Radio+Television Business Report

With Monday’s Closing Bell on the Nasdaq GlobalSelect exchange, Urban One’s common stock finished at $6.88.

While the gain was a 8.5% improvement from Friday, and was followed by an immediate 2.6% decline in early after-hours trading, one thing is rock solid about the company superserving African American consumers.

Urban One stock appears to have solidified a “new normal” nearly seven times as high as where its shares were before the coronavirus and George Floyd became universally known.

And, it comes on a report that it is teaming up for ownership of a $517 million casino resort in Richmond.

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From March 1985-March 1997, he worked at Urban WGCI-AM & FM in Chicago, rising from controller to GM of the storied stations targeting African Americans across the region.

Since August 2017, he’s been leading the E.W. Scripps Company-owned station branded as “FOX4” in Ft. Myers-Naples, Fla.

Starting March 8, he’ll be taking his talents a few miles to the east of South Beach, as he’s been named VP/GM of ViacomCBS‘s two broadcast TV properties serving Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the Florida Keys.

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With McDonald’s establishing itself as a category leader among QSRs using Spot Television, it would be easy to overlook some of the other noteworthy activity that’s emerging of late at Spot Television.

The biggest takeaways from the latest Spot Ten TV report from Media Monitors: big new campaign bursts for a dealer association, and for a compact SUV that’s popular with younger consumers.

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It may be headquartered in Boise, Idaho and led by Cyrus Heick, but the radio station owner Heick leads is Dave’s Broadcasting Co.

Dave’s is the licensee of a Class A FM stretching from the popular Portland, Ore.-accessible beach communities of Manzanita and Cannon Beach to Long Beach and Astoria — the city where The Goonies and Kindergarten Cop were filmed.

Soon, Dave’s will be saying goodbye to this FM, as Heick has signed off on its sale.

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The latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report shows that the brands that are committed to AM and FM for reaching consumers continue to dominate the scene.

At the same time, two new entrants are worth noting. It suggests the housing, and employment, markets are heating up.

At No. 7 for the week ending February 21 is ZipRecruiter.

And, now at No. 10 is AmeriSave Mortgage.

The gap between the two brands by play count isn’t that large, as Indeed gets a category competitor using spot radio.

Meanwhile, Progressive and Babbel continue to be the pacesetters among fully paid non-promotional campaigns tied to Media Monitors parent iHeartMedia.

Discovery Inc. shares soared by nearly 9% in mid-morning trading, as investors cheered a particularly strong Q4 2020 report from the media company that very much suggests consumers have flocked to its discovery+ OTT platform.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s been nearly five weeks since she was named Acting Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.

Now, a coalition of female Democratic House Members have formally written to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW to get Jessica Rosenworcel formally nominated to take the FCC‘s top post on a permanent basis.

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On Friday, Wall Street prognosticators provided their prediction on where DISH Network Corporation‘s fourth-quarter revenue would arrive at, once all of the computations were complete.

As the sun rose on the East Coast of the U.S. Monday, Colorado-based DISH — a company involved in a host of retransmission consent disputes that’s very intent on growing its 5G connectivity business — released its Q4 and FY 2020 results.

Revenue beat the street, putting DISH shares on the decline as the Opening Bell rang Tuesday.

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BOCA RATON, FLA. — Hidden in the middle of mid-Florida’s highlands region, just to the west of Sebring, is a blossoming vineyard welcoming those willing to experience Muscatine wines in a idyllic setting reminiscent of California.

On the lonely road to Secret Gardens, one passes a tower structure owned and managed by SBA Communications Corp.

Soon, this rural site will become one more dot on the nationwide map of 5G network access provided by Dish.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has increased funding to the five National Multicultural Alliance public media organizations – Black Public Media, the Center for Asian American Media, Latino Public Broadcasting, Pacific Islanders in Communications and Vision Maker Media.

How much will each organization receive annually?

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Dish Network on Monday morning, prior to the Opening Bell on Wall Street, will reveal its fourth quarter and full-year 2020 earnings results.

What can investors anticipate?

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A transaction that brings a small MVPD in Northwestern New Jersey into the Altice USA family prompted the owner of a regional news and information station born as WTZA-62 in Kingston, N.Y., to modify the station’s market to include all of the areas this cable TV services provider covered.

The FCC has just said yes to the unopposed petition.

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On December 21, 2020, Entercom Communications stock sat at $2.13, ending a push to $3 that stalled out earlier in the month.

