Radio+Television Business Report

Spanish-language content was in focus last week with the blockbuster news that Univision Communications would be merging with Mexico-based Televisa, combining the struggling operator’s content operations with Univision — a key recipient of its programming.

GroupM’s Global President of Business Intelligence, Brian Wieser, was compelled to take a close look at the deal.

His assessment? “With a similar scale among Spain’s dominant media owners and significant investment in related content from Netflix, ViacomCBS, Disney and others, significantly increased investment will likely be required to accomplish stated goals.”

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Despite what MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson calls the “recent turmoil” among media stocks, the respected Wall Street financial house has increased confidence that Fox Corporation shares will outperform.

Why? Nathanson points to “improving fundamentals in the near term.”

He also likes what Thursday night holds for FOX in the coming years.

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LOS ANGELES — The owner of The Weather Channel and a growing collection of broadcast TV stations including the ABC affiliate for the Hawaiian Islands has just launched a free streaming ad-supported service steeped in local news.

It’s available on most major platforms, bringing information on demand through another “over the top” offering.

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He’s enjoyed a 53-year career in radio that saw him break through the sales management ranks by taking the General Manager role for a heritage Class A AM in Des Moines and its FM sibling.

In 2004, he joined Salem Media Group, and today oversees its AM/FM combo in Houston.

On April 30, Chuck Jewell will bid farewell to Salem, and to the radio industry.

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U.S. Highway 160 traverses the Navajo Nation, from northern Arizona through the “Four Corners” region and onward to Interstate 25 on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. It’s one of the most picturesque routes in North America, and along the way one can tune to a New Mexico-based FM with a trio of translators in key southwest Colorado cities where Native Americans reside.

This explains why Vertical Radio, the first Christian radio station serving the region, was born. Now, the station’s Navajo operators are yielding the 40-year old facility to the fastest-growing non-secular broadcaster on the continent.

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Some 19 years ago, a Class C AM serving a coastal North Carolina community began simulcasting an FM Talk station with a signal best heard in Morehead City, New Bern and points east. This gave the Talker better coverage of Jacksonville, N.C.

Now, “The Talk Station” is saying goodbye to its AM component.

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Due south of Shreveport is the city of Mansfield, La. It’s home to a Class A station licensed to Leon Hunt and his Hunt Broadcasting.

Soon, it will be licensed to a new owner.

Classic Country KJVC-FM 92.7 is being spun to Sputnik Media LLC.

To be clear, this isn’t the controversial “Sputnik” operation tied to the Russian government. Rather, it is a Louisiana operation led by Quinn Echols.

A $100,000 purchase price has been agreed upon, with a 10% earnest money deposit made to Hunt.

As a separate transaction, Sputnik, for a period ending three months after the date of Closing, gains the exclusive option to acquire from Hunt Broadcasting a Broadcast Electronics STX LP-2 2 kW FM Transmitter for a purchase price of $15,000 cash.

Haven’t had much luck locating the Estrella Media-owned Spanish-language broadcast TV network on your MVPD’s channel lineup?

Here’s another way to view it — one that may work for you, or TV viewers in your market.

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A Senior VP at Xperi has been selected to lead a NAB Show Premiere session scheduled for Monday (4/19) on the application of radio broadcasting in IoT and smart cities.

Ashruf El-Dinary, Xperi’s senior vice president, Digital Platforms, will join NAB Show Premiere on Monday, April 19 at 3:00 p.m. ET to outline a vision of how digital radio broadcasting can play a role in developing secure, low-cost communication services to millions of devices.

The session, “HD Radio Data Services: Radio Broadcasting Applications in IoT and Smart Cities,” and NAB Show Premiere are available exclusively on NAB Amplify. An NAB Amplify account is required to access the session.

El-Dinary will explore how HD radio broadcasting can:

• Create cost-effective one-to-many data applications with a digital broadcast system for AM and FM radio stations;
• Expand stations beyond a single audio program;
• Provide multiple program services through multicasting;
• Compete as a more accessible alternative to 5G.

El-Dinary will additionally lead an audience discussion after the session.

