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If timing is everything, then Byron Allen — the media mogul behind Local Now, Allen Media Group and Entertainment Studios — just made the biggest statement yet that the Golden Arches have been nothing more than a rusty bucket with respect to the level of advertising commitment it’s given to his broadcast and cable properties.

With McDonald’s getting much attention for moving forward with “bold new investments to further reflect its diverse customers” and putting 2%-5% more dollars into Black-owned properties over the next five years, Allen Media Group has filed a whopping $10 billion lawsuit against the quick-service restaurant giant for racial discrimination.

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Urban One may have had an explosive day on Wall Street, but other broadcast media companies also found themselves seeing strong gains on Thursday.

Among them: Salem Media Group, and The Walt Disney Company.

Here’s a glance at today’s activity on Wall Street.

For a live look across each trading session, please visit the homepage of RBR.com.

He’s a New Hampshire native and rose through the ranks at Hearst Television, where he was News Director of its flagship property in Boston. For the past five years, he has been VP of News.

Now, this pro has been selected to succeed the retiring Jeff Bartlett in his home state.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of Republican Members of the House of Representatives on Thursday (5/20) introduced legislation that they believe help closes the digital divide in the U.S.

How so? The plan, led by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s top Republican, is designed to ensure broadband infrastructure “reaches all Americans and is not used to fund duplicative and wasteful overbuilding.”

Democrats immediately responded by pointing to support for their own bill.

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Colin Benedict, the Vice President of News for radio and TV station owner Morgan Murphy Media, played an integral role in the planning and execution of an effort across all of the multimedia company’s markets to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations.

How did the initial idea for a “Vaccine Day” effort originate, and then pollinate? What does this effort say about the role that local TV stations, in particular, play in their respective markets?

Learn more in this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM, with host Adam R Jacobson, who candidly shares his own qualms about getting vaccinated.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Colin Benedict, Morgan Murphy Media” on Spreaker.

Nielsen Audio issued data this week indicating that U.S. weekly radio listening is at its highest levels since the pandemic began, though not yet to pre-COVID-19 levels.

“The April 2021 PPM survey revealed new gains in radio listening across the aggregate of markets for the second month in a row,” it said in a press release. “As America continues to reopen, consumers are returning to radio in numbers not seen in over half a year.”

[Read: Nielsen Reports “Big Gains” for Radio Listening]

“Radio’s weekly reach is now at its highest levels, 121 million weekly consumers, since March 2020 when COVID-19’s impact began to take hold. Since the beginning of 2021, radio has added more than 5 million new weekly listeners.”

The company issued this graphic that shows the monthly trends, including a rise last summer and fall, followed by a decline around the holidays and “surges,” as well as a recent “rebound.”

It also said U.S. radio’s Average Quarter-Hour audience in April was back to where it was in November, though again not yet back to pre-COVID levels. “AQH audience levels have jumped 10% in the past two months as vaccinations and a gradual return to pre-pandemic routines have proliferated.”

Nielsen said that from a weekly reach perspective, the radio audience in April is 14% larger than the same month from a year ago, while for AQH the audience is 31% larger. The April listening gains were spread across times of day.

The research company also issued some observations about trends in formats.

It noted that the urban adult contemporary/R&B format recorded its highest share of listening in several years in April. It attributed this to national interest in the social justice movement including a verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin. It said April gains “may have been driven by what was happening between the songs, as much as the music cycle itself during such a milestone moment.”

Some other formats are showing expected seasonal changes. “Country radio is reporting higher shares of audience heading into the summer, following its usual seasonal pattern. Classic hits is also gaining ground, another annual occurrence. Meanwhile, the return of Major League Baseball along with other live sports is boosting the all-sports format near its fall football season levels.”

The post Nielsen Highlights Encouraging Radio Trends appeared first on Radio World.

For 18 years and change, she’s been the head of sales for Fox Television Stations’ owned-and-operated station serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, adding SVP/Market Manager duties in December 2014.

Now, this 35-year TV industry veteran is heading to the Pacific Northwest’s largest market to head up Fox’s O&O.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — She’s been at the FCC since 1997, and in her time at the Commission oversaw two-thirds of the Commission’s auctions. She served under nine FCC Chairs.

Now, she’s set to retire, and an Acting Deputy Chief in the Office of Economics and Analytics has been named to succeed her.

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MIAMI —NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises’ Telemundo Global Studios has promoted the person in charge of Production Operations and Production Design at Argentina-based Underground Producciónes to the role of SVP/GM for the recently launched Telemundo Streaming Studios operation.

BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON TWITTER!

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In the northern half of California’s San Joaquin Valley, pastor Juan Montes has established a Spanish-language broadcast ministry that uses a Class A FM station licensed to Chowchilla, and an FM translator in Hughson, to reach the Modesto and Merced markets, respectively.

