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As anticipated, the radio industry took "a very big hit "in 2020 due to the pandemic and subsequent cutbacks in overall spending activity. Over-the-air advertising revenues dropped to $9.7 billion, a 23.6 percent decline from $12.8 billion in 2019. That's according to the first quarter edition of BIA Advisory Services’ 2021 Investing In Radio Market Report.

No, Tony Stark has nothing to do with it. But, it could prevent a super new way for audio media purveyors to profit from what AI experts at Veritone are calling "hyper-realistic synthetic voices."

RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson connects with radio industry veteran Jay Meyers to discuss the state of the industry today from the eyes of a former PD, ex-Clear Channel and Jacor executive, radio group CEO and now broker. It's all here in this fresh InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.fm. LISTEN HERE

The largest African-American owned media company superserving Black consumers across the U.S. has released its first quarter earnings report. And, like many media companies, the first three months of 2021 weren't so rosy. That set, the seeds for a strong pandemic recovery have been planted ... and the digital dollar tree is blossoming. 

The man who largely funded one of Great Britain's biggest commercial radio broadcasting companies, through his Covington & Burley attorneys, has filed comments with the FCC seeking advanced approval of 49.99% non-voting ownership of iHeartMedia.

Nielsen has responded to the Media Rating Council's news regarding a confirmed understatement by as much as 6% of the Total Usage of Television (TUT) by Persons 18-49 during the ratings measurement company's February 2021 measurement period. In short, Nielsen says that pandemic measures led to "some understatement of audience estimates."

It's an upsized debt offering from a company pivoting from direct broadcast satellite-delivered cable TV services to a major 5G wireless internet connectivity conveyor. DISH Network has priced an offering of an aggregate principal amount of its Senior Notes due 2029. It is higher than what DISH thought it would be when it announced the offering.

Efforts by Standard General head Soo Kim to gain influence at TEGNA have been thwarted, twice, as shareholders overwhelmingly rejected his 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.

Radio is very much an integral -- and important -- revenue source for Townsquare Media. 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.

The E.W. Scripps Co. is a transformed company from a year ago, thanks to the sale of Triton and purchase of ION Media, coupled with a surge in viewers during Q1 of its Court TV digital multicast network. All helped Scripps in meeting or exceeding its first quarter guidance "by every measure," President/CEO Adam Symson said.

Now Audacy, the Philadelphia-based company formerly known as Entercom 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: revenue missed Wall Street estimates, while its earnings per share fell short of expectations too.

Entravision Communications, 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. The digital revenue is now on fire, and the Cisneros Interactive purchase is the key catalyst for the balance in revenue power.

The nation's top audio media company and No. 1 licensee of radio stations released its first quarter 2021 earnings just after Thursday's Closing Bell on Wall Street. What did iHeartMedia have to share, ahead of its earnings call for analysts and investors? Adjusted EBITDA in Q1 2021 declined by $38 million. That's better than what was predicted.

Thursday's release of ViacomCBS's Q1 2021 results illustrate just how correct of a decision to put the Viacom C-Suite in control of the reunified company. Streaming revenue is on fire, and that was a key catalyst for the company during the first three months of 2021.

"New growth from new solutions." "A new culture, driven by a growth mindset." "A compelling financial model." Those are the key highlights provided in a sleek earnings presentation put together by Nielsen, as it released its first-quarter 2021 results. How did it do? Revenue was up, but did Nielsen beat Wall Street estimates?