Radio+Television Business Report

The virtual CES 2021 conference and expo is in full swing, and Jacobs Media on Wednesday offered a three-hour midday tour of what’s hot for radio broadcasters.

Among those participating in the event was Joe D’Angelo, the senior vice president of broadcast at the parent of both DTS and HD Radio, Xperi.

What are Joe’s key takeaways from what he’s seen at CES 2021? Are there some exciting new and/or improved tech products of use not only for radio, but also TV, in the year ahead?

Joe shares all in this latest RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast, presented by DOT.FM.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Joe D’Angelo, Xperi” on Spreaker.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition of news organizations today sent a letter to federal law enforcement agencies calling for greater transparency and timely, vital information about the January 6, 2021 insurgency by supporters of President Trump on the U.S. Capitol Building and the possibility of further violence — including at the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

“The agencies must share information about possible civil unrest in the days leading up to Inauguration Day, January 20, through frequent and regular in-person press briefings so the public and news outlets can be properly informed about viable threats and can take appropriate action to protect themselves,” the groups state in the letter.

The letter was addressed to Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray, Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Pete Gayno, U.S. Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman, U.S. House of Representatives Acting Sergeant at Arms Timothy P. Blodgett and U.S. Senate Acting Sergeant at Arms Jennifer Hemingway.

Signing the letter are the NAB, Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, National Newspaper Association, Native American Journalists Association, News Media Alliance, News Media for Open Government, News Leaders Association, Online News Association, Radio Television Digital News Association, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and Society of Professional Journalists.

The owner of three FMs and an AM serving North Central Washington state has decided to put the AM and two of the FMs it owns on the market.

And, it has retained Greg Guy of Patrick Communications to find the right buyer — preferably a local one.

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For some 30 years, the 1540 kHz signal has been associated with Spanish-language programming targeting Salvadorans and other consumers of Hispanic heritage across the National Capital Region.

It has been associated with Alejandro Carrasco since 1997, and has been owned by Carrasco for two decades.

Now, Carrasco is selling the facility while retaining its simulcast partner — ensuring, for now, that “Radio América” continues serving the Washington, D.C. market.

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In December 2019, it debuted.

Now, this live TV streaming platform has given its subscribers access to Nexstar Media Group‘s WGN America cable channel — the home of NewsNation and Ashleigh Banfield.

As such, starting Friday (1/15) the cable network will be carried by Vidgo.

It’s just the latest deal to involve WGN America reached in the last two months, expanding its reach by 8.5 million subscribers as Nexstar has invested heavily in its news operations and forthcoming news magazine hosted by Banfield, which will take the 10pm Eastern time slot.

Financial terms of the distribution agreement were not disclosed.

“Today’s announcement continues the steady strategic expansion of WGN America,” said Sean Compton, President of the Networks Division. “We are excited to be adding Vidgo’s customers the network’s reach, and to be bringing NewsNation and Banfield to more viewers who can watch us whenever and wherever they desire.”

Vidgo markets itself as an option comparable to Dish’s Sling TV, and to Philo.

Sinclair Broadcast Group hired an individual some 17 years ago who has risen through the sales and operations ranks at its flagship TV station in Baltimore.

Now, he’s been selected to lead FOX affiliate WBFF-45 — and the two other stations Sinclair runs, but doesn’t own, in Charm City.

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For three hours on Wednesday, Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media Strategies conducted a virtual tour of the all-online Consumer Electronics Show — CES 2021.

With presentations from Amazon Alexa Auto and Xperi ahead of those scheduled from LG, Ford, Triton Digital and Mercedes Benz, Jacobs recalled how, normally, some 180,000 people congregate in Las Vegas for one of the biggest events in the world.

In recent years, the radio industry’s leadership has been there. This year, they — and Jacobs — are among those connecting from home and “table hop.”

The three-hour tour saw some 350 industry members registered for participation, and more than 200 watching live as Jacobs began the event at 1pm Eastern.

Among those in attendance: Bud Walters of Cromwell Group, Nielsen Audio leader Brad Kelly, Brian Beasley of Beasley Media Group, programming veteran Dave Beasing, and Salem Media Group‘s Dave Santrella, among others.

The cool tech shared by Jacobs began with a Vuzix wearable smart/augmented eyeglass/earpiece hybrid.

