Radio+Television Business Report

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On March 1, a California company focused on how cable television companies “can maintain its relevance” in the coming years as subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) continues to gain market share voluntarily reorganized by seeking federal bankruptcy protection.

At the time, the company, MobiTV, stressed it was “committed to working with its lenders and stakeholders towards a speedy and successful resolution” of its filing for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

It’s now known that the successful resolution to its fiscal woes is a sale at auction of its assets to the highest bidder. The winning bid went to the parent of HD Radio.

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On Tuesday, Saga Communications shares rocketed upward by 30%. This immediately led to questions as to why that even CFO Sam Bush couldn’t answer, when contacted by RBR+TVBR.

Now, a SEC filing shows what led to the jump, and small retraction in share value seen Wednesday. And, it only presents more questions regarding Saga — and its largest shareholder.

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Shares of Black consumer-centric Urban One improved by 27 cents, to $4.87, on a day when nearly every media company stock price dipped — swept up in inflation fear worries.

The Dow Industrials were down by 2%, to 33,587.66. The Nasdaq index was down by 2.7%, to 13,031.68.

Joining UONE in a gain: Hemisphere Media Group, owner of Puerto Rico-based WAPA Television. HMTV gained 2%, to $12.25.

Otherwise, it was a dreary Wednesday for media stocks.

Audacy was down 5.4% to $4.02.

Veritone slipped 7.8% to $17.69.

Meanwhile, following its 30% surge on Tuesday, Saga Communications was down 8.5% to $25.10.

Now more than ever, companies are looking for ways to engage the remote workforce.

“A year after most of us were forced to work from home, I cringe when I hear from online meeting managers that they still struggle to get participants to turn on their cameras,” says noted communications and PR veteran Rosemary Ravinal, most recently with Univision Communications. “Speaking to a black tile on screen is a morale crusher. But when combined with overall lagging engagement and short attention spans, the situation becomes part of the broader challenge of team building on Zoom or your video platform of choice.”

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More radio stations reported running local news in 2020, new research from the RTDNA finds.

There’s one twist to that data, however. An increase among AM stations was seen, offsetting a slight decrease among FMs — even with NPR member stations experiencing a pandemic surge in consumption.

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Three unbuilt construction permits for low-power TV stations in Illinois, New Mexico and North Dakota, respectively, are being purchased by Roseland.

OK, so most New Yorkers may only know the former Roseland Ballroom on 52nd Street. One Gothamate knows of another, and it’s a Vice President at HC2 Broadcasting — the entity selling the facilities.

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Despite facing revenue shortfalls, budget cuts and unprecedented operational challenges, local TV stations aired more news in 2020 than ever recorded.

That’s the finding of a new RTDNA newsroom survey that also reveals 2020 saw a record amount of local TV news for the second year in a row.

In addition, a record number of stations are running local news.

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She began her career in 1997 as an assistant assignment editor at WPXI-11, Cox Media Group’s NBC affiliate in Pittsburgh.

Now, after some time in the South, she’s coming back to the Keystone State to serve as President/GM of a TEGNA ABC affiliate.

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Mark Chernoff, the veteran programming executive who is one of four members of the New York State Broadcasters Association (NYSBA) Hall of Fame Class of 2021, is stepping down on June 30.

While that puts a firm date on previously known news he’d be calling it a day, it is only now known who will be taking on the VP/Programming role for what is perhaps Audacy‘s most prestigious asset: Sports Radio WFAN-AM & FM in New York.

It’s hardly a surprise. The job is going to Spike Eskin.

Eskin is the Brand Manager of Sports WIP-FM, which successfully transitioned from Rocker WYSP, in Philadelphia. He’ll serve as the programming chief for not only the WFAN on-air brand, but also for CBS Sports Radio.

The transition date is July 1.

“Spike has the vision, creativity, and drive to craft the next chapter of the iconic and influential WFAN brand,” said Chris Oliviero, SVP and Market Manager for Audacy/New York. “Along with CBS Sports Radio, his experience will be ideal … As a long-time colleague of Spike, I am excited that he has joined our all-star team and have no doubt that he will succeed.”

