WASHINGTON, D.C. — One of the FCC’s biggest champions for the radio industry, forced to exit over a Section 230 disagreement with soon-to-depart President Donald Trump, has resurfaced as a visiting fellow at a Washington think tank.
He’ll be working alongside another former Commissioner — someone who served on the FCC from 1997-2001.
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By Adam R Jacobson, Carl Marcucci and April McLynn
At 9:30pm Eastern, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate in a joint session of Congress that resumed some five hours after a rowdy and violent group of supporters of Donald Trump engaged in what Romney called “an insurrection supported by the President of the United States.”
Romney’s speech was well-covered by national media, with live coverage broadcast on NBC.
At the same time, one Washington, D.C. radio station wasn’t covering Romney’s speech. Rather, a field reporter was recalling an incident at the J.W. Marriott with a dozen Trump supporters hours after a 6pm curfew put into effect by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser to help quell any after-dark eruptions from Trump supporters.
The report from WTOP-FM Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller was just one way local radio and TV went above and beyond as national media outlets faced immediate danger simply by doing their jobs.
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Call it a Blue Bump thanks to the apparent victories of Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock as Democratic U.S. Senators representing the state of Georgia.
Urban One shares soared by 102.1% on Wednesday, with big gains coming in the afternoon hours. After-hours trading shows a decline, but it still represents a super surge for the media company super-serving African American consumers.
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With chaos on Capitol Hill putting a dark cloud on what appears to be a shift of the U.S. Senate to Democratic control with wins in Georgia by Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, U.S. financial markets were divergent — the Dow Industrials climbed, while Nasdaq was down.
The Dow 30 gained 1.44% to 30,829.40, while Nasdaq slipped by 0.6% to 12,740.79.
Big movers among media companies include Sinclair Media Group and Nexstar Media Group.
Then, there is Urban One, which is gaining steam in a major way.
Is COVID-19 killing more than a handful of radio stations in Q1?
The latest U.S. broadcast station totals from the FCC show another drop in the number of licensed radio stations during the quarter.
Meanwhile, the number of FM translators licensed for broadcast continues to surge.
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A charitable organization dedicated to building the next generation of media leaders and increasing diversity has elected the President of Katz Television Group as its next Board Chairman.
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Bob Lawrence has announced his retirement from Revenue Development Resources after 54 years in the broadcasting industry.
A noted on-air talent, PD and GM, Lawrence is probably best known for his 14 years of duty at the Radio Advertising Bureau and his past six years at RDR.
Lawrence’s career started in Emporia, Kansas as an on-air personality. He continually grew his skillsets, rising to positions of PD and then GM, with stops in Kansas, Louisiana, Texas, and nationally on the ABC Radio Network.
Lawrence was then recruited by TM Century in Dallas, where his sales skills and ability to create long term relationships caught the attention of the RAB in 2000. He remained there until rejoining his former RAB colleague Mark Levy at Revenue Development Resources as Director of Sales in 2014.
“I have had the great privilege of working with Bob Lawrence for 13 years, first at the RAB and then with RDR,” Levy says. “During that time, he amazed me with his energy and the respect so many people in the industry had and continue to have for him. But even more than that, he never stopped learning, and he never was anything but nice to people. I know that last part is often brushed over, but it is truly something that made Bob stand out from so many others in this business. He’s been a cheerleader, a sounding board and a sage for so many people…the industry is certainly going to miss him!”
— Renee Cassis
The E.W. Scripps Company has appointed three media industry veterans from ION, Katz and Newsy to roles supporting distribution of its new national networks business.
All roles are effective upon the close of Scripps’ acquisition of ION.
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PLYMOUTH, WISC. — A “pure play system integrator” led by CEO Dennis Klas has joined the organization charged with bringing next-generation television signals — and the data capabilities its implementation will bring to broadcast TV — to fruition.
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LG Electronics has made “a significant investment” of nearly $80 million in a company dedicated to “make TV an even better advertising medium for brands, agencies and networks.”
