Industry News

BOCA RATON, FLA. — From a low-rise office building housing Newsmax on the ground floor and its corporate offices on the second floor, Vertical Bridge has established itself as a formidable presence in the world of tower ownership.

Now, the competitor to Steve Bernstein’s SBA, just up the street; Crown Castle; and American Tower Corp. has struck a potentially game-changing deal with Dish Network Corp. that will go a long way toward helping the DBS provider become a major 5G player nationwide.

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Entercom Communications distributed “an important update” on Monday morning regarding one of its most important audio brands.

“Later in 2021,” its Brand Manager — the Sports Format Captain for the entire company — will step down from day-to-day oversight of WFAN-AM & FM in New York and CBS Sports Radio.

What’s next for Entercom … and for Mark Chernoff?

Many are likely asking that question, as Chris Oliviero, Sr. VP and Market Manager for Entercom/New York, wrote in a company memo to the local staff that “[a]fter nearly 30 years of unmatched success,” Chernoff will be relieved of day-to-day oversight of WFAN and for CBS Sports Radio “after a worthy successor has been identified.”

While that will come over the next 11 months, Chernoff notes it won’t be rushed. “Trust me,” Oliviero wrote. “[It] will be no easy task.”

And, “since no one knows the job better,” Oliviero said Chernoff will be a member of the search committee for the next sports content lead for both brands. Until that time, he’ll remain fully responsible for all operations.

Chernoff will continue on as an advisor to WFAN after the search and transition is
complete.

Oliviero commented, “I was lucky enough to first meet Mark in 1998 in his windowless sub-sub-basement office out at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens. I was a college grad groveling for part-time board op shifts at WFAN. That began a relationship that has evolved into one of the most rewarding, important and genuine friendships of my entire life. One that I have and always will cherish.”

Chernoff’s tenure at WFAN includes overseeing a Sports Talk giant that gained an FM signal, the former WPIX-FM and WQCD-FM at 101.9 MHz; saw Imus in the Morning continue the legacy of the former WNBC-AM; and gain a huge legion of fans through such sports talk shows as Mike & The Mad Dog.

While those programs may be top of mind, “no name has been more responsible for the consistent excellence of ‘The Fan’ than ‘Chernoff,’” Oliviero said.

A trio of Urban One radio division leaders have each been promoted to the roles of VP/Radio at the company superserving African American consumers across the U.S.

Taking those titles for the Cincinnati; Columbus, Ohio; and Philadelphia markets, respectively, are Daniel Abercrombie, Kimberly Kyle and Ezio Torres. 

Abercrombie will gain full oversight of WDBZ-AM, WIZF-FM & WOSL-FM, and marks his ascension to the lead role at the three stations in Cincinnati after starting in 2015 as an LSM for Urban One in the market. He was promoted to GSM in 2018 and in 2019 gained the role of Station Manager.

Speaking of his new role, Abercrombie said, “The importance of radio as a means of serving our local communities cannot be understated. I am humbled for the recognition but truly proud of our entire Cincinnati team with how they persevered in 2020 and excited to continue the journey with them. But also, it is an honor just to be surrounded by great people every day as a whole at Urban One, and I am just very thankful.”

Kyle held the role of Local Sales Manager with Radio One for 14 years. After serving two years as the Director of Sales at North American Broadcasting, Kyle returned to Urban One in 2017 as the Columbus market station manager.

She’ll oversee WCKX-FM, WJYD-FM and WXMG-FM.

“Urban One and the Columbus team are amazingly resilient. Our people just know how to get it done!” she said. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be surrounded by some of the greatest minds in the business and to represent this audience every day!”

Torres returned to Urban One in 2016 as the Philadelphia cluster’s Director of Sales. He’ll now have top duties for WPHI-FM, WPPZ-FM and WRNB-FM. His experience includes a stint from 2002-2009 as NSM for Urban One’s Washington, D.C., flagship station group.

In Philadelphia, he has been National Sales Manager and General Sales Manager and was promoted to General Manager in 2018. “I am excited and thrilled to be recognized by the company!,” Torres said. “I am also humbled because the acknowledgment should go to every member of the Philadelphia market team – one of the best teams with which I have had the pleasure to be associated.”

Urban One Radio Division CEO David Kantor added, “I am delighted to celebrate the achievements and recognize the outstanding efforts of Dan, Kim, and Ezio. They earned the promotion to Vice President with their strong management capabilities, especially in 2020. Not only have they continued to improve their operations, but each made their 2020 budget in what can only be described as an unprecedented year. Under their leadership, each market beat their Miller Kaplan Metrics in Local, National, Total Spot, Digital, and Total Revenues.”

