Industry News

The FCC has quietly released a public notice confirming that its reinstated media ownership rules — legislation that the acting chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, voted against — are now effective.

The effective date? Yesterday.

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Starting tonight (7/1) at 10pm, a new entrant in the local news war that has been fiercely waging across Western New York for years will arrive.

It comes courtesy of Sinclair Broadcast Group, which is launching local news operations at its owned-and-operated FOX affiliate serving Buffalo, Niagara Falls and the Canadian province of Ontario’s most populous areas.

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MIAMI — Did you know that 82% of advertisers are looking for “direct to consumer” strategies to grow in an increasingly competitive environment? This is one of the challenges Kantar mapped out in a Media Navigator study that it has just launched.

The research endeavor sees Kantar interview 672 professionals working for advertisers in 39 different countries to understand the main challenges and trends in their data management strategy.

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TORONTO — With the TSX closed on Thursday in observance of the Canada Day holiday, the start of the second half of 2021 led financial blog Simply Wall St. to take a closer look at Corus Entertainment.

Corus is one of Canada’s biggest media companies and owns 39 radio stations and 15 broadcast television stations. Its stock price has seen a healthy 52-week rebound, with its June 30 closing price its best since May 2019.

With a 1-year price target poised to put Corus at its best stock price since the start of 2018, is the share gain “well earned”?

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As part of RAB’s Business Accelerated initiative, Provoke Insights, a full-service market research firm, will be rejoining the radio industry sales advocacy organization for a live presentation offering insights on today’s consumer.

The event, “Meet the New Retail Shopper,” sees Carly Fink, President of Provoke Insights, share insights into today’s retail shopper. Fink will provide guidance for broadcasters helping their clients plan their back-to-school and holiday campaigns.

“While most COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, consumers are not going back to the standard shopping routines of 2019,” the RAB says. “As brands prepare for the upcoming back-to-school and holiday seasons, it is important they understand the new buying behaviors.”

The session will take place at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific on Wednesday, July 28.

Registration for the presentation is free for RAB members. The presentation will also be available for on-demand viewing.

To register, click here.

Comscore has lured the former Sales and Client Relations head at Tunity to lead its commercial relationship with Publicis Groupe.

In doing so, Comscore is selecting an individual who brings more than 20 years of business media and sales success across local television stations, networks and advertising agencies.

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Four months ago, RBR+TVBR first shared the news that The E.W. Scripps Co. would be launching two new national TV networks, capitalizing on its position “as a full-scale national television company.”

While Scripps slightly altered the original plan, with respect to one of the digital multicast networks’ names, the debut of the two reality-based offerings came as expected on July 1.

Defy TV and TrueReal have been launched by Scripps, prompted largely by the company’s blockbuster merger with Ion Media. The channels have coverage of 92% of the U.S.

Defy TV is sticking with its original plan of action. It will cater to men ages 25-54 “with programming that celebrates fascinating and independent-minded people living life to the fullest.” Programming will include popular series such as “Swamp People” (Mondays), “Counting Cars” (Tuesdays), “American Pickers” (Wednesdays), “The Curse of Oak Island” (Thursdays), “Forged in Fire” (Fridays), “Ax Men” (Saturdays), “Alone” (Saturdays), “Dog the Bounty Hunter” (Sundays) and “Pawn Stars” (Sundays).

TrueReal was originally intended to be Doozy, targeting women aged 25-54 and tap into their ”strong interest in can’t-stop-watching, unscripted drama that’s surprising and true.”

The name is different; the programming is the same as envisioned, with off-network shows including “Storage Wars,” “Married at First Sight,” “Hoarders,” and “Little Women: LA” on the lineup.

Defy TV and TrueReal join ION, Bounce, Laff, Grit, Court TV, Court TV Mystery and Newsy, which remains on-track for its launch as a free over-the-air network on Friday, Oct. 1. This is a major shift for Newsy, which began life as a millennial-targeted OTT offering and then shifted to cable TV distribution.

NEW YORK — ViacomCBS has decided to unify the visual content-focused media company’s domestic and international businesses under what it calls “a simplified global leadership structure.”

As such, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins are each being promoted to the role of President/CEO, with global oversight for their respective brand groups.

George Cheeks also has a new, expanded role.

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A new survey from a media research firm found that radio has good reason to be optimistic about increased radio listening in the months ahead.

The Ratings Prospects Study 18 from NuVoodoo suggests that radio listening is set to increase over the next several months as more vaccinated people consider returning to the office. In its nationwide study in June 2021 of more than 3,100 respondents aged 14 to 54 years old, NuVoodoo asked participants to share details of their current work situation. The study also asked respondents to forecast what they expect their current work situation to be by the end of 2021.

[Read: Nielsen Has Good News in May Numbers]

The report found that a significant number of respondents are expecting to return to the office or jobsite by year’s end. This increase should result in an 11-point rise in out-of-home commuting by the end of 2021.

To help stations focus on this rebooting of commuting over the next several months, NuVoodoo will share in-depth results of the survey through a series of webinars beginning in mid-July.

“The return to work outside the home is great for radio,” said Leigh Jacobs, executive vice president of research for NuVoodoo Media Services. “While FM/AM streaming consumption is slightly better among those who work from home compared to those who work outside their home, total at-work radio listening is better among those who work outside the home.”

As a result, NuVoodoo is encouraging stations to focus their marketing message of the return to commuting and work, said Mike O’Connor, executive vice president of marketing for NuVoodoo Media Services. “We’re calling our webinar series ‘Reboot the Commute’ because that’s where we see the growth opportunity for our clients.”

Topics during the webinar with include how radio is faring against digital competition, what actually causes listeners to switch or listen more, and where radio stands in the hierarchy of listening choices available via touch-screen car audio-systems. Those webinars are scheduled for July 21 at 1 p.m., July 27 at noon, July 29 at 2 p.m. and August 4 at 3 p.m. All times are Eastern.

Registration for the webinar sessions can be made nuvoodoo.com/webinars.

The post Radio Can Expect to See Rebound by Year’s End, Survey Says appeared first on Radio World.

Envy Gaming, the Texas-based esports and entertainment company that in March saw Gray Television invest $28.5 million in its Series C fundraising round, has added two directors and filled one empty seat on its board of directors.

Two of the new directors represent Gray.

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