In 2015, TEGNA established an internal initiative designed to combat the growing instances of “fake news” reaching its consumers.
Now, it is fortifying that fight by expanding its efforts against the spread of “disinformation” by hiring a managing editor responsible for leading VERIFY’s editorial growth across all platforms.
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In a major move that ignited its stock price immediately after Monday’s Opening Bell on the NYSE, Townsquare Media has announced that it is repurchasing at least 10 million of the 12.5 million shares of Class A and Class B common stock — and warrants — held by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P.
The strike price price reflects a 19% discount from Friday’s closing price. Given early trading today, that discount will likely be even greater come Tuesday.
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On November 9, sports data and iGaming affiliate platform QL Gaming Group (QLGG) officially became a sibling to KROQ and the Radio.com audio streaming platform, as Entercom Communications closed on its all-cash purchase of QLGG.
Now, Entercom has launched an audio network that includes broadcast radio stations and its Radio.com platform expressly for the sports gaming community.
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After more than 42 years of serving America from Michigan Avenue and the “Magnificent Mile,” a former integral piece of the Tribune Media family is fading to black.
Sunday, February 29, is the final day for WGN America.
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Three AM radio stations and an FM translator associated with one of those properties, used for the BIN: Black Information Network launched in 2020, are now officially owned by iHeartMedia.
A Notification of Consummation was posted Monday by the FCC on its LMS.
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The lone African-American controlled RADAR-rated radio network company in the U.S. is continuing its participation in the ratings service, thanks to a new agreement.
American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) inked a renewal agreement with Nielsen Audio. It allows AURN to continue its participation in RADAR, the Nielsen audio service offering commercial ratings.
AURN, controlled by Chesley Maddox-Dorsey (pictured), provides programming that it says “harnesses the creative energy, vision and power of African-American culture.”
“We look forward to continuing our relationship with Nielsen,” said Andy Anderson, President of Sales at AURN. “Utilizing RADAR, the gold standard in network radio measurement gives us a unique advantage in both the urban and general market radio arenas.”
Nielsen Audio SVP/National Audio Services Bruce Supovitz added, “American Urban Radio Networks holds a distinctive place with African-American listeners, and we are pleased that they have chosen to continue our relationship,” said . “Radio continues to draw a large audience among African Americans, with 91% of adults 18 and over listening each week. American Urban Radio Networks is a leader in the industry and continues to reach this large audience.”
LOS ANGELES — Larry King, the famous radio and television talk show host who retired from CNN in fall 2010 yet continued to remain a Talk force across the next decade, has died at the age of 87.
He was at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
CNN reported King’s death early Saturday (1/23) through his son, Chance. A statement on Facebook further confirmed his passing, from Ora Media, which Larry King co-founded.
A cause of death was not disclosed. However, CNN notes he was hospitalized with COVID-19 in early January 2021.
King hosted “Larry King Live” on CNN for more than a quarter century, and during that time interviewing presidential candidates, celebrities, athletes, movie stars and everyday people.
Before that, King became famous as a radio host, including many years in Miami.
“For 63 years and across the platforms of radio, television and digital media, Larry’s many thousands of interviews, awards, and global acclaim stand as a testament to his unique and lasting talent as a broadcaster,” Ora Media said. “Additionally, while it was his name appearing in the shows’ titles, Larry always viewed his interview subjects as the true stars of his programs, and himself as merely an unbiased conduit between the guest and audience. Whether he was interviewing a U.S. president, foreign leader, celebrity, scandal-ridden personage, or an everyman, Larry like to ask short, direct, and uncomplicated questions. He believed concise questions usually provided the best answers, and he was not wrong in that belief.”
For Ora Media, King hosted “Larry King Now,” and “Politicking with Larry King.” The shows aired on Russia-backed RT America.
He was a survivor of cancer, a heart attack and a stroke. In addition to Chance, King is survived by his two other children, Larry Jr. and Cannon. In 2020 son Andy King, 65, suffered a heart attack and died. Weeks later, daughter Chaia King, 52, died after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Funeral arrangements and a memorial service will be announced later, in coordination with King’s family, who ask for their privacy at this time, Ora’s statement concluded.
A TRANSITION FROM CNN
At 76, King announced on “Larry King Live!” in late June 2010 that he would retire from the daily CNN program.
In making the announcement, he said:
Before I start the show tonight, I want to share some personal news with you. Twenty-five years ago, I sat across this table from New York Governor Mario Cuomo for the first broadcast of Larry King Live. Now, decades later, I talked to the guys here at CNN and I told them I would like to end Larry King Live, the nightly show, this fall and CNN has graciously accepted, giving me more time for my wife and I to get to the kids’ little league games. I’ll still be a part of the CNN family, hosting several Larry King specials on major national and international subjects.
King also expressed pride in making the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest running show with the same host in the same time slot. “With this chapter closing I’m looking forward to the future and what my next chapter will bring, but for now it’s time to hang up my nightly suspenders,” he said in 2010.
Days later in an interview with CBS, he was asked who his successor would be. “If it was up to me, I’d have Ryan Seacrest do it,” King told CBS News.
