Radio+Television Business Report

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NEW YORK — The only competition exclusively devoted to radio and audio, created 30 years ago “to encourage and reward the development of effective and creative radio commercials,” has selected its 2022 chief judge.

This sees the 31st annual Radio Mercury Awards turning to a Campbell Ewald creative leader.

Taking the seat as chief judge this year is Alejandro Ortiz, Executive Creative Director at the ad shop. In his role Ortiz leads the creative teams in New York, for a number of clients, including Empire State Development, INY, Port Authority of NY and NJ, a number of spirits and beverage brands at Constellation, and the New York Power Authority, as well as Shamrock Farms.

Before his time at Campbell Ewald, Ortiz spent 14 years in New York working at Casanova//McCann for clients such as UNICEF, Coca-Cola, Denny’s, U.S. Army, Microsoft and U.S. Postal Service, among others. His work has won over 140 creative awards, including three Radio Mercury Awards, Cannes, Clio, The One Show, LIA, Art Directors Club and New York Festivals, etc. He has also participated on juries for the Radio Mercury Awards, Addy’s, Ad Stars Festival, New York Festivals, Ojo de Iberoamérica and more.

The annual Radio Mercury Awards, produced by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), draws entries from advertising agencies, production houses, radio stations and educational institutions across the country.

“Ale is a multi-faceted creative leader who we have known for many years as he was building his creative reputation,” said RAB President/CEO and Radio Creative Fund Chair Erica Farber. “We have truly benefitted from his support of the Radio Mercury Awards, not only as a winner, but as a passionate judge.”

Call for Entry for the 2022 Radio Mercury Awards will open in a few weeks. To learn more information on this year’s Call for Entry guidelines and deadlines, go to https://www.radiomercuryawards.com/.

The Hearst Television business unit that independently produces and distributes original programming for broadcast and cable TV, as well as streaming services, has promoted two individuals.

They’re taking “expanded sales, marketing and distribution roles” at the entity formed in September 2021 that has its roots in Litton Entertainment, rebranded at the start of 2022.

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It’s a broadcast technology, syndication and national network sales operation known for providing services to ABC Audio, CBS Audio, Local Radio Networks, Alpha Media USA, JackFM, The Weather Channel, The Associated Press, Hubbard Broadcasting, Cox Media Group, professional and collegiate sports organizations, and two state news networks.

It also has a syndication portfolio for such programs as The Dana Cortez Show and Nick Cannon Radio, and enjoys ties to Quu’s ad-sync technology.

Skyview Networks has established itself as a radio industry leader. Now, one of its top C-Suite figures is being promoted to CEO.

Earning the promotion is COO Steve Jones.

In his new role, Jones will lead the sales, content, broadcast distribution and technology company “as it continues to build on a successful period of growth and innovation,” Skyview says.

Jones joined Skyview in 2019. Since then, the company says his efforts have helped Skyview in achieving an expanded and diversified business portfolio.

What does this mean for Ken Thiele, Founder and CEO? He’ll become Skyview’s Executive Chairman of the Board, and continue in a high-level advisory role for the company.

“Over the last 25 years, Skyview has evolved into a dynamic solutions leader in network audio, and through our enduring growth, we have always maintained a commitment to innovation and quality,” Thiele said. “I have had the privilege of working alongside Steve both as a client and as a leader within our company—he embodies these characteristics, which are also matched with an unyielding drive for excellence, keen business sense, and distinguished experience. I am privileged to welcome him to the role of CEO.”

Prior to joining Skyview Networks, Jones spent many years at ABC under the ownership of The Walt Disney Company, leading business units at ABC News Audio and ABC News Digital. He was named Radio & Records “News Executive of the Year” in 2005 and 2007), among other industry accolades received across his career.

“Steve is the consummate leader with total dedication to our employees, the industry and most of all, the growth of Skyview. He guides each step with intelligent, strategic thinking and is sought after by industry leaders for counsel,” Jeanne-Marie Condo, EVP at Skyview Networks, added.  “It has been a privilege for me to partner with Ken and I thank him for this insightful decision. I am excited to continue working alongside Steve taking Skyview to the next level.”

In August 2021, RBR+TVBR first shared the news that Larry Fuss was once again poised o become the owner of a 1,000-watt AM and its FM translator serving a small city in Mississippi. Why? A reversal of his 2011 sale of the properties was in the works, as the buyer couldn’t keep up with his payment schedule and was some $50,000 behind.

Now, Fuss has a buyer for the properties.

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Gray Television has been an active buyer in recent months. And, we’re not talking about its now-concluded deals with Quincy Media, Inc., or Meredith Corporation.

Gray is an investor in low-power television stations. It’s now asked the FCC for approval for another LPTV deal.