This preceded a conversation with Shawn DuBravac — a global futurist and trendsetter — who noted that we are at an “interesting inflection point” in a year where digital was forced upon us, giving us an opportunity to decide what to keep when the pandemic ends, and what will fade.

This includes at-home gym and workout platforms. Will consumers go back to gyms in-person or continue to prefer a mirror-like device, or Peloton, or video-delivered instruction?

He says, “It is important to think not just how does this change radio, but also how does this effect the things that isn’t radio. Ultimately, radio is getting disrupted by these second-order effects of these new technologies and new services.”

Today, broadcasting from home is a “new normal.” This could very well continue past the end of the pandemic, given the technology put in place and the services that can continue to be deployed by radio broadcasting companies.

That said, DuBravac says, audio is overshadowed by video.

“The screen real estate continues to explode,” he believes.

That’s no understatement: Televisions including HDMI 2.1 and 8K technology are looking to capitalize on interest in the new generation of video game consoles that will support those technologies. Shipments of consoles exploded at the end of 2020, with imports of consoles increasing 123.2% year over year in the three months to Nov. 30, 2020.

Fred Jacobs quickly interjected that voice has become bigger than ever. DuBravac agrees, with AI technology fueling it to such things as a connected faucet. “We are getting into a much deeper integrated to where artificial intelligence in many ways is defining the product,” he says.

This is a key feature of the Mercedes Benz dashboard, in which they will deploy prediction-based suggestions based on consumer use, likes and dislikes, and other voice-recognized personalization, DuBravac adds.

AMAZON’S AUTO 

Arianne Walker, the “Chief Evangelist” for Alexa Automotive, offered a presentation on how the voice activation platform largely known for its in-home use, can be additive to one’s car, too.

Integration of Alexa into OEM in-dash systems is focused on entertainment, voice communication to phone or online virtual meeting platforms, gasoline monitoring and filling station searches, and basic automotive functions including defrost and heating/cooling.

XPERI IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Joe D’Angelo, SVP/Broadcast at HD Radio parent Xperi, offered a review of what’s new for consumers that may have an HD-equipped in-car audio entertainment system.

It shared statistics on advertiser recall, and it’s current availability by automaker and trim.

The DTS Auto Stage, another Xperi offering, was also featured in a pre-recorded video.

Even as social media companies struggle to combat misleading information on their platforms, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that 53% of adult American respondents receive their news on social media sites “often,” or “sometimes.” 

And, of the 11 social media sites asked about as regular sources of news in the study, Facebook sits on top.

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The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE), which is staging a virtual NATPE Miami conference in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is presenting the President of Hearst Television with one of four Iris Awards.

The 2021 Iris Awards ceremony will take place as part of NATPE Virtual Miami on January 21 at 1pm Eastern.

Among the honorees is Hearst head Jordan Wertlieb. He will be receiving the Lew Klein Award for Leadership.

NATPE’s Iris Awards were created to recognize best-in-class executives, program producers, creators, talent and content that makes a significant impact on the industry and our culture.

The Award for Excellence in Performance will be presented to Kelly Clarkson, while long-running syndicated entertainment news magazine  Entertainment Tonight will be honored with the Award for Excellence in Programming as host Kevin Frazier is given the Award for Career Achievement.

Once again, retransmission consent negotiations gone bad generated many news headlines over the last six weeks. Yet, ACA Connects President/CEO Matthew M. Polka notes, those talks have mostly concluded.

Not surprisingly, he says, the results “were consistent with what was expected as broadcasters continued to impose unconscionable rate hikes on consumers for what they call ‘free TV.’”

Oh, boy … What else does Polka have to say about retransmission consent — still a sore subject for Suddenlink and Cox Media Group, and for Frontier Communications and Gray Television?

“In addition to big rate hikes, we’ve also seen more than a few TV station-initiated blackouts without much warning and a lot of miffed customers,” Polka opines in commentary distributed Wednesday (1/13) by the pro-small MVPD lobbying group.

The only bright side, Polka says: “It could have been even worse for many smaller cable operators had the door not been opened for buying groups to enter the picture.”

How so? Polka explains, “The FCC just released a report showing, in 2019, that cable operators paid more than $5.5 billion dollars in retransmission consent fees — once again, for the right to deliver ‘free’ over-the-air television stations. This represented a 19.2% increase over fees paid the previous year at a time when the general rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, was 2.5%.”

