Radio+Television Business Report

Of the broadcast media companies offering rich dividends, Saga Communications has consistently delivered, with the company’s stock going ex-Dividend on March 21 and a $0.16 per share award scheduled for an April 8 delivery.

In Q4 2021, the numbers were good, showing across-the-board improvement from 2020. That said, Saga still has a way to go to return to 2019 — or 2018 — dollar totals.

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There’s been much chatter about where the presentation of the 2022 NAB Marconi Radio Awards will be, now that the Radio Show has been abandoned, with sessions integrated into the annual NAB Show schedule.

The honors won’t be in Las Vegas in late April. Rather, they will be held on a Wednesday evening in mid-October as part of NAB Show New York.

The awards, which honor radio stations and on-air personalities for excellence in radio broadcasting, will take place during a special dinner program at NAB Show New York on October 19, 2022 at the Javits Center.

Established in 1989 and named after inventor and Nobel Prize winner Guglielmo Marconi, the NAB Marconi Radio Awards have emerged as a signature awards program for the Radio industry.

For those questioning the choice of NAB Show New York for the awards dinner, NAB EVP of Industry Affairs April Carty-Sipp replies, “NAB Show New York is the perfect venue for the Marconi Radio Awards with its prime location and ideal timing in the fall when the Marconis have traditionally been presented. We look forward to celebrating the best in radio in October.”

The entry window for the 2022 NAB Marconi Radio Awards nominations will be May 1-31.

DALLAS — A 98,000-watt Class C FM signal that covers the northern half of the sprawling Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and the Oklahoma cities of Ardmore and Durant has officially transitioned from talk about hoops and passes to Biblical teaching, Sacred Music and “Informative News.”

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When it came time for questions from financial analysts who cover Townsquare Media to ask questions, the focus was on pacings and on Automotive category performance. CEO Bill Wilson and the company’s Chief Financial Officer obliged, and the situation regarding Auto dollars in 2022 isn’t a great one.

At the same time, Townsquare’s top two executives talked up their company’s underappreciated value to Wall Street.

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The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday said yes to a more than half-billion-dollar advance funding funnel for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in fiscal year 2024.

It’s part of a 2022 omnibus appropriations package that includes a sizable chunk of money to establish at FEMA the “Next Generation Warning System.”

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The fourth quarter earnings parade, after a brief pause, resumed Thursday (3/10) with the pre-dawn release of Townsquare Media‘s fiscal results for the final three months of 2021.

How did the “local first” company that derives much of its revenue from digital, rather than its small to mid-size market radio stations, perform? “A strong Q4 finish with great momentum for 2022” is how the company describes its financial health report.

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It serves an area of Appalachia between Roanoke and Lynchburg, Va., with 6,000 watts, focusing on Bedford and its surrounding communities. And, until March 1, it was a simulcast partner with a co-owned Oldies station focused on Lynchburg, owned by Lynchburg Radio Group.

That shared programming has ended. In its place: KLOVE, as Educational Media Foundation has acquired the property.

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Advertising expenditure by over-the-counter (OTC) healthcare brands in 13 key markets as determined by Zenith will expand by 7.6% in 2022 and 5.0% in 2023.

That key finding can be found in Zenith’s newly released Business Intelligence – OTC Healthcare report, and it says this growth will be driven by tailored digital brand advertising, as well as performance advertising driving traffic to OTC ecommerce platforms.

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As noted by the communications law attorneys at Fletcher Heald & Hildreth on its CommLawBlog.com website, FCC License renewal applications and associated EEO Program Reports are due on or before Friday, April 1 for radio licensees located in a pair of East Coast states.

AM and FM licensees in Delaware and Pennsylvania must file renewals regardless of commercial or noncommercial status in the FCC’s licensing Management System (LMS).

These licensees must include Schedule 396, the Broadcast Equal Employment Opportunity Program Report, in their renewal application.

The FCC also requires radio licensees to provide local post-filing public notice of their renewal applications. Pre-filing announcements are no longer required.

Listeners and viewers may review the station’s filing and file comments regarding renewal applications.

As Fletcher Heald & Hildreth has noted, “a major focus” of the FCC’s review is a thorough inspection of the station’s on-line public inspection file (OPIF).  ‘For that reason, we urge all stations with upcoming license renewals to begin a thorough review of their OPIFs.  Any incomplete filings or late filings in the station’s OPIF will be disclosed in the renewal application.”

It was expected. Under the leadership of Emily Barr, the Graham Media Group headquarters office was located in Chicago, where Barr resided.

With her retirement, announced in January, and the naming of Catherine Badalamente as her successor, a shift back to Detroit for the broadcast TV station owner’s HQ was all but certain.

On Wednesday (3/9), that move became official.

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The Radio Mercury Awards has announced the final round judging panel for its 31st annual honors.

The panel of top-level agency creative leaders represent radio’s top advertising companies — including industries such as automotive, consumer packaged goods (CPG), communications, community service, fitness, nonprofits, quick-serve restaurants, retail, spirits, telecommunications, travel and utilities.

