Radio+Television Business Report

Travel to North Central Florida, and you'll find the University of Florida's main campus in Gainesville and the nearby city of Ocala. Here, Saga Communications operates under the "North Central Florida Media" brand, overseeing a pair of audio brands. As of today, those stations and the "352today" website have a new leader.

The nation's biggest audio content creator and distributor has a new CEO for the unit that includes its more than 860 local broadcast radio stations; its radio networks businesses (including Premiere Networks and TTWN); and the Enterprise Business Development Group. She rises from President of Markets Group & Sales Operations.

Brand recall increases when television is part of the media mix, compared to standalone channel efforts. In fact, a new Comcast Advertising report notes, recall rises 8.7 times when TV is paired with search, 1.8 times with social media, and 1.6 times with podcasts.

U.S.-based employers announced 60,620 job cuts in March, up 25% from 48,307 cuts announced in February. It is down 78% from the 275,240 cuts announced during the same month last year, according to a report released Thursday from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

He's largely known for his ownership of radio stations in Central New York. Now, Craig Fox has agreed to acquire a low-power TV station serving Syracuse, FCC documents filed by David Oxenford of Wilkinson Barker Knauer show.

The New York Festivals Television and Film Awards has unveiled the 2026 TV & Film Awards Shortlist. "Exceptional content from globally recognized storytellers and filmmakers across six continents was thoughtfully evaluated by the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards Grand Jury," it says.

The Broadcasters Foundation of America (BFOA)has received the highest scores from two independent organizations that track commitment to accountability and impact for 501(c)(3) charities.

The five audio brands serving the Wasatch Front owned and operated by Cumulus Media have a new President/GM, and it is the ex-Market President for the iHeartMedia stations serving Salt Lake City.

Beasley Media Group is welcoming a new Vice President of Human Resources, and it is an individual who previously served as a Senior Human Resources Executive at Procter & Gamble. Bill Sontag “brings extensive experience and a proven track record in human resources leadership to his new role,” Beasley said in an announcement distributed Wednesday. […]

Audacy CEO Kelli Turner, in an internal memo, notes that "to better capture opportunities, scale success, and sharpen our competitive edge," the privately held company with majority ownership held by Soros Fund Management is establishing a regionalized sales organization. The Market Manager post is being erased.

Two of the nation's largest owners of broadcast radio stations will be a bit tardy with their annual 10-K filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as each have filed for extensions — for very different reasons.

It's complicated. Yet, MediaCo President/CEO Albert Rodriguez insists the parent of Estrella Media and iconic N.Y. radio stations WBLS and WQHT "HOT 97" is in "growth mode" and will continue to be — even with a bit of a debt cloud growing greyer over the company largely backed by Standard General and Blackrock. 

He's been the Chairman and President/CEO of Skyview Networks, the national radio advertising organization, since April 2019, and before that spent many years at the former ABC News Radio enterprise, starting as a News Writer in 1986. Now, he's taking on full ownership of Skyview, Streamline Publishing has confirmed.

It's a Class B radio station that's been silenced since mid-January under Special Temporary Authority with the FCC, after iHeartMedia concluded its lease of the AM and declined to acquire it. Now the licensee of this Northern Virginia facility that signed on as WAGE-AM is poised to have a new owner.

An informal objection to the license renewal of a Greenwood, Miss., radio station filed by Larry Fuss has been denied, clearing the way for the licensee to obtain that important authorization. For that to happen, however, a Consent Decree between the station owner and the Commission was signed.

Can traditional media companies afford to pay more for the NFL with the continued pressures on linear television? That vitally important question to broadcast TV station ownership groups was tackled in a new investor report by MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Rob Fishman.

The latest retransmission consent dispute has ticked off South Florida hockey fans, in particular, as Comcast's Xfinity MVPD pulled by law all Scripps TV stations from its lineup due to the lack of a fresh carriage contract. In South Florida, this occurred during the second period of a Florida Panthers game.

He's spent his entire professional career with iHeartMedia in New York, beginning as a Promotions Assistant with WKTU-FM. Most recently, he's served as Event Director for the company's stations serving the Tri-State Area, taking the lead in bringing high-impact events and listener experiences to fruition. Those efforts have earned Andrew Festo a promotion.

It owns and operates a collection of 11 radio brands, in addition to seven broadcast TV offerings and real estate holding company Loblolly. The media properties are overseen by Craig Jahelka, a 50-year industry veteran associated with Draper Media since April 2008. A plan has now been put in place to determine Jahelka's successor.

The Major League Baseball team based in the Tampa-St. Petersburg market that intends to stay there, once a new stadium agreement is finally reached, can celebrate another agreement of importance — it now has a limited over-the-air broadcast agreement in place with Hearst Television.