RBR+TVBR Spring 2022 Special Report

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IT’S BACK! WHO ARE BROADCAST MEDIA’S BEST LEADERS OF 2022?

GATESAIR AT 100: A CENTURY OF INNOVATION WHERE TV AND STREAMING CONVERGE

ADVANCEMENTS AND OPTIMISM

From exciting new technology tools to positive vibes among radio and television industry leaders, 2022 could be a big year for broadcast media.

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A GOLDEN CELEBRATION FOR A BROADCAST MEDIA STALWART In 1922, the 15-year-old son of Henry and Cora Gates began selling crystal radios from their Quincy, Ill. apartment. Today, radio and TV industry leaders have much to thank for that decision, as GatesAir celebrates 100 years of broadcast transmission innovation.

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BROADCAST MEDIA’S BEST LEADERS OF 2022

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RADIO + TELEVISION BUSINESS REPORT CHAIRMAN Eric Rhoads

erhoads@streamlinepublishing.com

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER Deborah Parenti

dparenti@streamlinepublishing.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Adam R Jacobson

ajacobson@streamlinepublishing.com

For weeks, RBR+TVBR readers have asked whether it was returning. Here it is: the latest rankings. Hint: Last year’s No. 1 has moved, and there are three new faces on the list!

MANAGING EDITOR Brida Connolly

INTRODUCING PUBLIC TV DELIVERY OF NEXTGEN AT-HOME LEARNING

kwhitney@streamlinepublishing.com

New Mexico PBS takes its education pledge one step further. It’s all possible thanks to ATSC 3.0.

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WHERE TELEVISION AND STREAMING CONVERGE

bconnolly@streamlinepublishing.com

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kenneth Whitney

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS April McLynn

amclynn@streamlinepublishing.com

ADVERTISING/MARKETING CONSULTANTS Joshua Gertzog

609.647.3994 jgertzog@streamlinepublishing.com

Fantastic studio facilities no longer require vast, warehouse-sized spaces to transmit a program. That’s just one of the takeaways from a visit to St. Petersburg, Fla., where the newest tech advancements bring exciting opportunities for visual media.

Jennifer Jacques

THE TV DEAL OUTLOOK … OH, AND RADIO, TOO

George Wymer

The transactions marketplace of early 2022 is dominated by low-power TV stations, followed by FM station acquisitions by non-commercial religious broadcasters. Is this the “new normal” for brokers?

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937.522.5971 jjacques@streamlinepublishing.com

Carl Marcucci

703.670.2860 cmarcucci@streamlinepublishing.com 937.609.6778 gwymer@streamlinepublishing.com

331 SE Mizner Blvd.

Boca Raton, FL, 33432 Phone: 561-655-8778 www.rbr.com Twitter: @rbrtvbr

A GOLDEN CELEBRATION FOR A BROADCAST MEDIA STALWART In 1922, a 15-year-old boy began selling crystal radios in his hometown of Quincy, Ill., after his parents decided to start a business from their apartment’s kitchen. A century later, radio and television stations around the globe can thank Henry and Cora Gates for giving their son his first job — one that would result in the creation of what is today known as GatesAir.

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t’s safe to say that few broadcast industry leaders are not familiar with the name GatesAir, or perhaps that of its former parent company, Harris Corp.. That may be testament to the thousands of engineers and scientists entrusted with developing broadcast transmission products that have endured sweeping or even unprecedented changes in how consumers receive informational and entertainmentbased content.

In February 2013, GatesAir became a portfolio company of The Gores Group, rolled into Harris through a $225 million transaction. By the end of 2013, it had become a sibling to Imagine Communications, also rolled into Harris. In March 2014, the Harris brand was retired, with Imagine reemerging as the GatesAir name was introduced.

Bruce Swail

While GatesAir’s branding has been used for just eight years, the innovation and technological intelligence surrounding its products is 100 years old. And, with just three owners across that century of continuous operation, its very existence alone is remarkable. Note that in 1922, the nascent business of broadcasting was unquestionably dominated by Westinghouse. That company ceased operations two decades ago.

Today, GatesAir still has a home in Quincy, Ill., where manufacturing of its products is seen. Research and development is headquartered in the tony Cincinnati suburb of Mason, Ohio. From here, GatesAir CEO Bruce Swail directs the company’s operations. He’s held the role since July 2017, and arrived at the company following roles as CEO of US Robotics, as a GM in Motorola’s broadband SPRING 2022

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division, and as a Design Engineer at Bristol Aerospace.

With so much media attention on the 100th anniversaries of such storied radio stations as KDKA in Pittsburgh, WWJ in Detroit, KNX in Los Angeles, and, more recently, WGN in Chicago, has the technology side of a century of broadcasting been underreported? Is the work of companies such as GatesAir underappreciated?

Swail, without hesitation, says no.

“I’m a technologist by trade, and we’re well recognized. We haven’t lumbered along and participated in a minor way.

We’ve been at the leading edge through all of these different eras of innovation.

We’ve driven some of the standards work. I’m more buoyed by what we’ve done and accomplished — the body of work is so substantial, over such a sustained period of time.”

The delivery and monetization of broadcast content has been a tenet of GatesAir since its founding. How is that instilled in the company’s philosophy today? Swail says, “Over time we’ve had to innovate. We’ve had to be on the leading edge because the technology is changing, and while we’re a technology company, we really put the customer first and focus on the needs of the broadcasters. We really understand their world.”

Swail adds that one thing that sets GatesAir apart from its peers is that it doesn’t just manufacture equipment or design technology. “We’re kind of a fullservice provider, and we like to think that a broadcast engineer can sleep at night because they have GatesAir equipment.”

