Radio+Television Business Report

Not so long ago, Mike O’Rielly found himself the victim of a White House plan to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. A strict constitutionalist, the Republican FCC Commissioner found himself at odds with the Trump Administration’s desire to apply an eraser to a rule that states “no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”

O’Rielly’s nomination for another term as a Commissioner was rescinded. Enter Nathan Simington, who reportedly played a role in the White House plan to redo Section 230.

With Simington at the Commission, and Chairman Ajit Pai signaling a Section 230 rule review would commence, all eyes were on the Republican leadership at the FCC on when, not if, it would act at Trump’s behest.

Then came the November 2020 presidential election. Trump today is in Palm Beach, Fla. Pai has yielded the FCC’s Chairman role to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. With little chance of Section 230 reform coming under Rosenworcel’s watch, Congress has opted to act in what is being called a “bipartisan” show of support.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — A longtime Washington, D.C. media executive known to many as “Andy O.,” has died at the age of 92.

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The U.S. broadcast station industry, in particular television companies, enjoyed record 2020 political revenue.

Now that those dollars are in the past, broadcast media has what Kagan analyst Justin Nielson calls “a transitional year” ahead.

This means investors and C-Suite leaders should keep those seatbelts fastened, and keep expenses under control while cash reserves are in a tight and locked position.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a 2018 false incoming missile alert freaked out Hawaiians, The National Defense Authorization Act for 2021 required the FCC to adopt rules to strengthen emergency alerting in various areas.

The Commission today moved forward with meeting that goal by adopting a NPRM to ensure that more people receive relevant emergency alerts.

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Do you have something to say to the FCC about Gray Television‘s proposed acquisition of all of Quincy Media, Inc.‘s TV stations?

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Shares of iHeartMedia stock catapulted upward in one of the company’s biggest-ever buying sessions on Wall Street.

As the Closing Bell rang on the Nasdaq GlobalSelect Market on Tuesday, IHRT was up by more than 11% from Monday.

The reason? There are two.

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In April 2020, a Class A FM licensed to rural Effingham, Kansas, some 65 miles from Kansas City International Airport was in the headlines as its owner sought FCC approval for a silent STA extension.

Now, that licensee — Cumulus Media — is selling that station.

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On January 26, Nassau, Bahamas-based Honeycomb Investments Ltd. (now named the Global Media & Entertainment Investments Trust) snapped up a total of 9,631,329 shares of iHeartMedia stock.

This gave the entity 8.8% attributable interest in iHeartMedia, leading sleuths to connect one of the key individuals involved in the investment to one of the biggest commercial radio station owners in Great Britain.

Now, this company that boasts such brands as Heart, Capital, Radio X, LBC, Gold and Classic FM wants a greater stake in iHeartMedia. And, its Washington-based counsel has written to the FCC to advance regulatory approval for the purchase.

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The Mentoring & Inspiring Women in Radio (MIW) Group, a volunteer organization dedicated to developing management and leadership skills for women in radio broadcasting, is pleased to introduce the MIW Group Mildred Carter Mentoring Program’s Class of 2021.

A total of four candidates from the radio industry — within sales, marketing, programming, and digital disciplines — are selected annually for the MIW Group’s heritage mentoring program.

Now in its 20th year, this opportunity matches up-and-coming women in radio with female professionals recognized as leaders in all aspects of the industry. vCreative, the provider of media workflow solutions, is the lead sponsor of this year’s program.

The 2021 class is comprised of the following professionals:

• Lisa Kirkman, National Accounts Director for Ruby Radio in Northeastern Nevada
• Jenna Miller, Integrated Sales Manager (GSM) for Cox Media Group in Tampa
• Tonee Roper, On-Air Personality & Promotions Director for Neuhoff Media in Springfield, Ill.
• Ashley Wilson, Director of Country Programming for the Kentucky/Indiana Region, iHeartMedia

The MIW Group Mildred Carter Mentoring Program is named in the memory of Mildred Carter, who, along with her husband Andrew “Skip” Carter, founded the first African American-owned radio station in the U.S. in 1950, when they turned on KPRS-AM in Kansas City. Mrs. Carter ran the Carter Broadcast Group for many years, after the death of Skip Carter, before turning over control of the company to her grandson Michael Carter in 1987.

