Radio+Television Business Report

On Dec. 6, 2020, the sole owner of an AM/FM combo and an FM translator serving a portion of the Norfolk DMA passed away.

Now, paperwork is being filed with the Commission that will formally transfer ownership of the facilities to the executrix of his estate.

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BIA Advisory Services has conducted research focused on the “Economic Impact of Big Tech Platforms on the Viability of Local Broadcast News.”  It found that each year broadcasters lose nearly $2 billion in value that they generate for two of the largest technology platforms through publication of their valuable content — particularly local news.

It’s an issue the NAB is bringing to the forefront.

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There’s a new VP/GM at a onetime NBC affiliates that’s seen a particular resurgence in recent years as an unaffiliated news-focused free-to-air property serving the San Francisco Bay Area.

He takes his new duties at the Nexstar Media Group property on May 17.

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It’s always a vote of confidence to longterm investors when an officer of a company purchases a big chunk of its own publicly traded shares.

That’s just happened at Beasley Media Group. And, while financial blog Simply Wall St. says “it may not be a huge deal,” it is good to see.

But, just who acquired the shares?

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RBR+TVBR Analysis

When the members of Townsquare Media‘s C-Suite look back on some of the company’s key achievements and pivot points, 2020 will certainly be recalled as the year of change.

Yes, radio is very much an integral — and important — revenue source for the company. That said, Townsquare became a digital first company in 2020. The result? It is among the first media companies to dare to compare the first three months of 2021 with that of Q1 2019.

That’s a good thing, as live events are already coming back while Townsquare Interactive is igniting, no pun intended, the entire company.

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For advertisers seeking to reach audiences via “live radio,” streaming music and podcasting, there’s a new solution — courtesy of a company built on siphoning in-car audio consumers away from AM and FM stations.

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As is the case with nearly all of the media companies in the MoffettNathanson coverage universe, AMC Networks is in the midst of what Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson and analyst Robert Fishman call “a pivot from legacy linear networks businesses to direct-to-consumer platforms.”

Yet, as the respected financial research house has emphasized in the past, “the economics of this pivot are vastly different for each company.”

What does this mean for AMC? “All-in-one mass streaming services” aren’t in AMC’s best interests.

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DISH Network Corporation on Monday announced that its DISH DBS Corporation subsidiary plans to offer, subject to market and other conditions, approximately $1.25 billion aggregate principal amount of its senior notes.

The net proceeds of the offering are intended to be used for general corporate purposes, including refinancing of indebtedness.

The notes will only be offered and sold to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and in offshore transactions in accordance with Regulation S under the Securities Act.

The offering is more good news for a company with its stock price at its highest levels since January 2018. Ahead of the Opening Bell on the Nasdaq GlobalSelect market, DISH was trading at $46.60, up 7 cents in pre-market trading on Monday.

TEGNA earnings, and its growth plan, have come under scrutiny by one renegade shareholder: Soohyung Kim-controlled Standard General.

His efforts to gain influence on corporate decision-making have been thwarted, twice, as shareholders overwhelmingly rejected his TEGNA Board of Directors nominees in 2020 and again in 2021. Now, TEGNA has released another positive quarterly earnings report that further hinders his desire for change at the broadcast TV station owner.

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Thus far, the release of first quarter 2021 earnings reports from audio-focused media companies has yielded one not-so-surprising trend: digital growth is booming, while core advertising dollars are mired in a long, slow recovery from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For Entravision, digital is driving the company’s revenue. Now, Townsquare Media is on the verge of having digital become its biggest revenue generator.

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Univision Communications has priced its offering of $1.05 billion aggregate principal amount of 4.500% senior secured notes due 2029.

The offering is expected to close on or about May 21, subject to customary closing conditions.

The Notes will be general senior secured obligations of the company and will be guaranteed by all of Univision’s wholly-owned domestic subsidiaries that guarantee the obligations under the company’s existing senior secured credit facilities, existing senior secured notes and its expected new term loan facility.

The offering is part of the financing for the proposed business combination of Grupo Televisa with Univision’s businesses, announced on April 13.

Upon consummation of the offering, the net proceeds of the offering will be deposited into a Univision escrow account and Univision will deposit into this escrow account “an amount of cash that, when taken together with the net proceeds of this offering, would be sufficient to fund a special mandatory redemption of the Notes on the applicable escrow outside date.”

Should the Televisa-Univision business combination not be consummated on or before the applicable escrow outside date or prior to such date the Transaction Agreement is terminated, the company will be required to redeem all of the Notes at a redemption price equal to 100% of the issue price of the Notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the date of redemption, and, in such event, the escrowed property will be applied to fund such redemption price.

Three companies with radio stations among their holdings released their third quarter earnings reports following Thursday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street. One enjoyed exceptionally strong digital growth, Entravision. Another saw digital prowess while its recovery across its streaming and broadcast radio assets came in ahead of expectations.

That would be iHeartMedia, and its stock soared on Friday. In contrast, the closest peer it has in the audio media world, Audacy, saw its stock decline on a disappointing Q1 report.

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While the “whip antenna” on two General Motors truck lines gets attention for the one and only reason the automotive company kept it there for its newest models, GM is also attracting eyeballs for something that could eventually impact in-car audio consumption.

Self-driving vehicles are coming.

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A blog devoted to General Motors trucks this week anwered a most intriguing question: Why do the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks still use a “whip antenna”?