 

CORAL GABLES, FLA. — In a crowded television market that includes flagship properties from NBCUniversal’s Telemundo, Spanish Broadcasting System’s MegaTV and Univision Communications, in addition to Estrella Media’s owned-and-operated home for EstrellaTV, a pair of television stations have carved a niche of late as a local news source — en español — with a Conservative lean.

That programming tilt will soon be expanding to an AM radio station that has been offering a more balanced Spanish-language spoken word format for several years, thanks to a transaction that sees the executive of a “Put” agreement.

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MIAMI — The latest results from Kantar‘s report focused on “Entertainment On Demand” service in the U.S. is out, and it only further illustrates just how many consumers are paying for a SVOD service.

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LAKEWOOD RANCH, FLA. — The California Public Utilities Commission has unanimously voted to approve a MVPD engaged in a “Good Faith” complaint with Gray Television to emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The decision comes three months after the FCC gave its blessings.

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The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF) Scholarship Program is now accepting applications for the 2021 fall semester.

In partnership with the Ford Motor Company Fund, The Loreen Arbus Foundation, and NCTA – The Internet and Television Association, AWMF recognizes and supports future generations of women in media with over $20,000 in scholarships awarded annually.

“For years, these generous partners have stood with AWMF to support, encourage, and promote women in the media industry at every level, and we are proud to continue that tradition of advancing women in media,” said Heather Cohen, Chair of the AWMF Board of Directors. “Now, more than ever, we are proud to provide deserving young women the opportunity to complete their education and meet their full potential.”

The AWMF Scholarship Program opportunities include:

Ford Emerging Voices Scholarship

In partnership with the Ford Motor Company Fund, the “Emerging Voices” Scholarship consists of one $5,000 scholarship for a student pursuing a media career as a producer, writer, director or on the business side of media companies in areas such as television, radio, digital media, streaming, publishing, advertising, and production, made payable directly to the student’s educational institute in the name of Ford Motor Company Fund for the 2021 fall academic semester. The selected winner will be given the opportunity to be mentored by an Alliance for Women in Media Board member. Winning submissions will be featured on AWM’s website and social networks. The mission of the Ford Motor Company fund is to strengthen communities and help make people’s lives better. Education is the foundation for success. It is key to making lives better, creating social change and building sustainable communities. That’s why Ford Fund invests more than $16 million annually to support educational initiatives that empower people to envision and lead change in their communities or in their own lives.

 

Ford Empowering America Scholarship

In partnership with the Ford Motor Company Fund, the “Empowering America” Scholarship program consists of one $5,000 scholarship for a winning student pursuing a media career as talent in front of the camera or microphone in an area such as television, radio, or digital media, made payable directly to the student’s educational institute in the name of Ford Motor Company Fund for the 2021 fall academic semester. The selected winner will be given the opportunity to work with the Ford Motor Company Fund to conduct interviews as part of the Faces of Ford Fund program. Winning submissions will be featured on AWM’s website and social networks.

Loreen Arbus Foundation & AWMF Scholarship

The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation engaged in a partnership with The Loreen Arbus Foundation to focus on the needs, achievements, contributions, and stories of citizens with disabilities. The Loreen Arbus Foundation and AWMF Scholarship provides a deserving female communications/media undergraduate or graduate student with a scholarship to their educational institution for $2,500 and a ticket to attend an upcoming AWM event. Winning submissions will be featured on AWM’s website and social networks.  The Loreen Arbus Foundation supports a broad scope of interests including advocacy for women and girls, scientific and medical research, minorities, people with disabilities, gender and racial equality in media, the arts, animal rights, and global peace. The Foundation has established and funds many scholarships that both enhance and elevate social consciousness around key societal issues. Loreen Arbus holds the trailblazing distinction of being the first woman to head programming for a U.S. network, a feat accomplished twice (both at Showtime and Cable Health Network/Lifetime).

NCTA & AWMF Scholarship

The NCTA – The Internet and Television Association & AWMF Scholarship allows a deserving female communications/media undergraduate or graduate student to create an original piece (essay, digital short, video, animation, multi-media or other concept chosen by the student) that will be featured in NCTA and AWMF media distribution channels. In addition, the chosen student will receive a scholarship to their educational institution for $5,000 and a ticket to attend an upcoming AWM event. This scholarship serves to fund a promising student’s education as well as to provide a unique and compelling piece for her resume. NCTA believes in a technology and entertainment future that will advance innovation, inspire creativity, unleash connectivity, and exceed consumer expectations for a wide range of high-quality services. Annually, the organization donates millions to efforts that include everything from enhancing student learning and digital literacy, to restoring and rebuilding towns after natural disasters, and much more.

