Wednesday, November 6, 2024

The U.S. Capitol as seen from Union Station, in November 2019

With Trump Win, A New FCC Awaits Broadcasters

It was predicted by some, but wholly unexpected by many still digesting the results. Donald J. Trump will be the 45th and the 47th President of the U.S. come January 20, 2025. What this could mean for broadcasters is monumental, as the Rosenworcel Commission will be coming to an end, along with Democratic control of the upper body of Congress.

Beasley Trims Its Net Loss In Q3, But Misses On Revenue

Challenges abound for publicly traded radio broadcasting companies. And, they're continuing for Beasley Media Group. Despite strong political advertising revenue for some media companies, the owner of properties in markets ranging from Detroit, Boston and Philadelphia to Charlotte, Tampa, and Augusta, Ga., registered another Q3 net loss.
Justin Nielson, Kagan

Economic Forecasting: Revenue Trends and Expectations for 2025

How will broadcast advertising revenues in the U.S. be affected? Where are the biggest areas of opportunity? And how will AI alter the landscape? A panel of experts will share their perspectives and insights in a provocative opening Forecast 2025 session on November 13 at the Harvard Club in the City of New York.
E.W. Scripps Company

Election-Oriented Ad Windfall For Scripps In Q3

The E.W. Scripps Co. expects total 2024 presidential-year political advertising revenue in the Local Media division to reach at least $340 million — a record level that far exceeded the guidance the publicly traded company led by CEO Adam Symson shared in August. But, how did the company perform on the whole in Q3? Good, yet Scripps shares sunk on Monday.

Carr Clash: Did ‘SNL’ Appearance Evade ‘Equal Time’ Rule?

An appearance by VP Kamala Harris on "Saturday Night Live" just days before Election Day riled the senior Republican-aligned Commissioner at the FCC. He took to the X social media platform to blast NBC for what he believes is "a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule." Did NBC resolve the matter yesterday?
Mary Berner

Despite Strong Digital Growth, Cumulus Sees A Q3 Net Loss

Revenue and EBITDA were "in-line" for the company in Q3, as President/CEO Mary Berner noted during a Friday pre-market earnings call for analysts and investors that the company "maintained our focus on what we can control." Investors were less than pleased, sending Cumulus Media shares down by nearly 20% on Friday.

Signals of Change: What’s Coming In D.C. Gets A Clear Forecast

Come late January, a new FCC will take shape as the U.S. Senate and White House shifts to Republican control. What will be the top issues for Radio and Television under a potential Carr Commission and on Capitol Hill? Fletcher Heald & Hildreth attorney Seth Williams has his thoughts ahead of a Forecast 2025 panel he'll be moderating on Wednesday.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)

AM Radio Champion Ted Cruz Poised For Senate Leadership

Should the "AM Radio In Every Vehicle Act" fail to gain Congressional approval in the remaining weeks of what is now a "Lame Duck" session, a reintroduced bill could carry itself through to passage in 2025. Ted Cruz, the current Ranking Member of the influential Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, will be the Act's chief crusader in a more powerful role.
José Villafañe

The InFOCUS Podcast: José Villafañe

The Founder/Managing Partner and CEO of Nueva Network and Costa Media will be sharing his insight at a Forecast 2025 panel on November 13. To get a preview of what is in store for conference attendees, RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson welcomes Villafañe to the InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.fm.

A Significant Reduction-In-Force Effort Claims iHeart Jobs

From the Hawaiian Islands to New England, dozens of stations within the iHeartMedia family have parted ways with employees on multiple levels of the audio content creation and distribution company's core radio broadcasting unit. Among the casualties is the Market President for Raleigh-Durham, and the Boston Region President.
Dennis Wharton

Why ‘Main Street Media’ Will Still Thrive In the Digital Age

Four scrappy entrepreneurs have faced all of the threats and competition from digital media, streaming ventures and even cable television channels. How have these "Main Street Media" professionals succeeded? That's a question ex-NAB communications head Dennis Wharton will ask as a Forecast 2025 session moderator.