Eskin added, “I’m humbled and excited for the opportunity to help lead WFAN into its next chapter. It’s an iconic station with incredible talent, and I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’m grateful to Chris Oliviero and Audacy for the opportunity. Working at 94WIP over the last decade has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I’m grateful to David Yadgaroff for his belief in me and the staff who stepped up to every challenge.”

Eskin has been Brand Manager of 94WIP since 2014. Prior to that, Eskin held additional on-air and programming roles at the station and was a member of the WYSP staff.

On April 19, RBR+TVBR exclusively reported on the sale of WNUE-FM 98.1 in Deltona, Fla., as part of Entravision’s wind down of operations in the Orlando DMA.

The buyer is the operator of a “positive & encouraging Christian radio” non-commercial Contemporary Christian Music network, and programming has already shifted from secular Spanish-language programming.

Now, this Christian broadcast ministry is growing again, with the addition of FMs in the Treasure Coast and in the state capital.

Radio Training Network Inc., a Georgia-based non-profit corporation that owns The Joy FM, is agreeing to purchase WTSM-FM 97.9 in Woodville, Fla., presently an ESPN Radio affiliate, and Adult Contemporary WHLG-FM 101.3 in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

WTSM is a Class A covering Tallahassee from the southeast. WHLG’s Class A signal covers Martin and St. Lucie Counties, including Stuart and Fort Pierce; it is not to be confused with the original WHLG, at 102.3, which is today WMBX-FM.

The seller is licensee WJZT Communications, and licensee WHLG FM LLC, doing business as Horizon Broadcasting Co., led by Christopher D. Smith.

The deal was struck on May 5, with an asset purchase agreement posted to the FCC’s LMS after hours on Tuesday (5/11).

With Melissa G. Repp representing the seller, Horizon is pocketing $1.3 million from the asset sales.

A $65,000 escrow deposit is being held by Fowler Media Consulting, led by Todd Fowler, the buyer’s broker. Representing the seller is industry veteran Jay Meyers, of Broadcast Management & Technology.

With the divestments, Horizon’s holdings are reduced to WSBH-FM 98.5 in Satellite Beach, Fla., and WGSX-FM 104.3 in Lynn Haven, Fla. The station serve Melbourne and Panama City Beach, respectively.

For The Joy FM, the Florida footprint will now extend to the Panhandle, and closer to South Florida.

Listener-supported, The Joy FM in 2021 celebrates its 35th year of operation.

Alphonso Inc., recently rebranded as LG Ads, has successfully won a patent dispute with the developer of a content recommendation engine and viewer tracking application designed for Smart TVs regarding the use of television audience data for targeting viewers on digital devices.

It concludes 5 1/2 years of litigation, including a December 2018 Federal District Court ruling in Alphonso’s favor.

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If you didn’t think anyone could make money podcasting, think again.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has just released its U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study, and it reveals that podcast advertising will grow as much in the next two years as it did in the past decade.

Do you want to learn how you can get in on some of that revenue? Join us in July for our virtual podcasting conference:
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Driven by a strong Q4 in 2020 (+37%), podcast ad revenues climbed to $842 million in 2020, up from $708 million in the year prior.

IAB projects podcasting will see $1 billion in ad revenue in 2021 and $2 billion in 2023.

Here are additional highlights from the IAB report:

• Dynamically-inserted ads, which enable ad placement at the point of listener download, increased share of revenue from 48% to 67% year over year.
• Announcer-read/pre-produced ads increased share from 27% to 35%.
• Host-read continues to represent over half of revenue by ad type.
• Brand advertising (45% of 2020 revenue) is approaching parity with direct response (51% of 2020 revenue).
• At 76%, mid-roll spot placements continued to account for three-fourths (76%) of revenues.
• Half of Podcast ads lasted longer than 30 seconds in length.
• News continued to be the top content genre for Podcast advertisers (22% market share).
• Direct-To-Consumer brands maintained the top advertiser category market share (19%), while Pharmaceuticals more than doubled in share Year-Over-Year (9%).