Some believed this would signal a return to sub-$2 trading, seen from mid-June through October 2020.

The exact opposite happened. Entercom shares are up 190% since just two months ago.

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Up on Persimmon Knob in Alum Springs, Ky., sits the broadcast tower for a Class A FM recently reported as silent.

The radio station using this tower has just been handed to a new licensee, pending FCC approval. And, the buyer will take care of creditors’ bills — including the one for the tower lease.

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The cord-cutting movement is no longer just about saving money on cable versus streaming.

Subscription fees for streaming services continue to rise. At the same time, choices are multiplying.

Are cord cutters still saving money?

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The Region President for iHeartMedia‘s St. Louis; Des Moines; Cedar Rapids-Iowa City; Quad Cities; and Springfield, Mo. radio stations and associated digital assets is packing up and returning to Virginia’s Tidewater region.

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Now overseeing WOWI-FM, WNOH-FM, WMOV-FM and WHBT-FM in Norfolk is Derrick Martin, taking the position of Market President.

In this role, Martin will work closely with the programming, business and sales teams and oversee all of the station’s on-air and digital programming as well as create new revenue opportunities.

Martin reports to iHeartMedia Virginia Area President Chuck Peterson.

And, it’s a return to a region that includes Newport News and Virginia Beach for Martin. Prior to serving as the Region President for St. Louis, from 2013 to 2017, he served as the Market President for the Norfolk market.

“I am extremely excited to return to Norfolk to lead a great staff of employees and work with advertisers to grow their business while utilizing our company assets,” said Martin, who began his career at iHeartMedia in Memphis. “iHeartMedia Norfolk has a cluster of stations that are a fabric in the community, and I can’t wait to reconnect again.”

Peterson noted that he’s “excited to bring such a strong performer back to iHeartMedia Norfolk. The market performed exceptionally during Derrick’s previous tenure from 2013-2017, and I see a very bright future again with his return. He earned the trust and respect of our team and the Norfolk community, and I know they will give him a warm welcome back.”

Nick Gnau, Division President for iHeartMedia, added, “Derrick is a proven leader, especially during his time in Norfolk with deeps ties with our clients, the Norfolk community and our staff. I am extremely excited for Derrick to reconnect with the market and expand our community efforts, our revenue and ratings footprint.”

And the Acast team tells Podcast Business Journal it should be business as usual for podcasters that use RadioPublic to host their podcasts.

RadioPublic co-founders Chris Quamme Rhoden (CTO) and Matt MacDonald (Chief Product Officer) will join the Acast team.

Co-founder and CEO Jake Shapiro has joined Apple Podcasts as Head of Creator Partnerships.

RadioPublic was launched in Boston back in 2016 with backing from a range of institutional and strategic investors, including Project 11, The New York Times, TechNexus, Automattic, Bose, GBH, American Public Media, PRX, and the Knight Foundation.

Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson has signed a multi-year deal with Fox Nation for a new video podcast and a series of in-depth specials.

Along with the new Tucker Carlson Originals, he will continue to host his FNC weeknight program.

“This is my twelfth year at Fox News and I’ve never been more grateful to be here,” said Carlson.  As other media outlets fall silent or fall in line, Fox News Media’s management has redoubled its commitment to honesty and freedom of speech. I consider that heroic at a time like this.”

Carlson will release at least three new video podcast episodes a week beginning in April.

Global marketing firm WARC on Thursday released its latest Global Advertising Trends report, with the subject of “Next Generation TV.”

To be clear, it isn’t a review of ATSC 3.0 rollout worldwide. Rather, WARC offers an analysis of how viewing has evolved and how brands are reacting. Specifically, the study focuses on where ad dollars flowed in 2020.

To little surprise, streaming platforms are siphoning dollars, pounds, euros and more away from linear video opportunities.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The NAB has set the dates for two of its signature events, which will be held in conjunction with the 2021 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

The Radio Show, co-produced by NAB and the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), will be held October 13–14, 2021.

A spin-off event of the annual Sales and Management Television Exchange (SMTE) will take place October 8–9, 2021.

NAB Show programming begins October 9.

“We are excited to bring these popular events under the NAB Show umbrella in 2021, offering a unique experience that is both familiar and new at the most comprehensive convention of its kind,” NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith said.

Designed for television station-level managers and staff in small and medium markets, NAB’s SMTE explores innovative management and revenue-generating sales strategies to help stations increase their bottom line.

Registration for the Radio Show and SMTE will open in early summer.