Among two generations of radio industry professionals, Harris Corp. is still a widely known entity. In 1957, it bought Gates Radio. And it was under Harris ownership that expansion to the TV industry was seen. Asked about the importance of Harris to the GatesAir legacy, Swail replies, “Some of the concepts and innovation around process, as it relates to our manufacturing center, endure today — how we run the business and how we drive the operations. The technology has obviously changed a lot, and today’s digital transmission standards are incredibly more complex than the old analog standards were. But the ability for us to stay cutting-edge has kept pace with that as well.”

And, more than anything, it is the team in place at GatesAir today that Swail believes is one of its most 4 · R B R .CO M

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“We’ve had to be on the leading edge because the technology is changing, and while we’re a technology company, we really put the customer first and focus on the needs of the broadcasters. We really understand their world.”

— Bruce Swail important assets across its 100 years of operations. Without them, would there be the prospect of a 125th or 150th anniversary in the coming years?

A BIRTHPLACE OF MODERN BROADCAST

While Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts innovated radio transmissions well before Westinghouse rewrote history by falsely claiming KDKA in Pittsburgh was the first radio station to continuously broadcast (it was one of the first to get a license specific to radio, although even that feat is disputed by some), there can be little debate over the outsized role Quincy, Ill., with a shrinking population of just under 40,000 people, has played in the history of over-the-air broadcasting.

Yes, WRGB-6 in Schenectady, N.Y., was the first television station in the U.S. In 1956, the first all-color TV station was born at WMAQ-5 in Chicago. All the while, GatesAir’s innovations kept pace, and expanded with the 1958 sale to Harris. Across town in Quincy, the former Quincy Media was formed (it is now a part of Gray Television). Then there is Broadcast Electronics (BE), founded in Silver Spring, Md. In 1977, BE relocated to Quincy, perhaps inspired

by Gates as it began to design and manufacture its own radio transmitters.

Needless to say, the Quincy name won’t be forgotten in broadcast lore.

And GatesAir has much to do with that.

“When you think of some of the technology that was developed by GatesAir, you also have to recognize that Motorola had facilities there, and there was a paging company there,” Swail says. “It’s really quite remarkable how much technology was developed in Quincy.”

GatesAir often brings customers, in particular first-time customers, to its Quincy plant as part of their due diligence. In many cases, they’re mesmerized at what they see as they drive through cornfields and eventually arrive in “a very modest town” on the east bank of the Mississippi River. “You get to our factory and you see this incredible technology being developed and manufactured in the U.S.,” Swail says. “It’s hard to believe that it’s there. But it has brought us a lot of tenure and long service, with a ton of organizational knowledge and depth across our team. We have dozens of people that have seen it all. It reflects how it’s not just about buying a piece of electronics. It’s the whole value proposition.”

CUSTOMER SERVICE QC

As Chief Revenue Officer at GatesAir, Joe Mack has perhaps been one of the most customer-facing leaders at the company. His tenure dates back not only to the Harris Corp. days, but to its predecessor, Midwest Communication.

If one were to ask Mack about how pleasing the customer has played a key role in GatesAir’s century of service, they’d get this reply. “Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of transmitter suppliers come and go. The one thing that sets GatesAir apart is that we do one thing — and we do it very, very well. We do it over the long haul, and I think that our partners and our customers really do value that.”

Mack recalls the start of Midwest Communication in 1981, a few years before his arrival. “I was an engineer coming out of the cable and satellite industry, and they put me in a sales position — in a call center — and I enjoyed it.”

When Harris came on board, Mack says, Midwest had a thriving satellite news-gathering and electronic newsgathering business. In turn, it was moved into Harris, in 1991. “Harris brought along manufacturing of transmitters and microwave, and they put us all together,” he recalls. “It’s like cooking a good gumbo here. If you’ve got the right recipe, when it’s ready to

“Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of transmitter suppliers come and go. The one thing that sets GatesAir apart is that we do one thing, and we do it very, very well.”

— Joe Mack

Joe Mack serve, it’s really good. That is exactly what happened at Harris.”

From the microphones all the way through to the transmitters, The Golf Channel has the Midwest/Harris team to thank for its very foundation. Mack rose to higher positions, culminating with his appointment 19 months ago as CRO. As customer service can make or break an operation, how has GatesAir worked with its clients in ensuring the longevity of their relationships? “It’s very simple,” Mack says, pointing to the QC that comes in product manufacturing and design. “If you don’t have customer service that will react as the first thing on the list, you don’t have a business.” Having the passion to make that happen is perhaps equally important, Mack adds.

Given the current global climate, emergencies may arise where vital broadcast communications are compromised. For GatesAir, hurricanes, wildfires, and unexpected calamities such as the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks are just some of the things the company has responded to quickly. There is also experience with feeds, including the Tiananmen Square uprising of spring 1989 and the Reagan-Gorbachev summit that helped pave the way to the end of the Soviet Union. “During the Gulf War we supplied transmitters into some of the countries,” Mack says. “These things were spur of the moment.”

One thing he says GatesAir shone on was the collapse of the Twin Towers, and immediately moving forward with the replacement of a key broadcast

communications tower. “We put everything together that we possibly could,” Mack says. “We put it in trucks, drove it out into New Jersey, and flew people in on private airplanes as close as we could after the flight restrictions were limited. We went to Armstrong Tower to literally do installations for almost all of the New York broadcasters.

A bunch of us drove in as the Twin Towers were still on fire. You hope that you never, ever have to do something like that. But it is all about keeping that transmitter on the air.”

One key player that helped The Golf Channel launch in January 1995 as the first all-digital broadcast network in the world was Jay Adrick.