The jury, assembled with the help of Chief Judge Alejandro Ortiz, Executive Creative Director at Campbell Ewald, is comprised of creative leaders from across the country. They represent all size markets with diverse audiences and innovative creative work for some of advertising’s largest brands.

Here is the 2022 Radio Mercury Awards Final Round Judging Panel, along with Ortiz:

• Mitch Bennett, executive creative director, Baldwin&
• Josh Grossberg, executive creative director, McCann Health
• Bianca Guimaraes, partner/executive creative director, Mischief USA
• Donnell Johnson, group creative director, Anomaly
• Nicky Lorenzo, senior vice president/group creative director, Taylor Global
• Wendy Mayes, creative director/copywriter, Plot Twist Creativity
• Sean McBride, chief creative officer, Arnold
• Bowen Mendelson, creative, Tempo Fit
• Joyce King Thomas, creative consultant, King Thomas
• Sherman Winfield, executive creative director, VMLY&R

The RMAs are presented by the RAB and the Radio Creative Fund, both of which are led by Erica Farber.

“We are looking forward to our first in-person judging event in over two years with this incredible group of creative talent who represent a broad spectrum of agencies,” Farber said. “We are excited to have them select this year’s winners and know they will bring their passion and expertise to our final round judging event.”

The Radio Mercury Awards’ Call for Entry is open through April 6. Winners will be announced at the 31st annual Radio Mercury Awards event on June 9 at SONY Hall in New York.

Picture this: 15 groups of mutually exclusive applications for new noncommercial educational FM radio station permits are in need of resolution. To do so, the Audio Division of the FCC’s Media Bureau engaged in comparative consideration of the applications. Specifically, it engaged in a “threshold fair distribution analysis” — a process that gives Al Shuldiner, the division chief, delegated authority on identifying the tentative (and suggested) selectee in each group.

That analysis has now concluded, and anyone that doesn’t like the results has within 30 days of March 9 to file a Petition to Deny with the FCC.

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BOCA RATON, FLA. — The “Big Four” broadcast television network affiliates and the low-power TV station airing Azteca América programming across Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast of Florida have collectively made the leap to deliver “a revolutionary new digital broadcast technology” to local consumers.

Only, who’s watching, and who knew of the rollout announced late Monday via a press release posted to Business Wire?

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Few outside of the region may be familiar with North Central West Virginia, home to such communities as Bridgeport, Clarksburg, Fairmont and Weston. It’s connected loosely to Morgantown, which is a part of the Pittsburgh DMA.

As such, Clarksburg-Weston and Elkins comprise a TV market that’s of importance to Gray Television. It owns a CBS affiliate there. And, it wants better coverage of the mountainous market.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The four Commissioners of the FCC will be congregating at an oversight hearing convened by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone Jr., on the final day of March.

Don’t expect to hear much on the subject of broadcast media regulation.

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KETTERING, OHIO — Continue north on I-75 from the Gem City of Dayton, Ohio to Piqua and, then, to Sidney and you’ll find a 6kw Class A FM offering programming that’s “Totally. About. Music.”

It comes courtesy of Dean Miller Broadcasting, but could that change soon? The station has just been sold, and the buyer — a familiar figure in the building — plans on a return to its former branding.

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The only national distributor of Spanish-language news in public radio has signed off on a Consent Decree with the FCC’s Audio Division Chief, Al Shuldiner, that absolves the licensee of non-compliance with the Commission’s Public File Rule.

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An advanced advertising company focused on “audience-based campaigns” in television has promoted three new members to its executive team.

The leadership elevation of the trio of OpenAP leaders comes at a time of “significant growth” for the operation, which recently saw Discovery Inc. become a minority owner.

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On January 5, Westwood One, the national radio arm of Cumulus Media, officially put an end to The Zach Sang Show.

Now, the former Nickelodeon star is set to resurface — not on the radio, per se, but perhaps a “Mr. Microphone” for the YouTube era, courtesy of Amazon.

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ORLANDO — She’s fondly remembered for her 12 years at Interep, her 17 years as Publisher of now-defunct industry trade Radio & Records and as a 25-year-old General Manager of WXLO “99x” in New York for RKO General in the late 1970s.

For the last decade, Erica Farber has served as President/CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB). It’s a role she’ll be keeping for a couple of more years.

Farber and the RAB’s Executive Committee have agreed to a contract extension that will keep her in the association’s top role through April 2024.

Farber joined the RAB in January 2012 as an executive vice president and ascended to her current role a few months later.

The announcement comes following the RAB’s Spring Board of Directors Meeting held last week in Central Florida; WideOrbit sponsored the event.

At the meeting, held March 2-3, the RAB executive committee also reinstated and activated several new committees, including committees focused on bylaws, nominating, finance, strategy, investment, events, network, multicultural, and the “National Radio Talent System.”

The committees are overseen by the RAB board of directors with participation by RAB’s senior staff and are intended to help the organization manage its day-to-day business, while planning ahead for the future and benefit of the radio industry.

The Spring affair also saw StateNets Southeast & Midwest Region Partner Carolyn Fisher succeed Dave Martin on the board of directors.