Industry News

NPR and Wondery in October held their top positions in Podtrac’s list of top podcast publishers as measured by U.S. audience.

Most of the rest of the list looks like last month’s too, with a few swapping positions.

But this month, ViacomCBS joined that list and enters at #12 (bumping Hidden Brain Media out of the top 20).

Ranking data only includes publishers that participate in Podtrac measurement:

The company said Unique Monthly Audience for 19 of the top 20 publishers was up or flat in October over the month before.

It also found that Total Global Downloads for the Top 20 were up 9% from the month before but down 9% compared to October of 2020.

The list of top individual podcasts also looked similar at the top compared to the month before, with the NYT at the top, and NPR holding five of the next 19 slots:

[Related: “iHeart, NPR Have Their Prints All Over Podtrac Rankings”]

The post Podtrac Issues Monthly Podcast Rankers appeared first on Radio World.

Cox Media Group named Chris Eagan as its VP of audience and operations for radio.

“In this role Eagan will lead the overarching programming strategy, audience development and multiplatform distribution for CMG Radio,” it stated. “He will also lead the CMG Digital Content team and partnerships to drive innovation for CMG Radio.”

The company owns 54 radio stations in 11 markets, as well as 33 TV stations and other media assets.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

Eagan was most recently senior director of operations for CMG Atlanta Radio, a cluster that includes B98.5 WSB(FM), News Talk WSB(AM), 97-1 The River WSRV(FM) and Kiss 104.1 WALR(FM).

The announcement was made by Rob Babin, SVP-head of radio, and Jaleigh Long, VP and general manager of Atlanta radio.

Send news of engineering and executive personnel changes to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Cox Appoints Eagan to Radio Audience and Ops Role appeared first on Radio World.

Communications tower owner Vertical Bridge said its leadership team has donated $1.1 million personally to benefit two industry foundations.

The money is going to help Warriors4Wireless and the Tower Family Foundation.

“The donations were made in support of the work that these non-profit organizations do to help veterans enter the telecommunications industry and to support the families of those injured on the job,” the company stated in a press release.

The announcement was made by CEO Alex Gellman and EVP of Operations Bernard Borghei.

[Read: Vertical Bridge Remains in Acquisition Mode]

Warriors4Wireless was formed “to bridge the gap between the demand for trained and deployable wireless technicians, and the thousands of qualified service men and women eager to transfer the skills they have learned in the military.”

The Tower Family Foundation provides financial assistance to family members of a severely injured, permanently disabled or deceased tower worker.

Vertical Bridge said that last year it donated $1.5 million to 149 causes chosen by its employees.

The post Vertical Bridge Execs Donate to Industry Foundations appeared first on Radio World.

What’s the fiscal health for one of the biggest radio industry pure-play operations that’s publicly traded on Wall Street?

Pretty darn good, actually, as Saga Communications released a Q3 2021 report card that shows the owner of small and medium-market stations turning from a net loss to significant net income.

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It is a low-powered TV station that in summer 2018 was heading to HC2 Holdings, with a $400,000 transaction proposed.

Then, HC2 was a much different company, with spending under the guise of former CEO Philip Falcone. He’s now at Sovryn Holdings, and that 2018 deal never came to fruition. Now, the LPTV facility has found a new buyer, and it is paying significantly less for it.

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“The company is in good shape, from a leverage standpoint. We’ve come a long way.”

Those are the words of Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins III, who had many good things to share during his company’s third quarter 2021 earnings call held Thursday. Among them: the shaky automotive category was up by double-digits for Urban One in Q3, a reflection of commitments to Black-owned media in the wake of social justice efforts that have played out over the last year.

However, the City of Richmond referendum defeat for the company clouded the report, and the earnings call, with Liggins sharing what the company’s next steps will be on what to do with its cash.

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Third quarter 2021 earnings reports are being released one after the other on Thursday, and who better to chat with than the distinguished Global President of Business Intelligence at groupM, Brian Wieser. Wieser is considered by many to be Madison Avenue’s de facto Chief Economist and previously served as a key Wall Street analyst at Pivotal Research Group.

In this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.fm, RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson asks Wieser if the broadcast media sector is in for a Q4 ad dollar scare because of the well-reported supply chain problem.

Wieser also shares his insight on what the biggest positives are for radio and TV station owners in this exclusive conversation that serves as a precursor to a Forecast 2022 discussion on Broadcast Revenue Trends and Expectations for 2022.

At Forecast 2022, Jen Soch, Executive Director/Specialty Channels at GroupM, joins Leah Casterlin, Founding Partner of Media Fortitude Partners; Katz Media Group CEO Mark Gray, and TVB President/CEO Steve Lanzano for a panel discussion on what is in store for broadcast media in the next year. Moderating the panel: Media ecologist Jack Myers.

REGISTER NOW FOR FORECAST 2022!

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Brian Wieser, groupM” on Spreaker.

Yes, supply chain issues are “significantly impacting” automotive ad dollars at TEGNA. But, every other ad category was up by double digits in Q3, and this trend is continuing across Q4.

With home improvement, insurance, education, CPG and finance showing no signs of a slowdown, the owner of broadcast TV stations and the Premion Connected TV/OTT advertising platform for regional and local advertisers enjoyed a strong Q3, easily beating the forecast of analysts polled by Zacks Equity Research.

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate was for net revenue that came in higher than anticipated. But, instead of positive earnings per share growth, Gray Television‘s EPS ended up in the negative, with the company suffering a net loss in Q3 2021.

Ahead of the Opening Bell on Wall Street, investors expressed their disappointment, with GTN down 1.7% in pre-market trading on the NYSE. But, these traders may need to understand that unfair comps — and growth initiatives designed to make Gray a bigger player in local TV — are the reason for what is largely a short-term blip.

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“Our outstanding third quarter results underscore the enormous opportunities that lie ahead for Univision.”

That positive statement comes courtesy of Wade Davis, who earlier this year succeed Vince Sadusky as CEO of Univision Communications.

Just how strong was Q3 for Univision?

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