He’s been largely known as an outspoken African-American owner of broadcast television stations in Indiana.
Now, DuJuan McCoy is getting attention for deciding to team up with a data scientist to launch what’s being called eMedia Augmentation Co. LLC.
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Former HC2 Holdings leader Philip Falcone has emerged as the head of a new entity seeking to build a collection of low-power TV stations as part of a spectrum play.
He’s signed off on several deals across 2021. Now, he’s putting his signature on an asset purchase agreement involving a California property.
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The entity that today holds a majority interest in Cox Media Group has filed paperwork with the FCC that confirms a change of sorts is underway.
In short, a successor corporation to Apollo Global Management is being formed, as the founding investors in AGM will relinquish their present control.
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The Media Rating Council on Wednesday saw its Board of Directors vote in favor of a suspension of the MRC’s accreditation of Nielsen’s national television service. Perhaps more notably, the MRC also yanked the current accreditation hiatus status designation from Nielsen’s Local People Meter and Set Meter Markets and suspended accreditation for these markets.
Nielsen CEO David Kenny commented on the action in a note to its clients. In short, he’s doubling down on his “confidence” in audience measurement many have questioned.
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Innovation. It’s a word not commonly used by an owner of radio stations. But, Capital Broadcasting Co. is unique, in many ways.
In this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM, Capital VP of Radio Brian Maloney offers an exclusive look inside a company that was first to embrace HD Radio and more recently helped bring NEXTGEN TV to fruition.
What is it like being a leader for such an operation? Why are there THREE Sports Talk brands in Raleigh? Is Capital in it for the long-term, one of two independents in a market with few national media companies?
The answers to those questions and more can be found in this fresh podcast. Listen now!
It’s an OTT platform that says it wants to be the “Netflix of Live, Local, and Free” TV. Now, it is getting a programming boost from Cox Media Group‘s broadcast television stations, thanks to a newly inked agreement.
The VUit ad-support, free-to-access national streaming service will be adding local news channels featuring content from the broadcast TV channels CMG owns in Boston, Atlanta, Seattle-Tacoma, Orlando and Charlotte.
The deal with CMG expands VUit’s local news coverage to “more than 150” of the 210 total markets nationwide, New York-based VUit says.
VUit, competing against online platforms such as NewsON and Haystack News, seeks to attract viewers with more than just news reports and newscasts. For example, it broadcast the 2021 Iditarod Sled Dog Race produced by Gray Television-owned KTUU-2 in Anchorage. In another example, LinnMar High School’s graduation ceremony from Marion, Iowa, was streamed by Gray-owned KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and was accessible to those across 65 DMAs.
VUit is owned by OTT industry player Syncbak, led by CEO Jack Perry. He says, “Hyperlocal news is no longer just for those living in the community. There’s an appetite for these stories well beyond the local broadcasters’ markets. Cox is the perfect partner to amplify VUit’s content offerings, and we’re excited to be able to bring the high-quality content of their local stations to viewers nationwide.”
Marian Pittman, Cox Media Group’s EVP of Content, Product & Innovation, added, “We continue to see enormous opportunity for local news on digital platforms to not only drive revenue but to extend the quality of our reporting reach of hyperlocal news across the country. We’re thrilled to partner with VUit to make this happen.”
In addition to Gray and CMG, VUit has contracts with Cowles Media Co., based in Spokane; Heritage Broadcasting Group; and Morgan Murphy Media.
Fort Wayne, IN – Northeast Indiana Public Radio, the licensee for 89.1 WBOI – NPR News & Diverse Music, WBOI.org, WBOI Studios Podcasts, and Classical WBNI is searching for a new General Manager.
Summary and Responsibilities:
The GM is responsible for the strategic and creative vision, and daily operation of Northeast Indiana Public Radio (NIPR) in alliance with NIPR’s overall mission. The GM heads efforts to develop partnerships across the coverage area and ensures financial stability through ongoing fundraising efforts and cost control. The GM leads all aspects of broadcast and digital broadcast and digital programming, including revenue generation, programming, operations, marketing, and staff, while growing the audience to fulfill the goal of becoming an essential local institution throughout Northeast Indiana and the listening area.
