Legacy

A Texas Radio Hall of Fame inductee known for bringing KHFI-FM's long-running Top 40 format to life in Austin and for running one of America's legendary R&B stations in Houston has died. Dick Oppenheimer, who owned nine radio stations across three states in the mid-1980s and more recently headed the Austin-based REO Radio Group, died suddenly on Wednesday (3/21). His funeral is planned for Friday (3/23), son Michael Oppenheimer, Local Area Director for Comcast Spotlight in Washington, D.C., tells RBR+TVBR.

With the promotion of Klarn DePalma to EVP of MNI Targeted Media, Meredith Corp. has promoted its 12-year News Director at its CBS affiliate serving the Constitution State to the role of VP/GM.

Has iHeartMedia staged a surreptitious "fraudulent and otherwise wrongful" plan to shrink the dollars they believe are owed to them? That what the company's legacy noteholders claim is the biggest problem with the media company's Chapter 11 restructuring plan it has submitted to a Texas bankruptcy court, and on Wednesday moved forward with an adversary proceeding in the case.

The enterprise-class SaaS technology company that happens to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexstar Digital has just named its new SVP the Head of this entity. Taking the dual roles at LAKANA LLC is Karen Brophy.

Seven U.S. radio broadcasting industry companies are owed several millions of dollars from iHeartMedia. Much of it is "trade payable," but there's one company that sticks out from the others in regard to the cash it hopes to collect from the nation's top radio station operator. That would be Nielsen.

A Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and reorganization plan isn't exactly grim news for the company widely known for its iHeartRadio App, its just-concluded iHeartRadio Music Awards and an array of superstar talent including Ryan Seacrest, Elvis Duran, and Bobby Bones. In fact, iHeart Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman praised the moves as necessary for a "highly successful operating business" to get fiscally fit.

After being called out by Entercom in the company's Q4 and full-year 2017 earnings call for nonpayment of services, leading to a $4 million write-down of revenues, United States Traffic Network (USTN) has completed a management-led buyout of the company. The buyout was spearheaded by its President.

In the Hawaiian islands, KWHE-14 in Honolulu is known for its "ohana" television offerings. Found on Oceanic Spectrum and Hawaiian Telecom systems across the state, KWHE is known for its mix of classic syndicated family-oriented sitcoms and a slate of religious and ministry programming, including The Dr. Sumrall Teaching Series. Could changes be on the way for KWHE? No. But, there may be some changes at a simulcast partner based on the island of Maui, which is being sold by KWHE's parent.

Larry Strumwasser has been named GM of the NBC, The CW Network, MyTV Network and Estrella TV affiliates serving Southern Nevada. He joins this big TV broadcasting company's Las Vegas stations after previously serving as a GM in Milwaukee.

Of all the questions Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner is frequently asked, there's one in particular he finds particularly vexing: "What is your problem with the FCC?" Benner has no complaints about the Commission, he explains in this latest column. Rather, he's less than pleased with parties external to the Commission that have made lives a bit more difficult for broadcasters — and their bank account balances needlessly smaller. He's particularly frustrated over the FCC's public files rules.

A Malvern, Pa.-based company that connects businesses with on-air, online and on-the-go traffic technology and provides local content, traffic information, advertising, and interactive marketplace solutions to media partners and businesses nationwide played a key role in Entercom's dip. This revelation came in a detailed account of what happened to the company in Q4 2017. "Lackluster" leadership at the former CBS Radio was also a factor, Entercom head David Field said.

Pivotal Research Group Senior Research Analyst for Advertising Brian Wieser has penned a report following his firm's review of weekly national TV viewing trends for both news and sports, based on live+same-day viewing data through the ninth week of 2018. The two genres together accounted for some 23% of all national TV viewing during 2017. But, they're not in sync with their growth.

The Hispanic Radio Conference is March 13-14 in Miami at the Intercontinental at Doral. If you haven’t committed to be part of a historic event yet, or haven't added your voice yet to the Hispanic radio chorus, there is still time to join forces with Hispanic radio broadcasters from across the country who will come together to discuss, debate, and direct the future of Hispanic radio.

Data-driven media marketing, programming and content intelligence provider NuVoodoo Media Services certainly thinks so. Its latest NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study reveals a sharp rise in smart speaker ownership since August 2017. What does this mean for AM and FM stations with streaming audio? NuVoodoo found that 48% of likely PPM participants now own a smart speaker.

In a 22-page submission made Monday (3/5) to the FCC, the American Cable Association (ACA) submitted Reply Comments in the FCC's docket on the Electronic Delivery of MVPD Communications by asking the Commission to adopt its proposal to permit cable operators to deliver all Subpart T subscriber notices and privacy notices to a verified e-mail address, subject to certain consumer safeguards, and to allow all such notices to be sent on an “opt-out” basis.