Today a consultant for Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Adrick spent 21 years at Harris Corp., rising to VP of Broadcast Technology, following 13 years at Midwest Communications.

With Adrick in house, the Harris team built the NPR facilities on Massachusetts Ave. N.W. in Washington and constructed the digital master control for Voice of America. In 1996, a new General Manager arrived: Bruce Allan.

BROADCAST TV’s BIG TRANSITION

Allan’s arrival turned out to be a pivotal moment in GatesAir’s history, Adrick recalls. “Bruce had been involved in the development of ATSC, the Advanced Television Systems Committee, and the digital system which eventually became the standard for North America. The ATSC had been an organization that was guided by several groups, and they were going to form a board and a steering committee and elect officers for the first time. Bruce encouraged me to look beyond systems and get involved in the standards world, which I did, and became one of the first board members at ATSC. I believe that was in 1999 or 2000.”

This put GatesAir front and center in the rollout of ATSC 1.0, and now ATSC 3.0, with its Broadcast Internet and NEXTGEN TV functionality. Adrick was elected as the ATSC’s Vice Chairman.

Then came the conflict in Iraq, in 2002. As part of the rebuild program following the invasion by U.S. forces of the country, the U.S. government committed to constructing new broadcast facilities. Harris Corp. worked with the Iraqi Media Network on a $38 million, two-year project in Baghdad. Nine TV transmission sites across the country were erected.

Adrick’s experience on that project puts a whole new perspective on customer service. “I vividly remember being on a phone call late one night,” he says. “It was morning over there, and our crew was actually in Saddam Hussein’s palace. That’s where their offices were located. They were in an upper meeting room, and all of a sudden there was a loud explosion and all I heard was them say, ‘Goodbye. We’ll call you later.’ For about 24 hours we had no idea what had happened to them. It turned out an RPG had been fired at the side of the building and hit the wall outside of their conference room.” The Harris team spent an entire day in an underground bunker. It’s a reality faced across Ukraine in March 2022.

For 24 years, Geoff Mendenhall was another key member of the GatesAir and Harris Corp. executive team, serving as a VP of Transmission Research and Technology and a product development leader from summer 1995 through early 2008. He’s also a Quincy market veteran who spent 14 1/2 years at BE before joining GatesAir. But, even before that, Mendenhall came to Harris in 1973 as a Design Engineer.

Looking back at GatesAir’s place in history, Mendenhall focuses on the combined impact of Gates Radio and Harris Corp., and the work done across the 1960s through The Gores Group’s purchase of Harris and Imagine. There’s a long list of patents to be proud of. But, from a top-level view, he says, “GatesAir probably is responsible for more innovations to broadcast technology than any other company in the world. To give an example, during my tenure there [at Harris Corp.], they had over 150 active SPRING 2022

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Putting women in media at center stage.

The luncheon of a lifetime.

May 24, 2022 Beverly Wilshire

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Visit allwomeninmedia.org/gracies for more information.

Geoff Mendenhall (in front) and Jay Adrick chat with fellow attendees at a trade show. patents. How many others were left to expire, I don’t quite know for sure.”

From the 1970s through the 2000s, Mendenhall worked closely with the late AM radio pioneer Hilmer Swanson, whose methods are still in use today.

“It was a real thrill to get his ideas into products, and give him a real leadership position in the world,” Mendenhall says.

The introduction of the first alldigital FM exciter, and the subsequent launch of the first HD Radio exciter, are also “major leaps” in quality and performance Mendenhall says set GatesAir apart.

PEOPLE FIRST

Another GatesAir veteran who looks back on his time at the company with pride is Dana Myers. He arrived at GatesAir from General Electric in 1977, and two years later became a Field Service Engineer. From 1983-1994, he was an instructor in the training department. Myers then moved into the role of Manager of Television Testing Assembly, and once had a staff of 42 reporting to him.

“The one thing we had in the service group was a great camaraderie of the people, between those of us in the service group that grew up in the company together,” Myers says. “We watched out for each other’s families while the others were gone. The people far exceeded any other part of the experience.”

Myers’ experience and knowledge about the service side of the Gates/ Harris business puts him in perhaps a unique position as far as knowing about how the organization has worked with its customers over the years. And, like

the camaraderie among staff members, Harris and now GatesAir employs the same relationship philosophy with its clients. Myers says, “The Ministry of Communications of Saudi Arabia sent groups of engineers annually for a month to Quincy to receive training on their network of high-power radio and television systems.”

Myers joined Harris in 1977 at a peak time of activity, when the work force was as large as 1,000. He recalls, “The transmitters were all tube-type amplifiers with newly developed solid-state exciters. An exception was the MW-1 solid-state 1kW AM radio transmitter — a first in the industry. When new products were being designed, we brought in customer focus groups to learn what they needed and wanted.”

Some product lines were created in response to specific needs. One example is the replacement of the 30kw class retrode-based systems with platinum VHF television transmitters. “The early television exciters had dozens of adjustments to correct signal quality and assure spectrum compliance,” Myers says. “Detailing those sequences would take up a large part of any training class, then require hours of practice by the station engineers to become comfortable with the process. The current digital exciters have automatic setup and real-time correction.”

LOOKING FORWARD, WHILE HONORING THE PAST

A University of Manitoba MBA, GatesAir CEO Swail finds himself in a most unusual spot: at the helm of a company that continues to innovate and remains at the forefront of broadcast

Dana Myers technology, and at a company that, like some of its oldest clients, is celebrating 100 years of broadcasting.

What is Swail most proud of when looking back across GatesAir’s history?

“In my tenure, it’s easy,” he says. “It’s the resiliency and the drive of the employee base. We’ve done a lot in just my five short years here. We ramped up for the Repack program — and the resiliency of the employees to get it all done.”

