Radio+Television Business Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)‘s Board of Directors has unanimously approved a distribution plan for the $175 million of emergency stabilization funds for public media.

These funds were included in the American Rescue Plan Act, which was signed into law on March 11.

As enacted, the American Rescue Plan Act provides $175 million “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including for fiscal stabilization grants to public telecommunications entities, as defined in section 397 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397), with no deduction for administrative or other costs of the Corporation, to maintain programming and services and preserve small and rural stations threatened by declines in non-Federal revenues.”

The distribution plan reflects the consensus recommendation of an advisory group of public radio and television system representatives convened by CPB in March. The group developed a simple, equitable and impactful funding formula that divides the $175 million among television and radio grantees and ensures the preservation of small or rural stations.

Of the $175 million, $100 million will be calculated using the CARES Act formula that was developed in April 2020 in order to prioritize funding to small, rural and/or minority stations. The remaining $75 million will be distributed according to the respective television and radio Community Service Grant (CSG) formulas, which also take into account stations’ service to rural communities, as well as the number of transmitters needed to cover large geographic areas, and the amount raised in non-federal financial support (NFFS).

“Public media stations across the country are informing their local communities about the latest coronavirus vaccine and economic developments, increasing access to remote learning with innovative educational resources, and providing vital health and safety information,” CPB President/CEO Pat Harrison said. “The stabilization funding from Congress will support essential public media services and sustain the broad reach and access that keeps public media resources available online, over-the-air and in communities across the country. I want to express our deep appreciation to Congress for their strong, bipartisan support of public media. I would also like to thank the advisory group that worked so quickly to develop a thoughtful plan for equitably distributing these much-needed funds in a way that honors Congress’ intent.”

CPB will expeditiously distribute the American Rescue Plan stabilization grants to each station licensee.

A list of grantees and their grant amounts can be found on the CPB website.

Seven weeks ago, Nielsen and Roku shared details about “a new strategic alliance” that the companies believe will help shape the future of media and TV measurement.

This saw Roku purchase Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising business.

As of today, that transaction is now complete — as is the transition of Kelly Abcarian.

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What’s the typical day behind the scenes at Beasley Media Group?

CEO Caroline Beasley on Friday morning (4/16) offered listeners to a live Radio Ink interview on the Clubhouse app an inside peek at life at the audio media and eSports company.

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WEST PALM BEACH — From hugely successful News/Talk KXL-FM 101.1 to Adult Alternative KINK-FM, Alpha Media’s home market station group is highly competitive. So are such stations as WDJX-FM in Louisville, and WDHT-FM “Hot 102.9” in Dayton.

Other markets are laggards for Alpha, including many that came with its $254 million purchase of Digity LLC in 2016. Alpha completed the transaction in early 2017.

It included a forlorn group of stations in West Palm Beach, including Hot Adult Contemporary blowtorch WRMF-FM 97.9, which can be heard from Indian River County south to Key Largo.

These stations, Wilson claims in the FCC filing, were crux to the Digity deal. “Alpha acquired a group of incredibly high-performing stations … The West Palm Beach Cluster had phenomenal signal clarity and reach, management, employees, and advertising revenue. Without the West Palm Beach Cluster, Alpha would not have been interested in acquiring Digity, LLC.”

Why, then, did Alpha in late September 2018 agree to spin WRMF along with Country WIRK-FM 103.1, FOX Sports Radio affiliate WMEN-AM 640, Classic Hits WEAT-FM “Sunny 107.9,” Urban AC WMBX-FM “X102.3,” Rhythmic Top 40 “Party 96.3” W242CI, which uses the WMBX HD2 signal, and Talk WFTL-AM 850?

That’s open to interpretation.

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Former Alpha Media CEO Larry Wilson, who was pushed out of the company back in 2018, has filed a 191 page document with the FCC that accuses his former company of misleading the FCC, making decisions without proper board approval and challenging Alpha’s qualifications as a broadcast licensee.

Wilson’s filing makes public what has been whispered about in the industry for years; that the breakup between Wilson and its current management, including current CEO Bob Proffitt, was very messy with long friendships shattered. Alpha filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

In his petition, which targets four Alpha license renewals, Wilson’s attorney’s say that in their 40 years of practice before the FCC they have never encountered such blatant, unlawful self-dealing by directors of a privately held licensee, flippant false certifications to the FCC and unauthorized transfers of control.

