Audacy to go private The FCC approved a controversial Audacy bankruptcy plan in a politically divided three-to-two vote in which Soros Fund Management becomes the biggest shareholder in the company with a 57 percent stake through the Laurel Tree Opportunities Corporation. As a result, Audacy – who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, will go private and David Field […]
Also: WGN-TV’s Jewell Hilary gets promoted; FCC head rejects Trump ABC license revocation request Three months after its official announcement, the Sun-Times reported Thursday the new Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) is close to a deal with DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, and U-Verse. This comes as an email was sent to YouTubeTV subscribers (including me) Wednesday stating NBC Sports Chicago – the […]
Must also sell station in twelve months In a decision that could have ripple effects for local television, the FCC has fined both Nexstar and Mission Broadcasting over their relationship with one another regarding WPIX in New York City, the market’s CW affiliate. The FCC has also ordered Mission to sell the station in the nation’s largest media market. The […]
Also: The Lite launches Christmas format today; NBCSN closure date revealed; Biden nominates two to the FCC [Editors Note: The WLIT item was updated November 6.] Approximately four years ago, I wrote a headline here titled “Fueled by Ferguson” as his morning show propelled 101.9 The Mix/WTMX to ratings success throughout the day. But since the allegations of sexual misconduct […]
Right now, it’s too early to tell given Senate runoff races and the President’s refusal to concede – and even after he is seated, we still wouldn’t know If you think there’s going to be sweeping changes regarding media issues with an incoming Biden administration – you might want to think again. In fact, there might not be any – […]
Local TV stations already shunning ads; Juul halts all advertising (Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on September 22 and has been updated.) With complaints from viewers increasing on social media and users being hospitalized (including a few in the Chicago area), three major media companies announced they were no longer accepting advertising for vaping products and e-cigarettes. WarnerMedia, […]
Could have an impact nationwide, including CAN TV Chicago In a move that could have devastating consequences for community-based cable TV channels, the dysfunctional and useless FCC voted among party lines Thursday (like they do for everything else) 3-2 to let cable networks and data assign a value to their networks and can reduce fees owed to localities by that […]
Also: Decades finds new station group; FCC votes to modify kidvid rules and strike down San Francisco apartment broadband law Hubbard Broadcasting continued its dominance of local Chicago radio in the recently released May PPM Nielsen rankings. As reported by Robert Feder, WTMX finished first again, with sister station The Drive (WDRV-FM) finishing a strong second. The Minnepaolis-based company also […]
FCC Chairman has concerns about the deal; could be knockout blow – Sinclair and Tribune both pledge to fight on (Editor’s Note: Updated at 4:10 p.m. on July 17 with new information.) Even Ajit Pai is seeing through the scam. On Monday, the FCC Chairman released a statement saying he had “serious concerns” about the $3.9 billion deal between Sinclair […]
FCC reverses 2015 vote; leaves uncertain future for Net Never in the years I’ll followed the media business I’ve seen so much hatred for the FCC – even during the Nipplegate controversy and when former chairman Kevin Martin was running the agency. But what we saw Thursday may have Trumped everything. In yet another bitterly partisan divided vote in an […]
Also approves ATSC 3.0 television transmissions If there is any federal agency that gives the Illinois legislature a run for their money for being the most dysfunctional in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission would win hands down. An example of this came Thursday when the FCC relaxed the media ownership rules and modified the lifeline program in votes […]
In what has to be the most politically divided vote at the Federal Communications Commission since the Sirius/XM merger of nearly seven years ago, the government agency passed new Net Neutrality rules on Thursday, a victory for open-Internet activists and the defeat of ISPs and telecoms, notably Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast. The three-to-two vote came among party lines: Democrats Mignon […]
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