Radio+Television Business Report

Noted figures from the worlds of consumer technology, broadcasting and education will populate two live panel discussions organized by Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) after the first day of activities conclude for the virtual 2021 CES.

“From televisions to smartphones, from set-top boxes to better TV and distance learning, CES 2021 promises to be a showcase of all things NextGen TV,” said ATSC President Madeleine Noland.

ATSC is an Exhibitor at the virtual CES 2021.  “Our goal is to amplify and aggregate all the great NextGen TV messages and announcements that consumers, retailers and other stakeholders need to know,” Noland says.

Registration is free for the ATSC panels, which include a January 12 session she will moderate — “ATSC 3.0 at the Consumer’s Fingertips.”

Make your dinner arrangements accordingly: the session is set for 4pm Pacific.

Speakers include:

• Mark Aitken, SVP of Advanced Technology, Sinclair Broadcast Group
• Alfred Chan, VP of TV and Smart Home Business Unit, Mediatek
• Nick Kelsey, Chief Technical Officer, SiliconDust
• Steve Koenig, Vice President of Research, Consumer Technology Association
• John Taylor, Senior Vice President, LG Electronics USA

One hour later, at 5pm Pacific, education experts and broadcasters will offer their views during a panel discussion entitled “ATSC 3.0 Powers Distance Education.”  Moderated by ATSC VP for Standards Development Jerry Whitaker, the Distance Education panel will include participants:

• Aby Alexander, President/Americas, Thomson Broadcast
• Todd Achilles, Chief Executive Officer, Evoca
• Fred Engel, Chief Technology Officer, UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina
• Lonna Thompson, EVP/Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel, Americas Public TV Stations

To support its CES efforts, the ATSC has launched a dedicated web page (www.ATSC.org/CES) that is now spotlighting NextGen TV Consumer Devices (TV’s, phones, Set-Top Boxes, Systems on Chips, and more), Consumer Services (better TV, distance education, apps, deployments, audio services, advanced emergency messaging) and Future-in-the-Making (labs and testbeds around the world developing the future of NextGen TV.)

Registered CES attendees can also visit ATSC’s ATSC Virtual Booth at CES.

It bears a 1-year target estimate of $7. And, it hasn’t been priced that low since mid-November.

Cumulus Media stock has proven resilient in these COVID-19 pandemic times, and with Thursday’s trading on Wall Street, is again approaching its highest closing price since early March 2020.

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Urban One shares soared in Wednesday afternoon trading on Wall Street — triggered, perhaps, by the confirmation that Democratic control of the U.S. Senate had been reached.

Whatever the reason, the C-Suite has responded with a major offering of aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes due 2028.

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It’s been a wild 24 hours in Washington, D.C.

That includes the stock performance on the Nasdaq GlobalSelect market for the multimedia company superserving African American consumers based in the Nation’s Capital.

Urban One shares rose by more than 100% on Wednesday. Within the first 25 minutes of trading on Thursday, UONE had given back some 29% of that gain.

What’s to come could be predicated on Urban One’s Q4 results. And, the company released a sneak peek of its fourth-quarter financial report card on Thursday, ahead of the Opening Bell on Wall Street.

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On January 4, RBR+TVBR exclusively reported on a matter involving Urban One and the Nasdaq stock market. The multimedia company superserving African American consumers had received notice from Nasdaq that it was no longer in compliance with its trading policies and, with no resolution, could face a delisting.

Such an action was unlikely, but nevertheless concerning. Now, Urban One has guaranteed that it will not happen.

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TEGNA and Comcast-owned FreeWheel have announced a new multi-year deal “to further transform and automate the way TEGNA’s buyers and sellers transact” — including through CTV/OTT advertising platform Premion.

Under the terms of the deal, TEGNA will continue working with FreeWheel to help enhance business operations in several different ways, including using FreeWheel’s Strata platform to process electronic orders through ePort, an automated platform that enables purchasing ads from local television stations.

TEGNA currently connects with agencies through FreeWheel’s ePort platform, enabling its sellers to receive electronic orders from buyers, send makegoods back to the buying platform, and receive revisions electronically.

