Radio+Television Business Report

A member of the air staff at KBDZ-FM 93.1, licensed to Perryville, Mo., and serving a swath of downstate Illinois and southeastern Missouri between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, has died after contracting West Nile Virus some five weeks ago.

The Sinclair Inc.-owned broadcast TV station serving Flint, Mich., as "FOX 66" is heading to the University of Michigan on Thursday evening to participate in the Athletes First Tailgate Tour stop, along with the parent company's AMP Media team.

Privately held broadcast radio station owner Evanov Communications Inc. has lured a high-profile programming executive with previous experience at Corus Entertainment, Rogers Sports & Media and at the former Alpha Media in the U.S. to lead its two stations serving the GTA.

The news was first shared on a Texas local media blog and shared by the individual at the heart of the report via LinkedIn early Friday morning. A former Regional VP for Urban One's radio division from October 2004 through March 2015, overseeing its Dallas and Houston stations, is returning to the company.

For thirty years, a nonprofit organization founded by Brent Bozell determined to clean up sex and violence portrayed on prime time television has fought for its advocates. Now, the PTC is in self-destruct mode, after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

He was known by listeners as the "Voice of Westerly," for his distinct voice on a Class C AM serving the Rhode Island city on Block Island Sound. Christoper DiPaola passed away three years ago this coming Tuesday. Now, transfer of control of the AM and its associated FM translator he owned has begun.

An Ohio Congresswoman has become a co-sponsor of legislation Introduced by Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) that seeks to revive the Minority Tax Certificate program, which from 1978 to 1995 helped facilitate hundreds of broadcast ownership transfers to women and people of color.

Beasley CEO Caroline Beasley will take on the CFO role on an interim basis, while Shaun Greening rises to CAO, both effective October 17.

NBCUniversal Telemundo Studios has launched what it is calling an “industry-first” podcast incubator in partnership with the University of Miami, giving student creators access to Telemundo’s production resources, mentorship and distribution platforms.

In the time since President Trump returned to the White House, the NAB has taken an aggressive stance on key issues that it believes are of the utmost importance to Radio and Television. In the words of President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt, the association has been on offense since Day One of the second Trump Administration.

A multifamily residential building is being proposed for a site on the west bank of the Malden River in suburban Medford, Mass., that until 20 years ago served as the home of one of the nation's most iconic Top 40 stations and its AM sibling. 

Local media ad-focused operation Madhive has made what it calls "a strategic equity investment" in Precise.AI, an AI-powered data collaboration company. This results in a new CEO for Madhive, as its current chief executive will take CEO stripes for Precise.AI.

It was a lively and remarkable panel discussion, led by one of the television industry's most respected research executives. TVB EVP/Chief Research Officer Hadassa Gerber asked hard questions to executives from Nielsen and Comscore about how to deliver data that will best support broadcast TV's ad growth. 

“Local Now is committed to bringing the audience what they want," said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group. "Local Now continues to be the go-to destination for free news, weather, sports, and entertainment across America.”

At present, it has such local news and information portals as Clarksville Now, intricately linked to broadcast radio stations including "Q108," a regional leader. By 2030, nearly every Saga Communications market could emulate what Fort Campbell, Ky., and Clarksville, Tenn. have seen monetarily. 

He previously worked in the Audio Division of the FCC's Media Bureau under its chief, Al Shuldiner. Now, he is the newest Associate Attorney at Inside-the-Beltway communications law firm Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth.

In the eyes of the Director of Media and the Live Entertainment Equity Research head at Guggenheim Partners, the investment community and his peers in Wall Street financial houses are “still bullish” on the broadcast television sector. That said, some presently robust fountains of dollars will likely slow to a trickle in the coming years.

A new track is coming to the NAB Show New York conference in roughly two weeks that will examine AI and automation in news production, focusing on how AI is transforming how news is gathered, produced and disseminated.

The TVB Executive Summit kicked off its half-day agenda at Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday with remarks from soon-to-retire President/CEO Steve Lanzano that not only welcomed in-person attendees ahead of a keynote from ANA head Bob Liodice but also revealed who Lanzano's successor will be.

The AWM Foundation is accepting entries for the 51st Annual Gracie Awards. For more than five decades, these awards have celebrated outstanding programming by, for, and about women — while funding scholarships and programs that support the next generation of women in media.