Industry News

Tech stocks paced a wave of declines on Wall Street Wednesday, as the Chair of the Federal Reserve declined to say whether or not the Central Bank will work to put a kibosh on inflationary pressure.

Media stocks were caught up in the dips.

Among the bigger decliners is Salem Media Group, down 34 cents to $2.47 after the company posted lower Q4 2020 adjusted EBITDA.

Also off sharply: Beasley Broadcast Group and iHeartMedia.

Cavell, Mertz & Associates President Garrison Cavell and Garvey Schubert Barer attorney Erwin Krasnow have made suggestions on assessing station potential from the technical side and deciphering station coverage maps, and have then explored treasures that might be found in cyberspace and by poking through the stacks of station paperwork in various Media Information Bureau columns appearing at RBR+TVBR. Today, they take a look at tire kicking.Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FCC’s Media Bureau is reminding all low power television and TV translator stations that the digital transition date — when stations must terminate all analog television operations — is fast approaching.

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Updated at 3:10pm Eastern

For 15 years, she was the go-to person for all of the corporate-level communication from Univision Communications, the multimedia giant focused on Spanish-speaking U.S. Hispanics that is now under majority ownership of ForgeLight LLC and Searchlight Capital Partners.

With that shift in control, several changes transpired. Wade Davis replaced Vince Sadusky as CEO. Steve Mandala was fired, with Donna Speciale brought in to the C-Suite.

Now, big changes have come to the corporate communications team.

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The E.W. Scripps Company has agreed to broadcast a commercial-free special across its local stations next week in a move it hopes will “spark a national dialogue around implicit bias while advancing conversations at the local level in the 41 markets where it operates.”

“Each of us have experiences and backgrounds that shape how we think and how we interact with the world around us,” explains Scripps Local Media President Brian Lawlor. “As a steward of the public airwaves with a station footprint that reaches into nearly a quarter of U.S. TV households, Scripps has a powerful platform from which we can help facilitate critical conversations about the implicit biases we all carry and what they mean for how we connect with one another.

With that, every market where Scripps has a station will air the 60-minute special, “Hidden Bias of Good People,” hosted by Dr. Bryant T. Marks, Ph.D.

“We’re proud to bring this special with Dr. Marks to our viewers in every market in order to provide a safe space for these discussions – neighbor to neighbor – about identity and bias,” Lawlor said.

Dr. Marks is the founder and chief equity officer of the National Training Institute on Race and Equity.

Scripps notes that the TV special is “interactive and conversational, with a goal of helping viewers understand the unconscious biases we all carry based on our upbringings and environments. Implicit, or unconscious, bias refers to attitudes and beliefs that occur outside of our conscious awareness and control.”

Marks has provided training to police departments and to executives and professionals in educational institutions, nonprofit organizations and local and federal government agencies, among others.

In addition to airing the special, Scripps’ local TV stations are producing multiplatform content to aid viewers in engaging with the topic of implicit bias. Planned content includes an in-depth series on race relations and stories examining the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion to employers and job seekers.

Scripps TV stations also will host Facebook Live discussions and Zoom Q&As with local experts.

The RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast on Tuesday celebrated its 100th episode, as Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson conducted an exclusive interview with Colorado Broadcasters Association President/CEO Justin Sasso to learn more about the key topics the CBA is addressing in Washington, D.C. for radio and TV station owners in the Mile High State.

Among them: ATSC 3.0 transition in a state with weather and terrain challenges, and the ongoing fight for radio with respect to royalty fees. The discussion came just 24 hours after GMR sent a take it-or-leave it letter to radio stations regarding a new nine-month interim license, effective April 1, that includes a 20% rate hike.

Didn’t hear the podcast? Easily do so from our new embedded player at RBR.com!

Coming March 9: Jay Prasad, Chief Strategy Officer at LiveRamp TV, discusses his expectations for TV advertising ahead of the 2021-2022 Upfronts.

And, to access the other 99 episodes of the InFOCUS Podcast, presented by DOT.FM, just click here!

LOS ANGELES — Salem Media Group, the Camarillo, Calif.-based company known for conservative Talk radio stations branded as “The Answer” and a host of sibling radio properties devoted to Christian music and teaching, has successfully turned its financial fortunes from severely shaking to solid and growth-filled.

How did Salem accomplish this in the fourth quarter? Its just-released earnings report shows it comes down to two non-broadcast segments.

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LOS ANGELES — It is owned in part by NBCUniversal, Charter Communications and ViacomCBS and is known for its privacy-focused audience connectivity, collaboration, and authentication platform.

Now, it is leveraging TransUnion’s portfolio of identity and data-driven audience products, focused on privacy-focused identity, data modeling, audience creation and activation.

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iHeartMedia has announced that Kristy Beebe, formerly region senior vice president of sales for the Kentucky-Indiana Metro, has been promoted to market president for Indianapolis. That market consists of iHeartMedia Indianapolis owns and operates WFBQ(FM), WOLT(FM and HD2), WZRL(FM) and WNDE(AM).

She will report to iHeartMedia Kentucky-Indiana Metro President Ear Jones.

Beebe has also worked iHeartMedia properties in Toledo, Ohio and Louisville, Ky.

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The post Beebe Bounces to iHeart Indy appeared first on Radio World.

As of 11:37am Eastern, Sinclair Broadcast Group shares were trading at $35.98, up 23 cents from Wednesday. Consider it icing on the cake for a company that has seen significant share growth since late October.

Still, Sinclair’s fiscal health is far from perfect. That could explain why the Baltimore-based company is engaging in a reduction in force impacting 5% of its employee roster — including those at its headquarters.

According to the Baltimore Sun, nearly 600 jobs will be culled across the U.S. by Sinclair; the company has not issued any formal statement on the reduction in force effort.

Why? “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt across all sectors of the economy, something that can have a profound impact on a company as diversified as ours,” the company said in a statement to the daily newspaper.

While its unusual for a media company squarely focused on visual media and not audio media, which has seen big staff furloughs and layoffs due to the novel coronavirus, to blame COVID-19 for layoffs, Sinclair is unique among its peers: it invested heavily in the ex-FOX regional sports networks. With no live sports across much of 2020, viewership — and advertising support — plummeted.

That, it appears, has contributed to the fiscal challenges fueling the layoffs about to transpire.

“In response to this, we are currently undergoing enterprise-wide reductions across our workforce, including corporate headquarters, to ensure we are well-positioned for future success,” the statement to the Sun said.

Sinclair’s full-time roster of employees numbers 9,211. Additionally, the company has 2,219 part-timers who are on contract and not considered employees.

Sinclair’s Q4 2020 performance was good: Earnings per share exceeded Wall Street analyst estimates, while revenue came in line with forecasts. However, the RSN arm of Sinclair, battered by COVID-19, is its most underperforming segment. Distribution revenue for Local Sports dipped to $513 million from $724 million, as advertising slid to $14 million from $60 million.