On January 13, Gray signed off on an asset purchase agreement that, pending Commission OK, will give it ownership of WMJN-LD in Huntsville, Ala.

The seller is James and Carol Henderson-led Emanuel Broadcasting Corp., which is earning $330,000, from the LPTV spin.

WMJN uses a PSIP of Channel 29 and is assigned to digital Channel 32. At present, it is a Heartland-affiliated station with Retro TV on DT2, and Rev’n on its DT4 multicast channels.

Will this continue? That’s what locals are likely asking as WMJN will become a sibling to NBC affiliate WAFF-48.

Asked what the company’s plans are, a source close to the situation replied, “We are just working on improving [over-the-air] reception where good opportunities present themselves.”

WAFF’s HD multicast channels are comprised of Bounce TV, Circle, Laff and Grit.

With 5,000 watts at 590 on your AM dial, this Northeastern Pennsylvania powerhouse cranked out the hits from 1959 through 1971. By 2011, it had become a Cumulus Media property, through its merger with Citadel Broadcasting. The next decade wasn’t kind to this former market leader, with a 2014 transmitter failure and power cut that continues to today.

Cumulus spun the AM in September 2021. Now, it is poised to change hands again.

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A 99-watt FM translator at 93.1 MHz that serves the southeastern portion of the Birmingham, Ala., metropolitan area is being spun.

The buyer? The company that has control of the originating station, WAYE-AM 1220 in Birmingham.

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Just days after attracting attention for a series of moves in Honolulu, SummitMedia, the radio broadcasting company led by Chairman/CEO Carl Parmer, is set to say farewell to its retiring Market President at its Knoxville station group.

With Chris Protzman‘s retirement on February 1, which concludes an 18-year run as the head of the stations, SummitMedia is turning to a woman who served as the cluster’s Local Sales Manager some five years ago before exiting the group.

Kelsey Graham will succeed Protzman, and she’s coming back to Knoxville from Athens, Ga., where she has served as a Station Director for Cox Media Group in the small market that is home to the University of Georgia’s main campus.

“I am excited to return to the Knoxville Market and cluster that I managed in 2017 as LSM,” Graham says. “This homecoming is both a personal and professional desire
for me and my family. Carl’s passion for the Knoxville Operation and our team members
drove this perfect fit.”

Commenting on his retirement, Protzman added, ”Carl and I started this conversation last fall and I am delighted with how all the pieces came together. As I transition into the next chapter of my professional life, I look forward to completing my work as Chairman Emeritus of our State Broadcast Association, as well as advancing several non-profit projects near and dear to my heart. SummitMedia has pledged to support these efforts moving forward and I am deeply grateful for their support.”

Parmer commented, “Chris has done an outstanding job leading our Knoxville cluster and we wish him the very best as begins his next chapter. He was instrumental in helping choose his successor and we couldn’t be more excited for our team.”

Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of the State of Texas, has a beef with Google. And, it involves air personalities employed by iHeartMedia. The issue: the radio talents endorsed products that, the Lone Star State says, they never, ever used.

As such, Texas is suing Google — putting new attention on the pitfalls that can come when on-air staff are signed on to pitch a product.

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To ring in 2022, Charlie Sislen said farewell to Research Director, Inc., and formally concluded his career by retiring.

This has led the company to initiate several staffing changes that are scheduled to commence across the first three months of 2022.

• Kathryn Boxill will be creating and leading the new Quality Control Team as the Quality Control Team Manager. She previously served as a Senior Sales Research Consultant.
• Nicole Somerville will be transitioning into the Production Team Manager position from previously serving as a Sales Research Consultant.
• Anne Doyle will move into the Information Systems Administrator position from
  Operations Management.
• Nakia Smith and Hayden Waugh will be moving from their Sales Research Consultant positions to join the Client Service Department as Client Service Consultants.

“The team we have assembled are all customer‐focused, experienced, and extremely excited to take on new challenges as we grow,” Research Director CEO and Founder Marc Greenspan said.

Annapolis, Md.-based Research Director assists radio station programming and sales departments.

TORONTO — GeoBroadcast Solutions has formed an exclusive partnership with a Québec-based company that will bring the company’s “MaxxCasting” offerings and associated sales, field service and post-sales support to Canadian broadcasters who seek to improve their signal strength and audience reach.

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Respondents to one of “Zoom expert” Rosemary Ravinal‘s recent polls on LinkedIn told her that “How to organize my content” is their No. 1 roadblock to great presentations. That didn’t surprise her. “Outstanding presentations require thoughtful planning,” she says in this fresh column that puts a spotlight on a fast-paced presentation format used by Japanese business leaders. It’s something you may want to consider.

