Radio+Television Business Report

A Chicago-based live and virtual event production company is the latest company to have adopted a “go to” solution for connecting remote presenters into virtual events.

It’s technology that broadcast TV executives may wish to consider for their own operations.

Signature Production Group is using Quicklink Studio and Quicklink ST102’s tools, provided to them through Key Code Media, a U.S.-based systems integrator for A/V, broadcast, and post-production solutions.

Joel Paige, General Manager of Signature Production Group, comments, “At first, it looked like the product we were looking for didn’t exist due to our simultaneous use of NDI video and Dante audio. But the Quicklink developers stepped up and customized a solution that fit our workflow perfectly. The collaborative relationship between our companies has been a big part of the key to the success we’ve had with the Quicklink solutions.”

For more information on Quicklink ST55 click here, and for more information on Quicklink’s ST102, click here.

… and the Catz, too.

Meredith, who gained full control of Powell Meredith Communications Company in a 2009 divorce settlement, is selling a 40-watt FM translator serving an Arizona community to the northwest of Phoenix.

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A longtime public radio leader who served as President and GM of North Carolina Public Radio has passed away.

She had been on medical leave since February. However, details about the cause of death were not shared by the family.

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The Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance is hosting a virtual summit next week that will bring together broadcasters and other private sector players with the nation’s largest alerting authorities to discuss next generation emergency messaging.

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It seems the creditors to the regional sports networks owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group that recently took on the Bally Sports brand through a wide-ranging integrated partnership with the gaming company are in the process of signing non-disclosure agreements to start talks on lowering the RSN’s $8 billion debt load.

That’s according to “people with knowledge of the matter” who spoke with two Bloomberg reporters on Friday.

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Esteemed GroupM Global President of Business Intelligence Brian Wieser has singled out three key areas that have been transformed the most for his firms clients over the past months.

While e-commerce and “responsible investing” are two of these areas, it is the third — linear and Connected TV — that deserve the industry’s attention.

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If timing is everything, then Byron Allen — the media mogul behind Local Now, Allen Media Group and Entertainment Studios — just made the biggest statement yet that the Golden Arches have been nothing more than a rusty bucket with respect to the level of advertising commitment it’s given to his broadcast and cable properties.

With McDonald’s getting much attention for moving forward with “bold new investments to further reflect its diverse customers” and putting 2%-5% more dollars into Black-owned properties over the next five years, Allen Media Group has filed a whopping $10 billion lawsuit against the quick-service restaurant giant for racial discrimination.

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Urban One may have had an explosive day on Wall Street, but other broadcast media companies also found themselves seeing strong gains on Thursday.

Among them: Salem Media Group, and The Walt Disney Company.

Here’s a glance at today’s activity on Wall Street.

For a live look across each trading session, please visit the homepage of RBR.com.

He’s a New Hampshire native and rose through the ranks at Hearst Television, where he was News Director of its flagship property in Boston. For the past five years, he has been VP of News.

Now, this pro has been selected to succeed the retiring Jeff Bartlett in his home state.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of Republican Members of the House of Representatives on Thursday (5/20) introduced legislation that they believe help closes the digital divide in the U.S.

How so? The plan, led by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s top Republican, is designed to ensure broadband infrastructure “reaches all Americans and is not used to fund duplicative and wasteful overbuilding.”

Democrats immediately responded by pointing to support for their own bill.

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Colin Benedict, the Vice President of News for radio and TV station owner Morgan Murphy Media, played an integral role in the planning and execution of an effort across all of the multimedia company’s markets to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations.

How did the initial idea for a “Vaccine Day” effort originate, and then pollinate? What does this effort say about the role that local TV stations, in particular, play in their respective markets?

Learn more in this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM, with host Adam R Jacobson, who candidly shares his own qualms about getting vaccinated.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Colin Benedict, Morgan Murphy Media” on Spreaker.

For 18 years and change, she’s been the head of sales for Fox Television Stations’ owned-and-operated station serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, adding SVP/Market Manager duties in December 2014.

Now, this 35-year TV industry veteran is heading to the Pacific Northwest’s largest market to head up Fox’s O&O.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — She’s been at the FCC since 1997, and in her time at the Commission oversaw two-thirds of the Commission’s auctions. She served under nine FCC Chairs.

Now, she’s set to retire, and an Acting Deputy Chief in the Office of Economics and Analytics has been named to succeed her.

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MIAMI —NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises’ Telemundo Global Studios has promoted the person in charge of Production Operations and Production Design at Argentina-based Underground Producciónes to the role of SVP/GM for the recently launched Telemundo Streaming Studios operation.

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In the northern half of California’s San Joaquin Valley, pastor Juan Montes has established a Spanish-language broadcast ministry that uses a Class A FM station licensed to Chowchilla, and an FM translator in Hughson, to reach the Modesto and Merced markets, respectively.

Now, Montes’ operation is adding two additional FMs in the region.

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Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was, in the view of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), designed to promote a competitive online ecosystem that maximizes user control while guarding against illegal activities.

