Radio & Television Business Report

The FCC on August 6 voted to repeal its 39% national TV ownership reach cap, replacing it with a granular, case-by-case review. The Report and Order detailing the decision was not released until Thursday, and was quietly posted on the Commission website along with statements from Chairman Carr, Olivia Trusty and Anna Gómez.

Annual employment reports will soon be gone from the FCC’s rulebook. The Media Bureau ordered the removal of the requirement that stations report workforce race, ethnicity, and gender data, bringing federal regulations in line with a Fifth Circuit decision.

In late June 2025, Gray Media filed a lawsuit against the parent of Hearst Television in a New York federal district court on the grounds the privately held owner of broadcast TV stations infringed on its trademarked name for newscast weather reports. Hearst sought to dismiss the case. That effort has failed.

On August 3, it completed its $15.8 million purchase of "ABC36," making this Lexington, Ky., station a sibling to its NBC affiliate in the Kentucky market. Approval of the deal came from the FCC after DirecTV attempted to thwart it over retransmission consent concerns. Perhaps DirecTV's Rob Thun is its Chief Soothsayer.

In April 2024, in a dispute against Dish over "Must Carry" regulations, the Senior Deputy Chief of the Policy Division sided with the owner of a station seeking distribution across the Atlanta DMA, giving the licensee a win. Now, the FCC has negated that 2024 decision, siding with the direct broadcast satellite service provider.

It took roughly two months to pass muster with the FCC and reach a successful closing date. Now, K-LOVE Inc. is the owner of a pair of big-signal FM radio stations sold by Beasley Media Group, with a call sign change seen in Las Vegas.

Lakes Media Network's sellers in Southern Virginia and Northern North Carolina now have access to Townsquare Ignite's digital advertising platform. The six-station operation known for its vociferous interference fights from Raleigh-based FM translators is the latest broadcaster to team up with Townsquare.

Two longtime Empire State radio broadcasting companies are combining assets. The transaction, yet to be filed for FCC approval, comes as Ed Levine is retiring as Galaxy Media’s leader.

One year after Congress pulled federal dollars for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, California is putting its own money behind local newsrooms — and radio is included. Gov. Gavin Newsom approved the "Community NEWS Act," which establishes refundable tax credits for news outlets that retain staff journalists.

As 2021 began, Bill Gittler signed off on an agreement to sell his radio stations to Dimes Media, a licensee operating in California's Central Coast created from the Richard D. Buckley Trust. Now, Dimes, led by President/CEO Eric Dimes Fahnoe, is spinning these stations located in southern Monterey County.

"The Fan" will no longer be the official radio home of the National Basketball Association club that calls the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul home. And, in a move that makes the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act's pending Senate vote ever more urgent, the team's new flagship is on the kHz band.

As Republican FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty sees it, her August 6 decision to vote to repeal the 39% national TV audience reach limit for broadcast television station licensees "recognizes that the media marketplace has changed dramatically, while many of our rules have not."

In a lengthy statement, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said it is time "to restore balance to the broadcast airwaves" and bring back "a healthy counterbalance to the growing leverage of national programmers." He also took great lengths to demonstrate how the FCC has the authority to modify the cap.

Advertising Week New York kicks off Monday, and for the second consecutive year SiriusXM Media is hosting an event that it says will explore "the growing power and influence of audio across media, culture and advertising."

Third quarter layoff plans totaled 129,591, down 43% from the 226,242 layoff plans in Q2 2026, and down 36% from the 202,118 layoff plans announced in the same quarter of last year. That's the latest jobs look courtesy of Chicago-based Challenger Gray & Christmas.

Advertising operations platform XR (Extreme Reach) and political advertising intelligence platform Kinetiq Political Insights have forged an integration initiative designed to help political advertisers across the U.S. "make faster, more informed media, market, and messaging decisions during the mid-term campaign cycle."