This position will build on a brand and image that reflects the potential of Indiana public radio’s market. The GM will transition NIPR to its exciting new location in downtown Fort Wayne, IN and will execute a programming vision to grow diverse, cross-platform audiences including digital and podcasts.
Plans and leads all activities of a public broadcasting operation:
Complies with federal, state, and local regulations, including all Federal Communications Commission rules and regulations.
Responsible for the direction, development, and leadership of staff.
Obtains external funding from federal and state funds, foundations, and major donors; ensures effective membership drives, makes personal solicitations of major gifts and writes grant applications.
Secures external grant funds to support station activities.
Secures major gifts.
Strategic direction and oversight for budget, expenditures, and long-term financial sustainability.
Expands opportunities for public broadcasting beyond traditional areas to broaden funding base and external support.
Leads programming, marketing, outreach, engineering, and business operations.
Serves as a non-voting member of the NIPR Board, attending all meetings.
Required qualifications and education:
Bachelor’s Degree required, preferably in business, broadcasting, or related fields.
Five years senior management experience in broadcasting or related fields.
Demonstrated ability to manage, lead, and supervise other professionals.
Demonstrated success in leading fundraising and securing external funding and grants.
Experience participating with a Board in strategic planning and decision-making.
Demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion initiatives to ensure creative service to the community and team.
Demonstrated positive interpersonal skills.
Demonstrated excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Community-focused, passionate about our region, and effective at growing revenue, and philanthropic support.
The GM reports to and supports the leadership expectations of the Board and fosters a culture that inspires excellence, diversity, equal opportunity, and a welcoming work environment. Preferred candidates have significant experience working in public media, fundraising, radio program production, contracts, and grants; and/or have experience in leadership overseeing a journalistic operation.
How to apply:
Please email a cover letter and resume no later than September 22, 2021, to: wboinextgeneralmanager@gmail.com.
On the application, please provide names, phone numbers, and email addresses for three professional references. Applicants selected for interviews may be required to take a personality/communication style survey and be available for in-person interviews in Fort Wayne, IN.
In a stunning and sudden development, Locast — the controversial local TV via IP-delivery service that built its operation around a donation-based model, thus avoiding retransmission consent fees — has suspended operations.
The decision comes less than 48 hours after a New York Federal District Court declined to honor Locast’s request for summary judgment in a case focused on copyright infringement brought against the operation by the nation’s “Big Four” broadcast TV networks.
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SPRINGFIELD, VA. — Regular listeners to Hubbard Broadcasting’s experimental AM offering what literally is engineering maestro Dave Kolesar‘s iTunes playlist in “crystal clear” HD Radio may be wondering why they only received the analog signal for the station today.
Kolesar tells RBR+TVBR there’s a perfectly good explanation, and it involves a request from HD Radio’s parent.
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ATLANTA — With its outer bands prompting tornado warnings as a suspicious package led to the temporary lockdown of Concourse F at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, Hurricane Ida’s travel complications were somewhat minimal. To the north in Arlington and Alexandria, Va., a ferocious series of lightning strikes pounded the Washington, D.C., suburbs across the 3am hour.
Down in New Orleans, the cleanup from the storm is underway. The damage to the market’s radio and TV stations is now being assessed. It’s not pretty.
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It was only a matter of time.
The Media Rating Council on Wednesday saw its Board of Directors vote in favor of a suspension of the MRC’s accreditation of Nielsen‘s national television service.
It is also removing the current accreditation hiatus status designation from Nielsen’s Local People Meter and Set Meter Markets and will suspend accreditation for these markets.
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In a statement released midday Wednesday, the MRC said the changes will become effective in mid-September.
The changes come following the August 12 notification by MRC to Nielsen that the possibility of a suspension action for its National Television service had come to fruition. The MRC followed up with a similar warning to Nielsen for its Local Market service on August 20.
