Radio+Television Business Report

Applications for the 2024-2025 mentorship program now honoring retired RAB leader Erica Farber are now open. Candidates in the radio broadcasting industry are invited to apply by Friday, November 22.

The publicly traded radio station ownership group with properties in markets such as Philadelphia, Boston, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Detroit has decided to release its third quarter earnings report prior to the Opening Bell on Wall Street this Tuesday — Election Day in the U.S. 

A Local Management Agreement has been signed that sees La Mega Media Inc. and Lazo Media LLC "taking a significant step to expand Spanish-language programming across its Ohio markets and into Indianapolis." How so? Urban One is taking the "La Mega" brand and its programming to stations in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus, Ohio, as well as Indiana's largest market.

The technology won't be limited to ACC football, as The CW says "shoppable" programming will be expand to other live sports, scripted series, and unscripted programming across the network controlled by Nexstar Media Group.

The Michael Sciore-led entity that presently holds equity interest in debtor-in-possession Mega-Philadelphia LLC has filed paperwork with the FCC seeking its approval of an agreement that sells his M.S. Acquisitions & Holdings' interest in the stations to an individual presently renting a unit in the Camden Boca Raton apartment tower.

MRC Executive Director and CEO George Ivie congratulated Nielsen on the renewal of accreditation of its National Television Panel Measurement and on receiving approval to integrate its first-party streaming data into the panel measurement.

From September 1998 through June 2017, it was a Top 40 station branded as "Mix 96.1." For the last 7 1/2 years, the FM has taken the "96.1 NOW" branding. Now, iHeartMedia has brought the "Mix" name back, but has adopted a presentation championed by its WLVE-FM in Miami.

Why are so many self-introductions cringe-worthy? Public speaking expert and veteran PR pro Rosemary Ravinal remarks, "It’s one of the FAQs in my workshops." In this column, Ravinal sets the groundwork for polished, succinct, and relevant introductions that signal one's worth and lays the foundation for strong and lasting business relationships.

A newly released report from Involved Media designed to help brand clients deliver the most effective strategies suggests CMOs should not shift too much budget away from heritage, linear media channels. That's because, when it comes to long-form video consumption, broadcast and cable still rule.

The nation's top producer of audio content for podcasting and its 800+ broadcast radio stations releases its Q3 2024 earnings on Thursday morning, and the forecast is for a good fiscal check-up from CEO Bob Pittman and COO/CFO Rich Bressler. This led Zacks Equity Research to ask if now is a good time to buy "IHRT." Investors listened.

Nexstar Media Group will release its Q3 earnings report on Thursday. Ahead of that financial status update, the company's Board of Directors moved ahead with the declaration of a quarterly cash dividend. The news comes as Q3 earnings and revenue forecasts from nine analysts have tempered in recent days.

With Sirius XM Holdings shares going ex-dividend on November 5 and its value off by one-third since the start of 2024, some investors seem convinced that now is the time to buy — even as the audio content creator and distributor reported Q3 earnings on Thursday that saw its per-share income impacted by a non-cash impairment charge.

The FCC, through the Enforcement Bureau, convened government partners from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the U.K. to discuss emerging security and enforcement trends in the communications sector related to national security, data protection, cybersecurity, and transnational fraud.

Revenue and EBITDA were "in-line" for the company in Q3, as President/CEO Mary Berner noted during a Friday pre-market earnings call for analysts and investors that the company "maintained our focus on what we can control." Investors were less than pleased, sending Cumulus Media shares down by nearly 20% on Friday.

On Monday, paperwork was submitted for regulatory approval regarding a pair of deals involving low-power television stations in Knoxville; Terre Haute, Ind.; and Greenville, S.C.; from Jeff Winemiller's Lowcountry 34 Media to HC2 Station Group. Now, a third deal has been filed with the FCC.

A collection of Local Now free ad-supported streaming television channels have added distribution via The Roku Channel, thanks to an agreement signed between the platform and Local Now parent Allen Media Group.

An Idaho-based non-profit offering a unique Christian-themed Country music format on a handful of stations across the U.S. is agreeing to sell a 100kw Class C1 facility in Montana. Who's the buyer? It is a Salt Lake City radio personality-turned-public radio station operator who has already taken the FM in an Adult Alternative direction.

Fifteen years ago, Steven Fuchs signed off on a Time Brokerage Agreement allowing Fox Radio Network to control a 25kw Class C3 FM serving a Missouri city along the Black River, in the southeastern corner of the Show-Me State. Now, he is converting that long-term lease into an outright purchase.

A Class B AM radio station with an FM translator serving Kalispell, Mont., is poised to see an ownership shift, as a stock purchase agreement will shift the shares held in KOFI-AM from Tana and David Rae.

In March 2023, a 250-watt translator with a formidable signal across the Denver-Boulder market dropped its all-Comedy format by adopting a gold-based Country presentation under the "Front Range Country" brand. Now, the Audacy Inc. audio service is being put in the hands of artificial intelligence, powered by Super Hi-Fi.