Rich Bressler: iHeartMedia ‘A National Leader’ In Media
While the attention of media industry observers and influential Wall Street analysts has arguably been focused on the fiscal situation at Cumulus Media and the soon-to-be-completed Reverse Morris Trust-fueled merger of CBS Radio with Entercom, the nation's No. 1 owner of radio stations has something it'd like to say: It's not only a radio leader, but also a media leader. Those are the words of iHeartMedia COO/CFO Rich Bressler, who used his company's Q3 earnings call to plug his company's reach.
Slow Growth For Saga In Its First TV-Free Quarter
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly interpreted Saga Communications' Q3 2017 net income from continuing operations. We apologize for the misunderstanding. The revised article can be accessed here, with full details on how Saga's net income soared while achieving net revenue growth of 1.3%.
SBS Stock Sinks, Salem Suffers In Q3
On a day that saw Cumulus Media stabilize with a much-needed gain, the radio industry needed a positive story to share with investors. Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) couldn't oblige, as its stock not controlled by Raúl Alarcón Jr. sank 10.1%, to 62 cents, in Tuesday's trading. We've also got a look at Salem Media Group's Q3 earnings just before our deadline. They weren't great.
Walmart’s Journey To Transform Its Partners, Programs and People
Tony Rogers is a white guy, raised in Texas in the 1970s and 1980s. He's a son, brother, husband, and uncle. He's also a master of attracting multicultural consumers, as SVP/CMO for Walmart. Rogers could also be you, and all it takes is moving on a path that combines both a rational and emotional perspective on consumer attraction — it's a route that uses the name of a popular band at many a radio station today: The Head and the Heart.
Tough Olympics Comps Only Part Of TV’s Woeful Q3
Don't think for a minute that a lack of Olympics-related programming, and the dollars that go with it, are single-handedly responsible for the year-over-year comparison when looking at how TV performed in Q3 2017. There's more to the story, the Standard Media Index Q3 report released Monday afternoon suggests.
What Broadcast Media Can Learn From Multicultural Marketers
Picture this: You are the steward of a 70-year-old brand. This brand's success is bigger than ever, with a more than 40% market share. No, we're not talking about a big News/Talk radio station on the AM dial. But, we should be, based on what was delivered Monday morning in a powerful Keynote Address at the ANA Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference from P&G Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard.
Nexstar’s Big Surge In Q3 … Even With A Political Drop
Nexstar Media Group certainly enjoyed a strong Q3 thanks to its newly forged synergies from the closing of its Media General acquisition and integration of those stations into its operations. But, like Gray Television, strong growth came against talk of advertising woes and tough political comps.
Gray Grows In Q3 Against Tough Political Comps
If one were to ask how a company could withstand an 82% drop in political dollars yet still show a profit in Q3, all they would need to do is review the financial results released Monday morning by Gray Television. The owner-operator of 100+ TV stations across the U.S. met its profit forecasts in strong fashion.
Pai In Puerto Rico For Recovery Review Trip
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai just got a first-hand look at the slow recovery facing Puerto Rico up-close and in person. Pai met with government and industry officials to assess the status of recovery efforts and consult on next steps that the FCC should take to assist in the restoration of communications networks. He's now on his way back to Washington.
Ocean Station Trust Sees Transfer Of Three iHeart Properties
On Nov. 1, the radio broadcasting industry's speculation over who would be getting Entercom spin-offs, as required by the company to receive Department of Justice approval of its CBS Radio merger, came to an end. The nation's No. 1 broadcast company, iHeartMedia, is gaining some big AMs and FMs via an asset exchange with Entercom. In order to do that, iHeart has created a divestiture trust that sees the shift of two FMs in the Seattle market and one AM serving Boston sail away into the "Ocean."
Digital Growth, Incentive Auction Payout Power Entravision
Entravision Communications enjoyed a stunning Q3, based on a top-line look of its earnings results. This is primarily thanks to millions of dollars in revenue tied to the media company's participation in Auction 1000 — the FCC's spectrum auction. If not for that, Entravision's growth story lies in digital, which eclipsed the company's radio division for the first time on the revenue front.
CBS Q3: ‘Below Expectations … But Decent Profitability’
That's the key takeaway on CBS Corp.'s Q3 earnings results, released just after the Closing Bell on Wall Street Thursday, from prolific Wall Street financial analyst Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research Group. While CBS's revenue climbed to $3.17 billion, from $3.08 billion, the Local Media segment lagged. That's CBS Television O&Os and the company's digital assets. Meanwhile, net earnings for Q3 climbed ... but adjusted net earnings decreased by 4% when factoring in CBS Radio. Here's what Wieser, the Senior Research Analyst of Advertising at Pivotal, has to say about the quarter -- the company's last to feature CBS Radio as part of its results.
NAB Gives Thumbs-Up To GOP Tax Reform Plan
Forget Entercom and Cumulus Media -- the biggest headlines of the day came right from Capitol Hill, as top House Republicans including Rep. Paul Ryan introduced legislation that would greatly change the U.S. tax code. The changes could effect every business, or household, and there's already chatter about caps to mortgage-interest deductions, bushwhacking to the corporate tax rate, and shrinking the seven tax brackets for families and individuals to four. What it will do for broadcast media, and the ability to fully deduct business advertising expenses, got the NAB's seal of approval.
David Field and Entercom: Excited For The Future
For the first time in a long time, Entercom CEO David Field and CFO Richard Schmaeling entertained several questions from members of the Wall Street investment community at the end of an earnings call. Among those making queries: Marci Ryvicker of Wells Fargo Securities. She wanted to know the math behind Entercom's "surprising" cost synergies number. Field and Schmaeling acquiesced while also taking a question regarding the future of Sports WFAN-AM 660 in New York and its big morning show opening.
Radio Drags On Debt-Killing Univision In Q3
Univision publicly distributes its quarterly earnings results, and on Thursday the company saw its total core revenue grow by 3.9%. But, Univision achieved this through that all-important "non-advertising revenue" -- a.k.a. retransmission consent fees. Advertising revenue slipped by 1%, and by double-digits when looking exclusively at Univision Radio.