Regarding the Board’s decisions concerning the Local Market services, the Board chose to end the hiatus status that had existed for those markets since January 2021 after Nielsen’s confirmation to MRC on August 17 of its intention to add Broadband-Only (BBO) homes to its local panels in October 2021.
“Based on continuing issues with the Local Market services, some of which parallel those of the National Television service, as well as the Board’s assessment of Nielsen’s ability to appropriately integrate BBO viewing at a local market level at this time, the Board additionally suspended the accreditation for the Local Markets as well,” the MRC says.
Commenting on the decision, MRC Executive Director and CEO George W. Ivie said, “While we are disappointed that the situation has come to this, we believe these are the proper actions for the MRC to take at this time.” He added that the MRC’s Board of Directors, which includes advertisers, agencies, and media companies of all types, “is strongly unified” in its position on the matter.
Meanwhile, Ivie reiterated that the MRC “stands committed in our willingness to work with Nielsen toward the goal of being able to restore accreditation to these important services at the earliest possible time, and it is our hope that Nielsen likewise will continue to engage with MRC and its clients in pursuit of that goal.”
RBR+TVBR has contacted Nielsen for comment.
As advertisers wrestled to recalibrate their media spending in the pandemic, they didn’t overlook a “seismic shift” to Connected TV platforms. In fact, eMarketer estimates that “CTV” U.S. ad spending grew by 40.6% in 2020. Today, networks are continuing to place a greater emphasis on CTV within their upfronts.
What does this mean for broadcast TV and its clients? AudienceX COO Jason Wulfsohn shares his thoughts in an exclusive thought piece for RBR+TVBR.
By Jason Wulfsohn
The dynamics of the connected TV market fundamentally changed in 2020.
The sudden and significant audience growth in this channel has altered the trajectory of CTV advertising for the indefinite future.
For challenger and midmarket advertisers, it’s important to pay attention. As CTV grows and evolves, so too does the opportunity for brands with less formidable budgets to
strategically drive performance while tapping into the most powerful branding mechanism in the world.
With the lockdown of audiences in 2020, behaviors altered in many areas of their lives, which included spending a greater portion of their media time with streaming TV services. As advertisers wrestled to recalibrate their media spending in the pandemic, they didn’t overlook this seismic shift. eMarketer estimates that CTV U.S. ad spending grew by 40.6% in 2020 to more than $9 billion. That growth is accelerating this year, with CTV ad spend expected to hit $13.41 billion, and that figure is expected to go on to more than double by 2025.
Today, networks are continuing to place a greater emphasis on CTV within their upfronts. The majority of activity is occurring in programmatic channels, making CTV far more accessible to challenger and midmarket brands than broadcast and linear buys. This year, U.S. programmatic CTV ad spending will grow 54% to hit $6.73 billion, rising another 29 percent next year to $8.67 billion.
Big Brand Interest, Small Brand Advantage
The world’s biggest advertisers have started to get the message on the importance of CTV
within their overall media mix. However, many are still focused and heavily invested in linear broadcast advertising and are only shifting dollars toward CTV audiences at the margins of their spend activity.
For many big brands, CTV represents a way of incrementally extending their audiences beyond what they’re finding with the hundreds of millions they’re spending on linear. For challenger and midmarket brands, the CTV opportunity is quite different. These brands have largely been locked out of traditional TV advertising due to budget constraints. Limited linear TV inventory has typically been the playground of the world’s biggest brands and their correspondingly large budgets.
In this regard, CTV serves as the great equalizer for brands that can’t afford (and frankly don’t need) to buy into linear TV. By enabling smaller-scale buys that are targeted and addressable, CTV represents an asymmetrical solution that levels the playing field for challenger brands looking to drive performance in competitive markets. Even without broadcast-level budgets, these brands can drive share of voice where it matters most and do so in ways that integrate seamlessly with their online programmatic spend.
The CTV ad space will continue to evolve as bigger brands pivot their budgets in this direction, but the digital and programmatic nature of the opportunity—not to mention the growing audience and inventory opportunities—will continue to represent a significant competitive advantage for challenger and midmarket brands that embrace the opportunity. As a result, in the coming years, the competitive brandscape will evolve and diversify as well.