Entercom VP of Agency Partnerships Lindsay Adams, Chair of the 2021 MIW Group Mentoring Committee and a 2006 graduate of the program said, “The pandemic created such a demand and need for mentoring to aid in career development and advancement. The sheer quantity and quality of candidates desiring to develop their careers in audio tripled this year. Given the challenges we have all faced over this last year, the program will prove to be even more valuable to our 2021 mentees who highly reflect the excellence we’re seeing in applications. Let the mentoring begin!”

To read about these amazing finalists and former mentees visit: https://www.radiomiw.com/mentees

SAN FRANCISCO — A former FCC appellate lawyer has joined Davis Wright Tremaine’s San Francisco office as a partner in the technology and communications practice, where she will focus on matters before the California Public Utilities Commission, the FCC, and on other appellate and regulatory matters.

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MIAMI — One of the nation’s biggest Spanish-language media companies has secured a long-term agreement for services from the nation’s dominant source of radio industry ratings and audience listening estimates.

It’s a multi-year renewal that allows Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) to continue to benefit from Nielsen Audio audience measurement data in five PPM markets where the company owns radio stations, and the diary-based Puerto Rico marketplace.

Also benefiting from the new Nielsen deal is SBS’s national radio arm, AIRE Radio Network.

The agreement also allows SBS access to Nielsen Scarborough and the nationwide dataset are included.

SBS owns 17 radio stations that collectively reach a third of the U.S. Hispanic population.

JACKSONVILLE — On March 12, iHeartMedia promoted a 20-year sales veteran to the new role of SVP/Multicultural Sales for its Markets Group.

We now know who is succeeding Nicky Sparrow in her former role as the head of iHeart’s North Florida station group, headquartered in this fast-growing metropolis home to financial services and the U.S. Navy.

Taking the role of Area President for North Florida is Paul Rogers, which sees him assume oversight for a newly configured North Florida region for iHeartMedia that includes not only Jacksonville but also Florida’s state capital, Tallahassee, and Panama City, on the Panhandle in the Central Time Zone.

Rogers reports to Division President Linda Byrd, who has worked with Rogers for more than 35 years. She says, “His integrity, judgment, professionalism and competitiveness are what any manager would look for in a market leader. He is the perfect choice as a successor, and I have no doubt that he will take this area to the next level.”

Byrd also thanked Sparrow “for the great work she has done in getting Jacksonville to where we are today” and congratulated her on her new role within iHeartMedia.

Rogers, in essence, is adding Jacksonville to his current responsibilities. He’s been Market President for Tallahassee and Panama City since 2017, and before that served in multiple local, statewide and national roles for iHeartMedia while working in Jacksonville for 18 years. He began his career at WLAK-FM (now WLIT-FM) in Chicago in the late 1980s.

“I am beyond excited by this new challenge and to be given the opportunity to finally lead the Jacksonville market where I have spent so much of my career and where I still have family, many dear friends, teammates and customers,” Rogers said. “We have a strong and diverse staff, and so many of iHeartMedia’s leaders and many of our industry’s greatest air personalities have come from this area. But mostly, it’s a chance to once again work with Linda Byrd, who’s been my mentor for my entire career.”

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The trade association that represents the interest of local TV station owners and management on a national level, similar to how the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) works with AM and FM radio stations, has renewed its agreement with “a trusted partner for planning, transacting and evaluating media across platforms.”

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As such, Comscore will continue to provide the TVB with local, network and digital audience information including Comscore’s Advanced Automotive Demographics segments.

“Comscore provides TVB, and all Comscore clients, with the measurement solutions that are most capable of delivering stable and predictive audience insights to help clients drive their businesses successfully.” said Steve Walsh, a Comscore EVP.

In a year full of challenges, some radio station owners continued to see COVID-19 related impairments in the fourth quarter of 2020. Others have rebounded strongly, thanks to hefty political dollars and a strong digital story.

For Townsquare Media, CEO Bill Wilson and EVP/CFO Stu Rosenstein have perhaps the best recovery story in the local media industry. Why? Digital fueled the growth, setting the stage for a most impressive fourth quarter finish that crushed even the best forecasts company numbers-crunchers came up with last autumn.

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Tonee Roper, a worldwide air talent and Promotions Director for Neuhoff Media’s radio stations serving Springfield, Ill., is one of four candidates selected for the MIW’s 2021 Mildred Carter Mentoring Program.

