Radio+Television Business Report

BRADENTON, FLA. — On May 5, 2016, Calkins Media announced that it had agreed to sell an ABC affiliate in a unique situation to one of the nation’s biggest broadcast TV companies. For $82 million, the company agreed to spin this station, which is one of two ABC affiliates in its DMA, to Raycom Media.

Then came the June 25, 2018, announcement that Raycom would be merging with Gray Television, a transformative transaction that closed as 2019 began.

Now, nearly two years later, Gray is dealing with a retransmission consent feud focused on this single Sunshine State property. The MVPD at the center of the dispute, which has led to the latest “blackout” of a free-to-air TV station? Frontier Communications.

And, it’s a complex matter involving legacy customers to a grandfathered service.

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Do you have a New Year resolution? If not, think about your listeners. Many do, and even if they don’t hold to their promises, radio is still empowered to profit from them.

How? Here’s some food for thought … unless, of course, dieting and exercise are your New Year resolution.Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

On March 11, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation heard testimony from an attorney at Covington & Burling, focused on commercial litigation and government contracts, who had been nominated to serve as Inspector General of the FCC.

This individual would have replaced David Hunt, who was appointed in 2011 and agreed to step down following an OK for Johnson, an Oklahoma native.

That’s not happening.

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Some 2 1/2 weeks after TEGNA-owned stations faded to black on AT&T-owned DirecTV lineups across the U.S., customers of the direct broadcast satellite company that many believe will be gobbled up by Dish can now tune to such stations as WUSA-9 in Washington, D.C.; WTSP-10 in Tampa; and KGW-8 in Portland, Ore.

A new retransmission consent agreement has be reached, resolving a matter that yielded much subscriber ire and many letters to RBR+TVBR.

The companies revealed that a new multi-year retrans deal was signed on Sunday morning (12/20) — just in time for National Football League coverage.

All TEGNA stations immediately returned to any impacted AT&T homes.

“AT&T and TEGNA regret any inconvenience to their customers and viewers and thank them for their patience,” the companies jointly stated in a statement distributed at 9:50am Eastern.

The agreement includes retransmission consent for all 64 TEGNA-owned stations serving 51 Nielsen markets including Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Phoenix, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington, among many others. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The stations impacted by the “blackout,” created by the lack of a new retransmission consent agreement between TEGNA and the AT&T-owned DBS provider, included 63 television stations in 51 markets. According to TEGNA, it is the largest owner of top 4 affiliates in the top 25 markets among independent station groups, reaching approximately
39% of all television households nationwide.

While this impasse is a significant one, the biggest battle of the season is still unresolved: Nexstar Media Group and Dish remain at odds over their own respective retrans consent accord.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With the U.S. Supreme Court ready to hear arguments in the FCC and NAB‘s joint appeal of the Third Circuit Federal Appeals Court remand of its local media ownership rule revisions, the Commission — in the final days of leadership under Chairman Ajit Pai — is voting to preserve the status quo with respect to a Fox Corporation request for a permanent waiver allowing it to own multiple TV stations and a newspaper in the nation’s No. 1 market.

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It’s a lightly traded stock, and the company’s fiscal health is arguably strong compared to some of its peers. Yet, Friday was a challenging day on Wall Street for the executive team at Townsquare Media.

On nearly five times the average volume, TSQ immediately fell from the Opening Bell and in the final minutes of trading dipped even further.

Townsquare shares were off by 11%, with a $6.60 price seen just six minutes before the Closing Bell on the NYSE rang.

When all was said and done, TSQ completed Friday’s trading with a 10.9% dip, to $6.62.

Volume was 47,881 shares on an average of 15,995 shares.

What prompted the downward activity for the local media company?

It’s not clear. But, it does come one trading session after Townsquare priced an offering of $550.0 million in aggregate principal amount of its 6.875% senior secured notes due 2026.

The notes will bear interest semi-annually at a rate equal to 6.875% per annum and were offered at par value. They are senior secured obligations of Townsquare Media and will be guaranteed on a senior secured basis by the company’s direct and wholly owned subsidiaries.

Closing of the offering is anticipated to take place on or about January 6, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.

Townsquare intends to use the net proceeds from the offering, together with cash on hand, to repay its existing senior secured credit facilities, to redeem all of Townsquare’s outstanding 6.500% senior notes due 2023, and to pay the premium, fees and expenses related to the offering.