Premion, a CTV/OTT advertising platform for regional and local advertisers, will continue to use FreeWheel’s Strata ad management platform. FreeWheel’s marketplace-based technology enables Premion to further enhance its advertising operations, facilitate automation, and increase agency access to its OTT inventory.

The companies have also committed to continuing their joint innovation initiatives, with a specific focus on working on new marketplace-based technology to enhance programmatic transactions and inventory acquisition.

“The media industry has transformed over the past decade, and through our partnership with FreeWheel, we continue to show our customers that we are an industry leader,” said  TEGNA Chief Technology Officer Kurt Rao. “Agencies are relying on automation more than ever. With FreeWheel, we are able to process orders more quickly and more efficiently for our agency partners across our marketing and advertising solutions, including Premion.”

Townsquare Media on Wednesday told the SEC that it has successfully completed the previously announced sale of $550 aggregate principal amount of its 6.875% senior secured notes due 2026 at an issue price of 100.0%.

The New Notes mature on February 1, 2026. Interest is payable on the New Notes semi-annually in cash in arrears on February 1 and August 1 of each year, commencing on August 1, 2021.

Townsquare used a portion of the net proceeds from the New Notes Offering to repay
borrowings under its term loan facility provided under the Existing Credit Agreement. The company also intends to use a portion of the net proceeds from the New Notes Offering,
together with cash on hand, to redeem all of its outstanding 6.500% senior notes due 2023 on January 14 and to pay the premium, fees and expenses related thereto.

The New Notes were issued and sold in a private offering 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 of the United States pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act.

The New Notes and related guarantees will not be registered under the Securities Act, or any state securities laws, and unless so registered, may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.

To view the entire 8-K filing with the SEC, please click here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — One of the FCC’s biggest champions for the radio industry, forced to exit over a Section 230 disagreement with soon-to-depart President Donald Trump, has resurfaced as a visiting fellow at a Washington think tank.

He’ll be working alongside another former Commissioner — someone who served on the FCC from 1997-2001.

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By Adam R Jacobson, Carl Marcucci and April McLynn

At 9:30pm Eastern, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate in a joint session of Congress that resumed some five hours after a rowdy and violent group of supporters of Donald Trump engaged in what Romney called “an insurrection supported by the President of the United States.”

Romney’s speech was well-covered by national media, with live coverage broadcast on NBC.

At the same time, one Washington, D.C. radio station wasn’t covering Romney’s speech. Rather, a field reporter was recalling an incident at the J.W. Marriott with a dozen Trump supporters hours after a 6pm curfew put into effect by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser to help quell any after-dark eruptions from Trump supporters.

The report from WTOP-FM Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller was just one way local radio and TV went above and beyond as national media outlets faced immediate danger simply by doing their jobs.

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Call it a Blue Bump thanks to the apparent victories of Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock as Democratic U.S. Senators representing the state of Georgia.

Urban One shares soared by 102.1% on Wednesday, with big gains coming in the afternoon hours. After-hours trading shows a decline, but it still represents a super surge for the media company super-serving African American consumers.

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With chaos on Capitol Hill putting a dark cloud on what appears to be a shift of the U.S. Senate to Democratic control with wins in Georgia by Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, U.S. financial markets were divergent — the Dow Industrials climbed, while Nasdaq was down.

The Dow 30 gained 1.44% to 30,829.40, while Nasdaq slipped by 0.6% to 12,740.79.

Big movers among media companies include Sinclair Media Group and Nexstar Media Group.

Then, there is Urban One, which is gaining steam in a major way.

Is COVID-19 killing more than a handful of radio stations in Q1?

The latest U.S. broadcast station totals from the FCC show another drop in the number of licensed radio stations during the quarter.

Meanwhile, the number of FM translators licensed for broadcast continues to surge.

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A charitable organization dedicated to building the next generation of media leaders and increasing diversity has elected the President of Katz Television Group as its next Board Chairman.

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Bob Lawrence has announced his retirement from Revenue Development Resources after 54 years in the broadcasting industry.

A noted on-air talent, PD and GM, Lawrence is probably best known for his 14 years of duty at the Radio Advertising Bureau and his past six years at RDR.