Roper is the guest on the latest RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast, presented by DOT.FM.

She spoke one-on-one with Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson, and engaged in a lively conversation about the importance of radio as a Thirtysomething seeking career longevity in an industry maligned by many as one that’s dying.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Tonee Roper, Neuhoff Media” on Spreaker.

BeckTV, a systems integrator for the broadcast media industry, has completed another high-profile project for one of its major U.S. clients.

It involves the owner of the NBC affiliate in Charlotte, which will soon host this publicly traded broadcast TV company’s new master control hub.

TEGNA partnered with BeckTV to design, install, and integrate all systems for TEGNA’s centralized new master control operation, the “TEGNA Stream Center,” based on an innovative cloud-based hub-and-spoke approach that will serve all TEGNA stations.

TEGNA owns 64 television stations in 51 markets, including WCNC-TV in Charlotte. Upon completion, TEGNA’s new master control hub in Charlotte will support more than 225 channels across the country with more than 50 spoke-racks deployed at distributed locations.

More than 500 originating multicast streams traverse a private LAN to facilitate monitoring and operation of all stations.

“With the growth of our company and station lineup over the last several years, it was time to build a next-generation technology infrastructure that could support our current and future needs,” said Bill Nardi, TEGNA’s VP of Station Operations. “Thanks to our longstanding partnership with BeckTV, we knew they would be the perfect choice to help us take on this project. BeckTV has been instrumental in helping us build the TEGNA Stream Center, a best-in-class master control facility that creates streamlined workflows through a centralized operation.”

Brendan Cline, BeckTV’s Director of Engineering, added, “We believed we could collaborate to design and implement the best hub in the country, and we are humbled to have been chosen to execute yet another large broadcast integration for TEGNA. This has been an extensive project to date and one that reinforces our long-standing relationship.”

BeckTV has been working with TEGNA for several years. In 2017, they provided support during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Houston and helped TEGNA create a new state-of-the-art facility there.

TEGNA’s hub-and-spoke master control approach with the TEGNA Stream Center enables group-wide monitoring and abundant multicast streaming over the TEGNA private WAN. Further advantages include redundancy of all systems to prevent internet connectivity and equipment failures, and design homogeneity across a spectrum of station types and requirements.

 

To build the TEGNA Stream Center facility in Charlotte, BeckTV integrated Evertz baseband and IP routing and control systems; Crispin automation control system, file ingest, and distribution systems; a Harmonic master control playback server, graphics system, and switcher; TSL hub audio monitoring equipment; and a Clear-Com IP-based intercom.

By Brian Galante

ENCO has shifted its business operations to a modernized office space in the growing community of Novi, Mich., just 17 miles from the company’s longtime Southfield headquarters. The newly constructed, 12,000-square-foot facility will offer a more collaborative work environment and a centralized location for staff and customers in the Detroit suburbs.

ENCO’s entire operation across sales, administration, engineering, finance, management, manufacturing and marketing will be based in Novi, effective immediately. The interior building design, which embraces an open floor plan, will bring the previously separated functions closer together – as will the other modernized perks that the Southfield headquarters lacked. The spacious environments throughout all areas ensure that social distancing policies can continue to be met until the pandemic subsides.

“This is truly a state-of-the-art facility that is the culmination of careful planning and consideration for employee comfort,” said Ken Frommert, ENCO’s President. “Everyone has a private office and plenty of space for social distancing in the COVID era. At the same time, we have an open production laboratory, several high-tech meeting and conference spaces, and varied seating and lounge settings, all of which encourage collaboration and creative thinking.”

Frommert adds that Novi is an exciting city on the rise, with a thriving downtown and a growing number of hotels, restaurants and other businesses that will be more appealing for visiting customers. Several hotels that cater to business travelers are located blocks from the office, making visits far more convenient for customers and partners. Novi is also more centrally accessible to and from the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

“It’s far more business-friendly, and a much better area to recruit new talent,” he said. “There is a beautiful outdoor environment in a park-like setting to enjoy, versus being right off a busy highway.”

Adjacent to the scenic Lakeshore Park, the new facility also offers a large kitchen and dining space, a gym, showers and a showroom. The interior boasts high ceilings and modern finishes throughout, which Frommert says provides a more overall soothing and inviting feel.