The answer was simple: AM and FM radio reception in rural areas demands it.

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In fall 2017, a subsidiary of New Directions Broadcast Group agreed to convert an LMA of a group of radio stations in the Branson, Mo., area into an outright purchase. The buyer? A licensee 51% owned by the corporate director of sales for Earls Family Broadcasting from 2004-2010. The other 49% was held by a former U.S. presidential candidate and syndicated talk show host.

Now, that former Earls sales pro is exiting the partnership, handing all of his stake in the company to Mike Huckabee.

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On Wednesday, the judicial body responsible for the prosecution of all crimes that occur in the city of Baltimore moved forward with an action designed to bring a bit of justice, in its view, to a matter it claims involves “biased, inflammatory coverage” of Maryland’s biggest municipality.

The Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office moved forward with sending a formal complaint letter to FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel against Sinclair Broadcast Group’s flagship broadcast TV station. Specifically, it seeks an investigation into the broadcasting practices and media content distributed by the station, WBFF-45.

The FOX affiliate sees it much differently, and responded with a fresh news report that assails the SAO’s lead prosecutor, State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, for attacking a media source for its reporting on her.

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As a significant shareholder in TEGNA, Soohyung Kim and his Standard General has, for more than a year, sought to convince those holding company stock that it is on the wrong growth path. Thus, board of directors nominees it presented warranted shareholder approval.

Those efforts have failed to gain the support of TEGNA investors once again.

TEGNA announced Friday that, based on a preliminary vote count by its proxy solicitor, shareholders have “overwhelmingly re-elected” all 12 of its “highly qualified nominees” — verbage that’s clearly a swipe at Kim — as directors to serve for another term ending at the 2022 Annual Meeting.

They are Gina Bianchini, Howard Elias, Stuart Epstein, Lidia Fonseca, Karen Grimes, TEGNA President/CEO Dave Lougee, Scott McCune, Henry McGee, Susan Ness, Bruce Nolop, Neal Shapiro and Melinda Witmer.

“We are deeply gratified by this clear vote of confidence from our shareholders, and we continue to benefit from the input we received from the many shareholders we engaged with,” said Howard D. Elias, TEGNA’s Chairman of the Board. “Receiving even greater support in this year’s election than last year is a powerful endorsement of the board’s oversight of TEGNA’s financial performance, management’s execution of our strategy, and our continued progress in making TEGNA even more diverse, equitable and inclusive.”

Lougee added, “We are pleased that our shareholders recognize the successful execution of our value-creation strategy, which is delivering record results. We value the productive partnership we have with our investors as we drive TEGNA forward for the benefit of all stakeholders. Beyond our financial performance, we are pleased that our shareholders support the company’s ongoing work to advance diversity, equity and inclusion. As demonstrated by our extensive actions to date and the quantitative goals we’ve set, we are fully committed to continue improving in these important areas so that TEGNA effectively represents all of the communities we serve. I also want to thank our employees for all their efforts and their focus during this time – the work they do has never been more important.”

In addition to re-electing all of TEGNA’s directors, shareholders also approved the company’s proposals concerning the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the current year; an advisory vote on the compensation of TEGNA’s named executive officers; and the elimination of  supermajority voting provisions in the TEGNA Charter.

The preliminary vote count is subject to certification by the Independent Inspector of Elections.

But, it puts to rest a second effort for Kim to gain more sway at TEGNA. This included the planting of one Adonis Hoffman as a board nominee in a move that exposed conduct judged by Hoffman to be racist by Lougee — all because of a case of mistaken identity at a valet stand several years ago. Rather than spark a D&I initiative and investigation leading to Lougee’s removal, which likely would have pleased Kim, the story quietly faded away.

Standard General is the third-largest institutional shareholder of TEGNA stock, at a reported 7.7% as of the end of 2020. Blackrock Inc. holds 11.2% interest; The Vanguard Group owns 9.4% of TEGNA stock.

As of 11:14am Eastern, TEGNA shares were up 1.2% to $20.35; TGNA goes ex-Dividend on June 3.

It’s been quite the 12 months for The E.W. Scripps Co. Its reborn Court TV attracted a huge segment of viewers seeking gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Derek Chauvin trial. It completed its merger with West Palm Beach-based ION Media, consolidating the companies’ digital multicast networks. On the final day of Q1 2021, it completed the sale of Triton to iHeartMedia.

These actions were just some of the catalysts that helped Scripps meet or exceed its guidance “by every measure,” President/CEO Adam Symson said as he opened the company’s first quarter earnings call on Friday.

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As the first quarter of 2021 neared its conclusion, the audio media company that for more than 50 years was known as Entercom changed its name, and that of the Radio.com platform it acquired via its CBS Radio merger and largely rebuilt.

Now Audacy, the Philadelphia-based company led by David Field is seeking to build on its momentum as a podcast and streaming audio leader. Still, its chief revenue driver is Radio. And, in its final quarter as Entercom, that reality is a punishing one. The company’s revenue missed Wall Street estimates, while its earnings per share fell short of expectations by 2 cents.

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Three media companies discussed their first quarter earnings results at the same time Thursday afternoon, and among the trio of entities that own radio stations was Entravision Communications.

Entravision, which superserves Hispanic audiences, isn’t a radio-centric company. And, based on its revenue results for Q1, it isn’t a TV-centric company, either.

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