If we were to rewind the clock and find Henry Gates and his son, Parker, tinkering with “sound amplifying devices,” what could we perhaps thank them for as the seeds of GatesAir were being planted?

“I hope that they’d be very proud that the work that they started 100 years ago has endured a long time and evolved because the technologies advanced on so many fronts,” Swail says. “It started on AM broadcasts and loudspeaker P.A. systems. Now, it’s all kinds of advanced digital TV and audio formats and we are in every market on the globe. I’d hope that they’d pat themselves on the back and say, ‘Job done well. We set this company in motion and it still has a significant footprint right in the heart of the Midwest.’”

GATESAIR GOES TO LAS VEGAS

GatesAir will be at the NAB Show in Las Vegas from April 23-27 at Booth W7426. Don’t have a pass to attend the show? Register with Gates’ complimentary guest pass code: LV8746.

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ANNOUNCING

BROADCAST TELEVISION’S

BEST LEADERS OF 2022

By popular demand, RBR+TVBR’s reader-generated Honor Roll is back.

And there are big changes in the ranks from 2021.

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or the fourth consecutive year, nominations made

by RBR+TVBR readers — in other words, people who know the television industry from the inside — fueled staff research and editorial evaluation in shaping our rankings, which began in 2020.

Much has changed since 2019, let alone in the last year.

The voluntary rollout of ATSC 3.0 is bringing NEXTGEN TV to new markets at a swift clip. Mergers and acquisitions continue to consolidate broadcast television, resulting in the departures of leaders at Quincy Media, Inc., and Meredith Local Media from our rankings. Those companies have faded into history, with most of their assets today a part of Gray Television.

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rankings, and reader nominations. As such, there are some big moves. Last year’s No. 1 is no longer in that spot, nor is last year’s No. 2. That said, they are still among the top-ranked leaders in an industry that is driven by live programming and local content.

Many of these leaders will likely be in attendance at the 2022 NAB Show in Las Vegas, the first conference and exposition for the National Association of Broadcasters since our first alphabetical Honor Roll of Broadcast Television’s Best Leaders appeared. While 2019 may as well be 1999 for some, one thing mirrors that inaugural list — the individual who was mentioned first on the basis of his surname beginning with an “A” now ranks first based on reader input, station growth, and market-level achievements that continue to increase.

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JACK ABERNETHY

Chief Executive Officer, FOX Television Stations 2021 Rank: 3

With 29 broadcast television stations across the U.S. in such onetime Metromedia markets as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C., FOX TV Stations are experiencing a renaissance of sorts in their local television prowess. These stations’ 10PM newscasts are often dominant in their markets, including in Orlando and Tampa-St. Petersburg. Properties in Phoenix and San Francisco are also standouts, as are owned-and-operated facilities in Detroit, Philadelphia, Seattle, Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Jacksonville, and Phoenix.

Overseeing them all is Jack Abernethy, who is the top-ranked leader in broadcast television for the first time. From August 2016 until May 2018, he was President of FOX News Network. Early in his tenure for FOX, which began 25 years ago, he served as CFO for FOX News Network.

With Jack in command, FOX Television Stations now produces more than 1,000 hours of local news per week, adding almost 200 hours per week over the last five years. FOX notes that this is the most of any owned-and-operated station group.

Also noteworthy is that FOX TV Stations has launched more nationally syndicated programs than Jack Abernethy any other group. In autumn 2022, new talk shows hosted by Sherri Shepherd and Jennifer Hudson, along with the Pictionary game show featuring Jerry O’Connell, will bow. Furthermore, FOX TV Stations has entered the OTT arena with the creation and launch of FOX Soul and LiveNow from FOX. The promise of improved TV reception, along with better sound and the sharpest picture yet, for broadcast TV is one that Jack believes in. With NEXTGEN TV expanding and the pandemic easing, what does he think broadcast TV leaders should be focused on in the year ahead?

“We are continuing to make NEXTGEN operational in every market as quickly as possible,” Abernethy says. “There will be huge opportunities to monetize the platform in the years ahead. Here, we focus on — Jack Abernethy excelling at our base business including linear, will be in 2032, and where future leaders will come from. streaming, and digital. We are constantly evolving our “Ten years is a long time, but we can be sure that Nielsen will mindset and broadening our scope of how we recruit talent. still be saying that improvement to their panel is imminent,” We have an enormous opportunity to reinvent struggling he said, taking a swipe at the nation’s dominant audience platforms, including the old syndication model.” measurement company, which NBCUniversal decided will not With FOX Soul and LiveNow in the OTT space, does be used as currency for its 2022 Upfront season.

Abernethy believe broadcast TV has much to gain as digital Regarding future industry leaders, Abernethy says they consumption of “television” grows? He replies, “Broadcasters will be entrepreneurial people who are motivated to serve the have had competitive challenges since the early days of public and compete successfully for people’s attention. “My television. At FOX, we align our broadcast TV with our AVOD advice to them is to take risks and seek ideas outside of their strategy, which is advertiser-focused both on our TV channels comfort zone,” he says. “The challenge is to have a culture that and [OTT platform] Tubi. FAST Channels and OTT have the embraces constant evolution and change. They don’t want to potential to be interactive, which is beneficial in creating be part of the stagnant ‘we have never done this before’ team.” bonds between the viewer and our talent and programming.

FOX “will always be the place for large-scale events like This model allows for content that wouldn’t be possible on a NFL football,” he declares — even as Amazon Video takes over linear broadcast. However, we see broadcast TV continuing to Thursday Night Football rights. As for local news, Abernethy deliver the best live experience, whether that be news, sports, believes it will remain “a critically important and profitable or entertainment programming.” business that will stand out in a crowded marketplace.”

