Headlines
Tariff Sensitivity Analysis on Local Ad Spend by Business Verticals
In early 2025, Trump imposed new, strict tariff structures that impacted numerous U.S. trading partners and industries. As BIA updates its U.S. Local Advertising Forecast for all local media channels, these tariffs, along with other macroeconomic trends, will play a significant role in our analysis.
ABC Owned Stations: Not For Sale, Disney Head Says
Iger signaled that any sale of ABC Owned Stations or the company’s cable television networks was off the table. “We like the fact that we’re holding on to our linear assets,” Iger said during the interview.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Station Sales Week Of 6/13
Chelan Valley Media Group is selling News/Talk 1230 KOZI Chelan, Full Service AC 93.5 KOZI-FM Chelan/103.1 K276CY Masnson, and “Z Country 94.7” KZAL Manson WA to AudioSphere LLC for $600,000 with $400,000 in the form of a promissory note due in January 2028.
Pay TV
Virtual MVPDs lose record 1.04M subscribers in Q1
The US pay-TV sector lost a record 2.47 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2025. However, in a paradoxical twist that emerged in the prior quarter, sub losses among traditional pay-TV providers (cable, satellite and telcos) improved while losses for virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) worsened, MoffettNathanson found in its Q1 2025 Cord-Cutting Monitor report (registration required).
Media
House Votes To Rescind $1.1 Billion In Public Media Funding, Senate Fight Ahead.
The future of federally funded public broadcasting is once again under threat. In a narrow 214-212 vote on Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a rescission package that includes a rollback of nearly $1.1 billion in previously allocated funds to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) — the nonprofit organization that distributes federal funding to PBS, NPR, and local public media stations.
FCC
FCC Weighs Shift To Software-Based Emergency Alerts As Industry Voices Support—And Caution.
As the Federal Communications Commission considers a major shift in how emergency alerts are delivered across the U.S., a growing number of broadcasters and equipment makers are voicing support for a software-based future—while others warn the agency not to rush into a potentially risky overhaul of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).
FCC’s Anna Gomez Meets with TV Networks, Studio Execs and Unions
Federal Communications Commission member Anna Gomez has wrapped up two weeks in California visiting broadcasters, television studio executives, entertainment-sector labor unions and companies in the space industry. The visits included meetings with representatives for ABC, NBC and Fox, Gomez said.
Verticals
NRF: Retail sales inch up in May as ‘pull-forward’ ahead of tariffs lessens
Retail sales continued to grow in May even though consumers slowed down on stocking up ahead of tariffs, reported the National Retail Federation.