Wilson alleges two private equity funds usurped control of the privately held broadcast licensee from its Board of Directors and ran the company into the ground. He says that was done by “attempting to cut costs to achieve profitability, and then promote a prepackaged bankruptcy plan that would erase the obligations owed to secured and unsecured creditors and minority stockholders to the advantage of management and the private equity funds.”

Wilson alleges that his former company committed several illegal acts, misrepresentations and demonstrations of a lack of candor to the Commission.
He alleges the company of:
– making false certifications on multiple FCC applications.
– purporting to adopt changes to Alpha’s governing documents in a post-hoc effort to cover up past misdeeds and to remove nearly all duties owed by Alpha’s directors to the company and its shareholders
– transferring control of fundamental aspects of Alpha’s business operations to various people and entities without Board authorization to effect such transfers, and, most recently, further delegating substantial control of the company to a “Special Independent Committee,” all – ii – without publicly disclosing such transfers of control to the FCC and requesting prior Commission approval of such transfers of control; and, finally
– pursuing a foreign ownership structure with the purpose and intent to freeze the current Alpha domestic shareholders out of the company and for the sole benefit of Alpha management, private equity investors, and foreign entities.

Wilson says, “all of these facts reveal fundamental character defects that call into question the applicant’s qualifications as a broadcast licensee—and, concomitantly, the applicant’s ability to satisfy its mandate to serve the public interest.”

The petition concludes by stating “Alpha is on fire as a result of the facts and misdeeds set forth in this Petition. Petitioner therefore respectfully requests that the Commission deny the above-captioned applications or, in the alternative, designate the applications for a hearing on the issues specified in this Petition.”

Read the entire petition filed at the FCC HERE.

On Wednesday (4/14), ABC News officially announced the much-discussed arrival of Kim Godwin as its new President. It involves a former CBS News leader.

Following Thursday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, CBS News responded with some major news of its own. Parent ViacomCBS is combining “the journalistic and business resources” of its news division with its owned television stations “into one divisional and leadership structure.”

This will see a pair of presidents and co-heads in this newly integrated structure for ViacomCBS. One just happens to be a woman who spent 11 years in the ABC family — most recently as President of its owned stations.

Wendy McMahon

Wendy McMahon is joining Neeraj Khemlani in taking a role as a president and co-head of the newly formed division, which does not have a name as of today.

Khemlani has a strong print journalism background, and was most recently EVP and Deputy Group Head for Hearst Newspapers, owner of such publications as the San Francisco Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and the Times Union serving Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.

But, it is a return to CBS for him: Khemlani spent eight years as a producer on 60 Minutes and spinoff news magazine 60 Minutes II.

What does this mean for CBS News President Susan Zirinsky?

Zirinsky will continue in the role until the new leadership has started in early May, ViacomCBS says, and will assist with the transition. “The company is in discussions with Zirinsky for a significant role at a new CBS News Content Studio to be launched later this year,” the company adds, signaling that she will not be departing the company but shifting to a different leadership position.

Neeraj Khemlani

Khemlani and McMahon each report to CBS Entertainment Group President/CEO George Cheeks.

“This is an opportunity to create a news and information structure that positions CBS for the future,” Cheeks said. “It speaks to our ability to scale newsgathering, production, technical and operational resources to serve both national and local, linear and digital, with the agility to deliver trusted information to every platform. Wendy and Neeraj have the leadership background and cross-platform accomplishments that cover all these important areas, and they share our commitment for supporting superior journalism, optimal delivery platforms and the strongest of organizational cultures.”

Specifically, the unified ViacomCBS division will bring under one management structure CBS News, growing streaming news service CBSN and 28 CBS-owned stations in 17 U.S. markets. “It will maximize the power of CBS’s newsgathering and production operations to serve audiences across all national, digital, local and global platforms,” ViacomCBS says.

The appointment of McMahon is also a return to CBS for the longtime ABC employee: From 2006-2009 she served as Creative Services Director at CBS’s WBZ-4 and WSBK-38 in Boston. McMahon previously held a similar role at CBS O&O WCCO-4 in Minneapolis.

“I’m excited to return home to CBS and work with George and Neeraj to build out a unique and inspired structure that brings together the best in journalism, digital innovation and collaboration, to serve audiences at a time when trusted news and information — the hallmark of CBS — has never been more needed,” McMahon said. “Driven by the ingenuity, experience and dedication of the storytellers and teams at CBS News and our local stations, we are committed to reflecting the communities where we operate while cultivating a culture grounded in trust.”