Urban One Agrees To LMA With Ohio Hispanic Radio Operator

A Local Management Agreement has been signed that sees La Mega Media Inc. and Lazo Media LLC "taking a significant step to expand Spanish-language programming across its Ohio markets and into Indianapolis." How so? Urban One is taking the "La Mega" brand and its programming to stations in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus, Ohio, as well as Indiana's largest market.

Old Brand, New Format: An iHeart ‘Mix’ Up in Alamo City

From September 1998 through June 2017, it was a Top 40 station branded as "Mix 96.1." For the last 7 1/2 years, the FM has taken the "96.1 NOW" branding. Now, iHeartMedia has brought the "Mix" name back, but has adopted a presentation championed by its WLVE-FM in Miami.

Sign up for free to get The Daily Intelligence Report delivered to your inbox. RBR-TVBR delivers complete broadcasting news analysis and our infamous observations.

SIGN UP NOW


3Hwi51e




Vermont

Squier Family Finalizes Sale Of A Vermont FM

In June 2017, media broker Richard A. Foreman shared the news that all of Radio Vermont Group’s radio stations were up for sale. This would end the Squier family’s time as a radio station owner, which began in 1935. In January, employees of the radio stations were told that a buyer has emerged. Now, an asset purchase agreement finalized in October has finally arrived at the FCC.

Brian Trauring

Trauring Retires from Lilly Broadcasting

The individual who maintained oversight of broadcast media properties across all of Lilly Broadcasting's markets has retired, with November 4 serving as his final day at the Erie, Pa.-based privately held licensee.
Jason Combs

On Scripps Q3 Call, Analyst Quizzes C-Suite On Cost Cuts

"What percentage of the costs are coming out from just the news part, in particular?" That was just one of several questions analyst Craig Huber had for the Scripps leadership team during its Q3 earnings call on Monday, as Lisa Knutson completed her final earnings call as Chief Operating Officer.

Wolftech Purchase By Avid Now Complete

Pro media production software house Avid is now officially the owner of a maker of cloud-based multiplatform news planning, production and publishing tools, bringing it further into the broadcast media industry.

Exclusive members-only content. Click here to sign up.


BFOA Launches Annual Year-End Campaign to Help Colleagues in Need

The Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its annual Year-End Giving Campaign, which seeks to raise donations from tax-deductible personal contributions to the Guardian Fund and corporate contributions to the Angel Initiative.
Microphone

You Voted On Tuesday. Vote Again For The Top Tech Leaders

RBR+TVBR, the publication dedicated to the Business of Broadcast Media, is accepting nominations through November 19 for the 2025 Broadcast Media's Top Tech Leaders list. This salutes the leading information technology and engineering minds in broadcast media, who work diligently behind-the-scenes to ensure broadcast media remains future-proof.

RMLC, SESAC Spar As New Royalty Fee Set Through 2026

Both SESAC and the Radio Music License Committee are separately claiming they came out on top following the determination of licensing fees for RMLC-represented stations through 2026. An arbitration panel determined SESAC’s new blanket fee on November 1.
Robert Branson, President and CEO of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC)

Could MMTC Repeat 2016 Request To Trump?

A 2016 communiqué to the incoming Trump Administration from the MMTC suggested the creation of a “Glide Path” for AM radio station owners that preserves minority ownership following AM's end. Is the MMTC crafting a similar letter outlining "imperative actions" the White House must consider come 2025?

Low-Latency Broadcast Intercom Comes To The Cloud

IEX Group's swXtch.io has joined forces with Telos Alliance by creating an alliance that will enable scalable broadcast intercom in the cloud at very low latency. This, the companies say, provides broadcasters with the same features, functionality and mission-critical performance they use within their on-prem environments, minus the servers and cost associated with keeping them alight.

CP Weathers Two Storms Across Autumn From St. Petersburg

As Hurricanes Helene and Milton threatened to wreak havoc across Florida, CP Communications rose to meet the dual challenges of storm preparation in its Pinellas County, Fla., headquarters — prone to flooding — and one of the company's busiest times of the year in sports.

A New Next-Gen Cloud TV Platform for Broadcasters Comes From Comcast

CTS’ Cloud TV is designed to provide companies "a complete multi-platform TV experience, both broadcast and OTT, delivered from the cloud via a managed 24x7 service."