Broadcasting Stocks

Gray Television is following the lead of Nexstar Media Group by moving forward with the release of its third quarter 2023 financial results on the second Wednesday in November. And, the company will hold its conference call for analysts and investors immediately after that of Nexstar.

It has built a revenue model that very much depends on the growth of its digital and programmatic advertising opportunities as well as its collection of radio stations. Did that recipe cook up riches for Townsquare Media during Q4? All will learn the answer on March 15.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Standard General, owner of the Deb McDermott-helmed Standard Media, has engineered a stock acquisition that will increase its roughly 25% interest in Bally to 100%. The deal is not expected to close until the first half of 2025.

Shareholders of Saga Communications — the lone radio industry "pure-play" with a publicly traded stock — have been rewarded with a juicy dividend in quarter after quarter. The company today led by Chris Forgy has just approved another stockholder bonus.

Nexstar Media Group is putting the final preparations on its second quarter earnings results, scheduled for a Thursday morning release. Ahead of the Q2 fiscal report card and the company's conference call for shareholders and analysts, Nexstar's board declared a quarterly cash dividend.

The overall mood for investors was positive on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq both posted higher numbers. iHeartMedia continued to climb, while Cumulus continued to slide.

U.S. financial markets sailed southward on Thursday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 23.69 points, to 20,919.42, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 13.18, to 6,115.96. The retailer sector suffered significant declines, and some of these companies could be one of your key advertisers—like Kohl's.

U.S. financial markets experienced a rather tepid trading session on Thursday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 12.74, to 21,397.29, and Nasdaq inched ahead 2.73, to 6,236.69. Among the highlights in the media sector was another move in the right direction for Pandora Media.

As the Closing Bell rang on Wall Street Friday, one thing was clear: U.S. financial markets were sailing southward. Yet, the biggest radio industry players were enjoying upward momentum. An up-sizing of an offering tied to iHeartMedia may have helped that company's stock rise more than 10%.

While the overall markets were mixed on Friday, AI technology company Veritone Inc. soared to another new record high, leaping nearly 5% on word that Quantum Corp.'s aiWARE for Xcellis, a cloud-based version of the artificial intelligence platform from Veritone, earned a "Best of Show Award" at IBC2017 in Amsterdam. Award criteria included innovation, feature set, ease of use, versatility and value/ROI.

Wednesday's magic word for media companies was "mixed." Up and down activity abounded, with Sinclair Broadcast Group down as investors reacted to a somewhat downbeat Q3 report card issued early Wednesday by the company seeking to merge with Tribune Media. Emmis Communications was up, while Entercom and iHeart each declined. Click here for the details.

The publicly traded "stub" of iHeartMedia stock fell again in Monday's trading. At the Closing Bell, it reached a new low on lighter-than-average trading volume. Pandora, SBS, and Salem also had difficult starts to the week on Wall Street.

Money down the drain? Perhaps that's the case for some investors, as a wide range of radio and TV companies each suffered big losses on Wall Street to end the week. Among the most significant drops were those for CBS Corp., Veritone, Discovery Networks, Entercom, and Viacom's Class B shares. What's to blame? Or, should the question be "who"?

It's been a rough 3 1/2 months on Wall Street for Nexstar. After climbing as high as $81.75 on January 15, the broadcast TV company's shares have stumbled. With Wednesday's finish, Nexstar has now effectively wiped out any growth in its share price seen since late November 2017.