Lawrence’s career started in Emporia, Kansas as an on-air personality. He continually grew his skillsets, rising to positions of PD and then GM, with stops in Kansas, Louisiana, Texas, and nationally on the ABC Radio Network.

Lawrence was then recruited by TM Century in Dallas, where his sales skills and ability to create long term relationships caught the attention of the RAB in 2000. He remained there until rejoining his former RAB colleague Mark Levy at Revenue Development Resources as Director of Sales in 2014.

“I have had the great privilege of working with Bob Lawrence for 13 years, first at the RAB and then with RDR,” Levy says. “During that time, he amazed me with his energy and the respect so many people in the industry had and continue to have for him. But even more than that, he never stopped learning, and he never was anything but nice to people. I know that last part is often brushed over, but it is truly something that made Bob stand out from so many others in this business. He’s been a cheerleader, a sounding board and a sage for so many people…the industry is certainly going to miss him!”

— Renee Cassis

The E.W. Scripps Company has appointed three media industry veterans from ION, Katz and Newsy to roles supporting distribution of its new national networks business.

All roles are effective upon the close of Scripps’ acquisition of ION.

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PLYMOUTH, WISC. — A “pure play system integrator” led by CEO Dennis Klas has joined the organization charged with bringing next-generation television signals — and the data capabilities its implementation will bring to broadcast TV — to fruition.

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LG Electronics has made “a significant investment” of nearly $80 million in a company dedicated to “make TV an even better advertising medium for brands, agencies and networks.”

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On August 6, 2020, the FCC voted in favor of an order that eliminates the radio duplication rule for AM stations … and FM stations. This marked a change from just three weeks earlier, when the Commission signaled it would uphold the rule for FM stations.

The move was pushed by the NAB. The FCC’s Republican majority said eliminating the radio duplication rule “will help struggling stations stay on the air; afford broadcast radio licensees greater flexibility to address issues of local concern in a timely fashion, particularly in times of crisis; assist with format changes; facilitate a potential voluntary digital transition in the AM service; and ultimately allow stations to improve service to their communities.”

That failed to satisfy REC Networks, the musicFIRST Coalition and the Future of Music Coalition.

On November 30, 2020, the groups teamed to file a Petition for Reconsideration of the Report and Order. Their big beef? The sudden re-inclusion of FM stations in the R&O.

For REC, musicFIRST and the FMC, eliminating the rule for FM stations will lead to a reduction in programming diversity and “encourage corporate radio owners to hoard spectrum.”

NAB General Counsel and EVP/Legal and Regulatory Affairs Rick Kaplan disagrees with that assertion. He laments that their arguments “exhibit a complete misrepresentation of the business fundamentals of the radio industry and the intense competition radio faces, and a total lack of understanding of the market value of AM/FM radio spectrum.”

There’s more: the NAB sees musicFIRST and FMC file in Commission proceedings concerning radio “not because the companies and organizations those groups represent care about the proceedings at issue, but rather to retaliate against broadcasters for those groups failing to convince Congress to enact a tax on radio stations when they play (promote) record labels’ music on terrestrial radio stations.”

This set up the basis for the NAB’s request that the FCC deny the groups’ petition as it “does not raise issues not already considered and rejected by the Commission.” Further, Kaplan states, the three groups “also fail to mention – let alone grapple with – the incredible growth in audio diversity since the radio duplication rule was created.”

How so? “Since 1992, more than 15,000 additional full-power and low power radio stations have launched service, the growth of online streaming music services has shattered expectations, and satellite radio has reached more than 34 million subscribers,” Kaplan says. “All of these outlets provide a broad range of programming options.”

While the Republican-led FCC passed the R&O, it didn’t come without the concerns of Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. In fact, his concerns could have given rise to the Petition for Reconsideration.

“I have concerns that today’s decision will undoubtedly make it easier and more cost-effective for large station groups to hoard local stations without any obligation to provide significant programming that meets local community needs,” Starks said in August. “Moreover, I fear it will reward ownership consolidation and thus will likely exacerbate an already huge disparity in the number of media outlets owned and controlled by people of color and women, which often translates to a lack of locally relevant and diverse programming that addresses local needs and interests.”

