Radio+Television Business Report

A provider of media workflow software presently run by CEO Susie Hedrick is welcoming a SVP of Technology to the company.

He’ll oversee the production development team, platform operations, security and IT.

Now at vCreative is Drew Cain. He most recently held senior engineering roles and oversaw mission critical cloud infrastructure projects at Simpli.fi, helping to design, code and deploy products designed to optimize workflow. There, Cain also aided in the development and manufacture of omnichannel programmatic advertising products across various multimedia categories.

“vCreative is on a tremendous growth trajectory, adding new services and more value for our customers at a rapid pace,” Hedrick said. “Drew is a proven technology leader who has demonstrated how important the overlap of technology and business enablement can be. It’s his blend of digital experience, vision, innovation, and trusted leadership that made him the perfect candidate for the role.”

Cain added that he’s thrilled to join vCreative during an “exciting period of growth and change in the industry.” He adds, “As advertising spend continues to transition from linear to digital, we will work together to accelerate the delivery of new products, features, and integrations with a focus on enabling the ongoing future success of our customers. vCreative has a fantastic reputation as a trusted partner to the media industry and I look forward to being part of such an incredible team.”

An ANGA GOM “Restart” has been confirmed.

On May 10, some 300 confirmed exhibitors and high-level conference speakers will gather in Köln, Germany, as “Europe’s leading Exhibition and Conference for Broadband, Television & Online” is moving forward with a delayed 2022 in-person gathering.

The three-day affair looks to be one of the world’s biggest post-pandemic events for the visual entertainment and media industry. Due to various stand enlargements, the total space of the European and North American exhibitors is already at the level of the last ANGA COM show held in 2019.

The gross exhibition space for the first 300 exhibitors is already more than 20,000 sqm.

“We receive growing optimism of our exhibitors every day,” says Dr. Peter Charissé, Managing Director of ANGA COM. “The broadband and media industry is facing a new and splendid level of investment. In Germany, for example, with its more than 40 million households, network operators and a steadily growing number of international investors have announced to invest many billions in new fiber infrastructures. All leading fiber operators will be prominently represented in the conference program. ANGA COM will be the first major industry meeting with early summer conditions. With 15-meter high exhibition halls, a huge foyer and the popular open air plaza with food trucks, our location has never been more attractive.”

The complete conference program of ANGA COM 2022 will be published in March. Conference topics include OTT, AppTV, Video Streaming, Fixed Mobile Convergence, Sustainability, Artificial Intelligence, Smart City and Smart Home and the political, legal and regulatory issues of the broadband and media industry.

— With reports from correspondents in Kaiserslautern, Germany

Registration for conference and exhibition visitors is now possible online at www.angacom.de. 

With shares at their lowest value in a decade, discarding the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, investors may be intensely awaiting the latest fiscal report card for Nielsen Holdings plc.

When will the nation’s dominant audience measurement and consumer data analysis house share the company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2021 results?

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

He has had a “unique” path to success. Now, 2022 NAB Show attendees will get to hear all about it, as Byron Allen has agreed to appear in a flame-free “fireside chat” scheduled for Wednesday, April 27 at the Las Vegas event — the NAB’s first since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Allen will be interviewed by retired NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith, who now serves as a special adviser to the organization.

The discussion is on the calendar for a 9:15am Pacific start.

Allen is the President/CEO of Allen Media Group and Entertainment Studios, and has emerged as a media mogul, with broadcast TV stations just one component of his empire.

It is Smith’s goal to have Allen engage in a two-sided conversation in which both the former U.S. Senator and the TV industry star “discuss the steps in their professional careers that helped them achieve success.”

The chat will serve as the centerpiece of the NAB Show Executive Leadership Series session. Allen and Smith also plan to address their respective roles as advocates and leaders in the broadcast industry and the “enduring value” of local television in an ever-changing marketplace.

Allen Media Group owns 27 television stations in 21 markets, and could grow exponentially in the coming months and years.

Allen also partnered with Sinclair Broadcast Group in 2019 to acquire 21 Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) — a story often overlooked by national media.

Meanwhile, Allen’s Entertainment Studios, which predates the owned-station operation, produces and distributes syndicated program and sells advertising for 67 broadcast and cable television programs.

THE GORDON SMITH SHOW As previously reported, the retired U.S. Senator and former NAB head will receive NAB’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, at the 2022 NAB Show.

It’s known for nationally distributed digital multicast television networks such as the popular MeTV and siblings DECADES, Start TV, Heroes & Icons and MOVIES!

Now, the family of Weigel Broadcasting‘s national broadcast networks is set to expand.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

It positions itself as “a voice for the TV viewer” yet is one of the biggest pro-cable TV service provider lobbying groups Inside the Beltway. The American Television Alliance (ATVA) has made noise for its finger-pointing and one-sided blame for every recent retransmission consent dispute, citing broadcast TV owners for causing the problem despite the need for a MVPD and broadcaster to agree on a fair deal.

Now, it is sharing its thoughts with the FCC on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking crafter to consider changes in the ATSC 3.0 licensing regime — a matter that comes following a NAB request.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

He’s the founder and Portfolio Manager of a Chicago-area investment house focused on “micro-cap value equities.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, its portfolio “is constructed through [a] in-depth, fundamental research process focused on the potential risk and return of each investment.”

