Is there a recipe for that “secret sauce” that enables some independent and local radio and television broadcasting companies to be competitive, successful, and innovative in an ever-changing media environment?
Forecast 2024 attendees will get the first-hand details as to what goes into the cookbook that has given life to a variety of linear media companies deserving of national attention.
For independent and small broadcast groups, “local” is more than a buzzword: It’s how they operate. These television and radio broadcasters serve their neighbors with news, information, and entertainment every day of the year. To help share the story of local success stories in radio and TV, 12-year Colorado Broadcasters Association President/CEO Justin Sasso will moderate a Forecast 2024 panel discussion aptly titled, “Main Street Media: Where Local Broadcast Survives & Thrives.”
Now in its 21st year, Forecast is broadcast media’s most prestigious leadership conference. Joining Sasso for the discussion are the following leaders:
- Vincent Benedetto — Founder, President, and CEO of Bold Gold Media Group, which owns and operates 14 full-power radio stations and 25 broadcast frequencies throughout Pennsylvania and New York. He is the current Chairman of the Board of the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters and serves on the RAB’s Sales Advisory Committee.
- Vince Bodiford — CEO and Head of Media for Bridge Media Network. Based in Farmington Hills, Mich., and Cheyenne, Wyo., Bodiford has more than 35 years of experience in media and marketing. He has owned media outlets in Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, and has held leadership roles with Cabela’s, Gannett Co., CommunityMedia Corp.,and GateHouse Media.
- Melody Spann Cooper — Chair and CEO of Midway Broadcasting Corporation, Chicago’s only Black- and female-owned broadcasting company. Its flagship station, WVON, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The company’s assets also include a Spanish-language station, WRLL, and an OTT digital streaming network, VONtv.
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Brian Lilly — CEO of Lilly Broadcasting and SJL Broadcasting, operating television and radio affiliates in New York’s Twin Tiers; Erie, Pa.; Michigan, and the U.S. Caribbean territories. Brian is part of a family business: His brother Kevin is company president, and their father, George, founded the company in 1983.