The report, Polka adds, showed that smaller cable operators were “disproportionately harmed” financially by retransmission consent. Small cable operators paid on average $178.13 per subscriber, per year in retransmission consent payments, while large cable operators paid on average $124.67 per subscriber, per year, he says. “In other words, small cable operators paid on average at least 43% more than larger operators,” Polka says. “And, according to the FCC, the disparity between small and large cable systems is getting only bigger.”

Polka also shares that in 2019 there were 219 instances of “blackouts,” a number likely tied to an individual channel’s prevention, by law, from reaching MVPD subscribers without a retrans consent pact in place.

What about 2020? “[All] the anecdotal evidence we have seen suggests that the magnitude of rate increases has gotten only worse in last year’s negotiations,” Polka believes.

Among the ACA Connects members that refuse to accept new agreements as suggested by broadcast TV stations, many of whom have increased value for their properties thanks to investment in local news operations across a pandemic, are BOYCOM Vision, NNTV, Mediacom, TDS, GCI, Shentel, WOW! and Cable One/Sparklight.

As Polka sees it, the MVPDs have done nothing wrong in their negotiation process, putting all of the blame on a two-sided arrangements on broadcasters and their “unreasonable demands for higher fees.”

While the blame game will likely continue for months, if not into 2022, Polka is pleased that 2020 saw the implementation of the first set of retransmission consent negotiations conducted after passage of the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019 — a law that ACA Connects and its members “fought hard to pass.”

The TVPA requires large TV station ownership groups to negotiate retrans in good faith with buying groups like the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC).

Polka’s not entirely pleased with the TVPA’s results, but he’s more than satisfied.

“Make no mistake, the broadcasters still have an incredible amount of leverage and the terms and conditions of these deals were not great for the small cable operators opting into them,” Polka says. “But those deals involved lower transaction costs than individual negotiations would have had.  And, hopefully, they resulted in lower rates than individual negotiations would have produced.”

The bottom line for Polka: “Most of what’s awful about retransmission consent stayed the same, and it’s getting worse for consumers,” he says. “The old and outdated federal retrans rules from the 1990’s need to be reformed or, better yet, thrown out.  Change through laws like the TVPA is a terrific start, and ACA Connects will continue to fight for reform — just as it successfully did with the TVPA.”

It was a cavalcade of achievements that went on for hours. This included a review of the Media Bureau and Incentive Auction teams’ accomplishments since late January 2017.

All of the presentations, however, couldn’t overshadow the biggest takeaway from the Zoom-delivered highlight reel of The FCC’s Past Four Years: Ajit Pai, Chairman of the agency overseeing media regulatory policy in the U.S., has presided over his final Open Meeting before departing next week.

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Its broadcast properties include such CBS affiliates as WPEC-12 in West Palm Beach.

And, that affiliation — along with those for 12 other stations — won’t be changing anytime soon.

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It’s a big deal for attracting institutional investors, and Townsquare Media had previously announced that its CEO, Bill Wilson, would be presenting.

Now, two of its audio media industry peers have revealed they, too, will be presenting at NobleCon17.

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It’s well-known across broadcast media that Marc Pritchard, the well-respected and admired Chief Brand Officer at Procter & Gamble Co., believes in the power — and Return on Investment — of traditionally delivered radio and television.

In 2020, with some brands pulling back on their advertising activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, P&G increased its outreach to consumers, according to new data from Media Monitors.

Procter & Gamble aired 22% more spots in 2020 than in 2019.

Specifically, the consumer products goods giant aired 23,154,642 spots in monitored markets on radio, broadcast TV and cable in 2020. That compares to 18,913,975 during the prior year, based on iHeartMedia-owned Media Monitors’ rankings of the top 100 advertisers for the year.

The data combines specific brands under the P&G family, including laundry brands Tide, Gain and Downy; Bounty paper towels; Febreze fabric softener; and, of course, Charmin bath tissue.

By specific brand, GEICO was again the nation’s No. 1, airing 6,984,053 instances – also an increase over 2019 – across local cable, broadcast TV and radio when combined.

BROADCAST TV

CABLE TV

When looking solely at radio, Progressive doubled its number of instances, airing 2,694,039 spots in 2020, up from 1,307,010 instances in 2019, Media Monitors data show.

P&G, when combined, was No. 2 at radio — suggesting that some 20 million of the company’s spots were in visual media.

Don’t be misled by the disparity. “The company increased advertising of its brands in all channels, but particularly in radio, where it increased the number of instances by 44%,” Media Monitors President/CEO Philippe Generali said of P&G’s activity in 2020.

