Industry News

Planning for the 2022 NAB Show is ramping up, and Radio World is asking exhibitors about their expectations for what will be the first in-person spring show in three years.

Ben Palmer is president of Arrakis Systems.

Radio World: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trend that radio professionals should be watching for at the show?
Ben Palmer: I think that there will be a great emphasis on flexibility and accessibility with technology. As we learned with the pandemic, it is important for your studio to be available to you at any moment.

RW: What will be your most important news or exhibit theme?
Palmer: We are excited to show off the new changes we have implemented with our APEX automation system, as well as updates to our analog and AoIP consoles. Specifically with APEX, we have added new cloud features that make it more robust and easier to manage remotely.

RW: How is it different from what’s available on the market?
Palmer: The cloud technology services that we are adding to APEX utilizes the latest in security protocols. I believe that this goes a step beyond what has been used by many other systems on the market.

RW: How has the lack of physical trade shows affected your clients or your own business?
Palmer: Sales have done well in spite of the lack of shows. While it has always been wonderful to meet face to face, we have still been able to maintain our relationships with our customers.

Arrakis Booth: N2338

The post Exhibitor Preview: Arrakis Systems at NAB Show appeared first on Radio World.

The fourth-quarter earnings calendar for broadcast media companies is coalescing, and the latest company to confirm when it is sharing its results is The E.W. Scripps Co.

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Some 20 miles to the northwest of downtown Atlanta is town of Powder Springs, Ga. It is home to an AM radio station that spent much of January off the air, and has been owned by a Vietnamese-American media and entertainment figure for nearly 8 years.

He’s now opting to sell the facility, and at a fraction of the price he paid for it.

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The FCC Media Bureau has finalized a filing penalty against the winning bidder of an FM construction permit for Hugo, Colo., reducing the fine to $1,000 and calling the error a “minor delinquency.”

ScarboroughRadio LLC, a winning bidder in Auction 109, failed to file a post-auction Form 2100, Schedule 301 long-form application until a couple of weeks after the deadline last September.

Applications can be dismissed outright in such circumstances, the commission pointed out; but an applicant can establish good cause if “minor, inadvertent” post-auction delinquencies don’t disrupt its auction process or undermine its goal of facilitating rapid implementation of service.

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In issuing a notice of apparent liability in December, the FCC waived the deadline, saying that Scarborough had complied with its other obligations, there was no indication of bad faith and the late filing was a minor violation. That meant Scarborough could go ahead with its plan to add FM service to Hugo.

But the FCC did propose a $3,000 fine in the NAL. Company principal Scott Scarborough then filed a response, noting that he is a first-time auction participant, and that after working with the Media Bureau staff on preparation of the long-form application, “it was his understanding that there was no more to be done, that the filing was complete and that there were no issues regarding late filing.”

The commission now has issued a forfeiture order. It said auction bidders were informed through various means of the rules for the post-auction long-form application; but, it continued, Scarborough replied to its NAL promptly, made its final payment and met the other relevant obligations.

“These facts, combined with the fact that Mr. Scarborough proactively reached out to bureau staff to complete the late-filed application, support Scarborough’s assertion that its late application filing was wholly inadvertent.” For this “minor post-auction delinquency,” the FCC settled on a reduced forfeiture of $1,000.

The post FCC Reduces Fine on Successful Bidder appeared first on Radio World.

Connected TV advertising and measurement platform Innovid has struck a deal to acquire television measurement company TVSquared.

The acquisition creates what Innovid calls “an end-to-end, independent TV measurement alternative that brings together streaming and linear television.”

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Until its merger with Meredith Corporation, Atlanta-headquartered Gray Television didn’t own a broadcast TV station in its home market.

With the FCC‘s blessing, it will be adding a third over-the-air station to its collection in The A.

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It is designed “to elevate the visibility of diverse-owned media companies with advertisers and agencies.”

Introducing the Diverse Media Equity program, courtesy of the nation’s dominant audience measurement and consumer psychographics data provider.

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MIAMI — Just days after the closing of a transaction that effectively melds Televisa’s media content and production assets with those of Univision, the combined company now known as TelevisaUnivision Inc. has appointed a pair of sales leaders who are each taking Senior Vice President roles under EVP/Multimedia Sales John Kozack.

Joining the company are Rob McGovern, as SVP of Multimedia Sales, and Richard Bertodatti, as SVP of Multimedia and Audience Sales.

McGovern will be based in Los Angeles and will lead the West Coast National Sales efforts. McGovern was previously SVP/National Sales & Client Partnerships at Outfront Media, where he led West Coast national ad sales and the development of revenue growth strategies to drive new OOH business. McGovern has also served as SVP of Sales & Client Partnerships at WarnerMedia and spent nine years at Discovery Networks as VP/National Sales Manager.

Bertodatti will lead the company’s business with Publicis, IPG, Havas, the Boston territory, and at other agencies and work with Univision’s multimedia sales teams “to help optimize and accelerate the advanced advertising sales capabilities.”

Bertodatti joins TelevisaUnivision from Facebook, where he was Director of Global Investment Programs, focused on video and sponsorship opportunities. He previously spent six years at ViacomCBS, where he was active in the data advertising sales and strategy team.

Bertodatti started his career at Telemundo parent NBCU, where he held various sales roles during his 12-year tenure, across various network, digital and cable properties.

In the Public Relations trade, it has become standard practice to release headline-making breaking business news late in the day on a Friday. By doing so, the impact will be lessened, while consumers affected by the now-resolved dispute are happy and going on with their lives.

This is what occurred just before 6pm Eastern on February 4 between DISH and TEGNA. A new carriage agreement was reached — with its timing expressly tied to the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

But, is the second reason for an end to a particularly bitter battle tied to the institutional investment firm led by Soohyung Kim, which is reportedly close to a per-share buyout of the company he unsuccessfully sought to lead via two failed shareholder proposals?

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The year 2021 was a quiet one for U.S. broadcast transactions, according to a new report, and radio station deal values were at their lowest point in at least 40 years.

According to a market deal recap, S&P Global Market Intelligence found that while broadcast station advertising revenue rebounded from the hit it took in 2020 due to the COVID outbreak, the station transaction market is sitting at near-historical lows.

Total TV and radio deal volume for 2021 was $4.72 billion. Radio represented only 4% of that; $190.2 million is the lowest value for radio transactions in the company’s records, spanning four decades.

The four largest radio station deals were driven by three of the country’s top-10 TV station owners.

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In June, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced the sale of its only radio stations to Lotus Communications for $18.06 million.

And late in the year, The Walt Disney Co. received $24.25 million for its remaining radio stations: VCY America will pay $9.25 million for KESN(FM) in the Dallas–Ft. Worth market, while Good Karma Broadcasting will pay $15 million for Disney’s AM stations in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, along with an LMA for Emmis Communications station WEPN(FM).

Of the TV/radio broadcast total, about $4.2 billion or almost 93% came from the top two deals and their spinoffs.

In February 2021, Gray paid $925 million to Quincy Media for two TV stations and two radio stations. In April, Gray then sold 10 full-power and three low-power stations from the Quincy acquisition to Allen Media Group for $380 million. In May, Gray then announced the acquisition of Meredith Corp. and its 16 full-power and 30 low-power TV stations for $2.82 billion.

For the third year in a row, the average cash flow multiple for radio transactions remained stable at 6.6-times forward buyers broadcast cash flow. “In our estimates, only 25 full-power radio stations were sold based on their cash flow. That is, however, five stations more than in 2020.”

The post Radio Transactions Are at Near-Historical Lows appeared first on Radio World.