For $925 million, Gray Television is grabbing all of the broadcast TV stations and the AM/FM radio combo in Quincy, Ill., owned by Quincy Media, Inc.

To get the deal done, six QMI stations in markets where market concentration concerns are present will be divested. What stations will Gray gain?

The family-owned media company in 16 markets, aside from Tucson primarily in the Midwest, will be selling to Gray the following stations it will integrate into its operations:

WPTA (ABC/NBC) and WISE (CW) in Fort Wayne, Indiana (DMA 104)
WEEK (NBC/ABC/CW) in Peoria, Illinois (DMA 118)
WREX (NBC/CW) in Rockford, Illinois (DMA 132)
KBJR (NBC/CBS) and KDLH (CW) in Duluth, Minnesota (DMA 136)
KTIV (NBC/CW) in Sioux City, Iowa (DMA 147)
KTTC (NBC/CW) in Rochester-Mason City, Minnesota-Iowa (DMA 156)
WBNG (CBS/CW) in Binghamton, New York (DMA 158)
WVVA (NBC/CW) in Bluefield-Beckley, West Virginia (DMA 162)
WGEM (NBC/FOX/CW) in Quincy, Illinois (DMA 172)

In addition, Gray is also acquiring Quincy’s Heroes & Icons affiliate WSJV-TV in South Bend, Ind.

Welcoming the station’s staff into the Gray family could come with some ease, as Gray likens itself to Quincy in some ways.

“Like Gray, Quincy’s portfolio of best-in-class television stations maintain local control over
programming and operational decisions and have reputations for a commitment to excellence in local news operations, programming, community engagement and public service,” the company said in a pre-market statement issued Monday (2/1). “Gray believes that the deep similarities between Gray and Quincy in terms of company cultures, award-winning journalistic commitments, and exceptional community service will help ensure a smooth integration of the acquired stations.”

Gray will not acquire Quincy’s newspaper operations, which will be divested prior to the Gray/Quincy closing.

The parties expect to close their transaction following receipt of regulatory and other approvals in the second or third quarter of 2021.

And, Gray expects that the Quincy transaction will be immediately accretive to Gray’s free cash flow per share.

Including expected year-one annualized synergies of approximately $23 million, the transaction purchase price represents a multiple of approximately 6.9x a blended average of Quincy’s 2019/2020 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

How will Gray pay for the stations? It said it intends to finance the transaction, net of divestiture proceeds, with cash on hand and/or new debt.

Importantly, Wells Fargo Securities has provided a debt financing commitment for an incremental loan to finance up to the full purchase price of $925 million.

Gray anticipates that its expected “strong free cash flow generation” throughout 2021 should allow Gray to continue to deleverage its capital structure following the closing.

Further, Gray expects that its total leverage ratio, net of all cash and net of proceeds from divestiture sales, would approximate 4.0 times trailing eight-quarter operating cash flow, including estimated synergies, at year-end 2021.

The transaction requires no Gray shareholder vote will be required.

Wells Fargo Securities served as financial advisor to Quincy. Cooley LLP served as primary legal counsel for Gray. Brooks Pierce and Scholz, Loos, Palmer, Siebers and Duesterhaus LLP served as legal counsel for Quincy.

Gray currently owns and/or operates television stations and leading digital properties in 94 television markets.  Gray also owns video program production, marketing, and digital businesses including Raycom Sports, TupeloRaycom, and RTM Studios, the producer of PowerNation programs and content.

With Monday’s early morning blockbuster announcement that Quincy Media, Inc., largely controlled by two families whose ownership stake in the Illinois-based company dates to 1926, will be purchased by Gray Television, the question of whether the deal meets FCC and Justice Department approval is perhaps of one the biggest topics surrounding the transaction to swiftly emerge in D.C. circles.

The quick answer: Yes. But, that depends on the spin-off of stations in six markets. One of those markets is Tucson — where Quincy in 2019 completed its October 2018 deal to purchase NBC affiliate KVOA-4 from Cordillera Communications.

What does the future hold for KVOA? That’s up to its future owner.

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On January 7, Illinois-based broadcast media operation Quincy Media Inc., owner of 24 over-the-air TV stations, confirmed that it was “considering” a sale of all of its assets.

Less than one month later, a buyer has emerged. And, it’s the entity that successfully merged with Raycom Media just over two years ago.

The radio assets in Quincy’s home market are included in the deal.

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MIAMI — Less than 24 hours after a major shakeup in its corporate ranks, Univision Communications on January 12 moved forward with its widely discussed plans to launch an advertising-supported streaming service serving Spanish-speaking U.S. Hispanics.

