Radio+Television Business Report

Since May 2019, she has served as Executive Producer of “Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren.”

Now, she has been promoted to VP/GM of the Washington, D.C., operations for Gray Television.

Taking the role is Lisa Allen. This will see her manage the various elements that comprise Gray’s operations on Capitol Hill and ensure their close integration with other newsrooms and resources across the company.

Gray’s Washington operations include the following:

• The Washington, D.C. News Bureau that serves local newsrooms in all of Gray’s
  markets, headed by Bureau Chief Jacqueline Policastro
• Legal and political analysis for individual stations by Greta Van Susteren
• Political reporting led by White House Correspondent and Senior National Editor
  Jon Decker
• The Washington-based team of investigative journalists under Gray Television Vice
  President of Investigation Lee Zurik

Gray Television SVP/Local Media Sandy Breland commented, “Our Washington operations are expanding to serve our growing company’s reach, making it necessary for a strong
local leader who understands both our challenges and our strengths. We are thrilled to promote Lisa to this new role, as she will ensure that we continue to provide our stations and our audiences with the highest possible level of unique, quality journalism from the Nation’s Capital while also accelerating collaborative political content partnerships involving Gray’s D.C. Team.”

Prior to joining Gray, Lisa was a Supervising Producer for Scripps-owned Newsy, based in Chicago.

When it came time for broadcast media analysts to ask questions during The E.W. Scripps Co.‘s fourth quarter earnings call, two clear focal points quickly became clear. What are the dynamics surrounding retransmission consent revenue, given all of the money being put into the “streaming wars”? And, what’s the long-term revenue model for ATSC 3.0?

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It’s known as a home for “Middle Georgia Gospel” programming, and serves as an FM translator tied to a Class D AM licensed to Perry, Ga.

Now, the owner of that AM has secured the FM translator by converting a lease to an outright purchase.

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It has 27 watts of power and serves the municipality of Marion, Ohio, one hour north of Columbus and home to the presidential home of Warren G. Harding.

And, it could be stripped of its license, as the FCC’s Media Bureau has designated for hearing its license renewal application. Why? Those in charge of this low-power FM may have lied with respect to its board members.

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The Board of Directors of Gray Television has authorized a quarterly cash dividend of its common stock and Class A common stock.

The reward to shareholders comes as GTN, traded on the NYSE, is at the top end of its historical price chart — a good sign for the company led by Hilton Howell Jr. and Pat LaPlatney.

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As a benefit to investors and analysts, Gray Television offered a look at its net income and Broadcast Cash Flow on a year-over-year-over-year basis, with comparisons to Q4 2019 and Q4 2020 offered in its fourth quarter 2021 fiscal report card.

How did Gray do? Net income was down, while BCF was ever-so-slightly under what the 2019 level was.

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Mark 10am on Thursday, March 3, on your calendar. That’s when the Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by State of Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell, will convene an executive session that puts to vote the presidential nominations of nine individuals.

Among them: Gigi B. Sohn, the controversial selection by the Biden administration to fill the fifth Commissioner’s seat at the FCC.

A vote on Sohn’s nomination is third of the nine on the agenda, with the first vote for Arun Venkataraman, to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service.

Other votes are for nominees to serve in roles at the Department of Transportation, Department of Commerce, and the CPSC. Also up for a vote: the nomination of Alvaro Bedoya to be a Federal Trade Commission Commissioner.

As of today, Sohn’s nomination remains highly contentious. And, her path to the FCC could come down to Sen. Ben Ray Luján, who is recovering from a stroke. The New Mexico Democrat is said to be the deciding vote, one that would seat Sohn.

Then, there’s chatter Inside the Beltway that Ranking Member Roger Wicker and other Republicans, likely to include Ted Cruz, would “boycott” a vote on Sohn based on how she answered their follow-up questions. Republicans are extremely concerned about Sohn’s ties to now-shuttered “OTA via IP” television service Locast, and of her tweets that called Fox News a form of state-sponsored propaganda during the Trump administration.

Sohn is also a supporter of “net neutrality,” fueling concerns among Democrats that the GOP is “blocking” Sohn, despite Wicker’s testimony at a second nomination hearing that this was not the case.

While the opposition to Sohn is vocal, she does have an ally in Christopher Ruddy, as the head of conservative cable TV news operation Newsmax has come out in support of Sohn for her commitment to diversity, something Newsmax can benefit from as it further seeks to grow against established news and political opinion-focused cable giant FOX News.

With very tough year-over-year comps due to strong political advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2020, broadcast television industry performance in Q4 2021 can’t be judged by solely the topline numbers being reported.

