Radio+Television Business Report

In February 2021, a religious broadcast ministry acquired a low-power TV station serving Ohio's state capital. It's been operating it as a member station of “The Revival Channel." Now, a deal is in place that would transfer control of this facility to another broadcast ministry — one led by Jimmy Swaggart.

Ford is expected to increase the number of vehicles equipped with SiriusXM beginning with model year 2025 vehicles. This will make SiriusXM available for customers to access in nearly all Ford vehicles.

It's betting season ... sort of. With NCAA college football and the National Football League each kicking off their 2024 seasons and Major League Baseball heading into playoff mode, wage making is likely to increase. DraftKings wants it to be the place where those wishing to make a bet on a sports outcome will go with their dollars.

For fiscal year 2024, the Commission is required to collect a grand total of $390,192,000 in regulatory fees, payable through a collection of forfeitures for rule violations and, largely, through a fee schedule. This fee schedule has been adopted by the Commission, albeit with reservations from the senior Republican Commissioner at the FCC.

The Media Bureau of the FCC has gone ahead and established a window of opportunity for the public to chime in on the proposed transaction that will make the parent of CBS News & Stations wholly owned by Skydance Media, following its purchase of National Amusement, Inc., from Shari Redstone.

It was only a matter of time. DirecTV, which has been on a media blitz since it failed to secure a fresh carriage agreement with The Walt Disney Co. prior to the September 1 expiry deadline, has submitted a "Good Faith Negotiation Complaint" with the FCC.

A Gray Television-owned station serving the Cape Girardeau, Mo.-Paducah, Ky., television market had gotten the FCC's go-ahead to make a VHF-to-UHF shift.  But, time was running out, and as such needed FCC approval to negate the move. That OK just came from the head of the Video Bureau.

It's being touted as "a groundbreaking leap forward" by XGen Network (XGN), which has been pushing the development of 5G Broadcast in the U.S. The world's first demonstration of ancillary data delivery to a road sign using the technology has been conducted.

Nearly two years ago, the FCC handed Sinclair Broadcast Group and a host of its shared services partners, including Cunningham Broadcasting, a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the millions of dollars for apparent FCC violations of its Children’s TV programming rules. Now, the Commission has affirmed the huge fine over GOP objections.

In late May, RBR+TVBR first reported on the planned sale of a Class A FM licensed to Cuney, Tex., that served as the home of a NPR Member station which ultimately proved unsuccessful. The station shut down under an STA. Now, the University of Texas at Tyler has found a buyer, thanks in part to broker Greg Guy of Tideline Partners and Scott Fybush of Fybush Media.

It is the owner and operator of 81 radio stations led by President Peter Tanz and founded by the late Duke Wright. Its markets range from Nashville to tiny Holland, Mich. Now, Midwest Communications is seeking regulatory approval for its purchase of two additional stations in the Mitten State.

As expected, the conservative-leaning cable TV news brand that is also in the radio syndication realm thanks to “The Newsmax Daily with Rob Carson” has confidentially filed with the SEC an offering statement.  As such, Newsmax expects to conduct an initial public offering "later this year or in early 2025."

It may sound like a bold prediction or crafty marketing language, but the company known for its ownership of National Post, news and entertainment portal Canoe.com and the Sun brand of tabloid publications says it will launch a studio as part of "an ambitious project aimed at transforming the Canadian media landscape" in the wake of the Online Streaming Act's passage.

She's known across the radio industry for her programming roles at such stations as WRKS "98.7 Kiss FM" in New York and WPOW "Power 96" in Miami and most recently served as Director of Operations for Cox Media Group's South Florida radio properties. Now, Jill Strada is settling in to a new role with a group of Atlanta radio stations.

Two weeks ago, it became known that Bally Sports Southwest will not be the home of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks for the 2024-2025 season. On Friday, the team owned by Miriam Adelson and led by CEO Cynt Marshall revealed who its new TV partner will be.

The publicly traded audio-focused media company founded by George Beasley and today led by his daughter, CEO Caroline Beasley, is moving forward with an exchange offer that swaps out old debt for new debt — at a slightly higher interest rate.

With Frank Montero as legal counsel, a New York-based individual is shifting ownership of a construction permit for a future radio station on Florida's Panhandle to an LLC for which he's the sole member. It now awaits regulatory approval.

Streamline Publishing's Radio Ink broke the news in February that Rick & Bubba Show co-host Rick Burgess would be going solo with his own syndicated show in 2025. Details regarding that program’s premiere are now known, and Burgess won’t have a long break after Rick & Bubba's end.

The North Carolina-based radio station ownership group led by Tom Birch has filed a 53-page interference complaint against a licensee led by one of the region's biggest local broadcast leaders. It pits Birch's Lakes Media against Don Curtis, and a Class C3 FM licensed to Clarksville, Va., against a 150-watt FM translator designed to expressly serve the cities of Cary and Raleigh.

What sets Nexstar Media Group apart from its peers in the television broadcasting space? With a stock price that far exceeds that of other over-the-air station licensees, founder and CEO Perry Sook and Chief Financial Officer Lee Ann Gliha had much to tout during a "fireside chat" held Wednesday during the Citi 2024 Global TMT Conference.