Industry News

Snapchat’s purpose on smartphones may still be questioned by some, despite Radio’s use of its social media platform to connect with listeners. Yet, there’s no question that Snapchat’s parent company has had one of the hottest stocks on the NYSE since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Tuesday’s close, it is more than $42 per share above its March 11 level.

At the closing bell, SNAP was priced at $51.23, up 6.2% from Monday.

With a recent high of $53.25, seen December 17, Snap Inc. is on a roll.

And, it came even as Election Day jitters put a sputter to SNAP’s meteoric rise in 2020.

As the novel coronavirus became a big threat on March 11, SNAP shares were valued at $8.91.

Prior to that, SNAP had reached the $18.38 level at the start of 2020, and came off a strong 2019 that began with shares in the mid-$6 range.

Kiss that growth goodbye.

SNAP is certainly crackling. Now, it’s ready to perhaps pop.

Goldman Sachs has raised its target price on the issue to $70 per share, with analyst Heath Terry predicting Snap Inc. will beat its own Q4 2020 guidance.

The $70 target is a 45% premium to Monday’s close.

On October 19, a broker release obtained by RBR+TVBR revealed that Ramar Communications had agreed to sell The CW Network affiliate in Lubbock, along with two low-power facilities, to Gray Television.

The deal required a closer look by the FCC’s Media Bureau. And, it has just given its approval to the deal brokered by Kalil & Co. VP Fred Kalil, giving it a common ownership waiver for the Texas market.

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The latest broadcast TV retransmission consent fee impasse appears to be brewing — this time in the Keystone State and in New England communities where Verizon Fios customers have access to cable television packages.

Verizon has started to notify its customers that they may lose “some channels” in the coming days, because of “unreasonable demands” by the stations’ owner.

That would be Hearst Television.

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As RBR+TVBR first reported via Twitter on December 23, the FCC, as expected, gave the green light — with agreed-to conditions — to Searchlight III UTD and ForgeLight‘s acquisition of a majority stake of Univision Holdings.

This set the wheels in motion on reaching a closing date before the end of 2020, as originally envisioned.

On Tuesday afternoon, the transaction was formally consummated.

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In July 2010, Curtis Media Group acquired a heritage 5kw Class B with 2 daytime and 4 nighttime towers that for much of the 1960s and 1970s offered a high-energy Top 40 presentation.

The station had been a Radio Disney O&O, taken silent in January of that year.

In recent years, an FM translator was added, and Sports Talk programming could be found. Now, the company led by Don Curtis is parting ways with the Triad duo.

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The lone radio stations within a 30-mile radius of a small Mitchell County, Tex., town have just been sold.

It’s an “Extreme” transaction — one that involves the owner of a Tejano station serving the Abilene market and the seller, Linda Baum, who owned the station with her late husband, Jim Baum (pictured, at left).

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SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — The COVID-19 health crisis has fundamentally impacted the lifestyles and routines of all consumers. Shelter-in-place orders are back in Southern California, along with a new 10-day quarantine for any out-of-area visitors to Los Angeles County. Work-at-home mandates are largely intact nine months later. This, a Parks Research/Applicaster study shows, has driven in-home video consumption to unprecedented levels.

Their research found that nearly 3 in 10 U.S. broadband households saw a usage increase of online video services. Furthermore, nearly 1 in 5 reported an increased use of pay-TV services.

Can this momentum continue into 2021?

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Subscription-free sports betting audio content is poised to reach more listeners on more devices.

That’s the promise VSiN and iHeartMedia are sharing, as the nation’s No. 1 audio media company has expanded its partnership with the Las Vegas-based sports information network dedicated to bettors and wagering statistics.

“Building on our success with podcasting and betcasting partnerships, VSiN will move its dedicated streaming radio station to iHeartRadio beginning on January 1,” iHeart and VSiN said in a joint release.

That will happen “just as the ball drops” at Midnight Eastern.

“Until then, the network will continue to air as a subscription service of SiriusXM, which has been VSiN’s live audio home since February 2017, more than 15 months before the Supreme Court ruling allowing states to legalize sports betting,” the companies said.

As of today, VSiN has offered multiple sports betting podcasts available for download on all podcasting platforms via the iHeart Podcast Network.

The agreement does not impact the select programming from VSiN that is syndicated for use on terrestrial radio stations across the U.S. via The Bet R Network. In its home market of Las Vegas, VSiN’s affiliate is Lotus Communications-owned KRLV-AM 920.

“We’re thrilled to build on the success we’ve had with iHeart on the podcasting and betcasting front to announce an expanded partnership that will help us offer a better product to a broader audience for free,” said Brian Musburger, founder and CEO of VSiN.

He was also upfront about the biggest concern regarding its dedicated audio channel’s presence on Sirius XM.

“We believe that removing the subscription hurdle on audio platforms will launch the critical next chapter for us on a technologically ubiquitous platform and set us up for 24/7 live programming in the very near term,” he said. “This not only allows VSiN to get to more listeners on more devices but also to capture more advertising revenue as legalized sports betting continues its rapid spread across the U.S.”

The new, expanded deal also sees iHeartRadio and VSiN collaborating on the development of new upcoming sports betting podcasts, while a “betcasting” product focused on English Premier League football (soccer) offers wagering content plus one live match to listeners each week.

As RBR+TVBR first reported on Monday (12/29), a $200 million “blank check” company with a forthcoming stock to be traded on the Nasdaq market will see two key figures at Emmis Communications in lead roles. Its board includes three others — an ex-Indianapolis mayor, an individual tied with Shamrock Communications in the early 1990s, and a “retired” ESPN Audio chief.

The SPAC, Monument Circle, seeks to merge with a media company focused on sports gaming news and information and content focused on the bettor, although investment in broader areas is possible. With so much attention on audio programming devoted to sports fans who wager on teams and their respective players, RBR+TVBR revisits a recent InFOCUS Podcast interview with Bill Adee.

Adee is the Principal and COO of VSiN, formally known as the Vegas Sports Information Network. It’s grown quickly since the spring of 2017, when Adee joined the Musbergers to launch VSiN, and he shares the latest on how things continue to roll — even through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Listen to “RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast: Bill Adee, VSiN” on Spreaker.

Across December, stories of discord and disconnect dominated the headlines, as disgruntled MVPD customers were left to bemoan the loss of local TV stations due to two big retransmission consent fee impasses.

As 2020 comes to a close, Gray Television can rejoice in its signing of a carriage agreement with the fifth-largest cable TV services provider in the U.S.

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