Headlines
With Bipartisan Support, And FCC Blessing, Congress Looks To Keep AM Radio In Vehicles
If the government can require safety belts in every vehicle to protect drivers, then it should also be able to require an AM receiver to ensure Americans can access emergency alerts. That is the idea behind legislation introduced Wednesday that would require carmakers to maintain AM broadcast radio in new vehicles at no additional charge.
Standard General Makes New Tegna Commitments in Runup to Crucial FCC Meeting
Will meet with FCC on May 18 in a last ditch effort to resolve issues with Tegna deal
Mergers & Acquisitions
Deal Digest: Five-Station Cluster Sold In Texas.
Texas – Cynthia Rankin has filed a $1.4 million deal to buy five stations from Moise Gonzalez and Roberto Hildalgo’s Roca Radio.
Mission Broadcasting Buying WADL Detroit
The purchase of the MNT affiliate from Adell Broadcasting gives Mission its 30th station and its second in Michigan.
FCC
FCC Plans Test Of Disaster Reporting System Next Month.
The coming months will bring a new hurricane season on one side of the country and a wildfire season on the other. With that in mind, the Federal Communications Commission is planning to hold what it is billing as a “refresher” about the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) next month.
FCC Rescinds FM Translator’s Deletion (subscription required)
A September 2021 reconsideration letter sent to the FCC by the licensee of a FM translator serving Bennington, Vermont, that saw its license expire and call letters deleted has scored a victory at the Commission.
Television
TV Viewing Declines 1.9% In April.
Total hours spent watching TV dropped 1.9% in April as the weather warmed up, Nielsen said in its monthly report.
Radio
Radio Responds To The AM For Every Vehicle Act
The bipartisan act, presented in the Senate by Sen. Ed Markey and Sen. Ted Cruz, would legally require automakers to include AM radio receivers in all makes and models without any extra fees.
CTV/OTT
YouTube is bringing 30-second unskippable ads to TVs
YouTube is making its service more appealing to TV ad buyers with a new ad offering announced on Wednesday at its annual YouTube Brandcast upfront event in New York. The company said it will introduce 30-second unskippable ads on connected TVs which will replace the two, 15-second consecutive ads that run today when advertisers target top videos through the YouTube Select program.
Pay TV
Fox CEO Murdoch says sports, news will stay on traditional cable for now
Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch said the media company still believes traditional cable and satellite platforms offer the best consumer value and reach for its live news and premium sports programming, and that competitors are complicating their own businesses by spreading those two products across various streaming upstarts.
Digital
Can politicians catch up with AI?
Experts are warning that artificial intelligence is developing far more rapidly than regulators can keep up with. Is there any chance of picking up that slack?
Tech
Google Reportedly Will Let Advertisers Generate AI Media Assets With PaLM 2
Google reportedly has approved the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) with support from large language models (LLMs) to automate advertising and ad-supported consumer services.