Radio+Television Business Report

ACA Connects Chairman Patricia Jo Boyers and ACA Connects Vice Chairman Mike Bowker on Friday announced the results of recent ACAC Board of Directors elections, in addition to Board replacements and appointments to the six-person ACAC Executive Committee.

The six people elected to the ACAC Board of Directors won their seats based on balloting by the ACAC Membership. The ACAC Board replacements occurred pursuant to existing ACAC bylaws, and the ACAC Executive Committee selections to serve one-year terms were based on a vote by the ACAC Board.

“To associate with all the many talented people who serve on the ACA Connects Board of Directors means a lot to me personally because I know our members are in good hands and can trust ACAC’s leadership to act with utmost integrity, intelligence and diligence,”  Boyers said.

Boyers, who is President of BOYCOM Vision in Poplar Bluff, Mo., was elected ACAC’s Chairman in 2019, following a five-year stint as ACAC Vice Chairman. ACAC Vice Chairman Bowker, who is Chief Operating Officer of Cable One in Phoenix, joined the ACAC Board in January 2018.

Bowker said, “Patty and I greatly appreciate the hard work and effort that ACAC Board members bring to the task. Their passion for ACAC as an organization and for the success of independent broadband, phone and video providers is inspiring because it never flags. I see a very bright future for our industry.”

The following individuals were elected to three-year terms (2021-24) on the ACAC Board of Directors:

• Marie Censoplano: Gen.Counsel & SVP, Content Acquisition, Vyve Broadband
• Matt Dosch: EVP & Chief Operating Officer, Comporium
• John Gdovin: EVP & Chief Administrative Officer, RCN/Grande/Wave
• Jim Gleason: President & CEO, Vexus Fiber
• Dave Hymas: Deputy General Counsel, GCI
• Kristin Johnson: Co-Founder & CEO, Hotwire Communications

ACAC Board Replacements for 2021: Leaving is Diana Block, Executive Vice President, Block Communications. She will be replaced by Geoff Shook, President & General Manager, Buckeye Broadband (effective at ACAC’s third quarter 2021 Board of Directors meeting). Leaving is former Shentel Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Heimbach (who became President and Chief Operating Officer of MetroNet on July 5, 2021.) He will be replaced by Shentel Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Edward H. McKay (effective at ACAC’s fourth quarter 2021 Board of Directors meeting). ACAC Executive Committee Election for 2021:

• Tom Larsen: Senior Vice President, Government & Public Relations, Mediacom
• Drew Petersen: Senior Vice President-Corporate Affairs, TDS

Larsen and Petersen were elected to serve one-year terms with ACAC Chairman Boyers and ACAC Vice Chairman Bowker. The Executive Committee also includes ACAC Treasurer Robert Wieand (Controller, Service Electric Cablevision) and Immediate Past Chairman Robert Gessner (President, Retired, MCTV).

Phil Valentine, the conservative Talk radio host who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and became seriously ill, has died.

Valentine, who initially spoke out against the use of vaccines to combat the coronavirus, was a key air personality at Cumulus Media-owned WWTN-FM 99.7 in Nashville. He hosted the 3pm-7pm CT program.

WWTN confirmed Valentine’s passing in the 6pm Central hour on Saturday (8/21). He was 61 years old.

“We are saddened to report that our host and friend Phil Valentine has passed away,” the station posted on Twitter. “Please keep the Valentine family in your thoughts and prayers.”

Valentine had been hospitalized for more than a month while battling COVID-19. His family in late July revealed that he was in “very serious” condition and suffering from “COVID pneumonia” along with other side effects. His condition had worsened and was “grave” as of last week.

Valentine’s brother, Mark, spoke with several WWTN hosts on Saturday, confirming Phil’s passing in the early afternoon hours.

Initially, Valentine believed that he had recovered from the virus. “I think I’m on the other side of it,” Valentine said of the virus, as he described coughing, congestion, and fatigue that “hurts like crap. I’m certainly moving forward, it appears, but not in a straight line… It’s just one of those things. I don’t want it to linger on.”

