Radio+Television Business Report

For a generation of Boston radio listeners, the call letters are very familiar. Today, WMEX is associated with a Class D AM at 1510 kHz licensed to Quincy, Mass.

Now, this incarnation of WMEX is about to be sold. Who’s the buyer?

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On December 30, 2020, the sale of a former Tribune Media property serving the Big Apple formally closed. As a result, The E.W. Scripps Company was no longer the owner of The CW Network’s New York flagship, WPIX-11.

How Scripps ended up with the station, and how it ended up selling it, is a story of its own. Originally, Sinclair Broadcast Group planned to operate WPIX via a Joint Sales Agreement with Cunningham Broadcasting Corp., and its officer and director, Michael Anderson. That arrangement ended up in flames, triggered by former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s concerns over “sham” transactions created to push Sinclair’s planned merger with Tribune Media through the regulatory test.

Now, the current ownership of WPIX has come under scrutiny. But, it isn’t the Commission that’s complaining. Rather, it is one of the largest MVPD operators in the nation — and the owner of two direct competitors to WPIX in the Big Apple.

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Travel between Terre Haute and Indianapolis, and you’ll cross Putnam County, Indiana.

Here, a 3kw FM offering Adult Contemporary programming is the local home of Indianapolis Colts football, Indiana Pacers basketball and St. Louis Cardinals baseball.

And, it is about to be sold to a new owner.

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Since 2016, she has served as the Director of Sales for the Nexstar Media Group-owned FOX and The CW Network affiliates serving the second-largest market in Colorado.

Now, she’s being promoted to VP/GM.

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Behind Atlanta, it’s the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. South.

And, its residents now have access to ATSC 3.0-powered next generation broadcast TV signals.

NEXTGEN TV is now available in Charlotte.

Those with select new TV models manufactured by LG Electronics, Samsung, and Sony are now able to tune to ATSC 3.0-powered signals for Cox Media Group’s unaffiliated WAXN-64 and ABC affiliate WSOC-9, Nexstar Media Group’s FOX affiliated WJZY-17, Gray Television’s CBS affiliated WBTV-3 and TEGNA-owned NBC affiliate WCNC-36.

Its spoken word stations are among the most listened-to commercial radio properties in North America.

Now, the company formerly known as Entercom is moving forward with taking its news brands further into the digital realm. To do so, it’s committing to journalists in 8 newsrooms across the U.S. to help shepherd a “multiplatform transformation” for Audacy.

This, Philadelphia-headquartered Audacy says, allows it to offer more original digital news content as well as in-depth reporting. This will complement breaking news broadcast coverage.

And, it undoubtedly adds to the exclusive content on the Audacy app, which had been Radio.com.

A centralized digital team dedicated to news is taking shape. This will see Audacy add more than 50 journalists in eight of its newsrooms across the country.

“This coordinated, multi-platform focus will allow the company to produce an array of fresh audio and local reporting that will be distributed across the Audacy network,” the company said on Wednesday (7/7).

Is Audacy hiring the journalists, or are they adding duties to their current responsibilities at all-News and News/Talk radio stations the company owns? RBR+TVBR’s request for clarification was not immediately responded to.

What is clear is that Audacy will create original podcasts and “other specialty digital content” that will add to the local reporting at Audacy all-News and News/Talk stations.

Audacy EVP/Programming Jeff Sottolano is overseeing the initiative.

“The past year has underscored the crucial role of journalism and the demand for trusted quality content has never been higher,” Sottolano said. “Audacy’s local news brands have been delivering on-demand news and information for decades and are now poised to build on that foundation. While other news organizations are downsizing, this further investment will allow us to leverage the credibility of our news brands to expand our reach and engagement while continuing to deliver the premier coverage our audience is accustomed to and relies on.”

Plans also call for an original national weekly podcast that highlights “the most pressing story of the week” and draws on reporting and interview content from across the Audacy network of news brands; daily in-depth podcasts and on-demand audio that explore local stories and issues that most affect listeners’ lives; as well as custom newsletters and in-app experiences that offer audiences a chance to explore areas of interest and interact directly with Audacy brands.

Additional details will follow in the coming months.

It markets itself as “a first-of-its-kind” cloud-based television advertising
tool that requests and receives ads from programmatic digital ad exchanges to
enable linear cable television ad insertion by using existing cable and broadcast TV
infrastructure.

Now, it is one step closer to closing the gap between linear TV and digital advertising, as this Viamedia-owned division has just snagged its third patent — a move that the company says solves “last mile” challenges for marketers.

