Intelligence Briefs

In this guest Media Information Bureau column, Fincons Group executives Greg Jarvis and U.K.-based Oliver Botti discuss how traditional broadcast TV and OTT each have significant strengths, but have "limitless" opportunities when combined.

Many sellers underestimate how much they will need post-exit and overestimate the company’s value. In this third Deal Killers Podcast, Community Broadcasters COO Bruce Mittman, President/CEO Jim Leven and Controller Peter Henderson share their thoughts on the important topic of "unclear post-closing goals." It's another RBR+TVBR member exclusive!

Patrick Communications Managing Partner Larry Patrick is in the news today for his brokerage firm's representation of the buyer of a trio of radio stations from Alpha Media. As that deal was being finalized, Patrick took a moment while at his part-time Wyoming home prior to a trip to Washington, D.C., to collect his thoughts on a radio industry combatant many not often thing of. Could you be a guilty party?

Media Information Bureau featured columnist Ken Benner is back with another great column designed to prevent your station's accounts payable department from writing a hefty check to the U.S. Treasury or FCC in response to a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture. 

After several years of silence — at least that’s what it seemed like from the outside — FCC economists again have a voice, says a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. In this column, Mark Jamison argues that the communications industry will benefit from this return of economic voices.

It was early in 2010 when a husband and wife ownership team thought it would be a good idea to commemorate people they had worked with for many years. The Peels handed master control for what is today KTVH-12 in Helena, Mont., in the 1960s. Their idea was discussed with many. Today, we recall their legacy.

Internet-delivered audio, defined as listening to audio "pure-plays" such as Pandora or Spotify; listening to radio station streams and SiriusXM's digital streams; podcasts; or music from YouTube has unquestionably risen in the last five years. Just how dramatic is this rise?

Our editor-in-chief believes there's a big opportunity for Radio to significantly boost its ad revenue while gaining ground against local digital media's ad revenue conquest. It involves WPP and one of the world's biggest advertisers, by dollars allocated to all kinds of media.

Featured columnist and "Mock" inspection pro Ken Benner will never forget the third station he was assigned to inspect under the ABIP program. The situation was so bad that it became the genesis for the “Authorization and Indemnification for Conducting Alternative FCC Inspections."

TV news coverage of political events is some of the most watched programming in the U.S. In fact, viewership of news events related to political topics rivals even the most popular sporting events. That's one key insight from a new VAB report, which examines the appetite for news and the corresponding rise in ad spending.

For their Alternative FCC Compliance Inspection tours, hundreds of Radio and TV Public Inspection Files have been prepped, from scratch, by Ken Benner and his wife, Karen —potentially saving millions of dollars in fines and legal expenses for broadcast licensees. In her honor, Ken shares a published newspaper column he wrote back in June of 1988 that contains great advice for 2020.

Could there be some "silver linings" regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to business closures and layoffs across multiple industries? Guest columnists William Nye and Kaleigh Drew say yes, and offer suggestions on what small businesses may wish to do today to grow their business. Radio and TV GSMs may wish to take note.

The food and dining industry was adversely impacted by the effects of COVID-19. Yet, many brands in the QSR, casual dining, delivery and pizza industries are finding ways to advertise through it. This has seen some brands evolve their business models accordingly. A new iSpot report of the first half 2020 finds which brands are finding more impressions on TV than last year.

Much has been said about Section 230, with Democrats and Republicans taking differing positions on a topic that's about as divisive as reproductive rights for women. Now, non-partisan technology think tank Tech Freedom has chimed in on what it believes the role of Section 230 should be.

A new report from Pivotal Research Group Senior Research Analyst of Internet and Media Michael Levine notes that, while impressive, the Q4 2020 results Facebook shared pale in comparison to something even more eye-popping. That would be Facebook's first-half revenue projections for 2021.