Meanwhile, as the pandemic upended normal routines, an opportunity was created for some advertisers. Language learning app Babbel rode a wave of increased interest in online education, Generali noted. The company advertised more on radio, where it entered the top 10 at No. 5.

Interestingly, Allstate jumped to No. 6 from number 57, while Quicken Loans entered at No. 8, up from number 18. Allstate of late has largely been outside of the Spot Ten Radio weekly reports produced by Media Monitors.

RADIO

“There are many reasons for advertisers to be optimistic about 2021,” Generali said. “With the presidential election behind us, advertising inventory will increase. And now that vaccine distribution is underway, people should  soon be able to move about safely, creating more new opportunities for advertisers’ products and services.”

For nearly 20 years, a 50kw Class C2 FM serving Selma, Ala., has served local listeners — most recently as a Black Gospel-tinged R&B station.

In April 2012, however, the station’s license was canceled and revoked, only to be reinstated in November of that year.

Now, this station has largely escaped another FCC matter of importance.

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Noted broker Larry Patrick, Managing Partner of Patrick Communications, is also a licensee of radio stations. And, he’s poised to gain control of three FMs as a court-appointed receiver, and immediately facilitate their sale to VCY America.

There’s just one small problem. The individual who lost control of the trio of radio stations, Ed Stolz, is engaging in what Patrick’s legal counsel calls “willful interference with court orders.” Now, it wants the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Judge that’s been overseeing the case to send Stolz to jail until Patrick gets the properties and can sell them — per the court’s directive.

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By Mario Xavier Carrasco

America is often described as a “melting pot” of different nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures. Much to the dismay of Teddy Roosevelt (who in a 1916 speech noted “There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism”), Americans have perfected naming each ethnic group within our borders distinctly, and those names have evolved.

For example, we dove into the names by which Hispanics prefer to identify. Responses ranged from “Latino/Latina” to country of origin, to the hotly debated yet emerging term “Latinx.”

We see a similar pattern among Black Americans, who do not identify with labels such as “African American” despite its use in the U.S. Census, media, and other databases.

But what about the fastest-growing ethnic group in the U.S.: Asians? As with Hispanics, marketing to Asians must be nuanced because of the complexity of their demographics. Hispanic audiences span 20 countries of origin.

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American households are cutting the cord on their cable subscriptions more rapidly than previously reported.

That’s according to fresh data from more than 2,100 U.S. consumers reviewed for the second Future of TV survey by The Trade Desk.

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The CEO of Townsquare Media will be presenting on behalf of the local media company at NobleCon17 – Noble Capital Markets‘ 17th annual investor conference.

Bill Wilson will take the spotlight at approximately 4:30pm Eastern on Tuesday, Jan. 19.

And, he’ll have a virtual podium, as the COVID-19 pandemic has led Noble to hold an online-only affair accessible at no cost by visiting www.noblecon17.com.

Additionally, a high-definition, video webcast of the presentation will be available from Jan. 20 on the equity investor relations section of Townsquare’s website.

The webcast will be archived for 90 days following the event.

Townsquare Media shares concluded Monday’s trading at $7.21 and were down 2 cents with seven minutes remaining in trading on Jan. 12.

On November 30, 2016, DirecTV gave birth to a virtual MVPD designed to provide a “skinny bundle” to consumers who weren’t interested in a costly monthly subscription plan. Branded as DirecTV NOW, it didn’t require a contract.

At first, consumers seemed to like the vMVPD. Then came a name change to AT&T TV NOW, and a decline in subscribers following a summer 2018 peak.

Now, AT&T TV NOW packages ‘”are no longer available for new customers.”

There’s no official notice — just a marketing note informing consumers that AT&T TV NOW has merged with AT&T TV.

While no new customers are being accepted, current AT&T TV NOW customers will continue to have access. However, there’s no indication for how long.

The move comes as industry chatter persists that AT&T will eventually sell DirecTV to Dish, creating a DBS scenario akin to the satellite radio arena, where Sirius and XM merged to establish a financially viable operation.

Meanwhile, the U-Verse platform AT&T operated in the TV space prior to its merger with DirecTV is still being phased out.

The end of AT&T TV NOW follows the end of Sony PlayStation Vue, a “skinny bundle” that had been a feature tied to the popular video game console.