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A series of FCC filings made late Tuesday confirm that West Virginia Radio Corp., the entity owned in a partnership between Dale Miller and David and John Raese, is about to get a complexion change in its attributable interest visage.

One of these partners is cashing out.

Miller, who serves as President/CEO of the Morgantown, W. Va.-based owner of 32 radio stations, is selling his equity interest in the company to the Raeses.

It’s a sign that Miller may be ready to retire, concluding a storied 44-year career at one of the region’s strongest and most influential audio media companies.

Miller joined West Virginia Radio Corp. in 1977. At that time, its holdings were comprised of WAJR-AM & FM in Morgantown. In 1981, the FM shifted to Contemporary Hit Radio, taking the call sign WVAQ. The station remains a nationally recognized success story, known as the home of the late programming executive Lacy Neff.

West Virginia Radio Corp. would grow substantially under Miller’s leadership, growing to 28 radio stations between 1993 and 2014. A former past president of the West Virginia Broadcasters Association, Miller was awarded the association’s highest honor when he was named the WVBA Broadcaster of the Year in 1993.

But, it is the Raese family that has been tied to Radio since 1940. That’s when John and David’s grandparents, Agnes and Herbert Greer, signed WAJR-AM on the air. The Raese brothers assumed control of the company following Agnes Greer’s 1972 death.

Three filings seeking Commission approval show that Miller’s decision to hand his shares of West Virginia Radio Corp. to the Raese brothers came in early June.

Terms call the Raese brothers acquiring Miller’s shares in West Virginia Radio Company of Raleigh; of the Alleghenies; and of Salem; for a combined value of $314,000. The allocation is as follows:

West Virginia Radio Corp. today continues to own WAJR-AM and WVAQ-FM, plus WKKW-FM in Morgantown. Its holdings also include stations in Beckley, Charleston, Clarksburg, Berkeley Springs, Martinsburg and Elkins, W. Va.; and Cumberland, Md.

What is real? How do you define real?

When it comes to true and false information spread on the internet, or via word of mouth, TEGNA believes it has a brand-new brand that can help the public distinguish the two.

And, it’s hired a trio of journalists to help disseminate fact from fiction.

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It’s a Fargo, N.D., based media company that does business as Flag Family Media.

And, it is the latest buyer of radio stations — and one of just a handful of non-religious, for-profit entities that have emerged as investors in additional AM and FM stations in the last 18 months.

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Radio and television broadcasting companies that publicly trade on Wall Street were largely down on Tuesday.

RBR+TVBR‘s recent coverage of FM station sales by Dartmouth College and Purdue University led retired Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth Member Peter Tannenwald to write a Letter to the Editor addressing a reference of the August 2017 decision by the entity that controlled the former WBRU-FM in Providence to sell the Alternative station.

As he explains, the vote to sell WBRU came from the students that maintained oversight of the station — not a university board of directors.

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The latest Media Monitors Spot 10 TV report is out, and it shows Procter & Gamble Co. making a new push designed to boost sales of one of its best-known brands.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The President/CEO of the NAB says the nation’s biggest lobbying organization representing broadcast media “is gravely concerned” by recent incidents of violence directed against broadcast journalists who are covering local news.

“A cornerstone of American democracy is the right of the free press to document the stories and events shaping our communities and our nation,” Gordon Smith said. “Journalists should be afforded the respect to safely provide this valuable service to the community without fear of violence, intimidation or harassment.”

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With severe weather already impacting the U.S. as a tropical storm impacts the Southeast and extreme temperatures impacted much of the West Coast of the nation, how important is it for a local television station to invest in weather?

That’s just one question we asked Wes Wyatt, who will become the Chief Meteorologist at Gray Television-owned FOX affiliate WBRC-6 in Birmingham come July 26.

What else does Wes have to say about the role of weather at a broadcast TV station? Listen to this fresh RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM, to learn more!

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Wes Wyatt” on Spreaker.

He’s been a part of the CBS family since 2015 and became interim News Director of WCBS-2 in New York in January.

Now, Johnny Green Jr. is being promoted to the top role for ViacomCBS’s flagship broadcast TV properties in the Big Apple, now part of a company division that includes CBS News.

It follows ViacomCBS‘s decision to sever its ties with news division leader David Friend following tales of gender and racial misconduct that also cost Peter Dunn his role as President of CBS Television Stations.