“The law is credited with empowering unprecedented innovation, but it is also blamed for allowing Big Tech to suppress speech and avoid liability for seemingly unchecked misinformation,” the Trump-era FCC influencer notes today.

This sets the stage for a panel discussion hosted by AEI visiting scholar Mark Jamison on proposals to reform Section 230 — and on whether the law has fulfilled its original promise.

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In a potential boost to African American-centric media company Urban One and the nation’s Hispanic and Asian-targeted radio and TV communities, McDonald’s is moving forward with what it calls “bold new investments to further reflect its diverse customers, crew members and communities in its marketing.”

It’s a four-year effort, and women-owned and LGBTQ+ platforms are also poised to benefit.

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With the merger of Tribune Broadcasting and Nexstar Media Group, ownership of one of the nation’s largest affiliates of The CW Network — KTLA-5 in Los Angeles — came to be.

Now, Nexstar and the network have inked a new deal ensuring that KTLA, and every other affiliate of The CW, keeps the relationship in place for the next several years.

Multi-year agreements have been signed that see the renewal of The CW affiliations in 37 markets. The accord includes not only 28 Nexstar-owned stations but also nine owned by companies Nexstar enjoys a shared services agreement with.

Among the latter group: WPIX-11 in New York.

Other key Nexstar affiliates of The CW Network include WDCW-50 in Washington, D.C., seen as an in-flight offering on Southwest Airlines; KDAF-TV in Dallas; and KIAH-TV in Houston.

The 37 DMAs where Nexstar owns affiliates of The CW represents 31% of the U.S. audience.

“As the nation’s largest CW affiliate group, Nexstar is very pleased to extend its longstanding relationship with the network,” said Nexstar COO/CFO Tom Carter. “The CW’s line-up of prime-time entertainment shows, coupled with Nexstar’s highly-rated local news and other market-centric programming
enables us to deliver great content to millions of viewers and exceptional value to our advertisers.”

Betty Ellen Berlamino, The CW’s EVP of Distribution, added, “We are pleased to extend our valued partnership, through a multi-year agreement, with our largest station group, Nexstar. The linear broadcast model remains the backbone of our business model and vitally important as it gives us the scale and local reach that distinguishes us in today’s marketplace as the original multiplatform network.”

LOS ANGELES — Ten free ad-supported streaming television, or “FAST,” channels have been added to the Local Now platform recently unveiled by the Byron Allen-controlled Allen Media Group.

The FAST offerings come courtesy of a new agreement with The E.W. Scripps Co.

It sees the expansion of local news by adding to the Local Now streaming platform the following Scripps O&Os:

• KNXV-15 (ABC) in Phoenix, Ariz.
• WFTS-28 (ABC) in Tampa
• WXYZ-7 (ABC) in Detroit
• KMGH-7 (ABC) in Denver
• WEWS-5 (ABC) in Cleveland
• WTVF-5 (CBS) in Nashville
• KGTV-10 (ABC) in San Diego
• KSTU-13 (Fox) in Salt Lake City
• KSHB-41 (NBC) in Kansas City
• WPTV-5 (NBC) in West Palm Beach

The partnership is not inclusive of all non-Ion properties owned by Scripps. For instance, WKBW-7 in Buffalo is not included in the Local Now arrangement.

Local Now SVP/GM Michael Senzon noted, “Scripps’ focus on growing audiences and revenue in the free streaming space is smart and we’re happy to be in business with them.”

As Scripps Local Media President Brian Lawlor sees it, “Scripps is committed to serving its audiences with the essential news and information they need, whenever and wherever they consume it. With more consumers turning to streaming platforms to access the local content that helps inform their day-to-day lives, we’re looking forward to expanding our commitment to them by adding Scripps local TV stations to Local Now’s growing roster of news and entertainment.”

On Friday (5/14), the Board of Directors of Audacy approved a restatement of three specific company plans and/or policies.

An SEC filing made following Wednesday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street explains what transpired.

Amendments to the three documents were needed in order to formally recognize the change of the company’s name from Entercom Communications Corp. to Audacy, Inc..

These documents are the Audacy Nonemployee Director Compensation Policy; the Audacy Equity Compensation Plan; the Audacy Employee Stock Purchase Plan; and the Audacy Acquisition Equity Compensation Plan (formerly the QLGG 2017 Stock Incentive Plan).

The amendments coincide with the 2021 annual Audacy shareholders meeting, which saw the ratification of the selection of Grant Thornton LLP as the company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the 2021 calendar year.

The meeting also saw the election of David Levy as a Class A Director, in Board Class I, for a three-year term; Weezie Kramer and Susan Neely were each elected as a Director, in Board Class I, for a three year-term.

That’s not the only news Audacy shared with the SEC.

On Wednesday (5/19), it filed Articles of Amendment with Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State to amend and restate Audacy’s Articles of Incorporation. They consolidate all prior amendments, and in particular removes references to multiple series of preferred stock which are no longer outstanding: Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock; Series A Junior Participating Convertible Preferred Stock; and Series B Junior Participating Convertible Preferred Stock.