Prior to falling in, Valentine took to his show to not only express his concerns over the safety of the approved COVID-19 vaccines, but also with mask mandates.

Among those expressing their condolences is former House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman and current Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn). In a statement, she said, “Phil Valentine was a visionary for the conservative movement. He made an enormous impact on the lives of many Tennesseans as an esteemed radio host, actor, and author. It was a privilege to know Phil, and I know his legacy will endure. My deepest condolences and prayers are with Phil’s wife, Susan, and his family. May they be comforted and surrounded by love during this difficult time.”

If there was ever a statement that solidified Nexstar Media Group’s commitment to covering Capitol Hill, this is it.

The media company known for its ownership of broadcast TV stations and the struggling NewsNation has agreed to acquire one of the leading political news brands covering Congress and the Federal government in Washington.

For $130 million, Nexstar is buying The Hill.

“With more than 100 journalists who cover political news and events and provide a wide variety of engaging content to its users, The Hill’s business model is primarily advertising supported by direct, programmatic, and licensing revenue,” Nexstar said, noting that its “omni-channel approach to content distribution” will allow it to expand The Hill’s reach and revenue channels while creating synergistic opportunities with Nexstar’s NewsNation.

Commenting on the transaction, Nexstar President/COO Tom Carter said, “The accretive acquisition of The Hill’s independent, political digital media platform marks continued progress with Nexstar’s ‘content-first strategy’ and reflects our organization-wide commitment to deliver trusted, unbiased, fact-based journalism that engages and informs our audiences across all screens and devices. The Hill has a nationally recognized brand known for delivering balanced political reporting, as well as authentic opinions and perspectives, and is highly complementary to NewsNation.”

The Hill marks the second digital transaction under Nexstar’s “content first” strategy, following the December 2020 acquisition of BestReviews.

Bret Pearlman of HRS Management, the largest investor in The Hill, commented, “We are pleased to have been investors in The Hill and partners with [Chairman Bill] Finkelstein for the past five years as he and the company’s management team transformed the business into a digital media powerhouse. With a strong foundation in place and unique offering in the market, we are confident that the future of the company is extremely bright.”

It’s been a challenging six months on the NYSE for Audacy shares. At 2:15pm Eastern Thursday, the company’s stock dipped as low as $2.93, continuing a fresh downturn that began August 5 but, on a grander scale, dates to mid-March.

Friday’s trading was a bright one, however, with heavier than average volume fueling a 9.8% rise.

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SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF. — With the NAB Show adopting a vaccination mandate for all attendees of its October conference and expo in Las Vegas and RBR+TVBR learning Friday that some sort of virtual option is in the works for fully registered participants, an event “where the world’s leading digital creators, platform innovators, and their fans converge in one place” won’t be happening less than two weeks later in Southern California.

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Until now, the National Association of Broadcasters has remained quiet with respect to whether or not individuals who do not travel to the 2021 NAB Show in Las Vegas will have an option to participate via the comfort of their home or office, digitally.

On Friday (8/20), welcome news for those who have opted not to get the COVID-19 vaccine, or are simply not comfortable with travel to a large indoor gathering due to the Delta variant of the virus arrived.

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A low-power FM radio station serving the Florida city of Palatka has avoided a FCC financial penalty for filing its license renewal application after the due date.

As such, this mini-radio facility is getting an admonishment, with its forfeiture cancelled by the Commission.

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It’s a broadcast television station owner with eight properties in 7 markets.

Now, it is adding a property in Virginia’s quintessential college town, Charlottesville.

The seller: Jeff Winemiller.

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Who knew that building awareness and inspiring consumers to get fit could benefit from a multiplatform marketing agreement with a company focused on audio content creation and distribution via streaming and broadcast platforms?

It’s the latest innovative ad sales partnership inked by iHeartMedia.

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Users of the donation-based local TV via IP service the NAB and the nation’s “Big Four” networks despise have another point of access now available to them.

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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has awarded grants to public media stations in areas with high COVID infection rates.

The extra funds are designed to help them address “misinformation” in their communities.