The Alliance for Women in Media, celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, is the longest-established professional association dedicated to advancing women in all facets of media. The Foundation supports educational programs and scholarships and hosts the Gracie Awards, which recognize individual achievement and programing by, for, and about women at the student, local, and national level.

To learn more about the AWMF scholarship opportunities and to apply, visit https://allwomeninmedia.org/foundation/scholarships/.  

Scholarship materials are due by June 11, 2021.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)‘s Board of Directors has unanimously approved a distribution plan for the $175 million of emergency stabilization funds for public media.

These funds were included in the American Rescue Plan Act, which was signed into law on March 11.

As enacted, the American Rescue Plan Act provides $175 million “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including for fiscal stabilization grants to public telecommunications entities, as defined in section 397 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397), with no deduction for administrative or other costs of the Corporation, to maintain programming and services and preserve small and rural stations threatened by declines in non-Federal revenues.”

The distribution plan reflects the consensus recommendation of an advisory group of public radio and television system representatives convened by CPB in March. The group developed a simple, equitable and impactful funding formula that divides the $175 million among television and radio grantees and ensures the preservation of small or rural stations.

Of the $175 million, $100 million will be calculated using the CARES Act formula that was developed in April 2020 in order to prioritize funding to small, rural and/or minority stations. The remaining $75 million will be distributed according to the respective television and radio Community Service Grant (CSG) formulas, which also take into account stations’ service to rural communities, as well as the number of transmitters needed to cover large geographic areas, and the amount raised in non-federal financial support (NFFS).

“Public media stations across the country are informing their local communities about the latest coronavirus vaccine and economic developments, increasing access to remote learning with innovative educational resources, and providing vital health and safety information,” CPB President/CEO Pat Harrison said. “The stabilization funding from Congress will support essential public media services and sustain the broad reach and access that keeps public media resources available online, over-the-air and in communities across the country. I want to express our deep appreciation to Congress for their strong, bipartisan support of public media. I would also like to thank the advisory group that worked so quickly to develop a thoughtful plan for equitably distributing these much-needed funds in a way that honors Congress’ intent.”

CPB will expeditiously distribute the American Rescue Plan stabilization grants to each station licensee.

A list of grantees and their grant amounts can be found on the CPB website.

Seven weeks ago, Nielsen and Roku shared details about “a new strategic alliance” that the companies believe will help shape the future of media and TV measurement.

This saw Roku purchase Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising business.

As of today, that transaction is now complete — as is the transition of Kelly Abcarian.

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What’s the typical day behind the scenes at Beasley Media Group?

CEO Caroline Beasley on Friday morning (4/16) offered listeners to a live Radio Ink interview on the Clubhouse app an inside peek at life at the audio media and eSports company.

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WEST PALM BEACH — From hugely successful News/Talk KXL-FM 101.1 to Adult Alternative KINK-FM, Alpha Media’s home market station group is highly competitive. So are such stations as WDJX-FM in Louisville, and WDHT-FM “Hot 102.9” in Dayton.

Other markets are laggards for Alpha, including many that came with its $254 million purchase of Digity LLC in 2016. Alpha completed the transaction in early 2017.

It included a forlorn group of stations in West Palm Beach, including Hot Adult Contemporary blowtorch WRMF-FM 97.9, which can be heard from Indian River County south to Key Largo.

These stations, Wilson claims in the FCC filing, were crux to the Digity deal. “Alpha acquired a group of incredibly high-performing stations … The West Palm Beach Cluster had phenomenal signal clarity and reach, management, employees, and advertising revenue. Without the West Palm Beach Cluster, Alpha would not have been interested in acquiring Digity, LLC.”