The Mentoring & Inspiring Women in Radio (MIW) Group has opened the application window for the 2021 Mildred Carter Mentoring Program.

Established in 2002, the MIW’s heritage annual mentoring initiative connects mentees with accomplished women recognized as leaders, mentors, and game-changers within all aspects of radio broadcasting; vCreative is sponsoring the program for the second consecutive year.

Four candidates from the radio broadcasting industry – within the sales, marketing, programming, and digital disciplines – will be selected for the 2021 program.

The deadline to apply is January 29, 2021.

For mentee criteria, and instructions on how to apply, please visit https://miw.secondstreetapp.com/Mildred-Carter-Mentee-App-2021/ .

To view a sampling of past Mentees visit: https://www.radiomiw.com/mentees

Entercom Vice President of National Partnerships Lindsay Adams, chair of the mentoring program and a 2009 Mentee, calls the mentoring program “instrumental in providing guidance, leadership, and bridging connections within the industry. From personal experience, I can attest it’s an invaluable experience that helps shape and curate career paths and potential.”

The MIW Group Mentoring Program is named in the memory of Mildred Carter, who, along with her husband, Andrew “Skip” Carter, founded the first African American owned radio station in the U.S. in 1950, when they turned on KPRS Kansas City, Missouri. Mrs. Carter ran the Carter Broadcast Group for many years after the death of Skip Carter, before turning over control of the company to her grandson, Michael Carter in 1987.

EUREKA, CALIF. — In May 2006, Cox Communications completed its sale of cable television systems serving customers in West Texas, a portion of North Carolina, various communities across the middle of the U.S., and the California markets of Bakersfield and Eureka-Arcata.

The buyer? Cebridge Connections, with majority investors Oaktree Capital Management and Goldman Sachs. Once the deal closed, Cebridge changed its name to Suddenlink.

Nearly 15 years later, ex-Cox customers in one of those DMAs could, ironically, soon lose access to broadcast TV stations owned by Cox Media Group.

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According to Atlanta-based CMG, today majority-owned by Apollo Global Management, SuddenLink may soon make what it calls “an anti-consumer decision” by dropping channels serving viewers in Tulsa, Memphis, Spokane, and the smaller markets of Greenville-Greenwood, Miss.; Alexandria, La.; and Eureka-Arcata, Calif.; in the absence of a new retransmission consent agreement.

Specifically, the stations potentially impacted by a retrans impasse between Suddenlink and CMG are FOX affiliates KAYU-28 in Spokane, WHBQ-13 in Memphis and KOKI-23 in Tulsa; ABC affiliate KLAX-31 in Alexandria; and the ABC, FOX, NBC and CBS stations serving Greenwood and Greenville, Miss.

However, it is the Humboldt County, Calif., stations that present an ironic twist for Cox. Fifteen years ago, it owned the MVPD. The stations it owns today, dominant NBC affiliate KIEM-3 in Eureka and CBS sibling KVIQ-LP 14, came to CMG in late 2019 after Brian Brady’s Northwest Broadcasting was sold to Apollo, ahead of its Cox deal. In 2005, KVIQ was a Clear Channel-owned property using Channel 6, picked up in 2002 from Ackerley Group. KIEM was owned by Pollack/Belz Broadcasting.

Is a “blackout” imminent, with the tiny Greenville-Greenwood, Miss., DMA imperiled yet again from receiving nearly every local network affiliate?

Perhaps. Alternatively, CMG is opting to strike first with a consumer warning, a move that could point fingers at Suddenlink before it can place blame on Cox for possibly short-changing customers of the MVPD, which is owned by Altice USA.

Paul Curran, CMG’s EVP of Television, said, “Our country continues to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic and, during these uncertain times, it is more important than ever that our viewers know their trusted local stations are there for them, providing the news and information they need to make decisions for their families. CMG stations take pride in being trusted and vital resources for our communities, and we will fight to continue to fulfill this responsibility.”

As of mid-afternoon Wednesday (1/6), Suddenlink had not offered a public comment regarding the possible impasse with Cox Media Group.

— Reporting by Ethan Hunt. Additional reporting by Adam Jacobson, in Boca Raton, Fla.