Now, the company presided today by Wade Davis seeks to “accelerate” PrendeTV in the U.S. by acquiring the largest Spanish-language ad-supported streaming service serving both domestic audiences and those across Iberoamérica.

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As recently as October 30, Nielsen shares sat at $13.51 — a sign to some that its COVID-19 era slump wouldn’t end soon.

That prognostication turned out to be incorrect. NLSN now stands at its best price since late May 2019, a positive for the dominant audience measurement company as it selects the date it will release its Q4 and full-year 2020 results.

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A weekend ice storm has cost station KOEZ in Des Moines, Iowa, the top 100 feet of its tower, which unfortunately was also holding the station’s 10-bay FM antenna.

The photo above is not what you want to see when you get to your tower site.

Tom Atkins, VP and director of engineering for Saga Communications, tells Radio World that local Chief Engineer Joseph Farrington received an off-air alarm and a low transmission line pressure alarm late Saturday evening.

“He immediately switched to the aux antenna to keep KOEZ on the air,” Atkins wrote in an email. “Upon arrival at the transmitter site, he noticed a snapped upper guy wire and no tower lights above the mid-level of the structure.”

It was too dark to see anything on Saturday. He returned Sunday morning to find the top section of tower that held the main 10-bay ERI antenna was laying on the ground partially buried on one end.

“It appears the ice load was too much for the Phillystran supporting the upper section of the tower,” Atkins wrote. “We will be conducting a full investigation along with a tower inspection to determine the official cause.”

No one was hurt; and KOEZ, which airs an adult contemporary format, is operating at full power from the site utilizing its auxiliary antenna.

The post Iowa Ice Takes Down KOEZ’s FM Antenna appeared first on Radio World.

The author is executive director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. NFCB commentaries are featured regularly at www.radioworld.com.

Since last year, many radio stations have favored remote work due to the pandemic. It is expected they will keep staff at home still further into this year. So much isolation for staff and volunteers, though, is pushing us to think about maintaining a productive station culture.

Whether fully staffed or all-volunteer, local radio stations thrive, keep good people, and attract community interest in no small part by good word of mouth. A strong internal culture where people feel a sense of belonging and believe leaders care is key in this regard. Yet, fostering a station culture when everyone no longer is in person can be formidable.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: How Biden Helps Radio]

The consequences of not paying attention to station culture are serious. Recently the New York Times highlighted the problem of distance work creating staff problems. Longtime colleagues and peers are seeing their bonds fraying. Behavior people would never engage in at the station — from aggressive political posturing to disengagement at meetings to rude or uncompassionate treatment — have become the norm in some places. Instead of treating people like coworkers or fellow volunteers, experts note, people are treating these interactions like they’re dealing with online friends. However, these casual and sometimes pointed chats don’t vanish into the ether. As the Times points out, they are becoming the basis for harassment, discrimination and hostile work environment litigation — this time, with a digital footprint to demonstrate such.

For any business, these problems are daunting. For radio stations, especially local, community-based broadcasters, the many priorities related to content, technology and service crowd our to-do lists. Media itself is in the hot seat too, and its people surely are weighed down by the negative views the public increasingly says it feels about media. Station culture, as a result, only suffers.

How can your radio station have support its people and ensure a better culture when so much work is remote now? There are a few key issues.

Transparency is central to trust. Remember back when you were at the station and could walk over to someone’s space and talk about an idea, clear up a misunderstanding, or explain yourself? With that precious in-person interaction gone, it takes extra effort to let others know the full story to anything. Promoting communication and relationship-building is integral today at stations. Telling people about decisions and why they were made makes people feel more included, particularly when they can no longer have access to the traditional channels to learn and talk.

Handling conflicts consistently and proactively is necessary as well. At the station, disagreements can pop up from time to time, or more frequently. Managing conflicts fairly and evenly just as you would any station policy. And do not just let tensions simmer, or pretend like something didn’t happen. Handle it directly, lest it get worse later.

Finally, it’s important to be aware of the mental health and well-being of your volunteers and staff. Wellness vaulted from the realm of essential oils and yoga mats into the mainstream ages ago, so it’s time to embrace it. Isolation can have debilitating effects on your physical and mental health. You can offer your staff and volunteers many low-cost wellness resources to ensure they are happy and healthy. Such investments will create a more harmonious work environment, even remotely.

Sadly, remote station work is not going away soon, so it is up to stations to reimagine work to ensure the best stations possible.

The post Community Broadcaster: Distant Tension appeared first on Radio World.