The nation’s largest broadcast television station company’s board of directors wants it. Now, it is being put in the hands of its shareholders.
Two classes of Nexstar Media Group common stock face extintion.
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Across 2021, there have been some significant transactions involving television stations, with many deals involving Gray Television. That said, one entrepreneur known for its investment in programming catering to South Asians has emerged as a LPTV collector, buying up properties across the U.S.
Ravi Kapur, once a member of the KGO-7 in San Francisco news team, now has a formidable group of LPTVs through his Major Market Broadcasting. Now, he’s adding two more LPTVs to his stable in a transaction that sees Bob Heymann of the Chicago office of Media Services Group serve as the seller’s broker.
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Addressable advertising has been a vexing matter for many radio broadcasting company leaders, with the technology of bringing audio content to many via AM and FM in juxtaposition to the current marketing mantra that individual messaging — the dream that digital media is built on — matters more.
Has SiriusXM just taken one important step toward bringing personalized ads and promos to audio content consumers?
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While the Spot Ten Radio report for the week ending January 30, 2022, points to a potential slowdown for brands, the latest Spot Ten TV offers a stark contrast as to how diverse the paid ad mix is at broadcast television.
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The latest peek at the play counts of advertising by campaign at Spot Radio once again shows that promotional announcements from iHeartRadio outnumber everything except one key paid user of AM and FM stations tracked by iHeart-owned Media Monitors: job search portal Indeed.
The newest Spot Ten Radio report also suggests that podcast promotion is taking up slots that more paid users of AM and FM radio could harbor.
As shown below, language learning and translation software Babbel is the No. 2 paid user of radio for the week ending January 30, with Progressive, Lowe’s and Wendy’s, which is ramping up its multimedia efforts to promote breakfast menu offerings, the lone other paid users of Radio last week.
Here’s a full look at the latest Spot Ten Radio report:
Chalk up COVID-19 pandemic-fueled supply chain issues for the latest audience measurement concern to involve the nation’s dominant provider of ratings for radio and television stations.
Nielsen has just informed its clients that getting Portable People Meters (PPMs) has become problematic. As such, reaching its sample targets won’t likely happen.
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An asset exchange agreement has been reached that will see the licensee of two Pennsylvania AM radio stations and an FM translator trade the properties in exchange of two different AMs and a pair of associated translators.
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As RBR+TVBR first reported in December 2021, ViacomCBS is investing in the build-out of a news department at its owned-and-operated CBS station serving Detroit, Ann Arbor and Western Ontario.
Now, it has selected a local news and community affairs veteran to serve as its News Director.
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Nexstar Media Group’s Board of Directors have taken an action that’s become something of a rarity in the broadcast media world.
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As FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sees it, the Commission’s current rules for full-power and translator radio stations “contain a number of provisions that are redundant, outdated, or in conflict with other rules.”
Come February 18, she plans to do something about that.
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As of January 25, the President/CEO and Chairman of the Board of radio broadcasting industry pure-play Saga Communications has a new compensation and employment agreement with the company he leads.
A “third amendment” to an employment agreement first signed in June 2011 by Ed Christian has been finalized. It extends the term of the original agreement from March 31, 2025 to March 31, 2027. It also makes various minor changes to Christian’s agreement pursuant to Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code.
The biggest takeaway from the new deal involving Christian, who has been CEO of Saga since 1986: Should there be any change in control at the company, he’d get a lump-sum payment.
Christian is presently 75 years of age. According to the Saga 2021 10-K filing it made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, for the three years ended December 31, 2020 Christian’s average annual compensation, as defined by the employment agreement, was approximately $1,862,000.
On December 14, 2018, Christian agreed to defer approximately $100,000 of his 2019 salary to be paid 100% on January 3, 2020. On December 6, 2019, Christian agreed to defer approximately $100,000 of his 2020 salary to be paid 100% on January 15, 2021. On December 16, 2020, Christian agreed to defer approximately $100,000 of his 2021 salary which was scheduled to be paid 100% on January 15, 2022.
The National Association of Broadcasters had been pushing for President Biden’s FCC nominee Gigi Sohn to recuse herself from several broadcast issues. The NAB was concerned about her time as a board member of Locast, a nonprofit which was ordered to shut down after illegally streaming programming.
In a letter to FCC general counsel Michele Ellison Sohn has now agreed to recuse herself from matters involving retransmission consent or television broadcast copyright for the first three years of her term. She has also agreed to recuse herself for four years from a docket concerning the rules governing retranmission consent.
While it’s still unclear if Sohn has the votes to be confirmed by The Senate, NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt said that’s good enough for the NAB. “Ms. Sohn’s recusal agreement resolves the concerns NAB raised regarding her nomination. NAB appreciates Ms. Sohn’s willingness to seriously consider our issues regarding retransmission consent and broadcast copyright, and to address those concerns in her recusal. We look forward to the Senate moving forward with Ms. Sohn’s confirmation and are eager to work with her and the full complement of commissioners in the very near future.”
Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has accused Sohn of supporting free speech only if it involves speech by liberals.
— Ed Ryan
A leading podcast database is partnering with and “enhancing” the podcasting capabilities of Audacy, the multi-platform audio content and entertainment organization formerly known as Entercom.
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The FCC late Wednesday (1/26) released a Report and Order that updates the Commission’s political programming and recordkeeping rules for broadcast licensees, cable television system operators, Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) service providers, and Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) licensees.
What does this mean for you? A Fletcher Heald & Hildreth attorney provides an easy explanation for curious radio and TV industry executives and staff that will need to abide by the revised regulatory policy.
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On July 23, 2019, Entravision Communications filed an application proposing to upgrade one of its stations. It is still waiting to do so.
But, it is one step closer to this goal — one that sees the station’s simulcast partner moving ever-closer to claiming the 106.7 MHz on the west side of the Valley of the Sun. It is thanks to a Memorandum Opinion and Order issued this week by the FCC.
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Gray Television has decided when it will host a conference call to discuss its operating results for the quarter ended December 31, 2021.
The broadcast TV station owner will unveil its latest fiscal health report on Friday, February 25. Key company executives will participate in a conference call for investors and Wall Street analysts at 11am Eastern on that day.
The results come as Gray shares have retreated to a price last seen on a regular basis in April 2021. That said, the fluctuations for GTN, which trades on the NYSE, are minor. With Gray shares at $20.18 as of 3:25pm Eastern on Thursday (1/27), it has a 52-week high of $25.24 seen on Nov. 3, 2021. More importantly, its 52-week low was seen exactly one year ago, with pricing at $17.03.
Faced with a Hearing Designation Order that will put his continued ability to own the station in the hands of FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Hinckley Halprin, Roger Wahl was all but expected to participate in a pre-hearing conference scheduled for January 13.
That didn’t happen. Halprin expressed her disappointment. Now, a new date has been put on the calendar for this all-important event, which could be Wahl’s last gasp at holding on to ownership of his Pennsylvania FM radio station.
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Until January 20, we have to admit that we barely knew LocalBTV existed. Yet, here it is — with 15 new DMAs added to its roster in 2021 after six launched in 2019. An additional 20 DMAs are on the way.
Is it a folly, with a big hurdle ahead as it needs to ink retransmission consent agreements to come close to what the now-shuttered Locast offered, but legally? Or, can it be successful as a “virtual over-the-air” TV service focused on digital multicast channels and PBS Member stations?
Those questions and more are asked by RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam Jacobson in a fresh and provocative InFOCUS Podcast featuring LocalBTV founder and CEO Jim Long.
Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Jim Long, LocalBTV” on Spreaker.
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