It was not up to him, and the job went to Piers Morgan. CNN made the announcement in September 2010.
In November 2013, after six decades, King returned to radio — the medium where he first became a star. On Veterans’ Day 2013, he launched 60-second vignettes through Cumulus Media stations also made available on the AARP website.
“Larry King Droppin’ In” was heard on such stations as WABC-AM in New York, KABC-AM in Los Angeles and WLS-AM in Chicago.
REMEMBERED BY CNN
CNN President Jeff Zucker, in a statement, saluted King, who he describes as “a scrappy young man from Brooklyn” who had a history-making career spanning radio and television.
His birth name: Lawrence Harvey Zeiger.
“His curiosity about the world propelled his award-winning career in broadcasting, but it was his generosity of spirit that drew the world to him,” Zucker said. “We are so proud of the 25 years he spent with CNN, where his newsmaker interviews truly put the network on the international stage. From our CNN family to Larry’s, we send our thoughts and prayers, and a promise to carry on his curiosity for the world in our work.”
MAGIC CITY BEGINNINGS
King’s career in media began in earnest in 1957, when he took a job as a disc jockey at WAHR-AM in Miami, today WMBM-AM 1490 in Miami Beach. He lasted a year and then moved to WKAT-AM 1360 in Miami, a prominent talk station across the 1960s and 1970s that was also an early home of the late Neil Rogers.
In fact, Rogers’ regularly poked fun of King’s time in Miami, with a sound byte of King asking “Loan me $50” a regular part of Rogers’ show.
And, like Rogers, King would also work at News/Talk WIOD-AM 610, where he’d successfully fend off an arrest for grand larceny following accusations by ex-business partner Louis Wolfson.
On January 30, 1978, King’s radio career went nationwide, thanks to a syndication contract with Mutual Broadcasting System.
Editorial research by Dana Jacobson. Archival reporting by Carl Marcucci. Additional reporting from RBR+TVBR’s West Coast Bureau in Los Angeles.
GLOBE NEWSWIRE
HC2 Holdings Inc., the owner of low-power TV stations across the U.S. formerly led by Philip Falcone, confirmed Friday (1/22) that it is seeking to refinance all of its existing 11.500% senior secured notes due 2021 and a portion of existing 7.5% convertible senior notes due 2022.
As part of the proposed refinancing transactions, HC2 intends to, among other things, issue new senior secured notes and extend the maturity of a portion of its existing convertible notes by exchanging such existing convertible notes for new convertible notes.
The proceeds from the issuance of the new senior secured notes are expected to be used, together with other funds, to redeem in full HC2’s existing senior secured notes, repay the outstanding indebtedness under its revolving credit agreement, and pay related fees and expenses.
The proposed refinancing transactions are subject to market and other conditions, and the Company cannot make any assurances that it will complete any such transactions, in whole or in part, or as to the amount or timing of any such transactions.
The new senior secured notes and the new convertible notes will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, any state securities laws or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration. The new senior secured notes are expected to be offered and sold only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act and to non-U.S. persons outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act, and the new convertible notes are expected to be issued in one or more private exchange transactions pursuant to an exemption from registration under the Securities Act.
DAYTON, OHIO — Two weeks ago, in the evening hours, FOX affiliates KAYU-28 in Spokane, WHBQ-13 in Memphis and KOKI-23 in Tulsa; ABC affiliate KLAX-31 in Alexandria; the CBS and NBC affiliates serving Eureka-Arcata, Calif.; and the ABC, FOX, NBC and CBS stations serving Greenwood and Greenville, Miss., were all blocked from Suddenlink subscribers.
The reason: the MVPD owned by Altice USA couldn’t reach a fresh retransmission fee agreement with Apollo Global Management-controlled Cox Media Group for stations once owned by Brian Brady‘s Northwest Broadcasting.
That “blackout” continues. Now, a big CMG station in its founding DMA has a carriage problem. And, it is with a tiny service provider.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) has confirmed that the Committee’s formal organizational meeting for the 117th Congress will take place, remotely, on Tuesday.
The session will get underway at 1pm as a virtual event, owning to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
During the meeting, the Energy and Commerce Committee will adopt the Committee Rules and its six standing subcommittees, as well as announce subcommittee chairs, ranking members, and members.
This meeting will take place remotely via Cisco Webex video conferencing. Members of the public may view the meeting via live webcast accessible on the Energy and Commerce Committee’s website. Please note the webcast will not be available until the meeting begins.
Additional information for this meeting, including the live webcast, will be posted here as they become available.
By Bruce Roberts
Special to RBR+TVBR
When stay-at-home orders first went into effect across the globe, radio broadcasters found themselves facing a changed landscape. Many stations were concerned about the hit they would take with the rise in remote work and the loss of drive-time listenership.
Even with significantly fewer people commuting to and from work every day, a Nielsen survey conducted in Spring 2020 found that 83% of Americans were listening to as much or more radio than they were before the pandemic.