Those who want a preview of emerging category leaders need only tune into the CTV advertising space.
DO YOU DESIRE A DEDICATED PUBLICATION DEVOTED TO THE BUSINESS OF CONNECTED TV, INCORPORATING ‘FAST’ CHANNELS, SVOD and OTT? RBR+TVBR wants to know as we plan for the future today? Please share your thoughts with Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson via email at adam@rbr.com.
The National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) and ACA Connects (ACAC), which sponsor the Independent Show, have decided to moved forward with a virtual 2021 event.
This, the organizations say, offers members and vendors with an opportunity to convene as an industry in the safest possible manner amid lingering uncertainty over the appropriateness of large in-person events.
In a statement released Wednesday, ACA Connects Chairman Patricia Jo Boyers explained, “After thoughtful discussion, ACA Connects and NCTC decided to take the Independent Show online next month because of difficult planning issues despite strong enthusiasm for such an important industry event to take place in Minneapolis. It’s the correct decision, with broad support from both ACAC and NCTC members. I’m positive the online event will be a smashing success.”
Outside of her ACA Connects role, Boyers is President of BOYCOM Vision in Poplar Bluff, Mo., a small MVPD and key ACA Connects member.
The 2021 Independent Show had been planned for Oct. 5-6 in Minneapolis; while the event had included a streaming registration option as a convenience for ACAC and NCTC Members who were unable to attend in person, this will now be the exclusive congregation point for attendees.
The decision to host the 2021 Independent Show online will not alter the meeting dates. The event agenda will remain as is, too.
“COVID-19 and the Delta variant have been a moving target. While our plan was to finally meet in-person, it has become more and more clear that it was not the responsible thing to do,” said NCTC CEO Lou Borrelli. “Nevertheless, the online show to me is a can’t-miss program, and I greatly look forward to seeing friends and members on the big screen.”
ACAC President/CEO Matt Polka (pictured, top left) joined NCTC’s Borrelli in endorsing the move to an online show given the current health environment. “We felt that transitioning the entire event to virtual was the best option and in the best interest of our members and vendor partners,” Polka said. “But let’s look at the bright side: We are going to keep all the great content we had planned as well as offer a few fun surprises for those who are registered for the virtual conference.”
Meanwhile, the NAB Show is moving full steam ahead with a full agenda of in-person events at the Las Vegas Convention Center — just days after the Independent Show concludes. The NAB is as of today only offering a smattering of NAB Show digital options; it is believed that the Radio Show is an in-person only event with no events streamed.
The Independent Show is an annual forum created to focus attention on the key public policy issues facing independent video and broadband providers and on other industrywide topics of concern and interest.
LONDON — Video software provider Synamedia has integrated a range of its video offerings with Android TV and has extended its Infinite cloud TV platform to support Android TV devices.
Using Google’s Broadcast Stack for hybrid set top boxes (STBs) powered by Android TV, Synamedia has developed pre-integrated solutions including user interfaces, watermarking and broadcast/OTT security, Clarissa business insights, and Synamedia Iris addressable advertising.
As Synamedia notes, video service providers “can now pick and mix from these pre-integrated services to build an Android TV solution that best meets their needs, while also having the option to use the entire bundle for a complete end-to-end package.”
Synamedia is also working to define new interfaces and integration points for advanced features so that operators can select products for their hybrid Android TV tools.
Google’s Broadcast Stack, launched in October 2020, is designed to accelerate the reach of the Android TV operating system by providing the video technology providers with clarity and direction about how hybrid services can be deployed rapidly and economically. “Operators can take advantage of Android TV’s proven functionality and well-defined upgrade path, as well as having the flexibility to add custom features for their particular needs,” Synamedia says.
In October 2020, Entravision Communications took a big step toward becoming a digital-first multimedia organization by acquiring a majority stake in a digital advertising company serving over 2,000 brands and agencies each month across the U.S. and Latin America.
Now, Entravision has acquired all of the outstanding shares in the company, making it a wholly owned unit.