Green has been interim News Director at WCBS-2 in New York since January 2021, when then-SVP of News Friend and Dunn were suspended while ViacomCBS conducted an investigation into accusations against the two executives. He’s also been Vice President of News Services at CBS News, where he has overseen Newspath, the division’s affiliate news service, since August 2020.

Friend also led the local news department at WCBS-2 and sibling WLNY-55, branded as “TV 10” due to its placement across MVPDs in the New York Tri-State region.

With Friend and Dunn gone and former WABC-7 and ABC Owned Stations leader Wendy McMahon now President and co-head of CBS News and Stations, Green is getting the nod as President/GM of CBS News and Television Stations’ local businesses in New York.

Translation: He’s at the helm of CBS 2 and TV 10/55, plus Pluto TV “FAST” network CBSN New York and CBSNewYork.com.

Green, who is highly regarded among staff in New York, will assume his new responsibilities on July 12.

Green will continue to lead the CBS New York local newsroom and Newspath on a short-term basis while ViacomCBS conducts a search for his successors at WCBS-2 and at CBS News.

“Since returning to CBS nine weeks ago, I have been thoroughly impressed by the thoughtful and seasoned leadership Johnny has provided inside the CBS 2 newsroom and at Newspath,” McMahon said. “With this well-deserved promotion, we look forward to having Johnny lead our station-wide team efforts to produce great content, serve our diverse communities across the Tri-State Area, and promote a positive workplace culture.”

Green added, “I have great admiration for my colleagues at CBS New York and look forward to collaborating with all of them as we work together to positively transform our business and culture as a united CBS Stations and News organization. I am grateful for the support I have received from Wendy and [President and Co-Head of CBS News and Stations] Neeraj Khemlani and am excited to continue to work with them on bringing their vision to light.”

Prior to moving to New York last year, Green spent five years at WBZ-4 and WSBK-38, the CBS-owned stations in Boston. Green joined the duopoly in 2015 as Assistant News Director and one year later was named Vice President and News Director.

Prior to working in Boston, Green was an executive producer at WCAU-10 in Philadelphia. Before that, he was an executive producer at Hearst-owned WPXI-11 in Pittsburgh.

Green began his career as a producer at WCTI-TV in New Bern, N.C.

Green is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

It may be licensed for just 10 watts of power, but its signal can reach South Austin once this FM translator is up and running.

For Charles Crawford, that’s a large enough potential audience to invest in the silent property in Texas’ capital city.

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Its original FM namesake is now owned by Educational Media Foundation and sports the WAIW call letters. The FM station that then took those call letters was later sold with its sibling to Metro Radio Inc., in a deal announced in April.

Now, the last remaining asset that Allen Shaw owned in Virginia’s Shenandoah region is being sold, too.

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With the centennial of commercially licensed radio broadcasting in the U.S., many stations have come under the spotlight for their longevity, including KDKA-AM in Pittsburgh, WWJ-AM in Detroit and KNX-AM in Los Angeles.

In Texas, WRR claims to be the first licensed broadcast station in Texas, and to be “the second-oldest operating station in the U.S.”

Now, as WRR on August 5 will celebrate 100 years of service, it is in jeopardy of disappearing from the airwaves.

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It is the owner of the PBS Member station serving northwestern Pennsylvania, and the licensee of the NPR Member station with matching call letters that signify, “We Question and Learn.”

An upgrade to the stations’ broadcast facility was necessary, with the need for additional content recording and playback channels an acute one.

The new playout channels are in place, thanks to NVerzion.

Two additional NVerzion NFinity Video Servers are now operational at WQLN-TV and WQLN-FM 91.3, in Erie, Pa.

Four playout channels are dedicated to their existing four broadcast channels, while the record ports are being utilized for satellite feeds from incoming programming networks, along with “PBS Six” content associated with these services.

The new equipment is interconnected to the existing NVerzion automation system.

WQLN currently maintains two HD channels, with “PBS Kids” on its DT2 signal; two SD channels are also on the air. All are set up as 16×9. Two playout ports are configured for SD; two are configured for 1080i HD.

Before WQLN’s master control reconfiguration in 2009, servers were dedicated to SD and HD, respectively. Two additional channels maximized the server capacity. But, issues developed such as record ports being used as playout ports, along with confusion regarding accurate content in specified locations.

Now, WQLN is able to segment and QC programs on a separate PC without tying up additional video server ports.

And, there are no transcoding conflicts.

For product information, contact Reed Haslam, Director of Sales at NVerzion, at rhaslam@nverzion.com