Townsquare also intends to terminate its existing senior secured credit facilities, including its existing revolving credit facility.

There may be more timeless music than ever, and not playing it could be costing your radio stations revenue, Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson notes in this Classic Media Information Bureau column worth a fresh read.

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It’s not often that the FCC receives a Acuerdo para venta y transferencia de licencia de un radioemisora.

In such cases, Fletcher Heald & Hildreth attorney Frank Montero is likely involved. And, that’s indeed the situation here, as a prolific Puerto Rico broadcaster has gained another AM on La Isla del Encanto.

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The E.W. Scripps Company has promoted its VP of Financial Planning and Analysis to the role that has until now been held by Lisa Knutson.

The bump up to CFO, which saw “a nationwide search,” yielded no external candidates. And, the transition will take place once Scripps closes on its acquisition of ION Media.

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A company that considers itself to be one of the pioneers of video-on-demand technology has claimed a small victory in its fight against AT&T, DirecTV, Dish Network and Amazon for copyright infringement of four patents covering streaming media innovations specifically tied to VOD services using the set top box and mobile app technology.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — At the FCC‘s October Open Meeting, one of the most important advancements in the history of AM radio broadcasting took only minutes to get the Commission’s approval.

Voluntary all-digital AM broadcasting moved forward, with a report and order released.

Broadcast station owners that wish to benefit will soon be free to do so.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. —With the retirement of Ranking Member Greg Walden and the expected transition of power at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW to President-Elect Joe Biden, the committee in the House of Representatives that oversees the FCC has appointed five new Democratic members.

They’ll take their seats with the start of the 117th Congress. And, they are all women.

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Friday marked Day 15 of the “blackout” of all Nexstar Media Group-owned broadcast TV stations and the WGN America cable TV network across Dish lineups.

Is there an end on the horizon? Maybe. But, Nexstar has a new option for disgruntled Dish customers that want their NewsNation and other WGN America programming — and its an over-the-top platform.

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Travel one hour west of Helena, Montana, and you’ll reach the small town of Deer Lodge. Here, an AM radio silent has fallen silent, as has an FM translator at 99.3 MHz and 20kw FM.

The owner passed away. He had no will. Now, the stations are being involuntary transferred to a family member.

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City United Church in recent years has been using a Massachusetts AM to provide a “Power”-ful religious-themed message to local listeners.

Then, the station fell silent. Now, this facility is being sold.

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For stock watchers, one thing has become very clear over the last several weeks on Wall Street: The nation’s No. 1 audio entertainment and media company, iHeartMedia, is seeing a strong recovery from its COVID-19 pandemic-fueled low.

On the other hand, shakiness abounds for Entercom Communications shares.

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Tune to 107.9 MHz in Central New Jersey, and you may hear a wide variety of Classic Hits and an announcer using a wee bit of reverb on “WOLD.”

That’s the call sign for a LPFM that happens to share a very tight short-spacing situation with an FM translator just down the road. While this would normally create interference, the facilities share the same programming, originating from Princeton University.

Now, the school has a plan to eliminate the interference, secure a second FM signal in the process, and air paid advertisements without running afoul of low-power FM rules.

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Mike O’Rielly, the FCC’s fieriest fighter in recent memory against the scourge of unlicensed FM radio broadcasters, may no longer be a Commissioner. But, his fight against pirate radio station operations lives on.

Property owners where illicit broadcasters originate from are now being advised that they could be subject to big new fines from the Federal Communications Commission.

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Without agriculture, and agribusiness, much of Wall Street, Madison Avenue and Silicon Valley would be “hungry, homeless, naked and sober.”

That’s why agribusiness is nothing city folk should scoff at, says Steve Alexander, who will succeed the legendary Orion Samuelson as the chief agribusiness reporter for Nexstar Media Group‘s legendary Chicago talk station, WGN-AM 720, come January 1.

Alexander spoke exclusively with RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson about his new role, where he gets his information from, and why Nexstar elected not to sunset the reports — clearly seeing value in their continuation.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Steve Alexander, WGN Radio” on Spreaker.

The Comcast-owned multi-platform video advertising unit known as FreeWheel has agreed to purchase a software as a service (SaaS) advertising company in a move that expands FreeWheel’s current programmatic marketplace capabilities across all forms of television and video advertising, including Connected TV (CTV) and Set-top Box Video on Demand (STB VOD).

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