The largest African-American owned media company superserving Black consumers across the U.S. has released its first quarter earnings report. And, like many media companies, the first three months of 2021 weren’t so rosy.

That set, the seeds for a strong COVID-19 pandemic recovery have been planted, and the digital dollar tree — like that of its peers in the media industry — is blossoming.

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In the early 2000s, Adam Curry (along with software developer Dave Winer) invented podcasting.

Today, Curry — once-known for his stints on Z100 in New York and on MTV — is reinventing podcasting with a new open-source platform called Podcasting 2.0, a collection of open technologies designed to enhance the RSS podcasting ecosystem.

On July 14 at Streamline Publishing’s virtual How to Make Real Money Podcasting conference, Curry will participate in a keynote interview.

In addition to his new Podcasting 2.0 platform, Curry will reveal how his 14-year-old podcast, “No Agenda,” pulls in thousands of dollars per episode — enough money for himself and co-host John C. Dvorak to make a living.

Just last week, one listener to the No Agenda show donated $3,333.33 because he felt that’s how much value he was getting from the show.

Curry and Dvorak are generating the kind of money every podcaster would love to have, and they are doing it without a single advertiser, network, or appearance on Apple’s New & Noteworthy. In July, you’ll hear all the secrets to their success.

Curry and Dvorak have created more than just a podcast with No Agenda. It’s a dedicated tribe of followers who just can’t get enough of their favorite hosts, including listener-generated meet-ups and a No Agenda social media platform.

You’ll find out how he built it all on July 14 at our How to Make Real Money Podcasting virtual event.

REGISTER HERE BEFORE THE PRICES GOES UP! You CAN Make Money Podcasting From the comfort of your own home, office, or vehicle, you’ll find out how.

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“The equity markets have transitioned from looking to buy COVID winners in early to mid-2020 to seeking re-opening plays post the announcement of new successful vaccines last November to this current amorphous period of aimless drift,” notes MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson. “In our world, the question is what should media and internet investors do now?”

Should they keep last year’s streaming trade on? What about that short-lived (and memorable) rotation into media stocks? Now that they’ve worked so well, are the moves in Facebook and Google over?

He offers his thoughts in an investor note distributed Tuesday.

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Urban One is the next media company to present its first quarter earnings report. And, it hosts a conference call Wednesday at 10am Eastern to share its performance with analysts and shareholders.

RBR+TVBR will have full coverage of the company’s financial results in the afternoon headlines e-mail.

The company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2020 earnings were nothing short of spectacular. Net revenue in Q4 rose to $113.5 million, from $105.85 million a year earlier. At the same time, operating expenses on a consolidated basis fell to $79 million, from $93.79 million. This was driven by lower programming and technical expenses and lower selling, general and administrative expenses.

This resulted in an operating income gain in Q4 2020, jumping to $34.53 million from $12.06 million.

General indices declined on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped by 1.4% to 34,269.16 and the Nasdaq slipped by just 0.09%, to 13,389.43.

How did radio and TV industry stocks fare? Action was mixed.

Aside from Saga’s big surge, Townsquare Media and iHeartMedia were softer. In contrast, Nexstar Media Group grew again.

 

Five days ago, Saga Communications delivered first quarter results that were less than stellar. Expense reductions were not enough to prevent Saga from seeing its net income dip to $758,000 ($0.13 per share) from $1.68 million ($0.28). However, Saga’s debt leverage ratio is 0.92, with just $10 million in long-term debt.

That could be particularly attractive to investors. It’s just one theory as to why Saga shares rocketed upward by 30% on Tuesday.

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On April 9, the FCC established a formal pleading cycle that seeks public comment on iHeartMedia‘s request to win Commission approval for greater foreign ownership and non-U.S. investment.

It is tied to the audio media giant’s petition for declaratory ruling seeking FCC approval of a stake in the company controlled through Bahamas-based Global Media & Entertainment Investments Ltd. by one of Great Britain’s wealthiest individuals.

Legal counsel for this person, Michael Tabor, have now responded to the Commission. In the filing, GMEI’s position is clear: the PDR represents iHeart’s desire to use the FCC as a “poison pill.”

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