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On August 6, 2020, the FCC voted in favor of an order that eliminates the radio duplication rule for AM stations … and FM stations. This marked a change from just three weeks earlier, when the Commission signaled it would uphold the rule for FM stations.
The move was pushed by the NAB. The FCC’s Republican majority said eliminating the radio duplication rule “will help struggling stations stay on the air; afford broadcast radio licensees greater flexibility to address issues of local concern in a timely fashion, particularly in times of crisis; assist with format changes; facilitate a potential voluntary digital transition in the AM service; and ultimately allow stations to improve service to their communities.”
That failed to satisfy REC Networks, the musicFIRST Coalition and the Future of Music Coalition.
On November 30, 2020, the groups teamed to file a Petition for Reconsideration of the Report and Order. Their big beef? The sudden re-inclusion of FM stations in the R&O.
For REC, musicFIRST and the FMC, eliminating the rule for FM stations will lead to a reduction in programming diversity and “encourage corporate radio owners to hoard spectrum.”
NAB General Counsel and EVP/Legal and Regulatory Affairs Rick Kaplan disagrees with that assertion. He laments that their arguments “exhibit a complete misrepresentation of the business fundamentals of the radio industry and the intense competition radio faces, and a total lack of understanding of the market value of AM/FM radio spectrum.”
There’s more: the NAB sees musicFIRST and FMC file in Commission proceedings concerning radio “not because the companies and organizations those groups represent care about the proceedings at issue, but rather to retaliate against broadcasters for those groups failing to convince Congress to enact a tax on radio stations when they play (promote) record labels’ music on terrestrial radio stations.”
This set up the basis for the NAB’s request that the FCC deny the groups’ petition as it “does not raise issues not already considered and rejected by the Commission.” Further, Kaplan states, the three groups “also fail to mention – let alone grapple with – the incredible growth in audio diversity since the radio duplication rule was created.”
How so? “Since 1992, more than 15,000 additional full-power and low power radio stations have launched service, the growth of online streaming music services has shattered expectations, and satellite radio has reached more than 34 million subscribers,” Kaplan says. “All of these outlets provide a broad range of programming options.”
While the Republican-led FCC passed the R&O, it didn’t come without the concerns of Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. In fact, his concerns could have given rise to the Petition for Reconsideration.
“I have concerns that today’s decision will undoubtedly make it easier and more cost-effective for large station groups to hoard local stations without any obligation to provide significant programming that meets local community needs,” Starks said in August. “Moreover, I fear it will reward ownership consolidation and thus will likely exacerbate an already huge disparity in the number of media outlets owned and controlled by people of color and women, which often translates to a lack of locally relevant and diverse programming that addresses local needs and interests.”
The Mentoring & Inspiring Women in Radio (MIW) Group has opened the application window for the 2021 Mildred Carter Mentoring Program.
Established in 2002, the MIW’s heritage annual mentoring initiative connects mentees with accomplished women recognized as leaders, mentors, and game-changers within all aspects of radio broadcasting; vCreative is sponsoring the program for the second consecutive year.
Four candidates from the radio broadcasting industry – within the sales, marketing, programming, and digital disciplines – will be selected for the 2021 program.
The deadline to apply is January 29, 2021.
For mentee criteria, and instructions on how to apply, please visit https://miw.secondstreetapp.com/Mildred-Carter-Mentee-App-2021/ .
To view a sampling of past Mentees visit: https://www.radiomiw.com/mentees
Entercom Vice President of National Partnerships Lindsay Adams, chair of the mentoring program and a 2009 Mentee, calls the mentoring program “instrumental in providing guidance, leadership, and bridging connections within the industry. From personal experience, I can attest it’s an invaluable experience that helps shape and curate career paths and potential.”
The MIW Group Mentoring Program is named in the memory of Mildred Carter, who, along with her husband, Andrew “Skip” Carter, founded the first African American owned radio station in the U.S. in 1950, when they turned on KPRS Kansas City, Missouri. Mrs. Carter ran the Carter Broadcast Group for many years after the death of Skip Carter, before turning over control of the company to her grandson, Michael Carter in 1987.