Abernethy was also asked where he thinks broadcast TV

“FAST channels and OTT have the potential to be interactive, which is beneficial in creating bonds between the viewer and our talent and programming. This model allows for content that wouldn’t be possible on a linear broadcast.”

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PERRY SOOK

Chairman/CEO and Founder, Nexstar Media Group 2021 Rank: 7

In 2020, he ranked No. 1. Now, he’s back near the top of the list after a short-lived dip in 2021.

Safe to say Perry Sook will likely be near or at the top of the rankings for quite some time, given Nexstar’s continued growth in broadcast television and for its cable offerings.

These include NewsNation, which continues to reinvent itself under the leadership of Sean Compton.

Nexstar’s leadership role in the deployment of NEXTGEN TV is also noteworthy; as it expands, is there one thing Sook’s peers should focus on in the year ahead? Keep the rollouts happening, because there are dollars to be had.

“Last year, Nexstar deployed NEXTGEN TV in 17 more markets, and we are on pace to convert stations reaching 50% of the U.S. population by year-end 2022,” Sook says. “Nexstar is among the nation’s largest holders of spectrum and we are excited about the myriad new revenue opportunities this spectrum presents. According to a recent BIA study, NEXTGEN TV could generate up to $15 billion in additional broadcast revenue by 2030 through datacasting services.”

As for the near term, Nexstar is focused on driving continued growth in core ad revenue, maximizing the 2022 political advertising opportunity, and further growing its digital businesses.

Perry Sook

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Does broadcast TV have much to gain, or perhaps to be frightened of, as AVOD, FAST Channels, and OTT continue to grow? Sook replies, “For years, we have been in an environment where consumers have had multiple viewing choices. Local broadcast signals continue to account for the lion’s share of viewing on bundles — meaning consumers continue to place a high value on the local content, news, sports, and other programming we deliver.

“Second, similar to our distribution arrangements with MVPDs and satellite operators, Nexstar is paid for the right to air our signals on many OTT and streaming platforms.

So the gain for Nexstar has been the growing awareness of the value of our content on any platform and our ability to be compensated for the distribution of that content to consumers on any platform.”

One of the reasons Sook places at No. 2 this year is Nexstar’s commitment to “DEI,” noted by readers who voted for him. “At Nexstar, diversity, equity, and inclusion are part of Nexstar’s core values,” Sook says. “We believe that the staffs at our TV stations, digital business, and corporate leadership should reflect the communities in which we do business.”

He praised Courtney Williams, now Nexstar’s Chief Diversity Officer, for championing the company’s DEI efforts.

“The media industry has made strides on this front over the last few years, and we need to continue to do more,” Sook says. These efforts could likely impact where the broadcast TV industry’s future leaders will arise.

Lastly, Sook was asked if he’d have believed back in 1993 that he’d become the head of the largest licensee of broadcast television stations in the U.S. He replies, “I knew at a young age that my future was in broadcasting.

Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, my dream was to be the play-by-play announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but I moved to another path, which was operating and then owning TV stations. From Nexstar’s founding in 1996, we were focused on creating scale because we knew it would enable us to create high-quality local news and programming while being efficient.

As the media landscape evolved, it became even clearer that our operating practices and disciplines were driving great results and that we could acquire other stations and station groups and materially improve both their local programming and our financial results.

“Building Nexstar has been my passion, and I have had a great team to help me do it,” he concludes. “The older you get, the more you think about what you’ll be remembered for. If someone says Nexstar incubated retransmission consent revenue for the television station industry, built the largest full-service television station group in the business, and helped to create the largest womanowned television station group, then we’ve done well by the industry and for our company, and did good in the communities that we serve.”

Pat LaPlatney

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PAT LaPLATNEY

President and co-CEO, Gray Television 2021 Rank: 5

It’s a busy time for Gray Television, and that means Pat LaPlatney has placed a laser focus on his responsibilities while thanking RBR+TVBR for an honor in which he’s now ranked third on Broadcast Television’s Best Leaders list for 2022.

It’s a steady rise for LaPlatney, who ranked No. 6 in 2020. And why not? Gray continues to grow, having merged with Meredith Local Media and Quincy Media, Inc., within the last 18 months. It’s also investing in Telemundo affiliates in emerging U.S. Hispanic markets, and grabbing low-power TV stations across the nation to not only ensure full DMA coverage in a cord-cutting world but also to maximize its Broadcast Internet and full ATSC 3.0 revenue potential.

LaPlatney came to Gray through its merger with Raycom Media, where he served as President/CEO. Before taking that role, LaPlatney was Raycom’s VP of Digital Media and Business Development. He joined Raycom in 2007 following nearly seven years at Westwood One and Metro Networks, working on the TV and digital side of the business.

Jordan Wertlieb

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JORDAN WERTLIEB

President, Hearst Television 2021 Rank: 2

For nine years, Jordan Wertlieb has been president of a company with a rich history in U.S. media. He’s been based in Midtown Manhattan since January 2011, when he relocated there to take on the role of EVP of Hearst Television. Today, he oversees all of the TV stations, its

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c o n g r at u l at i o n s pat

What an Honor For the third year in a row, our friend and colleague, Pat LaPlatney, has had the distinction of being selected as one of Radio+Television Business Report’s Broadcast Television’s Best Leaders.

His work in and dedication to the industry is unparalleled.

“The relationship with the local community is hard to replicate because it takes years to establish, and no one has a better relationship or understanding of their local communities than local broadcasters.”

— Jordan Wertlieb digital properties and two radio stations in Baltimore: WBAL and “98 Rock.”

