Industry News

With a winter weather advisory in effect for Manhattan, Wall Street is bracing for sleet and a little snow. For investors, that was nothing compared to the pre-market slide for stocks.

Then came an afternoon address from President Biden on how the U.S. will react to Russia’s incursion into Ukrainian territory early Thursday. Investors reacted positively.

In fact, the Dow Industrials posted a 92.07-point gain, to 33,223.83 and the Nasdaq was up 436.10 to 13,473.58. The gains on Wall Street came after the FTSE in London dipped by 3.9%.

Among TV broadcast companies gaining ground when all was said and done is Sinclair Broadcast Group, up 55 cents to $26.33. Also up: The E.W. Scripps Co., rising 55 cents to $22.06; Nexstar, which gained $1.57 to $171.09; and Paramount, up 65 cents to $29.05.

Radio companies moving ahead include Audacy Corp., which continued its rebound with a 25-cent jump to $2.74; and iHeartMedia, which gained $0.90 to end the day at $19.98.

Meanwhile, Apple, which in pre-market trading was in the $152 range, finished the day at $161.83.

Of the radio broadcasting companies reporting Q4 2021 earnings results, thus far all have shown year-over-year growth, even when factoring in political ad dollars in the final three months of 2020.

The opposite was seen in the last quarter of 2021 for Xperi, as the company moved to a net loss from net income one year earlier.

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PQ Media has released its ninth annual Global Consumer Spending on Media Forecast.

The latest edition, which covers trends for 2021-2025, takes a deep dive on digital and traditional media content and technology with respect to consumer spending.

What are the key takeaways from this study?

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With majority shareholder Apollo Global Management teaming with Soo Kim-led Standard General in acquiring a majority stake in TEGNA, the Cox Media Group stable will see the addition of several TEGNA stations in Texas via license transfers.

It is now known that CMG’s roster of stations is about to expand even further, and it is thanks to a deal that sees Frank Higney of Kalil & Co. serve as the broker.

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The In-Real-Life advertising economy. It’s a real thing, and it is expected to reach some $44.4 billion in 2022, newly released data from WARC show.

Here’s the rub: It’s still down from pre-COVID levels, although a full recovery is likely imminent.

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As 2021 came to a close, Gray Television executed an agreement to purchase five Construction Permits from the original CEO of DTV America. 

The transaction, which sees Bob Heymann of the Chicago office of Media Services Group served as the exclusive broker, representing DTV America, has just closed.

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Jeremy Sinon

Hubbard Radio’s Jeremy Sinon will be honored at the NAB Show in April with the association’s Digital Leadership Award.

Sinon is vice president of digital strategy for Hubbard Radio. The award goes to someone who has played “a significant role in transforming a traditional broadcast business to succeed on digital media platforms in a measurable way.”

“Sinon conceptualized, designed and led a team to build Hubbard’s robust proprietary streaming platform,” NAB wrote.

“Accessible through the web and various individual station mobile apps, this unified platform offers Hubbard listeners an exceptional user experience where they can connect with their favorite station and be rewarded for the time they spend listening and interacting. Hubbard stations then also have an opportunity to communicate directly with audiences via notifications, provide effective marketing for clients and build listener databases.”

He also oversees the company’s podcasting work, including the launch of a local podcasting app platform being piloted in Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.

The post Sinon to Be Honored for Digital Leadership appeared first on Radio World.

“2021 was a pivotal year for Cumulus, a year of significant progress and accomplishment.”

Since emerging from voluntary Chapter 11 restructuring in 2018, CEO Mary Berner has put a focus on two key objectives: A sustainable growth trajectory, and “right-sizing the balance sheet to maximize financial flexibility to grow shareholder value.”

Indeed, net leverage deduction, along with further spot and network ad revenue recovery from COVID-19 slowdowns, is Cumulus’ Q4 2021 story. In this special InFOCUS Podcast, we offer audio highlights from the company’s late afternoon earnings call on February 23, which also features CFO Frank López-Balboa and questions from key Wall Street analysts who cover Cumulus Media.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Cumulus Media’s Q4 Earnings Call” on Spreaker.

iHeartMedia Chairman & CEO Bob Pittman (left) and Audacy President & CEO David J. Field

CEOs of two of the largest radio companies in the U.S. will talk about the transformation of the radio industry and what the future holds in an upcoming session at the 2022 NAB Show in Las Vegas this April.

CEOs David Field of Audacy and Bob Pittman of iHeartMedia will discuss how their businesses have evolved in response to the pandemic and what lies ahead for radio during “Transforming Radio in the Audio Renaissance,” Monday, April 25, at 2 pm.

Field and Pittman will share the stage with new NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt to talk about the evolution of the industry, how stations can embrace change and how to create a diversified asset portfolio that can change along with the media marketplace.

Field has served as chairman, president and CEO of Audacy since 2002. Audacy is a developer of original audio content and one of the nation’s largest podcast publishers. The company, formerly Entercom, evolved from 15 stations to a multiplatform audio and entertainment company with more than 230 stations in 47 markets.

Pittman serves as chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, an audio company with more consumer reach in the U.S. than any other media outlet, the company said. Podcasting is also iHeartMedia’s forte, and the company counts itself as the nation’s largest podcasting publisher.

The session will be one of several focused on audio technology and the radio industry at the upcoming NAB Show, set to be held in Las Vegas April 23–27, 2022, after a two-year hiatus brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. LeGeyt told Radio World sister publication TV Technology that despite the current omicron wave, he is 100% confident the show will go on as scheduled.

“I think … that there is a lot of pent up demand — both on the exhibitor side and the attendee side — for an in-person show where business actually gets done,” he said.

The post Radio Leaders to Examine Industry Evolution at NAB Show appeared first on Radio World.

Following Wednesday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, one of the largest audio content creation and distribution companies in the U.S. quietly released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 results. And, with no replay line for investors to dial-in to had they not become aware of the Globe NewsWire release of its numbers, Cumulus Media just may have whispered to the world that it’s off to a strong start in 2022.

But, just how is the company led by CEO Mary Berner faring compared to Q4 2019, the new bellwether for broadcast media companies given the super-strong political dollars seen in the final three months of 2020?

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