McMahon’s history at ABC dates to her arrival at KABC in September 2009. She rose through the ranks, becoming SVP/Digital at ABC Television Network Online in 2015. On Jan. 1, 2018, McMahon was selected President of ABC Owned Television Stations Group.

McMahon began her career as Promotion Manager for Gray Television’s dominant CBS affiliated WTOC-11 in Savannah, Ga., upon graduation from Louisiana State University in 1996.

The ViacomCBS followed ABC’s appointment of Godwin, who will now oversee editorial and business operations for broadcast, digital, streaming and audio news across the organization.

Godwin had been “second-in-command” as an EVP at CBS News, in charge of newsgathering.

She’s also served as Exec. Director for Development and Diversity at CBS News, and as a senior broadcast producer of the “CBS Evening News.” She joined the network in 2007.

Before that, Godwin served as the acting news director and assistant news director at WCBS-2 in New York.

Earlier in her career, Godwin was the VP/News Operations for NBC Television Stations, and held key ND roles for KNBC-4 in Los Angeles and KXAS-5 in Dallas-Fort Worth.

As first reported by Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink, former Alpha Media CEO and its founder, Larry Wilson, through attorneys at Brooks Pierce, wants the Audio Division of the FCC’s Media Bureau to deny the license renewal of four stations due to actions made over several years without — according to Wilson — full board approval.

The accusations by Wilson are numerous, and accusatory.

And, they came alongside another petition to deny filed by Southern Stone Communications‘ founder, also a minority investor in Alpha Media.

Alpha Media responded with a statement sent to Radio Ink early Friday.

“While we believe the petition is based on inaccurate information and baseless claims, Alpha Media remains squarely focused on serving our communities and operating our radio stations across the United States,” Alpha said. “Our core business continues to perform well despite current market challenges, and we are proud of what all of our teams have accomplished in delivering dynamic, diverse and exciting content to our communities.”

Alpha also notes that it continues to achieve “significant progress” in its financial restructuring process, confirmed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., “and best positions Alpha Media with strong financial partners to navigate current market conditions and pursue growth opportunities.”

While all has appeared to be positive for Alpha, with an emergence from debtor-in-possession status all but certain, Wilson reemerged with fighting words submitted via a 191-page document with the FCC. In the filing, made to the attention of the Media Bureau’s Audio Division and his chief, Al Shuldiner, attorneys Mark J. Prak and Patrick Cross of Brooks Pierce lobbed several accusations against Alpha the FCC’s way.

Much of Wilson’s argument centers on the $88 million sale of a group of radio stations in West Palm Beach to Hubbard Broadcasting, which closed in early 2019.

And, while Wilson’s petition has received the majority of attention, a smaller but equally important petition to deny has been submitted to the Commission by Southern Stone Communications head Paul Stone.

He seeks a denial of Alpha Media’s request to increase its foreign ownership concentration via a temporary waiver of the Commission’s rules.

 

Across 2020, several multichannel operators  — including Comcast and Charter Communications — issued upward of $1 billion in rebates to subscribers following the cancellation and suspension of major televised sporting events.

Now, Kagan, the media research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence, is putting the finishing touches on its annual Sports report. It examines how 2020’s sports programming numbers stacked up against prior years.

The report also provides status updates on the latest in the sports programming market and how pay TV operators are responding to the increases in sports programming costs.

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The E.W. Scripps Company said after Thursday’s Closing Bell that it intends to redeem all $400 million in aggregate principal of its outstanding 5.125% senior notes due 2025.

The redemption will be made in accordance with the terms of the indenture governing the notes and the terms of the notice of redemption.

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For 16 years, she’s been a key executive at Nielsen, rising to GM and Head of Product Advanced Video Advertising in January 2019.

For 12 years, he’s been a product development leader who in April 2019 ascended to the role of GM and Head of Product for Audience Measurement.

Both will soon be former employees, but the latter departure is perhaps more noteworthy, given growing grumbles from the biggest TV networks that the pandemic resulted in audience undercounting by Nielsen.

Scott Brown, who rose through the product development ranks at Nielsen upon joining the company in 2009 as a Data Science Quality Assurance Director, is exiting.