ENCO’s new headquarters are located in the Novi Business Park at 41551 West 11 Mile Road in Novi, Michigan 48375.

KAISERSLAUTERN, GERMANY — Munich-based TV and radio distribution and media technologies company Rohde & Schwarz has appointed a VP of Broadcast, Amplifier and Media Solutions.

Taking the role is Joerg Fries, a 25-year company veteran who has led technology innovation in several high-tech markets, most recently in the Wireless Multimedia market.

His appointment to head Rohde & Schwarz’s Broadcast and Media Division supports the strategic shift in its approach toward its core markets and reinforces the company’s intention of becoming more disruptive in production, delivery and distribution workflow management and software-centric products and systems.

— Amy Knall

In what is being hailed as a “market influencing move” in the Media & Entertainment (M&E) content storage & management sector, Genstar Capital-controlled Telestream has purchased Masstech for an undisclosed price.

Telestream is a vertical market software business focused on the video space and is known for media workflow orchestration, media streaming and delivery technologies.

The acquisition follows Telestream’s recent purchase of EcoDigital – also in the content management system space.

Masstech creates intelligent, hybrid cloud-based storage and asset lifecycle management solutions for the M&E industry.

“Masstech combines the experience of many decades of broadcast and video content storage management with cloud and other vanguard technology development processes, to identify and address the challenges of the industry’s constantly evolving technical and business landscapes,” Telestream said. “Today, organizations representing every facet of M&E, around the world and across every platform, use Masstech solutions to keep their assets secure, and to deliver them to the right location in the correct format.”

All the resources of Masstech will be transferred to Telestream.

The company’s engineering and product management functions will be integrated within Telestream’s Content Management Business Unit, led by Geoff Tognetti. He joined the company with the EcoDigital acquisition. The priority for this team will be to combine the best intellectual property from Masstech and EcoDigital DIVA in one product.

Masstech’s support team, sales and pre-sales teams will join Telestream’s global customer sales and support network.

“Following the EcoDigital acquisition, this investment decision made natural sense and it is strategic in its very nature,” said Dan Castles, CEO and Co-Founder of Telestream. “The knowledge base gained through the Masstech acquisition is complementary to what we have been doing and want to do in this area. This transaction brings together nearly two Exabytes of M&E content under the management of Telestream products in over 1,000 operational systems. With this market leadership comes a critical responsibility to work with our customers as they navigate a hybrid operating environment with assets on premise and in the cloud.”

Toldright, a “first-of-its-kind” on-demand video production resource for the sports, media and technology industries, has formally appointed ESPN veteran Patrick McManus as Executive Director.

Also coming on board at Toldright: Jason Bernstein, as Senior Vice President of Content; Amanda Short, as “Head of the Neighborhood”; and Daniel Shoy, as “Diversity Executive in Residence.”

The senior leadership team joins a founding team of CEO Max Heineman and President Adam Hertzog.

“As we continue to expand and cultivate our company, we couldn’t be more excited to have award winners and industry leaders like Patrick, Jason, Amanda, and Danny on our team,” Heineman said. “Their decades of collective expertise across production, multimedia, sports, technology, and inclusion, in addition to their understanding of compelling video content and exciting storytelling, will continue to inspire the iconic brands we work with.”

Over the past 30 years, McManus has become one of the leading Emmy Award-winning sports directors in the industry. Prior to his time at toldright, McManus serviced as Director at American Ninja Warrior and during his career has worked for ESPN, FOX Sports and NBC Sports.

Bernstein is a 20-year media veteran who prior to joining toldright was Intersport’s Vice President of Content Strategy & Distribution. Before Intersport, he led multi-platform acquisitions and content strategy and acquisitions for ESPN’s digital platform, including landmark content agreements Wimbledon and U.S. Open.

Short joins toldright from NEP Group Inc., where she served as Operations Coordinator.  Previously, Short held positions at Golf Channel, Live Nation and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Shoy, who will be responsible for diversity and inclusion efforts at toldright, possesses extensive experience in the nonprofit sector with organizations focused on youth and community advancement. Additionally, he serves as President/CEO of the East Lake Foundation community initiative, and during his decade at The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation was responsible for awarding $28 million in grants for youth development and education.