Entravision now owns 100% of Cisneros Interactive. That’s because the Santa Monica, Calif.-based company with television and radio properties focused on the U.S. Hispanic consumer moved forward August 31 in acquiring the 49% of Cisneros it did not own.
“With this full acquisition, Entravision will further position the combined platforms and service portfolio to be one of the largest premier global digital advertising solutions companies,” the company said.
Over the past decade, through growth and acquisitions, Entravision’s digital marketing offerings have expanded significantly. Entravision’s Digital business is now the clear revenue driver, far exceeding Entravision’s television and radio profits, respectively.
With the full ownership of Cisneros Interactive, along with Entravision’s most recent acquisition of MediaDonuts, which added digital capabilities in 7 countries in Asia, digital now comprises 73% of consolidated revenue as of the most recently reported quarter ended June 30, 2021. Digital Segment revenue improved over 1,000% year-over-year to total $130.2 million for the second quarter 2021.
The digital business focuses on several key areas, including Top Tier global audience and media representations; programmatic technology; digital audio solutions advertising and branding; and mobile performance solutions. Cisneros Interactive maintains unique sales partnerships in 17 Latin American countries, including partnerships with Facebook, Spotify and LinkedIn. The company also offers digital audio solutions and services through representation of a vast audience reached through 350 publishers.
Entravision Chairman/CEO Walter Ulloa commented, “This joint venture has been a great addition to Entravision, with impressively strong performance, leadership and culture. Digital revenues have surged over the past three quarters since our majority investment in Cisneros Interactive, and we plan to continue to invest in expanding our global footprint, management and digital service tools.”
With four months remaining of 2021, it is abundantly clear that the “normal” workplace pre-pandemic is a thing of the past.
For PR veteran and “Zoom expert” Rosemary Ravinal, this means video conferencing will become a fixture of workplace culture to varying degrees. “Your professional future may depend on how well you navigate the virtual environment.”
It’s time to get serious, folks.
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For about 5 1/2 years, she was the Local Sales Manager for TEGNA-owned WFAA-8 in Dallas-Fort Worth, the market’s ABC affiliate. She joined the station as an account executive in July 2009 after holding various sales roles for Cumulus Media, CBS Radio, and iHeartMedia predecessor Clear Channel in the Dallas market.
Now, this former radio industry sales leader is taking a key sales and partnership post with the esports and entertainment company that Gray Television invested $28.5 million in during this company’s March 2021 Series C fundraising round.
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More than two years ago, America’s “Big Four” broadcast television networks united in seeking to stop a streaming service from bringing over-the-air channels to their users without the requisite retransmission consent agreements.
On August 31, a New York Federal District Court finally offered a glimmer of what could be a rough ride ahead for the David Goodfriend-helmed Locast. He declined to honor a request from the controversial donation-based service for summary judgment in the case, which focuses on copyright infringement. Why? Its non-profit argument may be full of holes.
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NEW YORK — Gen Media Partners has created a strategic task force designed “to champion the power and influence of certified minority-owned and -targeted radio stations to advertisers and agencies.”
It will advocate on behalf of multicultural-owned and -targeted radio stations “and demonstrate multicultural radio’s remarkable power to connect with audiences.”
SVP/Hispanic Platforms and MC Initiatives Ann-Marie Figueira will lead the initiative.
“Our goal – our job – is to make sure advertisers and their agencies look beyond the large-scale companies and include independent, certified minority-owned and -targeted radio groups in their plans,” explains Kevin Garrity, Chief Executive Officer of Gen Media Partners. “We’re already seeing a receptiveness to learning more about these stations and their effectiveness at reaching multicultural audiences with content that is relevant to their specific lifestyles, tastes, and cultures.”
GMP represents 1,176 radio stations in 168 markets, and claims to reach 95% of the U.S. multicultural population.
— Renee Cassis
DAYTON, OHIO — For 25 years, he’s been a face of the newscasts at a Nexstar Media Group-owned NBC affiliate serving the Miami Valley of Ohio.
Come Thursday, he’ll be saying goodbye to viewers.
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