The highly respected leader is also the immediate past chairman of the NAB Joint Board of Directors and was previously chairman of its television board. He is also Vice Chair of the Broadcasters Foundation of America board.

Not bad for an individual who began his TV career 36 years ago as a Katz Communications research analyst.

Today, Wertlieb believes broadcasters should always be focused on one thing more than anything else: content.

Meanwhile, he believes broadcast TV should, and is, embracing AVOD, FAST Channels, and OTT. At Hearst

5

Television, the Very Local platform and the products of the recently launched Hearst Media Production Group demonstrate the company’s commitment to this.

That said, Wertlieb believes there’s much more to come with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion. “It is about commitment of resources and focus. In order to be truly transformative, every day it must be top-of-mind in all aspects of the business — content decisions, hiring, recruiting, training, and team-building. Many in the industry have made major investments toward DEI, and we are seeing some results. However, broadcasting, like many other industries, has a long way to go.”

What does the future for broadcast TV look like in Wertlieb’s eyes? “Broadcasting seems to have decades where a particular discipline is front and center,” he says. “News directors and sales managers traditionally have been the training ground for a majority of the industry’s leadership, but down the road we will see much greater diversity of expertise. Leaders with backgrounds in distribution, programming, and all aspects of digital media will be at the leadership table, and the industry will be better for it.”

That’s because, in his view, the broadcast industry “continues to defy expectations.” And it will continue to do so for years to come. “The relationship with the local community is hard to replicate because it takes years to establish, and no one has a better relationship or understanding of their local communities than local broadcasters,” Wertlieb concludes.

BRIAN LAWLOR

President of Local Media, The E.W. Scripps Co. 2021 Rank: 1

One should not think for a minute that Brian Lawlor, or Scripps, is suddenly diminished in importance. On the contrary, The E.W. Scripps Co.’s assets, which now include Ion Television, are bigger than ever. In putting together our 2022 rankings, total revenue and market size, along with reader votes, all played significant roles in the finalization of our list.

Also keep in mind that Lawlor was ranked No. 11 in 2020.

With oversight of 61 television stations in 41 markets, Lawlor’s leadership extends to such stations as WXYZ-7 in Detroit, WEWS-5 in Cleveland, and WCPO-9 in Cincinnati.

There are also smaller markets including San Luis Obispo, Calif., that continue to shine for Scripps.

Of the topics Lawlor wished to discuss in recognition of this year’s honor, DEI tops the list. He says, “I have been happy to see the increased focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the broadcast TV business over the last two years, but we still have a long way to go.”

Those thoughts echo those of Hearst’s Jordan Wertlieb.

Lawlor continues, “Broadcasts are best when they represent their communities. One way to do that is to have a staff that reflects the diversity of its community, not just on-air but also in the newsroom and in leadership.

It is essential that content decisions include diversity of thought and background so the experiences of the entire community can be accurately represented.”

Brian Lawlor

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Congratulations

Brian Lawlor PRESIDENT, LOCAL MEDIA

RADIO + TELEVISION BUSINESS REPORT’S 2022 TELEVISION’S BESTREPORT’S LEADERS RADIOBROADCAST + TELEVISION BUSINESS

2022 BROADCAST TELEVISION’S BEST LEADERS Thank you for your mission-driven leadership that supports our vision of creating a better-informed world.

6

Chris Ripley

SINCLAIR LIGHTS UP CAPITOL HILL-FOCUSED DIGITAL AD HOUSE A new business development unit saw its launch by Sinclair Broadcast Group on March 28, and it’s squarely focused on marketing and advertising services for the federal government.

According to Sinclair, Free State Strategic Service’s mission is to provide D.C.-based agencies and entities, in addition to those on the state and local level, targeted digital marketing and advertising opportunities.

This, Sinclair says, is designed to help government agencies communicate with the American public effectively and efficiently.

Sinclair explains, “Free State Strategic Services’ goal is to provide targeted solutions that generate impact, raise awareness, and produce meaningful results. Free State will operate across a variety of industries, prioritizing opportunities within the defense, healthcare, and education sectors.”

The new unit will be led by Brandon Nickerson, Director for Federal Business Development. Nickerson has over a decade of experience in Washington, D.C., and has served in a variety of business development and government affairs roles, including on Capitol Hill, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and as a consultant within the national security space.

In making the launch announcement, Antonia DeFeo, Corporate Vice President of Agency Solutions, said, “The creation of Free State Strategic Services spearheads our efforts to expand Sinclair’s digital marketing and advertising offerings at the state and local level, and develop Free State as a leader in the federal marketplace.”

CHRIS RIPLEY

President/CEO, Sinclair Broadcast Group 2021 Rank: 10

Sinclair has been at the forefront in designing changes to how content is transmitted over-the-air, which is the foundation of the NextGen Broadcast digital standard. “It’s now recognized worldwide as the most efficient way to send data, merging over-the-air broadcasting with the Internet,” says Chris Ripley, President/CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group. “We believe the future of broadcast is not tied to the sole purpose of video distribution, but will involve a myriad of new data businesses that are enabled by this new way of transmitting data.”

With NEXTGEN TV poised to open up new opportunities, and Sinclair perhaps the biggest broadcast television company involved in its rollout, Ripley has climbed to No. 6 in our rankings.

He was No. 8 in 2020. “NextGen brings improved picture and audio quality, an enhanced viewer experience, mobility and targeting opportunities, advanced alerting and information, and remote learning … this is just the beginning of how technology can improve lives,” Ripley says.

