Industry News

The latest Media Monitors Spot Ten TV report is out, and it looks like a QSR that’s heating it up at spot radio is equally fond of reaching consumers via spot television.

It’s a key takeaway from a report that shows auto insurance giants dominating the top five.

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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has selected the person who will be responsible for the development and implementation of “a multi-faceted communications and messaging strategy to advance awareness of public media and its value to American society.”

Taking the VP/Communications position is Brendan Daly.

“Brendan is a strategic communications leader with a proven ability to collaborate with internal and external stakeholders,” CPB Chief Operating Officer Michael Levy said. “His skill set and experience will be valuable assets as we look to increase communication across the public media system and with the American people.”

Daly is widely known for his nine years (2002-2011) as Communications Director for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Most recently, he served as Chief Communications Officer for the Recording Industry Association of America. Prior to that, he served as Senior Director of Communications for Save the Children Action Network and as Executive VP for Ogilvy Public Relations.

Daly has a print journalism background, and began his career as a reporter for the Waterbury Republican-American in Waterbury, Conn.

From our Who’s Buying What page: AEQ reports that Radio Granma in Manzanillo, Cuba, has installed an AEQ Forum digital console.

Radio Granma “offers a wide variety of programming to its listeners, with old phonographic records of great popular interest, and a large participation of amateurs of all artistic styles, singers, instrumentalists and intellectuals,” AEQ stated in a press release. The station is managed by ICRT, the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television.

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

ICRT also uses AEQ codecs, consoles and automation systems in other locations throughout Cuba including Arena consoles and BC2000D routers in Havana.

Radio Granma is one of 10 regional stations that will use the Forum IP console.

Users and suppliers are welcome to send news about recent installations to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Radio Granma Installs AEQ Forum appeared first on Radio World.

She’s led diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) for 16 years.

Now, she’s joining the owner of such stations as WCVB-5 in Boston and KCRA-3 in Sacramento to serve as its first-ever D&I director.

Yasmine Osborn is joining Hearst Television, for the newly created position of Director of Diversity & Inclusion.

In her new role, Osborn, in partnership with corporate and local-market leadership across Hearst Television’s station group, will build upon diversity & inclusion (D&I) efforts already underway throughout the group, developing and leading new programs to recruit, support and advance a diverse workforce that represents the company’s markets, audiences and society as a whole.

Particular areas of focus will include employee resource groups, mentorship and sponsorship programs, training and development programs, external partnerships, and employee engagement utilizing opportunities such as cultural/heritage months and company town halls.

Osborn will partner with D&I leaders across other businesses of Hearst Television parent company Hearst in order to benefit from corporate initiatives and to share best practices.

“We established the director of diversity & inclusion role with the intention of building upon and growing our programs to cultivate a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community for our employees,” Hearst Television SVP of Human Resources Katherine Barnett said. “We’ve already had encouraging initial success with efforts including town halls. Yasmine, who made a real difference at USTA, brings the right experience and vision to the important task of growing these programs and launching new efforts.”

Hearst Television President Jordan Wertlieb singled out Osborn’s “extensive experience, creativity and vision will clearly take our already strong efforts to the next level.”

Osborn has had a stellar career in collegiate tennis, leading her to a position at the USTA in Orlando.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting named Brendan Daly as its vice president of communications, succeeding Shana Teehan.

“He will be responsible for the development and implementation of a multifaceted communications and messaging strategy to advance awareness of public media and its value to American society,” the organization said.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

The announcement was made by Chief Operating Officer Michael Levy, who called Daly “a strategic communications leader with a proven ability to collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.”

Daly was for nine years the communications director for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and most recently was chief communications officer for the Recording Industry Association of America. He has also held posts with Save the Children Action Network, Ogilvy Public Relations, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Trade Representative and the Peace Corps. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Send your people news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post CPB Names Daly to Comm Post appeared first on Radio World.

For the second consecutive year, the readers of the Radio + Television Business Report have spoken. And, with their input, the 2021 ranking of Broadcast Television’s Best Leaders includes new names near the top of the list, and many shifts.

In a year that saw a great pause and, for some, a shift thanks to a pandemic, it’s perhaps fitting.

With the release of RBR+TVBR‘s Spring 2020 Special Report, radio and television industry leaders had been plunged deep into the Great Unknown, presented by Coronavirus. Falling share prices and ad cancellations – along with the postponement by one year of the Summer Olympic Games – began to devastate broadcast media.

Leaders commiserated. Plans of action were executed. And, in the television industry, swift recoveries — some, perhaps faster than others — came over the next several months. By the end of 2020, most broadcast TV companies were on solid footing, financially. There were even blockbuster deals to report, such as ION Media’s acquisition by The E.W. Scripps Co., which closed in early January 2021. Then, on February 2021, Quincy Media, Inc. revealed that Gray Television would be buying all of its television assets. The price: $950 million.

Thanks to record-setting political advertising and continued retransmission consent revenue cushioning dips in core advertising, broadcast television’s financial health is strong. On the air, reporters and anchors expertly adjusted to live newscasts from their homes, while covering COVID-19 testing and vaccination updates in their community. For some, social injustice protests thrust field reporters into emergency situations, putting them at high risk while delivering important news to local viewers.

Through it all, broadcast television shined — and the readers of RBR+TVBR have acknowledged this by saluting 15 exceptional leaders who have steered their ships through stormy waters that may still be a bit patchy, but today are relatively calm and full of hope.

Who are the Broadcast Television’s Best Leaders of 2021? You can find the rankings exclusively in the Spring 2021 RBR+TVBR Special Report!

Subscribers received a link to download the PDF of this report on Monday morning (4/26).