EUREKA, CALIF. — In May 2006, Cox Communications completed its sale of cable television systems serving customers in West Texas, a portion of North Carolina, various communities across the middle of the U.S., and the California markets of Bakersfield and Eureka-Arcata.
The buyer? Cebridge Connections, with majority investors Oaktree Capital Management and Goldman Sachs. Once the deal closed, Cebridge changed its name to Suddenlink.
Nearly 15 years later, ex-Cox customers in one of those DMAs could, ironically, soon lose access to broadcast TV stations owned by Cox Media Group.
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According to Atlanta-based CMG, today majority-owned by Apollo Global Management, SuddenLink may soon make what it calls “an anti-consumer decision” by dropping channels serving viewers in Tulsa, Memphis, Spokane, and the smaller markets of Greenville-Greenwood, Miss.; Alexandria, La.; and Eureka-Arcata, Calif.; in the absence of a new retransmission consent agreement.
Specifically, the stations potentially impacted by a retrans impasse between Suddenlink and CMG are FOX affiliates KAYU-28 in Spokane, WHBQ-13 in Memphis and KOKI-23 in Tulsa; ABC affiliate KLAX-31 in Alexandria; and the ABC, FOX, NBC and CBS stations serving Greenwood and Greenville, Miss.
However, it is the Humboldt County, Calif., stations that present an ironic twist for Cox. Fifteen years ago, it owned the MVPD. The stations it owns today, dominant NBC affiliate KIEM-3 in Eureka and CBS sibling KVIQ-LP 14, came to CMG in late 2019 after Brian Brady’s Northwest Broadcasting was sold to Apollo, ahead of its Cox deal. In 2005, KVIQ was a Clear Channel-owned property using Channel 6, picked up in 2002 from Ackerley Group. KIEM was owned by Pollack/Belz Broadcasting.
Is a “blackout” imminent, with the tiny Greenville-Greenwood, Miss., DMA imperiled yet again from receiving nearly every local network affiliate?
Perhaps. Alternatively, CMG is opting to strike first with a consumer warning, a move that could point fingers at Suddenlink before it can place blame on Cox for possibly short-changing customers of the MVPD, which is owned by Altice USA.
Paul Curran, CMG’s EVP of Television, said, “Our country continues to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic and, during these uncertain times, it is more important than ever that our viewers know their trusted local stations are there for them, providing the news and information they need to make decisions for their families. CMG stations take pride in being trusted and vital resources for our communities, and we will fight to continue to fulfill this responsibility.”
As of mid-afternoon Wednesday (1/6), Suddenlink had not offered a public comment regarding the possible impasse with Cox Media Group.
— Reporting by Ethan Hunt. Additional reporting by Adam Jacobson, in Boca Raton, Fla.
In the 49th State, it is known as GCI. That’s the Liberty Broadband-owned MVPD that, as of Jan. 1, discontinued carriage of “FOX Alaska,” “ABC Alaska,” and “The CW Alaska” on a newly launched “skinny bundle” offering designed to discourage subscribers from fleeing to such services as Hulu and YouTube TV.
It is pointing fingers at the broadcast TV station owner providing the three signals. Naturally, the broadcaster feels otherwise.
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Not long ago, dissident TEGNA investor Soohyung Kim was thwarted in his attempt to gain a seat on the company’s board, place his own members on the board, and essentially assume control of a company he had little faith in.
Now, as 2021 unfolds, TEGNA’s C-Suite is taking stock of its COVID-era accomplishments. And, it’s CEO is pretty darn proud of them.
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Set your calendar reminder now for 9am on Monday, March 1, TEGNA investors and Wall Street observers. That’s when TEGNA will formally unveil its Q4 and full-year 2020 results.