That said, Sinclair’s profile has also risen with Sunday-morning public affairs and politics program Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson, airing across Sinclair’s television stations; The National Desk, a newscast airing across Sinclair properties that began in January 2021; and its Bally Sports Regional Networks. Marquee Sports Network, launched for the Chicago Cubs baseball team, is also making waves for its directto-consumer proposal — another innovation from a company whose subsidiaries include Dielectric, the transmitter manufacturer headquartered in Maine.

As such, Sinclair has moved past the Ajit Pai-era troubles with the FCC and is poised for multiplatform riches, all with the same goal — providing its viewers, regardless of platform, with quality content on a local and national level.

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CONGRATULATES

Chris Ripley President and CEO

Honored by

Del Parks President of Technology

as

ONE OF BROADCAST TELEVISION’S BEST LEADERS

Honored by

as

#1 – TOP TECH LEADER IN BROADCASTING

7

LYNN BEALL EVP/COO, TEGNA 2021 Rank: NEW

In past years, RBR+TVBR readers honored Dave Lougee, the President/CEO of the company formerly known as Gannett. In 2022, they turned their attention to Lynn Beall, who leads operations across the company’s 64 broadcast stations.

With a leadership transition set to occur following the acquisition Lynn Beall of TEGNA by a partnership led by Soohyung Kim’s Standard General and including Apollo Global Management, the selection of Beall is perhaps appropriate, as Lougee will be succeed by Deb McDermott. This puts women in the top two positions of a new TEGNA. Beall is expected to remain in the role, as of press time.

This will further tap into her experience as President/ GM of KSDK-5 in St. Louis and, before that, programming, marketing, and sales positions for such TEGNA properties as WUSA-9 in Washington, D.C., and KPNX-12 in Phoenix.

Speaking to RBR+TVBR about her honor and where the industry sits today, Beall says, “There is obviously a wideranging evolution of distribution including streaming and eventually NEXTGEN TV. The one thing that won’t change, however, is the need to deliver great content that meets the needs of our local communities.”

That said, Beall believes it’s an interesting time for

broadcasters to rethink how they may best serve their communities and how new distribution paths open up fresh routes to monetization.

“That’s one of the reasons we launched Premion, which allows advertisers to reach their target markets on streaming platforms,” she says.

What about the unrelenting growth of AVOD, FAST Channels, and OTT? “Our industry is increasingly recognizing that we need to be present on all of these platforms, and you see most local station groups beginning to embrace these paths,” Beall says. “We need to embrace the capabilities these new paths offer and redefine our product.”

At TEGNA, local sports podcast network LockedOn was acquired, bringing “the passion and engagement of local sports commentary and news” into video streaming environments.

“That is just the tip of the iceberg,” Beall believes.

Where does Beall see broadcast TV in 2032, and where are the future industry leaders rising up?

“I’m an optimist,” she says. “First, companies that continue to embrace local communities will not only survive but thrive by staying nimble, never settling for the status quo, and taking advantage of new capabilities. The work we’ve done with ‘Near Me’ to embrace citizen journalism, for example, shows me that there is a powerful force for good just waiting to be unleashed.”

Lastly, Beall believes the industry will fully realize entirely new paths to monetization. “Targeted advertising, commerce, and lead generation are but a few examples of the new forms of monetization that might emerge.”

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SPRING 2022

· R B R . C O M · 17

TEGNA

salutes our own

Lynn Beall

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Media Operations

Congratulations on being selected as one of Broadcast Television’s Best Leaders.

Your leadership, vision and dedication are invaluable to all of us at TEGNA.

8

BYRON ALLEN

Chairman/CEO, Allen Media Group 2021 Rank: No. 11

If there’s any one individual in broadcast television today who has emerged as a champion of the medium; of the continued fight for diversity, equity, and inclusion across the entire industry; and as the biggest potential buyer of full-power television stations, it is Byron Allen. Yes, that Byron Allen.

Some still associate Allen with the NBC prime-time reality series Real People, which aired 40 years ago. Today, Allen presides over an ever-growing enterprise that includes Entertainment Studios and broadcast TV station owner Allen Media Group. He also owns The Weather Channel, and the Local Now OTT service.

Allen desires more — including the support of McDonald’s, which he has sued for racial discrimination. That case moved forward with a court ruling in January dismissing the quick service restaurant company’s request for a dismissal.

With properties including KVOA-4 in Tucson, KITV-4 in Honolulu, and WJRT-12 in Flint, Mich., among 21 over-the-air facilities Allen Media owns alongside the Local Now enterprise, Allen is confident the coexistence of free-to-air and over-the-top viewing choices is the future of local TV. “Broadcast television has much to gain,” he says. “Last year 93 of the top 100 television shows aired on a ‘Big Four’ network affiliate. Right now, there is no close second.”

Meanwhile, Allen’s fight for a proper level of diversity, equity, and inclusion in broadcast TV continues. Is it where he believes it should be today, compared to perhaps two years ago, given the efforts seen across many industries?

“Absolutely not.”

Once DEI and discrimination are fully addressed, broadcast TV can perhaps fully capitalize on its continuing status as a leader for viewed programming. And that programming will undoubtedly include syndicated fare.

“Syndicated programming is extremely important,” Allen says.

“Syndicated programming provides local broadcast television stations high-end content and advertisers efficient media placement and enormous value.”

Byron Allen

WEATHER CHANNEL AND CBS FORGE CONTENT PACT A content collaboration agreement has been forged between The Weather Channel, owned by Byron Allen, and CBS News. This, the groups say, will bring “enhanced weather and climate reporting” to CBS News, combining “the expertise and technology” of the organizations.

In particular, CBS will benefit from The Weather Channel’s Immersive Mixed Reality (IMR) technology, giving viewers a virtual view into real-time weather conditions.