Among the companies that part of his portfolio: Saga Communications.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

On September 23, 2019, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) on Monday (9/23) released an open letter to marketing and advertising leaders imploring them to develop and executive campaigns that reflect today’s U.S. populace and consumer. 

With NBC’s telecast of Super Bowl LVI, several commercials appear to have answered the need for greater diversity in the creative. Among the standouts — spots for Google Pixel 6 and the NFL itself.

We are pleased to share once again the ANA’s letter in its entirety:

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

This is the story of KZMX-FM, a Class A FM at 96.7 MHz licensed to Hot Springs, S.D. It serves a portion of South Dakota due south of Rapid City.

It shouldn’t. In fact, it was supposed to cease broadcasts on this frequency more than seven years, so another licensee could construct his 100kw FM atop Terry Peak, due northwest of Rapid City and adjacent to Deadwood, on the same dial position.

The FCC is now taking action.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

In November 2021, the FCC‘s Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) and the Media Bureau joined together to seek comment on the procedures to be used for “Auction 112,” a sell-off of construction permits for full-power television stations.

Now, the Commission is moving forward with the auction. And, as expected, bidding will begin in June.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Drive 40 minutes to the northeast of Buffalo Niagara International Airport, and you’ll find the town of Medina, N.Y., home to the lone tunnel under the Erie Canal. Few outside of Western New York know the small town, but it is presently on the FCC’s radar.

Why? A homeowner could be faced with “significant fines” of up to exactly $22,021 per day for what the Enforcement Bureau says is harmful interference to a Commission licensee’s LTE communications, and the resident’s refusal to allow a Bureau Agent to inspect the premises to identify the source of the interference — believed to be a TV antenna.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

The Chief of the FCC Media Bureau’s Audio Division has ruled that the licensee of a currently silent 5-watt FM translator at 96.3 MHz in the Kendall Square area of Boston can move ahead with the facility’s modification — a decision that came just months after a cancellation request was made.

The approval means GBH can proceed with an action it has wanted to do, but was met with an objection from another licensee.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

For the last several years, a Texas licensee has been seeking to operate a Class A radio station at 92.7 on the FM dial. However, that hasn’t happened because another licensee, led by Roy Henderson, has been authorized to do so but never followed through with a shift to that frequency for a Class A FM at 106.1 MHz.

This led the FCC’s Media Bureau to open a Comment and Reply Comment period to help come to a resolution on the matter.

Now, Henderson is making headlines for another matter involving the Bureau: “DKHTZ” no longer has a “D” in its call letters, as a license renewal submitted March 31, 2021 with the Commission has been granted.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Among the fresh commercials getting a Super Bowl LVI airing on February 13 was a fun spot from a fitness center featuring Lindsay Lohan, playing at her past with a focus on the future.

The spot is the signature component of a campaign that has increased its use of Spot TV in the last week.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Aside from a new effort from one of the nation’s biggest pharmacy chains, there’s little movement of note in the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report.

Is that a good thing?

For some, the static nature of the report suggests brands that are investing in radio are committing to the medium, with Indeed, Progressive, DuckDuckGo and Wendy’s among the brands favoring Spot Radio of late.

For others, however, greater activity from these brands’ peers, and from brands in other categories, could still be seen — something that could push the iHeartRadio promotional spots out of the report altogether.

Walgreen’s is new at No. 9 this week, while Babbel and ZipRecruiter are also seen on the latest report.

With roughly four hours to go before NBC’s coverage of Super Bowl LVI was to begin, Mediacom cable TV service subscribers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul DMA, Arizona’s Prescott Valley region, and the home of the NFC Champions from 1994-2015 have regained the opportunity to watch the “Big Game” without having to resort to “rabbit ears” or other alternatives.

It ends a 409-day “blackout” due to the absence of a retransmission consent agreement, and comes just days after an agreement with DISH was reached — an action that only further suggests that a TEGNA takeover by Standard General in partnership with Apollo Global Management is coming soon.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

MIAMI — Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) has filed a petition for declaratory ruling with the FCC that would allow foreign investors to indirectly own up to 49.9% of the Hispanic media company’s equity in the aggregate.

Should that happen? The Media Bureau wants to know.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

As the court-appointed receiver of three radio stations tied to Ed Stolz, Larry Patrick was directed by a California federal district judge to move forward with the sale of Stolz’s three FM radio stations licensed to Royce International Broadcasting. The action, the judge said, was necessary in order to provide past-due royalty payments tied to the airplay of music on those FMs.

Then came Stolz’s bankruptcy filing, in a Nevada court. As RBR+TVBR reported this week, the Nevada Federal Bankruptcy Judge — in an oral ruling — paved the way for Stolz to regain ownership of the properties.

Paperwork reflecting the unwinding of a deal engineered by Patrick has now been filed with the FCC.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Some companies do it to award shareholders. Others to it to attract them.

For Nielsen, the latter appears to be the incorrect response from Wall Street of the decision by its Board of Directors to declare a quarterly cash dividend.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

As RBR+TVBR was first to report on Thursday (2/10), Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) has successfully negotiated a purchase of Rhythmic Top 40 “Power 95.3” in the Orlando market and Alternative “97X” in Tampa-St. Petersburg — stations that an Elliot Evers-administered trust needed to spin by Tuesday.

With the former Cox Media Group FMs now set to become Spanish-language properties in two hot growth markets, the only remaining question until now involved the value of the deal.

We now have an answer.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)