What can shareholders expect from the broadcast media company? TEGNA shared its preliminary results on Wednesday (1/6) — along with a preview of what could very much be on the books for 2021.
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Davis Wright Tremaine LLP has added a satellite and telecommunications lawyer as a partner in its Washington, D.C., office, bringing new capabilities to its team serving the technology and communications industries.
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Just east of Austin is a Class A FM offering Classic Country programming.
It’s heading to a new owner, pending FCC approval.
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The Board of Directors of the Media Financial Management Association (MFM) have selected the two individuals who will chair its upcoming, and virtual, Media Finance Focus conference.
David Bochenek, SVP/Chief Accounting Officer at Sinclair Broadcast Group, will serve as 2021 Conference Chair and share responsibilities with Mike Lavey, Interim Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller for Tribune Publishing Company.
The conference will be a virtual affair, beginning on Tuesday, May 11, and concluding on Thursday, July 29
The preliminary agenda calls for sessions on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons along with topic-specific roundtables on Wednesdays. The 11 weeks will offer sessions on subjects relevant to industry financial and credit professionals.
Mary M. Collins, President and CEO of MFM and BCCA, says this year’s theme is “Together Toward Tomorrow,” and is “a nod to both our goals for 2021 and what we expect to be an exciting year of transition for the industry.”
In May 2019, Deb McDermott gained the industry’s attention for the acquisition of television stations in Providence, R.I., and Lincoln, Neb., by the company she holds the title of CEO for, Standard Media Group. Six months later, Standard Media added nine properties from Waypoint Media in a deal valued at $59.2 million.
The deals cemented Standard Media’s role as a acquisitor, with McDermott, who is perhaps best-known in the media world for her association with ABC affiliate WKRN-2 in Nashville, partnering with Soo Kim on the company’s build-out.
Now, as 2021 begins, McDermott is shedding her ownership interest in the two stations acquired in May ’19.
A 27-page document uploaded to the FCC’s LMS proposes the transfer of control of 100% of the membership interests of Standard Media Group LLC from McDermott Communications to Paducah Television Operations LLC.
Translation: McDermott’s equity interest is being transferred to Soo.
To illustrate the change, an organizational chart was submitted to the Commission. Pre-transfer, McDermott controls Standard Media Group, and under that WLNE-6 in Providence, R.I., and KLKN-8 in Lincoln, Neb.
The McDermott-led group purchased the stations from Citadel Communications LLC for $83 million.
Post-transfer, Standard Media would be a unit of Paducah Television Operations, housed under Soo-controlled CNM Television Holdings, a division of his Community News Media LLC.
Soo Kim has generated much attention over the last year. As a dissident shareholder of TEGNA, he attempted (and ultimately failed) to win a seat on the board and gain control of the broadcast TV company. He’s also in partnership with Emmis Communications founder and CEO Jeff Smulyan, as Managing Member of the entity holding attributable interest in Mediaco — now the licensee of WBLS-FM & WQHT-FM in New York.
Is there a financial obligation tied to this transfer request, which awaits FCC approval?
Yes. Sort of.
A $55,803,225.17 Amended and Restated Floating Rate Subordinated Convertible Note, dated Dec. 10, 2020, appears to be integral to the transaction. The note holder is Soo’s Paducah, and it is exercising a conversion option.
What does this mean? It’s complex but it appears McDermott is acquiescing her ownership interest in the stations in return for the multi-million dollar loan, which has a maturity date of March 5, 2023.
Why? A plausible explanation is that Soo is assisting McDermott on closing the Citadel transaction consummated nearly 1 1/2 years ago, as some $27,196,774.83 may have been paid thus far in a deal struck before anyone knew the COVID-19 pandemic would strip local TV of ad dollars across much of 2020.
And, with Nebraska and Rhode Island far from political hot spots, the election-year windfall could have been peanuts compared to what was seen in Florida, Georgia or Arizona.
Serving as legal counsel on this transaction is Scott Flick of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. He was not immediately available for comment when reached by RBR+TVBR.
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