the HOT List

On August 1, CBS viewers in seven markets will need to switch channels in order to continue watching the network's TV programming. On September 1, the ABC network affiliation in St. Louis will see a shift. This is disconcerting to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who says the agency is closely examining one affiliation move agreement.

The lone Democratic Party voice on the Federal Communications Commission has again lashed out at the agency under the leadership of Chairman Brendan Carr for its proceeding in which ABC Owned Stations have been asked to participate in an early license renewal effort.

The PBS Member station's 70 years of archives are stuck at a facility believed to be used by Iron Mountain, in Denver. This led the television station to sue the data storage giant. A district judge ordered Iron Mountain to refrain from deleting any of the files as litigation continues.

Thanks to its transformative $22 million transaction with Hymen Childs' Service Broadcasting, announced in May, Urban One has a "revitalized" Dallas-Fort Worth station group. As such, the company led by Alfred Liggins III has refreshed its leadership team in North Texas.

There's chatter that one of the nation's largest radio station ownership groups could be faced with its own oversized job force shrinkage. Why? The post-bankruptcy ownership structure of Cumulus Media shows that the president of notorious newspaper owner Alden Global Capital will hold a big stake of Cumulus stock.

Attorneys representing Jeff Warshaw have made important calculated updates to his lawsuit against Soros Fund Management, the controlling interest holder in Audacy. It is a move designed to protect his backup legal theories in case a judge later rules no enforceable contract ever existed between the two sides.

Spanish Broadcasting System is down two members of its executive team. Chief Revenue Officer Gene Bryan has parted ways with the company, and Chief Content Officer Jesus Salas has resigned, an executive confirmed to Streamline Publishing late last week.

A U.S. District Judge has signed off on an order that presents a small victory to WGA West and a group of state Attorneys General led by California's Rob Bonta, as Paramount Skydance has agreed to hold off closing its proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery until a date that could come as late as June 1, 2027.

Unlike the shift of CBS network affiliations from a host of Nexstar-owned stations to the digital multicast signals associated with stations owned by Forum Communications and Hearst Television, respectively, Gray will place ABC on a DT1 signal. It's presently home to Gray's "Matrix Midwest" Sports offering.

It was the subject of industry rumors that began on Friday. Now, RBR+TVBR has learned that a group of CBS affiliates associated with Nexstar Media Group are losing the network come August 1, with two-year agreements in place with two companies it competes with across the impacted markets.

In September 1994, Gray Media emerged as the buyer of the CBS affiliate serving Lexington, Ky. Today, that facility offers The CW Network to the market via a digital multicast channel. In the coming months, a full-powered UHF will become its sibling, giving Gray a duopoly.

Nexstar Media Group installed a new TEGNA board comprised entirely of Nexstar’s CEO, President, CFO, General Counsel, and the former President of its broadcasting division. DirecTV says that's a problem, as it constitutes a compliance issue with a preliminary injunction issued by a California federal district judge.

Former Republican Federal Communications Commission Chairman Al Sikes and former Democratic FCC Commissioner Ervin S. Duggan have formally joined the Media and Democracy Project in its long-standing battle to get the Commission to hear its concerns regarding the license renewal of "FOX 29" in Philadelphia.

It is a decision that was largely anticipated, and will impact to some degree broadcast media across the nation. In a vote that saw Anna Gómez dissent in part, the three-member agency on Wednesday moved ahead with rules establishing the auction of 160 MHz of spectrum in the Upper C-Band by July of next year.

The interim News Director of WWL-TV in New Orleans has been promoted to the role of News Director for its NBC-aligned sibling in the St. Louis market — a move that shows the "hold separate" order preventing Nexstar Media Group from fully assimilating TEGNA's assets is very much being adhered to.