Industry News

Beasley Broadcast Group shares finished Thursday’s trading at $1.97, rising 4.8% as the media company in eSports and radio programming disclosed an early look at its Q4 2020 results that are decidedly positive.

With the COVID-19 pandemic hammering revenue, any single-digit year-over-year dip can be viewed as a good thing. And, that’s where Beasley stands: the company generated net revenue of approximately $67.4 million to $67.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020. That compares to reported net revenue of $72.1 million for Q4 2019, representing a year-over-year decrease of between 5.8% and 6.5%.

For Q4, Beasley’s estimates a year-over-year decrease in commercial advertising revenue due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, partially offset by growth in digital, esports and political revenue.

Meanwhile, Beasley says its Q4 “Station Operating Income,” a preferred non-GAAP financial measure, increased by approximately 23.1% to 28.8% year-over-year to approximately $19.2 million to $20.1 million. This compares to reported Q4 2019 SOI of $15.6 million.

Furthermore, Q4 2020 EBITDA increased by approximately 25.0% to 33.8% year-over-year to approximately $17.0 million to $18.2 million, compared to $13.6 million in Q4 2019.

How did Beasley do it? A reduction in operating expenses and corporate overhead,  realigning a company-wide cost structure, political advertising, and “an expected gain on a land sale” in Q4 2020 were noted.

What is that land sale? Look no further than Charlotte, where real estate developer Beauxwright purchased a 5.397 acre site utilized by expanded-band WBCN-AM 1660 and an adjacent 0.1 acre property for approximately $5 million.

Townhouses will pop up where the station’s single tower now sits, just north of Five Points Park in northern Charlotte.

WBCN-AM is dark. However, its “Fox Sports Charlotte” programming lives on via an FM translator fed from a HD multicast signal.

Network advertising sales executive Deidra Hoye has been named SVP/Ad Sales as part of a department-wide expansion at Sun & Fun Media’s radio syndication company Key Networks.

Hoye is based in Los Angeles and was previously VP/Network Sales for iHeartMedia-owned Premiere Networks. She had been with Premiere since 2001. Now, Hoye will oversee Key Networks’ newly expanded sales team.

Among the recent hires are VP/Eastern Sales Maggie Nugent Sisco, Vice President/Midwestern Sales Brian Pollina, and Supervisor of Sales Support & Operations Michelle McLynn.

Sisco joins Key Networks from Podcast One, where she was Vice President/Director of Sales, Eastern Region.

Pollina was previously with United Stations Radio Networks, where he was VP of Digital Assets and Midwest Sales for the last eight years of his 12-year career there.

McLynn joins Key Networks from Westwood One, where she was Affiliate Services Manager.

The Colorado cities of Aspen, Steamboat Springs and Vail are famous for their ski resorts.

In each of these locales, low-power TV stations have been licensed to serve local viewers.

Now, they are being snapped up by Ravi Kapur.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

In May 2015, the Rev. Denny Hazen passed away, leaving behind his wife, Marge.

Both were widely known across Northeast Ohio for their long-running broadcast ministry, which saw the launch of a TV program and ownership of radio stations.

Now, one of those FMs is being spun.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

“The proliferation and rising popularity of a myriad of digital channels over the past decade has made the measurement of media effectiveness increasingly complex,” says Mike Campbell, the head of international effectiveness at London-based Ebiquity.

In his view, the 2020s will be defined as a time when “a real shift to an effectiveness-led media planning strategy, incorporating both online and offline channels,” begins.

Campbell says, “As we likely head into a recession at the start of the decade, we’ll see a greater demand for, and investment in, analytics – something that traditionally happens during times of uncertainty.”

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

She joined Hearst Television in 2017 to lead the central digital teams that curate and produce a broader palate of content for distribution through the station-branded sites, apps and social expressions.

Now, she’s being promoted to Senior Director and Managing Editor for Hearst Television’s central digital content teams.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

WEST PALM BEACH — As expected, the merger of ION Media with The E.W. Scripps Co. has led Scripps to initiate a migration plan that will bring its five Katz Networks multicast networks to newly acquired ION properties.

The moves begin on March 1.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

With the start of the 117th U.S. Congress, the House Energy and Commerce Republican Leader became Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who succeeds the now-retired Greg Walden.

On Thursday (1/14), Rodgers revealed that eight fellow GOP members will be seated with her on the powerful committee that maintains oversight of the FCC.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Digital media measurement, data and analytics software platform DoubleVerify has received Media Rating Council accreditation for display and video rendered ad impression measurement and sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) filtration, including app fraud, in the Connected TV media environment.

“As marketers increasingly adopt Connected TV/OTT platforms for their ad investments, it becomes ever more critical for those investments to have the protection of MRC-accredited measurements,” said George W. Ivie, Executive Director and CEO of the MRC. “DV’s accreditation for its SIVT-filtered rendered ad impression measurement of both video and display ad creatives in these environments is an important step toward that goal.”

DoubleVerify is one of a select few companies in the industry accredited for both video and display impression measurement and SIVT in Connected TV.

Connected TV now reaches over 80% of U.S. households. This number is expected to grow to 86% by 2024; cord-cutter and cord-never households are expected to increase to 44% of the population during this same period, according to Leichtman Research Group. Although Connected TV ad spend increased 27% from 2019 to 2020, eMarketer data shows, ad spend does not yet fully reflect consumer demand for Connected TV.

“As more audiences flock to Connected TV and OTT, advertiser demand for greater transparency in these channels continues to accelerate,” Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify, said. “Our mission is to give our clients the clarity they need to be confident in their media investments so they can take advantage of the opportunity CTV presents.”

DoubleVerify first received MRC accreditation in February 2013 for its tag-based measurement for its impression quality suite of services and desktop display viewability. In 2015, the MRC accredited DoubleVerify for desktop video ad viewability and invalid traffic for both desktop and mobile web, and in 2017, DoubleVerify received additional accreditation for the detection of invalid traffic within mobile apps.

More recently, the company became the first measurement provider to receive MRC accreditation for third-party integrated measurement on Facebook.

Note: RBR+TVBR does not use the term “CTV” for Connected TV, in order to eliminate confusion with Canadian broadcast TV network CTV.

The virtual CES 2021 conference and expo is in full swing, and Jacobs Media on Wednesday offered a three-hour midday tour of what’s hot for radio broadcasters.

Among those participating in the event was Joe D’Angelo, the senior vice president of broadcast at the parent of both DTS and HD Radio, Xperi.

What are Joe’s key takeaways from what he’s seen at CES 2021? Are there some exciting new and/or improved tech products of use not only for radio, but also TV, in the year ahead?

Joe shares all in this latest RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast, presented by DOT.FM.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Joe D’Angelo, Xperi” on Spreaker.