Broadcasting Stocks

Concerns about higher capital gains taxes, courtesy of President Biden, fueled a sharp decrease in general indices on Wall Street. Did the Thursday dips include media stocks?

Despite a late-session rally, Audacy shares declined for the second-straight session, putting new scrutiny on a glowing seal of approval on the company formerly known as Entercom from a key Wall Street investor blog.

On April 9, the media company known for more than 50 years as Entercom Communications officially changed its ticker symbol to "AUD" to reflect its new corporate identity, Audacy. On Tuesday, trading in AUD hit a fresh post-rebranding low, bringing it to its lowest price since the first day of March.

The E.W. Scripps Co. will redeem the notes at a redemption price equal to ‎102.563%‎ of the aggregate principal amount of the outstanding notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest to (but not including) the redemption date.

Media companies were largely on the decline in Monday's trading, as Audacy was down 32 cents and Cumulus Media shed 30 cents. For two of broadcast TV's biggest players, Wall Street green was seen.

The first full week of April 2021 ended with up-and-down activity across the broadcast media landscape, as Audacy enjoyed its first day with a new ticker symbol by gaining ground.  For companies such as ViacomCBS however, the pain for short-term investors continues.

U.S. financial markets finished Wednesday's trading session on a mixed note, with the Dow Industrials rising 16.02 to 33,426.26 and the Nasdaq dipping 9.54 points to 13,688.84. While companies such as Scripps were in the green, TEGNA was down after a fresh five-year high. Also down: several radio broadcasting companies.

Standard General and its leader, Soohyung Kim, may be intent on grabbing greater influence in the broadcast TV company it has invested in. But, its latest attempt to woo over shareholders may fall on deaf ears. Why? TEGNA stock finished upward again on Tuesday, bringing it to its highest point in five years.

In Q4 2016, Viacom agreed to purchase Telefe, a major Argentine TV operation, for $345 million. Now, the company that is today ViacomCBS is crossing the Andes to purchase a WarnerMedia asset.

The first day of the second quarter of 2021 started out on a highly positive note for radio and TV stocks. Only one of the companies RBR+TVBR regularly tracks was down. That's more sour news for that lone decliner: ViacomCBS.

Mark Tuesday, May 4 on your calendars. That's when the biggest broadcast TV station owner in the U.S. releases its first-quarter 2021 results.

With a whole new C-Suite led by CEO Wade Davis, Univision Communications is on a reinvigorated path to growth, as demonstrated by the company's March 24 get-to-know-you "pre-Upfront" presentation for marketers and advertisers. Before it can progress forward with new momentum, Univision must look at its Q4 performance under its former leadership.

The last Friday of the first quarter of 2021 wasn't a pretty one for media issues on Wall Street. That said, one radio broadcasting company is swimming against the red tide. On Friday, its shares were on the rise.

Investor’s Business Daily (IBD), which operates the Investors.com website, was founded by William J. O’Neil in 1984. Today, digital represents more than 90% of IBD’s revenues and subscriptions.

With some Wall Street watchers newly concerned that streaming revenue and subscriber growth may be lagging, Discovery Inc. stock on Wednesday was swept up in a wave of downward activity on Wall Street.