Scott Brown, Nielsen

According to MediaPost, he’s heading to Experian. Independent verification by RBR+TVBR of the report with Nielsen was still forthcoming at publishing time.

At Nielsen, Brown set the strategy for launching a currency-grade cross media measurement product across linear and digital. Industry-wide, Brown is considered a thought leader.

Brown’s departure comes amid a furor over alleged “systematic under-counting” by Nielsen, offered up by the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB). According to their findings, Nielsen lost 20% of its panelists due to this “under-counting.”

As the VAB explained, “Nielsen largely stopped visiting its panelists’ homes to make sure they were still properly participating because of the pandemic.”

This, VAB President/CEO Sean Cunningham argues, led to the under-count. He asks “Nielsen has streaming declining among 18-34 in 2020 versus 2019. How could this possibly be true?”

The Big Four networks are equally frustrated with Nielsen. According to Variety, CBS, ABC, NBC and the VAB collectively requested that Nielsen be subject to a third-party audit to be conducted by EY. They seek a response by Monday to the request.

In response to RBR+TVBR‘s request for comment on the flap, a Nielsen spokesperson offered a prepared statement:

“Over the course of the last year, COVID has disrupted lives, families, organizations and businesses. Nielsen is no different. We leaned in, kept the panel, our people and the ratings estimates safe and, like many of our clients, continued to operate.” 

In early March 2021, Nielsen started its return to pre-COVID maintenance protocols. In concert with local government guidance, this included the resumption of in-home field visits with the goal of returning to normal as quickly as possible. “While we have always been in the field, our return to in-home visits helps maintain our representative measurement panel and allows us to execute our Nielsen One vision for true, comparable cross-platform metrics,” the Nielsen spokesperson explained. “We have confidence in the fidelity of our ratings estimates and are focused on the continued quality of our panel.”

In fact, Nielsen responded to the VAB criticism by offering up research that shines a light on the “integrity” of its panel data and how audience viewership has shifted during COVID.

“Our research has shown that the audience estimates are in line with trends observed via other data sources, and we see no evidence to suggest that changes made during COVID to the panel have materially changed the audience estimates as reported,” the Nielsen representative said.

The research also takes a look at the value and impact that new content has in the marketplace, overall changes in premiere content scheduling and how streaming platforms play a significant role in the future of the entire media landscape. “We are working alongside clients to help the industry understand the true impact COVID has had on these accelerated shifts in audience behaviors,” the spokesperson said. “We have been fully transparent with clients and the MRC and will continue to guide the industry through the multiple factors that have influenced audience viewership during these unprecedented times.”

“We have been fully transparent with clients and the MRC and will continue to guide the industry through the multiple factors that have influenced audience viewership during these unprecedented times.” — Nielsen

 

Meanwhile, Kelly Abcarian, who joined Nielsen in May 2005 as a Program Manager and has been a highly visible member of the global audience measurement team at Nielsen, is shifting to Roku once it completes its previously reported acquisition of Nielsen’s advanced video advertising business.

As RBR+TVBR reported March 1, Nielsen ad and content products will be integrated into the Roku platform via a “strategic alliance.” However, the pact’s key takeaway is that Roku will acquire Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising (AVA) business. This includes Nielsen’s video automatic content recognition (ACR) and dynamic ad insertion (DAI) technologies.

And, Abcarian will continue to lead those businesses, now under Roku.

“I am so proud to lead a team that has built an amazing addressable product that can scale under Roku’s leadership,” she said March 3 via LinkedIn.

Spanish-language media is certainly in everyone’s sights right now, given the blockbuster bi-national merger plans of Televisa and Univision Communications. This only further demonstrates the continued power of the U.S. Hispanic consumer, and why Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) is poised for more growth across 2021.

In this exclusive conversation, SBS EVP/Programming Jesus Salas shares how the company’s radio stations gained audience across the COVID-19 pandemic and has kept it, while also giving a preview as to what else SBS has in store for the rest of the year in this episode of the RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM.

 

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Jesus Salas” on Spreaker.

For nearly 12 years, Chattanooga, Tenn., sports fans seeking updates and programming from ESPN Radio have been able to tune to a Class A FM licensed to the town of Lakesite, Tenn.

Soon, a change in listening habits will be needed, as this facility is set to transition to non-secular religious programming under a new owner.