Now, Montes’ operation is adding two additional FMs in the region.

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Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was, in the view of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), designed to promote a competitive online ecosystem that maximizes user control while guarding against illegal activities.

“The law is credited with empowering unprecedented innovation, but it is also blamed for allowing Big Tech to suppress speech and avoid liability for seemingly unchecked misinformation,” the Trump-era FCC influencer notes today.

This sets the stage for a panel discussion hosted by AEI visiting scholar Mark Jamison on proposals to reform Section 230 — and on whether the law has fulfilled its original promise.

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In a potential boost to African American-centric media company Urban One and the nation’s Hispanic and Asian-targeted radio and TV communities, McDonald’s is moving forward with what it calls “bold new investments to further reflect its diverse customers, crew members and communities in its marketing.”

It’s a four-year effort, and women-owned and LGBTQ+ platforms are also poised to benefit.

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With the merger of Tribune Broadcasting and Nexstar Media Group, ownership of one of the nation’s largest affiliates of The CW Network — KTLA-5 in Los Angeles — came to be.

Now, Nexstar and the network have inked a new deal ensuring that KTLA, and every other affiliate of The CW, keeps the relationship in place for the next several years.

Multi-year agreements have been signed that see the renewal of The CW affiliations in 37 markets. The accord includes not only 28 Nexstar-owned stations but also nine owned by companies Nexstar enjoys a shared services agreement with.

Among the latter group: WPIX-11 in New York.

Other key Nexstar affiliates of The CW Network include WDCW-50 in Washington, D.C., seen as an in-flight offering on Southwest Airlines; KDAF-TV in Dallas; and KIAH-TV in Houston.

The 37 DMAs where Nexstar owns affiliates of The CW represents 31% of the U.S. audience.

“As the nation’s largest CW affiliate group, Nexstar is very pleased to extend its longstanding relationship with the network,” said Nexstar COO/CFO Tom Carter. “The CW’s line-up of prime-time entertainment shows, coupled with Nexstar’s highly-rated local news and other market-centric programming
enables us to deliver great content to millions of viewers and exceptional value to our advertisers.”

Betty Ellen Berlamino, The CW’s EVP of Distribution, added, “We are pleased to extend our valued partnership, through a multi-year agreement, with our largest station group, Nexstar. The linear broadcast model remains the backbone of our business model and vitally important as it gives us the scale and local reach that distinguishes us in today’s marketplace as the original multiplatform network.”

It’s time again for the U.K. audio industry’s annual tech and engineering event — in a new interactive, virtual format.

Aimed at broadcast engineers, technologists, managers and program creators, Radio TechCon 2021 is set to take place Monday Nov. 29. Through a series of speakers and masterclasses, the one-day conference will dive into the technical challenges and opportunities facing the U.K. radio and audio industry.

“Radio TechCon is vital for ensuring that the technical industry in radio and audio is able to come together to share ideas, learn and celebrate successes during these complex times,” says Aradhna Tayal, director of TBC Media Ltd., a radio and audio event company and organizer of Radio TechCon.

This year’s conference will be a virtual one due to ongoing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, she said.

In preparation for this year’s event, the Radio TechCon team has released videos from previous TechCon events on their website, including sessions on audio acoustics, wireless technology, voice control and radio wattage power issues.

The post Radio TechCon to Host Virtual Convention appeared first on Radio World.

LOS ANGELES — Ten free ad-supported streaming television, or “FAST,” channels have been added to the Local Now platform recently unveiled by the Byron Allen-controlled Allen Media Group.

The FAST offerings come courtesy of a new agreement with The E.W. Scripps Co.

It sees the expansion of local news by adding to the Local Now streaming platform the following Scripps O&Os:

• KNXV-15 (ABC) in Phoenix, Ariz.
• WFTS-28 (ABC) in Tampa
• WXYZ-7 (ABC) in Detroit
• KMGH-7 (ABC) in Denver
• WEWS-5 (ABC) in Cleveland
• WTVF-5 (CBS) in Nashville
• KGTV-10 (ABC) in San Diego
• KSTU-13 (Fox) in Salt Lake City
• KSHB-41 (NBC) in Kansas City
• WPTV-5 (NBC) in West Palm Beach

The partnership is not inclusive of all non-Ion properties owned by Scripps. For instance, WKBW-7 in Buffalo is not included in the Local Now arrangement.

Local Now SVP/GM Michael Senzon noted, “Scripps’ focus on growing audiences and revenue in the free streaming space is smart and we’re happy to be in business with them.”

As Scripps Local Media President Brian Lawlor sees it, “Scripps is committed to serving its audiences with the essential news and information they need, whenever and wherever they consume it. With more consumers turning to streaming platforms to access the local content that helps inform their day-to-day lives, we’re looking forward to expanding our commitment to them by adding Scripps local TV stations to Local Now’s growing roster of news and entertainment.”