Not a subscriber? Become a RBR+TVBR Member today, and get access to our report while guaranteeing access to our three other quarterly Special Reports in 2021!

In many markets, vintage sitcoms and dramas can be seen on such digital multicast networks as Weigel Broadcasting’s Me TV and Nexstar Media Group‘s Antenna TV.

Now, Nexstar is doubling down on consumer thirst for classic fare by preparing to launch a more youthful companion to its 1960s and 1970s-focused existing offering.

FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON TWITTER FOR INDUSTRY NEWS FIRST!

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“So much can get misinterpreted in a sales call, business meeting or even a casual hallway interaction,” says sales training expert Barrett Riddleberger. “To avoid this, successful performers develop the communication skill of understanding personality styles.”

They learn their own style … and the style of the person with whom they are speaking.

“As a result, they minimize conflict between their two personality styles,” he says. “For the unaware person, it can quickly disrupt the conversation.”

This, Riddleberger notes, can be easily avoided by following the steps in this column.

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A top Wall Street media sector analyst is apologizing for what some may consider to be an overly dramatic opening paragraph to a highly positive report on a multiplatform video content producer and distributor that sold its radio stations to Audacy, the former Entercom Communications.

In short, despite its recent surge and fizzle with its stock price, ViacomCBS deserves an upgrade, thanks to “a surprise comeback” giving renewed optimism even as “another life-threatening swoon” leaves the market on the edge of its seats.

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Amador Bustos is president and CEO of Bustos Media, owner of radio stations in Arizona, California, Texas, Washington state and Wisconsin. The stations mostly broadcast in Spanish but some offer English-, Chinese-, Korean-, Russian- and Vietnamese-language programming. He discusses the state of radio broadcasting and Bustos Media stations.

He was interviewed by Suzanne Gougherty, director of MMTC Media and Telecom Brokers at the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council. MMTC commentaries appear regularly in Radio World, which welcomes other points of view on industry issues.

Suzanne Gougherty: For more than a year the thirst for information regarding the pandemic has been at the forefront of news — how have your radio stations kept your audience informed on current news and information?
Amador Bustos: Since we are primarily a music intensive station group, and our DJs were working from home, they had to rely on news feed from our local newspapers and television stations. Besides our AM-drive top-of-the hour newscast, we expanded our pandemic coverage to live commentary and interviews with local health officials at any time of the day.

[Read: Keeping Sports Hot in the Age of Coronavirus]

Gougherty: What do you think is the most overwhelming challenge of the radio industry today, and where do you see the best opportunity for growth?
Bustos: The most pressing challenge for radio is the false assertion by social media outlets and digital audio competitors who are continuously forecasting the death of terrestrial radio. The best opportunity for revenue growth is in entertainment and event production. Due to the year-long isolation there is a strong pent-up demand for indoor concerts and outdoor festivals.

Gougherty: As a successful entrepreneur what was the motivating factor that led you to owning and operating radio stations?
Bustos: The opportunity to generate wealth. When I started buying radio stations the revenue margins were much higher. Secondly, to increase ownership diversity. I saw a rapidly expanding number of radio stations targeting the Hispanic market, but too few of us were represented in the ownership ranks. That continues to be true today.

Gougherty: It was reported that full power radio stations, plummeted at the end of 2020, on both the AM and FM dials. Do you feel the industry will experience the same decline in 2021? Do you think there is a solution other than to turn licenses back to the FCC?
Bustos: Yes! Radio revenues plummeted during the second and third quarter of 2020. However, the recovery during the last six months is encouraging. It is important that we make the distinction between AMs and FMs. Our AMs continue depressed. This year, I will likely return more than one AM license to the FCC for lack of sustainable revenue.

Gougherty: Should the FCC relax or retain the local AM and FM ownership caps and subcaps?
Bustos: The FCC should relax the ownership caps and subcaps. However, it should do it in two or three stages. First in markets above 100, then in markets above 50 and finally in all markets. At each stage the FCC should look at the unintended consequences of excessive concentration, negative impact on AM values, diminution of public service and ownership diversity trends.

Gougherty: What steps should Congress and the FCC take now to dramatically increase minority radio and television station ownership?
Bustos: Congress and the federal government can do two important things: 1) Reinstate the Minority Tax Certificate; which gives sellers a tax deferral if they sell to qualified diverse buyers; 2) Allow the SBA to do bank loan guarantees of up to $10,000,000 for the purchase of broadcast properties by qualified diverse borrowers/operators.

Gougherty: Spanish-language radio stations’ music formats have done well over the years. Do you feel there is room for other Spanish-language formats, talk, sports or news?
Bustos: There is room for those additional formats. However, they are more expensive to produce. That is why several past attempts have failed. It will take a well-capitalized and committed broadcaster to support such an effort. Just like iHeartMedia has done when it launched the Black Information Network in June 2020.

Gougherty:. During the recent roll-out of vaccines what kind of factual information have your stations provided to your listeners? And do you feel it has help to dispel the myths or misinformation that might be circulating in the Hispanic community?
Bustos: We have provided our audience information based on CDC’s guidance, as well as information provided by state and local health officials. Most of our on-air personalities are pro-vaccination and regularly speak in favor of it. When they are vaccinated, they disclose it and recommended it.

Gougherty: How has your sales team held up during the past year? And your on-air talent? Are all working from home or with strict measure at the work place? And as the owner how are you holding up?
Bustos: There is a clear sense of fatigue. Most employees are desirous of a return to the office. If things continue to trend well, we will likely have most employees return to an interactive, in-office work by June 2021.

The post Looking to Radio for a Bounce-Back appeared first on Radio World.