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Edison Research and NAB have jointly released their findings from a first-of-its-kind study on Radio.

The report identifies six segments of radio listeners, their listening behaviors and their attitudes toward advertising.

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May 10 at 10am will see the commencement of Saga Communications’ annual shareholders’ meeting. It won’t be a virtual affair, with the day’s events scheduled to take place at Saga’s suburban Detroit headquarters.

Daniel Tisch, head of key Saga investor Towerview LLC, could be in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., with Saga’s top leaders. What’s on tap for him and other Saga investors?

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On March 25, a FCC filing indicated that Marquee Broadcasting Group had agreed to acquire a trio of low-power television construction permits, two located in Albany, Ga., and a third licensed to Augusta, Ga.

It now appears the Augusta station is heading to a different buyer, a newly filed asset sale agreement from HC2 Holdings-controlled DTV America shows.

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Another battle between dissident shareholder Soohyung Kim and his Standard General, the owner of close Sinclair Broadcast Group partner Bally’s, and TEGNA is brewing. Kim has reached out to TEGNA shareholders asking them, once again, to support his board of directors nominee slate at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting. Calls of racism have been lobbed against TEGNA.

Yet, through it all, TEGNA shares haven’t been this high in nearly 14 years. And, that was technically when the company was known as Gannett. Now, TEGNA has released preliminary Q1 2021 revenue data and second quarter guidance that makes Soo’s sway that much more difficult.

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Drew Lane is living proof that if you develop a radio audience, if you’re willing to invest in yourself, and if you work hard, YOU CAN MAKE REAL MONEY PODCASTING.

How so?

After stops in Roanoke, Va.; Phoenix; Charlotte; and Boston, Lane made Detroit his home, working at legendary Rocker WRIF-FM from 1991 through 2013 and then crosstown “Sports Radio 105.1” until 2015. Teamed up with Mike Clark, The Drew and Mike Show was wildly popular in the Motor City and a ratings bonanza for the former Greater Media.

On October 17, 2015, the radio pink slip arrived.

Faced with the decision of choosing between a so-so radio offer and launching a Drew & Mike Podcast, Lane took the risk, invested $35,000 in professional-grade equipment, and launched the weekday three-hour podcast on May 4, 2016.

After a few months, Lane set up a donation tab on the podcast’s website; more than $75,000 flowed in over two weeks. Then, the advertisers came knocking.

Today, The Drew & Mike Podcast (which retains the name even as Lane’s co-host died in October 2018) is generating enough revenue to pay four full-time staffers, including Lane himself. In fact, he earned enough money to launch the Red Shovel Network and bring in other shows.

Combined, the shows on The Red Shovel Network generate 3 million downloads every month.

On Wednesday, July 14, Lane joins the “How to Make Real Money Podcasting” virtual symposium to reveal all of his secrets.

Want to hear more about what Lane has to say?

That’s just part of the three-day How to Make Real Money Podcasting virtual event, scheduled from 11am-2pm Eastern from July 13-15. REGISTER HERE.

A 30-day replay is included with your registration so you can watch at your convenience — again and again!

The media consumption data-focused company seeking to chip away at Nielsen’s dominance in the broadcast TV industry has just secured a renewal agreement with a broadcast online software and information provider — allowing it to use a platform to aggregate as-run television schedules from its affiliates.

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In exactly three months, listeners of audio facilities that most think are radio stations could be left scrambling, due to a “sudden” loss of an over-the-air signal they’ve tuned to for years.

That’s because these FM choices aren’t licensed as radio stations, but are analog TV stations using VHF Channel 6 — and benefiting from old-school transponding audio at 87.7 MHz.

On July 13, this is scheduled to end. While there’s chatter among the licensees that this won’t happen, a notable foe of these so-called “Franken FM” facilities has emerged.

It’s NPR.

Could there be new life for the ‘Franken FM,’ despite the long-known shutdown date of July 13 for analog VHF Channel 6 facilities? The RBR+TVBR Spring 2021 Special Report, distributed April 26 to all subscribers, offers an exclusive look at what’s predicted in three months’ time.

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Simple hand and arm gestures may be more effective than emoticons to improve engagement during Zoom meetings.

Research from the University College London (UCL) shows that an intuitive set of hand signals can warm up the virtual meeting room and help participants communicate better, Rosemary Ravinal points out in this column.

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