That’s why the 8.1% rise in core advertising revenue in the final three months of 2021 at The E.W. Scripps Co. is particularly noteworthy, and encouraging.

Nevertheless, Scripps’ EPS for the quarter fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

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With a winter weather advisory in effect for Manhattan, Wall Street is bracing for sleet and a little snow. For investors, that was nothing compared to the pre-market slide for stocks.

Then came an afternoon address from President Biden on how the U.S. will react to Russia’s incursion into Ukrainian territory early Thursday. Investors reacted positively.

In fact, the Dow Industrials posted a 92.07-point gain, to 33,223.83 and the Nasdaq was up 436.10 to 13,473.58. The gains on Wall Street came after the FTSE in London dipped by 3.9%.

Among TV broadcast companies gaining ground when all was said and done is Sinclair Broadcast Group, up 55 cents to $26.33. Also up: The E.W. Scripps Co., rising 55 cents to $22.06; Nexstar, which gained $1.57 to $171.09; and Paramount, up 65 cents to $29.05.

Radio companies moving ahead include Audacy Corp., which continued its rebound with a 25-cent jump to $2.74; and iHeartMedia, which gained $0.90 to end the day at $19.98.

Meanwhile, Apple, which in pre-market trading was in the $152 range, finished the day at $161.83.

Of the radio broadcasting companies reporting Q4 2021 earnings results, thus far all have shown year-over-year growth, even when factoring in political ad dollars in the final three months of 2020.

The opposite was seen in the last quarter of 2021 for Xperi, as the company moved to a net loss from net income one year earlier.

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PQ Media has released its ninth annual Global Consumer Spending on Media Forecast.

The latest edition, which covers trends for 2021-2025, takes a deep dive on digital and traditional media content and technology with respect to consumer spending.

What are the key takeaways from this study?

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With majority shareholder Apollo Global Management teaming with Soo Kim-led Standard General in acquiring a majority stake in TEGNA, the Cox Media Group stable will see the addition of several TEGNA stations in Texas via license transfers.

It is now known that CMG’s roster of stations is about to expand even further, and it is thanks to a deal that sees Frank Higney of Kalil & Co. serve as the broker.

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The In-Real-Life advertising economy. It’s a real thing, and it is expected to reach some $44.4 billion in 2022, newly released data from WARC show.

Here’s the rub: It’s still down from pre-COVID levels, although a full recovery is likely imminent.

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As 2021 came to a close, Gray Television executed an agreement to purchase five Construction Permits from the original CEO of DTV America. 

The transaction, which sees Bob Heymann of the Chicago office of Media Services Group served as the exclusive broker, representing DTV America, has just closed.

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“2021 was a pivotal year for Cumulus, a year of significant progress and accomplishment.”

Since emerging from voluntary Chapter 11 restructuring in 2018, CEO Mary Berner has put a focus on two key objectives: A sustainable growth trajectory, and “right-sizing the balance sheet to maximize financial flexibility to grow shareholder value.”

Indeed, net leverage deduction, along with further spot and network ad revenue recovery from COVID-19 slowdowns, is Cumulus’ Q4 2021 story. In this special InFOCUS Podcast, we offer audio highlights from the company’s late afternoon earnings call on February 23, which also features CFO Frank López-Balboa and questions from key Wall Street analysts who cover Cumulus Media.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Cumulus Media’s Q4 Earnings Call” on Spreaker.

Following Wednesday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, one of the largest audio content creation and distribution companies in the U.S. quietly released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 results. And, with no replay line for investors to dial-in to had they not become aware of the Globe NewsWire release of its numbers, Cumulus Media just may have whispered to the world that it’s off to a strong start in 2022.

But, just how is the company led by CEO Mary Berner faring compared to Q4 2019, the new bellwether for broadcast media companies given the super-strong political dollars seen in the final three months of 2020?

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Should broadcast media companies pay the U.S. Forest Service a proposed administrative fee for new and existing communications?

The NAB has something to say about that.

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The VP of Digital Strategy for Hubbard Radio has been selected as the recipient of the NAB’s 2022 Digital Leadership Award.

He’ll be recognized at the 2022 NAB Show, scheduled for a live, in-person event between April 23–27 in Las Vegas.

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A low-power TV station licensed to use VHF Channel 4 in the Dallas-Fort Worth market is being sold by one Hispanic broadcast ministry to another.

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He’s the President of Miller Communications, located in Chaplin, S.C.

And, he has just signed off on an agreement that will see the transfer of an FM translator serving Orangeburg, S.C.

The buyer is full of Glory.

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