Legacy

As RBR+TVBR continues its look back at 2017 and peek into what will make headlines in the next 12 months, we reviewed the total number of broadcast radio and TV transactions seen since January. Given all of the talk about what the FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai would do for the deal-making market, was 2017 a disappointment for brokers? Here's what Robert Heymann, Chicago-based Director for Media Services Group has to say about that.

D2D Technologies' D2Flex 5220 has arrived, bringing the next generation IP/ASI Multiplexing Gateway to market. It replaces the D2Mux 5020 with new capabilities for up to 8 independent output streams and Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) for public internet transmission of broadcast quality video.

The nation's two direct broadcast satellite service providers, in addition to vMVPD Fubo, conservative-leaning cable network Newsmax, and four public interest groups have written to Congressional leaders seeking multiple hearings on the future of competition in pay TV.

Fox Corporation has successfully defended itself in a patent suit filed in Delaware by a company that accused the owner of FOX Broadcasting Co. of patent infringement. At issue is a platform used within the company designed to optimize scheduling and the airing of National Football League games on its stations by regional selectivity.

Three veteran executives have earned promotions at Compass Media Networks in moves that will see the trio oversee the content creation, production, and distribution of the company’s play-by-play sports platform.

Gray Media will broadcast Super Bowl LIX using High Dynamic Range (HDR) on all of the company's FOX-affiliated television stations available via the ATSC 3.0-powered NEXTGEN TV digital broadcast standard.

For Cumulus Media, a look back at the three-month period ending June 30 yielded results that came in behind where the audio content creation and distribution company was a year ago. But, did the company led by CEO Mary Berner beat the Street? No, leading investors to sell "CMLS" shares.

Over half of U.S. consumers have expressed an interest in receiving features of a "NextGen Broadcast Emergency Information service." That's among the key findings from new research unveiled this week by the NextGen Video Information Systems Alliance (NVISA), sponsored by Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary ONE Media 3.0.

With Wednesday's Closing Bell on Wall Street, Sinclair Broadcast Group shares entered after-hours trading priced at $52.85. That's great, compared to where SBGI was prior to May 6, when news of its regional sports network plans became known.  But, since that news, Sinclair has been mired in the $50 range. 

What was the Spot Radio activity like for the AM and FM stations tracked by iHeartMedia-owned service Media Monitors going in to the Labor Day holiday weekend? Activity was quiet, with respect to much movement from the previous week, although there were two new entrants to the latest report for the week ending Sept. 4, 2022.

Ray's has been offering heat pump services to Salmon and Challis, Idaho since 1971. It's a family-owned operation, and always has been. Now, the Infangers are poised to add radio station ownership to their business portfolio.

The "first network dedicated to sports gambling information" has just announced its first terrestrial radio partnership. It's with a Class A AM radio station easily heard in seven states owned by a company with a big thirst for sports: Entercom.

It's been a busy week for Nielsen. On Monday, it revealed that it will “transform” the measurement of markets that are measured with the audio diary from a quarterly or two times a year view to year-round measurement with monthly reporting. Now, Nielsen has confirmed it is expanding its total audience measurement for local markets—a boost for TV.

In 1982, with a freshly minted B.S. in Accounting from the University of Iowa, Chuck Poduska took a job as an auditor at one of the first FOX affiliates to pop up in the U.S. He's risen through the ranks, and in November 2017 ascend to the role of VP/GM of a group of television stations in Kansas City owned by Meredith Corp. Now, Poduska is ready to retire.

One of the two stations in Nebraska's biggest market that John Hannon will lead is today operated via an LMA agreement between its owner and Sinclair Inc. This will soon change, as Sinclair is moving forward with buying the property outright, creating a duopoly.