Radio+Television Business Report

NEW YORK — The VAB, which advocates for television industry sales growth initiatives, has moved forward with the launch of a Measurement Innovation Task Force.

This group, the VAB says, “formally mobilize a highly effective group of the top strategic minds in research, analytics and insights from TV publisher companies to accelerate the pace of overdue innovation in media measurement and currency.”

Already committing to the MITF: NBCUniversal and former Nielsen executive Kelly Abcarian. 

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In December 2020, TEGNA‘s Board of Directors authorized the renewal of its share repurchase program — a decision that allows the company to repurchase up to $300 million of its issued and outstanding common stock over the next three years.

On Thursday morning, the owner of broadcast TV stations, two digital multicast networks, a podcast network and Connected TV/OTT advertising platform Premion “updated” its repurchasing plans.

How so? It is accelerating the repurchase of shares, and it is “driven by accelerated achievement” of TEGNA’s leverage target.

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TEGNA-owned Quest, the 24/7 adventure and exploration digital multicast network, has launched an ad-supported free streaming service — a move that could widen its reach.

The streaming app offers on demand programming from a catalog of factual entertainment, science, history and engineering programs, and daring adventure-reality series.

The Quest app is available on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android and iOS.

Brian Weiss, VP of Entertainment Programming and Multicast Networks at TEGNA, says,  “Coupled with our prior launch of the True Crime Network streaming app, this launch furthers TEGNA’s commitment to providing outstanding ad-supported entertainment products to our viewers.”

Seriesavailable to stream include entertaining and informative fare, such as The Aviators, Scrap Kings, Mayday, Huge Moves, Monster Moves, Giant Lobster Hunters, Chasing Monsters and Aussie Gold Hunters. More series will be added in the coming months.

The app will also feature Farpoint Film’s Ice Vikings. For the second season premiering on Quest and streaming in October 2021, TEGNA will serve as a co-production partner. The Quest streaming app will also feature documentary originals such as WFAA’s award-winning VERIFY “Road Trip: Climate Truth” and more from TEGNA stations later this year.

Philip Falcone‘s re-emergence as the CEO of Sovryn Holdings, following his not-so-savory split with HC2 Holdings in June 2020, has captured headlines across 2021.

Under his leadership, HC2 was a buyer. Now, Sovryn is shaping up to be an acquisition player, too.

Falcone has just signed off on paperwork that will bring him a Big Apple low-power TV property.

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A veteran global news executive whose rise in television came in Australia has been appointed to the role of EVP/News Operations and Transformation, CBS News and Stations.

He’ll report to CBS News and Stations Presidents and Co-Heads Wendy McMahon and Neeraj Khemlani in a newly created senior leadership role, in which he will be responsible for “reimagining and aligning” the News Operations and Engineering functions across CBS News and Stations.

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That’s a question financial blog Simply Wall St. is asking about the audio media company that’s home to Cadence13, Pineapple Street and what had been the Radio.com app until its rebranding to Audacy.

With the company’s shares on the NYSE sputtering of late, it’s an interesting look at “who really controls” the company formerly known as Entercom.

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Ivis Alexis Padilla believes in the power of Hispanic radio. As such, the media company she manages has just struck a deal to purchase an AM radio station in Durham, N.C.

It happens to be a station the Winston Salem-based broadcasting company led by Stuart Epperson Jr. acquired in December 2020 from Mark Janbakhsh‘s TBLC Media.

It’s the best Hispanic Radio Conference ever, and you won’t want to miss a minute of it.

To learn more, simply click here.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau have a reminder for all full power and Class A TV stations assigned transition completion dates in phases 1-5 of the Transition Scheduling Plan, and for repacked stations that were granted permission to transition prior to the phase 1 testing period.

If you want a reimbursement check, don’t hesitate.

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Why are you not you using a green screen when you Zoom? Public relations veteran Rosemary Ravinal recently conducted an informal poll on LinkedIn and was surprised at the findings. What did she learn? More than 80% of respondents do not use a green screen with a virtual background. “That was disappointing, but not surprising,” she says in this column.

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Quietly, and with hardly any media attention whatsoever, the FCC late Friday (9/3) released its Fifth Report on the ownership of broadcast media stations in the U.S.

It tabulates 2019 biennial ownership data from FCC Form 323 and form 323-E, and the latest findings led Democratic FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks to react. In his view, the data only strengthen the need for action on the “lack of progress” toward increasing the number of owners who are women and/or people of color.

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The E.W. Scripps Company has named two industry leaders to oversee programming and news standards for the Scripps Networks news division.

Both individuals report to Kate O’Brian, head of the news group for Scripps Networks.

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In May 2020, he was named VP of Broadcast Operations at RNN, the over-the-air news and information network based in the New York Tri-State area, born out of the former WTZA-62 in Kingston, N.Y.

Now, this individual with experience at a L.A. UHF station and, before that, at a Tribune property in Portland, Ore., is joining Sinclair Broadcast Group.

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Licensed to the municipality of Egypt Lake, Fla., is a Class B AM with 2,800 watts from 2 towers when the sun is up and 800 watts from 3 towers after dark. It serves the entire Tampa-St. Petersburg region, minus Polk County.

Giving it a boost in central Hillsborough County is an FM translator at 101.9 MHz.

Both have been sold by Neal Ardman‘s NIA Broadcasting. 

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With a Class A signal blanketing a one-time Spring Break destination that remains a popular winter burg, one blasted by Hurricane Michael in 2018, Horizon Broadcasting  serves Panama City Beach, Fla., with sports talk programming supplied by ESPN Radio.

The affiliation has been in place since late June 2017. Now, it is being solidified as a LMA-to-buy opportunity is being executed more than four years later.

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While Philip Falcone‘s Sovryn Holdings snaps up a New York City LPTV property from Charles Wong, he’s also signing off on a deal involving one of several “special” low-power facilities being sold by Mako Communications — a low-power CP that doesn’t need to be built until 2023.

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What are some of the biggest brands using spot television and spot cable to best connect with consumers, and grow their sales? The latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Reports are out for the week ending September 5.

What categories and products are leading the way with viewers?

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The Media Bureau of the FCC has opened a Docket that serves as an intelligence gathering mechanism for determining just how accessible children’s educational and informational programming is.

It could set off protests among the Republican Commissioners at the FCC, who during the Pai Commission stated that commercially licensed broadcast TV stations need not adhere to rules requiring it to air programming during certain hours of the week due to the “abundance” of other sources available to Americans.

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A 1,000-watt daytime-only AM radio station could be on the hook for a financial penalty for being delinquent with its FCC license renewal application.

It’s just the latest Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture handed out to a radio station that was tardy.

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By Rob Dumke and Adam Jacobson

A battle is brewing among broadcasters with respect to how the FCC should move forward with its media ownership rules. Late last week, the NAB and a coalition of nine broadcast media companies including Townsquare Media each submitted comments to the Commission reiterating their calls for a loosening of the “subcaps” pertaining to AM and FM radio station ownership in a given market.

If it were up to the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB), zero amendments should be made as part of the FCC’s 2018 Quadrennial Review of its broadcast ownership rules.

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By Rob Dumke

Eight former FCC Chairman and the first woman to serve as Acting FCC Chairs have joined the growing list of supporters who advocate for the reinstatement of a federal tax certificate program.

The legislative efforts are designed to encourage investment in Radio and TV station ownership by women and minorities.

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