Radio audiences are growing, and they’re as engaged as ever, but they’re also listening in new ways. Audio streaming services like Spotify and Pandora had already sparked a shift toward digital streaming and on-demand, but as more individuals tune in using smart speakers or mobile devices rather than car radios, digital platforms are becoming increasingly popular with audiences and increasingly important for broadcasters.
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In May 2018, a group led by Fletcher Ford agreed to purchase an AM in Canton, Ill., and its FM translator as part of a deal for a Class B FM.
It’s a facility, now owned by another licensee, that was owned for 46 years by the late Charles E. Wright Jr., who passed away in January 2012 and had sold the facility in 1999.
Now, this AM is on the move again.
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In July 2009, Fred Dockins expanded his media holdings in a significant way. With one Florida FM in his possession, he moved forward with the acquisition of a five-station group in rural southeast Missouri from Randolph Miller’s Southern Star Broadcasting.
Now, Dockins is adding to his Show-Me State holdings, and it’s thanks to a “joyful” deal.
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The controversial donation-based broadcast TV service provider that says it is a non-profit — thus avoiding retransmission consent negotiations — has debuted in two more markets in the U.S. Southeast.
One is a major banking hub and home to Bank of America. The other is home to the nation’s biggest collection of theme parks.
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According to MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson, “It should be clear that the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ravaged much of the world for the past 12 months, has accelerated the adoption of streaming services.”
And, as summer turned to autumn and fall turned to winter, Americans once again found themselves in front of their screens with few linear options — aside from live news and sports.
In contrast, Nathanson says, consumers had access to “an unlimited bouquet of
increasingly excellent streaming content choices.”
Is broadcast TV losing the content war to “SVOD”?
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Ross Video will host a Webinar on Tuesday (1/26) which will talk about new software-based audio solutions for broadcasters.
Orban and Nielsen partnered with Ross to add specific elements to this platform that bring a new set of tools to radio broadcasters.
This event is scheduled for 11am Eastern/8am Pacific on Tuesday.
It sees the Signal Processing Team discuss in detail Ross Video’s infrastructure products for Cloud Technologies, IP Networks and SDI Infrastructure.
The Ross team will also be joined by representatives Orban Labs and The Nielsen Company to discuss cloud-based signal processing infrastructure.
“The broadcast community, including radio, is moving steadily toward software-based solutions for the broadcast air chain,” says Orban VP/Business Development Mike Pappas. “The new softGear platform from Ross, which incorporates next-generation Orban processing along with Nielsen audio watermark encoding and Dolby audio, brings powerful tools to Radio broadcasters. It’s available now.”
Pappas adds that one launch customer “has ordered hundreds of channels.”
Product introductions and upgrades to Ross’ Signal Processing portfolio will also be shared on the Tuesday webinar.
To register, click here: https://www.rossvideo.com/live
Beasley Broadcast Group’s wholly owned subsidiary Beasley Mezzanine Holdings on Thursday (9/21) priced its offering of $300 million in aggregate principal amount of 8.625% Senior Secured Notes due 2026.
The size of the offering was increased by $20 million from the previously announced offering size of $280 million.
The Notes were offered to persons “reasonably believed” to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and outside the United States in compliance with Regulation S under the Securities Act.
Beasley expects to use the net proceeds of this offering to repay in full existing indebtedness under the company’s senior secured credit facilities and certain other indebtedness, with remaining proceeds to be added to the Issuer’s balance sheet and used for general corporate purposes.
Translation: It is a new debt for old debt transaction.
The Notes offering is expected to close on February 2.
Investors took a late afternoon liking to BBGI on Thursday. At 2:36pm Eastern, a big gain was seen, helping Beasley Broadcast Group experience a 11.3% gain on the day.
It brings the audio media company’s stock to a fresh six-month best.
With the Closing Bell on January 21, BBGI was at $2.27. It shed three cents in early after-hours trading on the Nasdaq Global Market.
Could it be tied to a debt swap announced Tuesday (1/19)?
It’s possible, as Beasley Broadcast Group wholly owned subsidiary Beasley Mezzanine Holdings intends to offer $280 million in aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes, subject to market and other conditions.
On a six-month chart, BBGI looks good.
On a one-year chart, it’s another story. In mid-June 2020, a $3.86 spike was seen — marking a short-lived jump for an undervalued issue.
One year ago, BBGI was $3.65. And, five years ago shares were $3.68.
The five-year high: $13.40, seen in late 2017.
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Tru Optik, a TransUnion company, announced today an agreement with Targetspot to offer advertisers audience-based targeting capabilities for streaming audio.
Tru Optik’s data management platform will be integrated into Targetspot’s tech stack, available starting February 2021.
Through this integration, buyers and sellers are able to identify and segment audiences across mobile and streaming audio devices, including smart speakers.
In addition, media companies and audio advertisers will be able to leverage Targetspot’s audio supply inventory with consumer and behavioral insights across streaming audio and podcasts.
“Mapped against Tru Optik’s patented Household GraphTM of more than 80 million U.S. homes, advertisers will have advanced audio targeting capabilities that result in precise, effective and cost-efficient advertising campaigns across mobile, smart speakers and even gaming consoles,” the companies boast.
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