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MIAMI — Nearly 11 years ago, he was the Chief Executive Officer of a cable network targeting U.S. Hispanics that had just transitioned from Si TV to nuvoTV, an offering designed to appeal to bicultural audiences. In that role, a partnership was forged with Jennifer Lopez, who in 2013 served as Chief Creative Officer. The network held a splashy Upfront event at the Edison Ballroom in New York.

Today, nuvoTV is no more, as it merged with Fuse TV in September 2015. The executive would stay on, adding the title of President as he battled Comcast in 2018 over the Xfinity parent’s decision to drop Fuse.

Now, after a stint with Dish and Sling after exiting Fuse TV, Michael Schwimmer is heading back to the U.S. Hispanic market in a big way.

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MIAMI — Noticias Telemundo has a new leader, and she’s appointed a senior news leadership team that will help the news organ of NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises expand its coverage to the U.S. Hispanic community.

Coming aboard at Telemundo is Gabriela Tristán, as Vanessa Pombo and Gemma Garcia each earn promotions.

Tristán will serve as SVP/News, and will oversee the editorial and production units of Telemundo’s news programs, including the flagship newscast Noticias Telemundo and the morning news and entertainment program hoyDía.

Tristán jumps to Telemundo from Univision, where she most recently served as VP/Director of News Production. There, she oversaw the daily production and broadcast of all the network’s newscasts. Tristán was part of the team that launched Univision’s Al Punto with Jorge Ramos public affairs show.

Garcia is now SVP/Digital News. Since joining the network in 2016, Garcia has served as the executive producer of “Noticias Telemundo” and the vice president for network and digital news; Garcia joined Noticias Telemundo from Spain’s government-funded TVE, where she held positions as chief correspondent in New York, Italy and the Vatican and Morocco.

Lastly, Pombo is being promoted to SVP/Business Operations for News. She was formerly the Sr. Director of Production Management at Telemundo Studios, where she worked directly with production and creative executives supporting production projects for launch. Before joining Telemundo, Pombo served as vice president at Univision Studios managing entertainment and reality productions.

They report to Patsy Loris, who led Noticias Telemundo’s coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential election and succeeded the now-retired Luis Fernandez on January 1 as EVP/News.

 

It’s official: Procter & Gamble Co. was the top parent advertiser in the U.S. for the second year in a row, thanks to millions of spots airing on the radio and TV stations and cable TV channels offering local drop-in capabilities across 2021 tracked by iHeartMedia-owned Media Monitors.

According to Media Monitors, which saw its co-owned radio industry trade publication and public relations operation share the news before its widespread distribution, P&G aired more than 26 million spots on radio, local cable and broadcast TV last year.

And, for the second consecutive year, the consumer products goods (CPG) firm increased its year-over-year instances. In 2021, Procter & Gamble aired 14% more instances (26,398,691) than it did in 2020, when it ran 22% more spots (23,154,642) than 2019.

At the same time, GEICO is once again the top advertising account. The insurer aired a total of 5,945,084 instances across radio, local cable and broadcast TV. Although it was the top advertiser on broadcast TV, it ranked second on local cable and fourth on radio.

“With some of the world’s most trusted household brands like Tide, Gillette and Crest, it recognizes the value of reaching out to consumers during challenging times such as the current pandemic,” said Media Monitors President/CEO Philippe Generali. “The brand has continued to increase its reach and use advertising to boost sales.”