Why, then, did Alpha in late September 2018 agree to spin WRMF along with Country WIRK-FM 103.1, FOX Sports Radio affiliate WMEN-AM 640, Classic Hits WEAT-FM “Sunny 107.9,” Urban AC WMBX-FM “X102.3,” Rhythmic Top 40 “Party 96.3” W242CI, which uses the WMBX HD2 signal, and Talk WFTL-AM 850?

That’s open to interpretation.

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Former Alpha Media CEO Larry Wilson, who was pushed out of the company back in 2018, has filed a 191 page document with the FCC that accuses his former company of misleading the FCC, making decisions without proper board approval and challenging Alpha’s qualifications as a broadcast licensee.

Wilson’s filing makes public what has been whispered about in the industry for years; that the breakup between Wilson and its current management, including current CEO Bob Proffitt, was very messy with long friendships shattered. Alpha filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

In his petition, which targets four Alpha license renewals, Wilson’s attorney’s say that in their 40 years of practice before the FCC they have never encountered such blatant, unlawful self-dealing by directors of a privately held licensee, flippant false certifications to the FCC and unauthorized transfers of control.

Wilson alleges two private equity funds usurped control of the privately held broadcast licensee from its Board of Directors and ran the company into the ground. He says that was done by “attempting to cut costs to achieve profitability, and then promote a prepackaged bankruptcy plan that would erase the obligations owed to secured and unsecured creditors and minority stockholders to the advantage of management and the private equity funds.”

Wilson alleges that his former company committed several illegal acts, misrepresentations and demonstrations of a lack of candor to the Commission.
He alleges the company of:
– making false certifications on multiple FCC applications.
– purporting to adopt changes to Alpha’s governing documents in a post-hoc effort to cover up past misdeeds and to remove nearly all duties owed by Alpha’s directors to the company and its shareholders
– transferring control of fundamental aspects of Alpha’s business operations to various people and entities without Board authorization to effect such transfers, and, most recently, further delegating substantial control of the company to a “Special Independent Committee,” all – ii – without publicly disclosing such transfers of control to the FCC and requesting prior Commission approval of such transfers of control; and, finally
– pursuing a foreign ownership structure with the purpose and intent to freeze the current Alpha domestic shareholders out of the company and for the sole benefit of Alpha management, private equity investors, and foreign entities.

Wilson says, “all of these facts reveal fundamental character defects that call into question the applicant’s qualifications as a broadcast licensee—and, concomitantly, the applicant’s ability to satisfy its mandate to serve the public interest.”

The petition concludes by stating “Alpha is on fire as a result of the facts and misdeeds set forth in this Petition. Petitioner therefore respectfully requests that the Commission deny the above-captioned applications or, in the alternative, designate the applications for a hearing on the issues specified in this Petition.”

Read the entire petition filed at the FCC HERE.

On Wednesday (4/14), ABC News officially announced the much-discussed arrival of Kim Godwin as its new President. It involves a former CBS News leader.

Following Thursday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, CBS News responded with some major news of its own. Parent ViacomCBS is combining “the journalistic and business resources” of its news division with its owned television stations “into one divisional and leadership structure.”

This will see a pair of presidents and co-heads in this newly integrated structure for ViacomCBS. One just happens to be a woman who spent 11 years in the ABC family — most recently as President of its owned stations.

Wendy McMahon

Wendy McMahon is joining Neeraj Khemlani in taking a role as a president and co-head of the newly formed division, which does not have a name as of today.

Khemlani has a strong print journalism background, and was most recently EVP and Deputy Group Head for Hearst Newspapers, owner of such publications as the San Francisco Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and the Times Union serving Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.

But, it is a return to CBS for him: Khemlani spent eight years as a producer on 60 Minutes and spinoff news magazine 60 Minutes II.

What does this mean for CBS News President Susan Zirinsky?

Zirinsky will continue in the role until the new leadership has started in early May, ViacomCBS says, and will assist with the transition. “The company is in discussions with Zirinsky for a significant role at a new CBS News Content Studio to be launched later this year,” the company adds, signaling that she will not be departing the company but shifting to a different leadership position.

Neeraj Khemlani

Khemlani and McMahon each report to CBS Entertainment Group President/CEO George Cheeks.

