportunities are next on the agenda for Smoov, who will pursue them through his newly formed Nashville Brown LLC while saying he remains open to his next executive, programming, or media leadership opportunity.

The FCC at its upcoming September Open Meeting will vote on two items that its Republican leadership believes would open up "massive troves" of additional spectrum for the next-generation connectivity. One item is a "satellite spectrum abundance order." The other is a plan to modernize "UWB" rules. 

It's already omnipresent across the U.S. thanks to its K-LOVE and Worship Music-focused sibling Air1 brands. Now, K-LOVE Inc. is debuting a new brand aimed at reaching the next generation of young believers by targeting current college students and young adults "with the hope of inspiring them to move closer to Jesus."

The CBS Television Network affiliate owned by Sinclair Inc. and serving the region as "LOCAL 12" has officially announced "an expansion" of its local news and political programming this autumn, including the launch of a new 3pm weekday newscast and a weekly politics-driven offering.

The individual who since 2021 has served as Hearst Television’s VP of Distribution has been promoted to Senior VP of Strategy & Distribution, a newly created position in the operation. He'll continue to report to Nick Radziul, the Hearst TV Executive VP whose oversight includes distribution and government affairs.

SiriusXM has promoted from within to select the person who it believes is best to lead product and technology across SiriusXM and its Pandora platform, with responsibility for product strategy and development, technology platforms and engineering, automotive and streaming distribution partnerships, and advertising technology.

Brendan Carr, appearing Sunday on FOX News Channel's "Sunday Briefing," suggested the issuance of a FCC Public Notice reminding broadcast media licensees of their obligations regarding "fake polls," in particular those he believes are intended to suppress voters ahead of the November midterm elections. 

The LPTV Broadcasters Association has voiced its "strong support" in favor of Commission approval of the use of Emergency Alert System (EAS) software and related modernization proposals, which can be found starting at Paragraph 88 of a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.