Here’s who advertised the most on radio, local cable and broadcast TV. RADIO Procter & Gamble was the number one parent advertiser on radio. The CPG company allocated more of its spots to radio (9,097,535) than to local cable or broadcast TV, and aired 71% more instances year-over-year on the medium. In 2020, it aired just 5,318,812 spots on radio. The US Government (2), which had ranked as the number one on radio for both 2020 and 2019, fell to number two. COVID-related government advertising dropped slightly, to 5,372,010 in 2021 from 5,857,218 in 2020. Job search service INDEED was the top radio account, with 2,532,634 instances, having just barely made it into the top 10 for 2020. Progressive Insurance aired fewer spots in 2021 than it did in 2020, dropping to number two with 2,296,537 instances. Babbel, the language-learning service and a newcomer to the list last year, rose to number three from number five in 2020. GEICO (4) and The Home Depot (5) each dropped one spot in the ranking. Top Parent Advertisers in Radio Top Accounts in Radio LOCAL CABLE On local cable, the top three parent advertisers of 2020 retained their positions in 2021, with Procter & Gamble once again at number one. With over 8.5 million instances, Procter & Gamble aired more spots than communication providers Comcast Corporation (2) and Charter Communications, Inc. (3) combined. Other top parent companies also were focused on personal care, including GlaxoSmithKline, PLC (4), L’Oreal USA, Inc. (5) and Unilever, PLC (9). Meanwhile, the battle for share-of-voice among three insurance providers rages on. Among the top 5  accounts were: Liberty Mutual Insurance (1) with 3,051,031 spots, closely followed by GEICO (2) with 3,035,714 instances. Progressive (5) trailed slightly, airing over 1.8 million spots. After its release in early 2021, Discovery+ shot to number three among the top 10 accounts with 2.8 million instances. This was enough to drive parent company Discover, Inc., into the top 10 ranking of parent advertisers in the medium. For parent advertiser Amazon.com, Inc., 3,051,527 instances were enough to lift the e-commerce company into the top 10 at number seven. With 1.4 million spots aired, Amazon.com also entered the ranking of top accounts at number 10. Top Parent Advertisers in Local Cable Top Accounts in Local Cable BROADCAST TV After being #1 on Radio and #1 on Cable, P&G did the “hat trick” in 2021: on broadcast TV, it is also the top parent advertiser. Procter & Gamble aired nearly four times as many spots as number two Johnson & Johnson. Together, the two firms aired almost as many spots (a total of 11,024,353) as the eight other parent companies in the top 10 combined (a total of 12,050,439). Broadcast TV, like local cable, also reflected a trend for self-care. In addition to Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal USA, Inc. (6), and Unilever PLC (7) led the top 10. In addition, healthcare-focused organizations were strongly represented in the top parent company advertiser rankings. Among the top 10 were GlaxoSmithKline PLC (3), the US Government (4) and AbbVie, Inc. (9). Insurance companies topped the rankings of advertising accounts, with GEICO holding the number one spot, followed by Liberty Mutual Insurance (2) and Progressive (4). However, five of the top 10 advertising accounts were related to health and personal care. Procter & Gamble-owned Tide (6) and Downy (7) were followed by Dupixent (8), Neutrogena (9) and Colgate (10). “We’re only going to see growth in the self-care sector,” said Generali. “The ongoing need to self-protect from the pandemic combined with increased stay-home time means that people are taking even more time to focus on themselves. They’re going to be looking for brands that reflect their lifestyles for the coming year.” Top Parent Advertisers in Broadcast TV Top Accounts in Broadcast TV

He’s responsible for all aspects of the NAB member experience, including content, programming, networking and “other engagement strategies that provide value to members and their businesses.”

Additionally, he will work closely with broadcast leaders and representatives “to identify the needs of the industry and develop timely and pertinent solutions to address these issues.”

Introducing the incoming VP of Member Experience for the broadcast media industry’s chief advocacy organization and biggest voice on Capitol Hill.

His name: Bradford Caldwell. He begins his new role on February 1 and reports to EVP of Industry Experience April Carty-Sipp.

Caldwell is taking a new position at the NAB, but is absorbing duties currently held by NAB SVP of Member Services and Operations B.J. Corriveau. He retired at the end of 2021.

“As a third-generation broadcaster, Bradford knows what it takes to operate stations on a day-to-day basis,” NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt said. “He is well-respected by his peers and our membership will benefit greatly as he helps NAB continue serving the needs of the broadcasting community.”

Caldwell previously served as CFO of East Arkansas Broadcasters (EAB), which owns and operates 31 radio stations in Arkansas.

Caldwell has served as a member of the NAB Radio Board of Directors representing Arkansas and Tennessee and is a past chairman of the Arkansas Broadcasters Association. He is currently chairman of the Cross County, Arkansas Community Foundation and a past president of the Cross County, Arkansas Chamber of Commerce. He is also a past board member of the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has reappointed a Copyright Royalty Judge focused in economics to a six-year term.

With the decision, this judge will have spent 15 years on the Copyright Royalty Board.

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New York Festivals TV & Film Awards has added two individuals to its Advisory Board. One is the CEO of WaterBear Network. The other is the Editor-in-Chief and Chief Sustainability Officer for Mediacorp Singapore.

Ellen Windemuth, of WaterBear Network, is being joined by Mediacorp Singapore’s Walter Fernandez.

They join a 16-member Advisory Board panel. Their experience and expertise provide “a futurist’s view of the evolving television and film industry to NYF’s TV & Film Awards.”

The deadline to enter the 2022 Television & Film Awards competition is February 1.  To view entry details and competition rules and regulations visit HERE. For a complete list of 2022 categories, visit HERE.

All Entries in the 2022 competition will be judged online and screened by NYF’s TV & Film Awards award-winning Grand Jury panel.  Award-winning entries will be showcased at the Storytellers Gala.

To view the 2021 TV & Film Awards winner’s showcase visit: winners.

It’s a free, ad-supported app owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group that offers access to live and on-demand newscasts from its own stations and partner broadcasters from more than 165 DMAs across the U.S.

As of today, it is the latest built-in app to appear on Samsung Smart TVs.

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