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She’s spent 27 years as an active member of the Chicago local TV world.

Now, ViacomCBS is appointing her to the role of President/General Manager of CBS News and Television Stations’ local businesses in Chicago.

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Ronna Corrente has gained national acclaim for her leadership of Gray Television’s FOX affiliate in New Orleans.

Now, Gray is promoting her. She’ll be leading     the company’s Louisville operation.

What does that mean for WVUE, “FOX8”?

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Earlier this year, respected Local TV Leader Marla Drutz revealed that she’s retiring. Now, the Graham Media Group executive who oversees its flagship property in Detroit is formally ready to pass the baton to her successor.

Who’s getting the role?

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The former Chief of Staff and General Counsel at the Federal Communications Commission has joined one of Washington, D.C.‘s most respected law firms as a partner in the communications and information technology section of its regulatory practice.

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In an era of big data, content platforms are seeking personalization now more than ever. Among the newer video streaming entrants, it’s a trend Nielsen has noticed.

In a new observation piece, the nation’s dominant audience measurement and consumer data company shares that, compared with the early days of streaming, a handful of platforms are taking a more focused engagement approach.

This yielded some intriguing findings as to OTT consumption among Blacks and Hispanics.

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In early 2020, a Kansas City radio station operator made headlines for its decision to air six hours of programming each day from Russia-sponsored Sputnik Radio, as a result of a lease agreement with Florida-based RM Broadcasting LLC.

Now, the station’s owner has opted to part ways with a far-suburban silent FM translator. It’s a deal that will bring “vida” back to this dormant facility.

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John Moesch, the Vice President and General Manager of the West Texas Radio Group, oversees a group of radio stations in a region known as Permian Basin — and it’s a place where his company competes against another local operator, and against Townsquare Media.

What should media buyers and planners in places such as New York or Chicago know about locales including Midland and Odessa? How does local compare to national in a region of the country not widely known for its affluence?

Moesch answers these questions and more in this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: John Moesch, West Texas Radio Group” on Spreaker.

At the start of the lockdown when our lives migrated to Zoom, a CEO coaching client of veteran PR professional Rosemary Ravinal said he welcomed being distanced from the audience because his legs shake from nerves when speaking in person. He was excited about being able to read from a script on the screen seated with his legs out of sight.

“Can you guess what happened when we practiced for a high-stakes online speaking opportunity?,” Ravinal says.

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On August 16, Gen Media Partners rebooted its radio network sales and affiliate sales arm that was known as Sun Broadcast Group, rebranding it as G Networks. The shedding of the Sun name follows the late July exit of Danno Wolkoff as COO and Laura Wolkoff as Sun’s VP of Operations.

It is now known that their exit was a bit acrimonious. The Wolkoffs have filed a wrongful termination suit against the company.

As first reported in Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink, the Wolkoffs are seeking a $2 million judgment against G Networks and GMP. The Wolkoffs first came into the GMP fold in 2020, when it acquired Envision, the company the Wolkoffs launched in the early 2000s.

The lawsuit alleges that the Wolkoffs received a termination letter alleging “gross negligence and gross incompetence in the performance of their duties and take reasonable measures to cured their conduct and its consequences within 30 days.” The Wolkoffs also say their salaries were also “suspended until further notice as a partial offset of the damages to its business caused by them.”

The Wolkoff suit also claims the termination notice failed to identify any specific conduct of Daniel and Laura Wolkoff that allegedly constitutes gross negligence, gross incompetence or willful misconduct. Plus, the notice failed to identify which duties the Wolkoffs allegedly performed with gross negligence, gross incompetence or willful misconduct and that the notice failed to identify what reasonable measures it deems necessary to cure the couple’s alleged gross negligence, gross incompetence or willful misconduct.

As reported by Radio Ink, Danno Wolkoff earned $250,000 at the time; Laura Wolkoff was being paid $200,000. They claim they were fired without cause and, as such, are owed  $2.1 million for a breach of their contract.

— Ed Ryan, with additional reporting by Adam R Jacobson