Legacy

The Media Rating Council (MRC) has granted continued accreditation to Nielsen's Local People Meter (LPM) market service. At the same time, the MRC has given its approval to Set Meter measurement services in 19 of 31 U.S. markets where the Set Meter is in use.

It's official. From its May 1999 Initial Public Offering as Radio One until Wednesday, the multimedia company known today as Urban One had never seen its stock price so high. Then came Friday's Opening Bell, which saw yet another buying frenzy for a company that targets African Americans on what has become the biggest Juneteenth holiday ever observed.

The first of two virtual gatherings in lieu of an in-person Kagan Media Summit in New York saw three leading broadcast TV executives share details on the state of their respective businesses in a roundtable discussion hosted by S&P Global Market Intelligence Managing Director of Research Robin Flynn.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic brought live event disruption, the annual Kagan Media Summit was scheduled for Thursday, in New York. Now, the media research division at S&P Global Market Intelligence has finalized its plans to conduct the highly anticipated event virtually this year — via two complimentary webinars. The first one is tomorrow.

Townsquare Media CEO Bill Wilson rattled off an array of specific performance trends for the audio and digital ad solutions company during the now-traditional 8am Eastern earnings call for Wall Street analysts. The upshot? The first half of 2020 will go down as an ugly one, but Wilson says, "We believe that we have turned the corner, and the very worst is behind us."

In April, MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson wrote of "the strong linear television viewership trends in the time of coronavirus." Indeed, a material improvement in linear television viewership trends was noted by several observers on Wall Street and in media research houses. It appears the COVID-19 bump is over for cable television.

After more than 15 years within the Intraplex business unit at GatesAir, its Director and VP/GM is being promoted to a top engineering role for the entire radio and TV transmitter manufacturer. The change comes as Tony Kobrinetz is retiring following a career that includes 35 years with Motorola.

Who knew that broadcast TV's future could involve freeway traffic and entertaining vehicular occupants while speeding along on a city street? The Advanced Television Systems Committee has been exploring automotive use cases for the ATSC 3.0 standard, applications that include robust broadcast updates for telematics and navigation, and sensors for autonomous vehicles.

As technology advances, many TV organizations are looking to work smarter, set themselves apart and generate new revenue streams. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a way to do all three — but are organizations fully taking advantage of it?

By paying due attention to those items that require a long lead time, the parties to a transaction can help ensure that the closing takes place on the appointed date. That's a key takeaway in this classic Media Information Bureau column from attorney John M. Pelkey, which is still relevant today.

The Walt Disney Co.'s advanced advertising suite is expanding its offerings by bringing its Disney Media Networks program offerings to the Addressable TV beta test presently being conducted by Nielsen. With Disney's participation, its networks will gain the opportunity to test, evaluate and experience the Addressable TV platform ahead of its commercial launch.

While many radio broadcasting companies' stock prices remain a fraction of what they were valued at the start of 2020, there's one television broadcasting company that has swiftly climbed back to its pre-COVID 19 pandemic pricing. That would be the nation's biggest owner of over-the-air TV stations, founded by one Perry Sook.

"We are at a critical juncture in history," says RBR+TVBR Publisher Deborah Parenti. "I certainly don’t have the answers, but I do know we need to come together to heal America. We, as broadcasters, have a role to play in that. And finding solutions start with conversations." In this column, Parenti heralds Radio's importance as a voice of the African American community.

There were no new transactions posted on the FCC's database Tuesday morning. But, there were several Special Temporary Authority requests of note -- including one involving a Baltimore FM translator that has been working to eliminate interference with a co-channel FM translator, and an Entercom station in Kansas dealing with a lightning bolt to the transmitter.

We've just completed our concluding episode of the RBR+TVBR Coronavirus INFOCUS podcast, with a fresh "INFOCUS" podcast series set for June and beyond. Miss an episode? Every podcast we've distributed can easily be found HERE. Be sure to subscribe to our soon-to-evolve podcast by clicking HERE!