“This is an opportunity to create a news and information structure that positions CBS for the future,” Cheeks said. “It speaks to our ability to scale newsgathering, production, technical and operational resources to serve both national and local, linear and digital, with the agility to deliver trusted information to every platform. Wendy and Neeraj have the leadership background and cross-platform accomplishments that cover all these important areas, and they share our commitment for supporting superior journalism, optimal delivery platforms and the strongest of organizational cultures.”

Specifically, the unified ViacomCBS division will bring under one management structure CBS News, growing streaming news service CBSN and 28 CBS-owned stations in 17 U.S. markets. “It will maximize the power of CBS’s newsgathering and production operations to serve audiences across all national, digital, local and global platforms,” ViacomCBS says.

The appointment of McMahon is also a return to CBS for the longtime ABC employee: From 2006-2009 she served as Creative Services Director at CBS’s WBZ-4 and WSBK-38 in Boston. McMahon previously held a similar role at CBS O&O WCCO-4 in Minneapolis.

“I’m excited to return home to CBS and work with George and Neeraj to build out a unique and inspired structure that brings together the best in journalism, digital innovation and collaboration, to serve audiences at a time when trusted news and information — the hallmark of CBS — has never been more needed,” McMahon said. “Driven by the ingenuity, experience and dedication of the storytellers and teams at CBS News and our local stations, we are committed to reflecting the communities where we operate while cultivating a culture grounded in trust.”

McMahon’s history at ABC dates to her arrival at KABC in September 2009. She rose through the ranks, becoming SVP/Digital at ABC Television Network Online in 2015. On Jan. 1, 2018, McMahon was selected President of ABC Owned Television Stations Group.

McMahon began her career as Promotion Manager for Gray Television’s dominant CBS affiliated WTOC-11 in Savannah, Ga., upon graduation from Louisiana State University in 1996.

The ViacomCBS followed ABC’s appointment of Godwin, who will now oversee editorial and business operations for broadcast, digital, streaming and audio news across the organization.

Godwin had been “second-in-command” as an EVP at CBS News, in charge of newsgathering.

She’s also served as Exec. Director for Development and Diversity at CBS News, and as a senior broadcast producer of the “CBS Evening News.” She joined the network in 2007.

Before that, Godwin served as the acting news director and assistant news director at WCBS-2 in New York.

Earlier in her career, Godwin was the VP/News Operations for NBC Television Stations, and held key ND roles for KNBC-4 in Los Angeles and KXAS-5 in Dallas-Fort Worth.

As first reported by Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink, former Alpha Media CEO and its founder, Larry Wilson, through attorneys at Brooks Pierce, wants the Audio Division of the FCC’s Media Bureau to deny the license renewal of four stations due to actions made over several years without — according to Wilson — full board approval.

The accusations by Wilson are numerous, and accusatory.

And, they came alongside another petition to deny filed by Southern Stone Communications‘ founder, also a minority investor in Alpha Media.

Alpha Media responded with a statement sent to Radio Ink early Friday.

“While we believe the petition is based on inaccurate information and baseless claims, Alpha Media remains squarely focused on serving our communities and operating our radio stations across the United States,” Alpha said. “Our core business continues to perform well despite current market challenges, and we are proud of what all of our teams have accomplished in delivering dynamic, diverse and exciting content to our communities.”

Alpha also notes that it continues to achieve “significant progress” in its financial restructuring process, confirmed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., “and best positions Alpha Media with strong financial partners to navigate current market conditions and pursue growth opportunities.”

While all has appeared to be positive for Alpha, with an emergence from debtor-in-possession status all but certain, Wilson reemerged with fighting words submitted via a 191-page document with the FCC. In the filing, made to the attention of the Media Bureau’s Audio Division and his chief, Al Shuldiner, attorneys Mark J. Prak and Patrick Cross of Brooks Pierce lobbed several accusations against Alpha the FCC’s way.

Much of Wilson’s argument centers on the $88 million sale of a group of radio stations in West Palm Beach to Hubbard Broadcasting, which closed in early 2019.

And, while Wilson’s petition has received the majority of attention, a smaller but equally important petition to deny has been submitted to the Commission by Southern Stone Communications head Paul Stone.

He seeks a denial of Alpha Media’s request to increase its foreign ownership concentration via a temporary waiver of the Commission’s rules.