As TWC and CBS describe, “By deploying HDR, 360-degree cameras, camera tracking, and the ‘Unreal Engine, Zero Density Reality Hub,’ the IMR technology allows viewers to visualize future weather forecasts.”

The reports originate from the Weather Channel’s Atlanta headquarters and will include live reports from TWC’s best-known weather reporters: Stephanie Abrams, Jim Cantore, and Mike Bettes. The entire Weather Channel meteorological and newsgathering team will also support CBS’s efforts.

When will viewers see the reports? In a move that posits CBS’s national news programs away from those of ABC and NBC, The Weather Channel reports will be integrated into the CBS Mornings, CBS Saturday Morning, and the struggling CBS Evening News telecast helmed at present

by Norah O’Donnell.

Additionally, long-form production of weather programming is in the works, as the CBS News investigative team and the Weather Channel’s meteorological and newsgathering teams will partner on special investigative climate reports.

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10

ROB HUBBARD

President/CEO, Hubbard Television Group 2021 Rank: NEW

In 2019, the first year Broadcast Television’s Best Leaders appeared in the spring edition of RBR+TVBR’s print magazine, readers saluted the Hubbard Broadcasting leader most familiar to the industry: CEO Ginny Morris. At the time, she transferred the honor to Rob Hubbard, her brother.

Today, Rob Hubbard has made the list fully on his own, with leadership over such properties as KSTP-5 in

Emily Barr

9

EMILY BARR

President/CEO (Retired), Graham Media Group 2021 Rank: No. 4

As 2022 began, so did the goodbyes for Emily Barr, the head of a television station group that includes NBC affiliate WDIV-4 in Detroit and such stations as WSLS-10 in Roanoke-Lynchburg and WKMG-6 in Orlando. Born out of the Post-Newsweek Stations, GMG is now led by Catherine Badalamente, formerly Graham Media’s VP/ Chief Innovation Officer and a 22-year company veteran who has been spearheading the company’s digital efforts since 2009.

In early March, Barr quietly stepped away from the company; its headquarters returned to Detroit from Chicago, where Barr is based.

Timothy J. O’Shaughnessy, Graham Holdings Company’s CEO, saluted Barr, who joined the company a decade ago. “Emily’s leadership has been critical to the company’s success,” he said. “Graham Media Group has continued its tenure as a best-in-class operator, and Emily has led the organization to receive numerous awards and achieve record earnings. Her deep commitment to the communities we serve has been unparalleled. But perhaps the greatest element of her legacy is the excellence of the team she has built, as evidenced by her successor.”

Asked in 2021 what the top three characteristics needed to lead people in broadcast television through 2030 are, Barr offered three words: curiosity, empathy, and intelligence.

Rob Hubbard

“One challenge which has received little attention is, with OTT now being a measurable part of local linear television distribution, there are a number of independent stations who cannot get their local services carried.”

— Rob Hubbard

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Minneapolis-St. Paul and WNYT-13 in Albany, N.Y. He is one of the third generation of broadcasters at Hubbard. And, in addition to the broadcast TV stations, Hubbard oversees the cable and satellite network REELZCHANNEL. There is also F&F Productions, one of the oldest privately held mobile production facilities providers in the United States.

While Hubbard has taken a slow approach to NEXTGEN TV (its WNYT was noticeably absent from the late March 2022 rollout of ATSC 3.0-delivered television signals in New York’s Capital District), Hubbard is keen on digital consumption growth fueling free-to-air TV in the years ahead.

“One challenge which has received little attention is, with OTT now being a measurable part of local linear television distribution, there are a number of independent stations who cannot get their local services carried,” he tells RBR+TVBR. “The relationship is negotiated between the vMVPD and the networks, which leaves no room for local independents to get carriage. The real losers are the local communities who cannot get these local services. The entertainment, local news, local public service, and local sports which are produced and carried by these independents is a real loss for local communities.”

“OTT will allow local stations to offer even more local content and go deep into their communities.

At the same time, it creates a fragmented viewing environment where it’s tougher to get enough audience to be meaningful to advertisers.”

— Jimmy Goodmon

11

JIMMY GOODMON

President/COO, Capitol Broadcasting Corp.

2021 Rank: NEW

He’s described as a lifelong broadcaster with a passion for the business. Jimmy Goodm0n started his career in family-owned Capitol Broadcasting as a camera operator for WRAL-5’s 5AM newscast — before heading off to high school later in the morning.

Since September 2017, he’s been responsible for all of Capitol Broadcasting’s operating divisions. And he’s continued innovation at WRAL-5 and sibling WRAZ-50 that saw the stations in 2014 becoming the nation’s first

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to broadcast in 4K HD. In summer 2016, Capitol launched a NEXTGEN TV station, one year before viewers in homes could access it.

“We need to focus on the new capabilities of NEXTGEN TV and how we make viewers aware of them,” Goodmon tells RBR+TVBR. “We need to explore how we use the targeted advertising of NEXTGEN TV quickly and, hopefully, easily.”

Goodmon also believes it is critical for broadcasters to be compensated by “big tech” for all of the content they monetize by reposting or having it appear in their feeds. “It is crucial that we go deep in our markets to the extent it protects us from future changes to the station/network relationship and ensures local stations survive because of their indisputable value to the local community,” he says.

www.tvradiolibrary.org

P R O U D LY C E L E B R AT E S

2022 INAUGURAL

INSIGHT AWARD RECIPIENT LeVar Burton

In recognition of your extraordinary contributions to broadcasting, history and American culture The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation serves the philanthropic arm of the Library of American Broadcasting, considered one of the nation’s most extensive collection of broadcast history, policy and tradition, including historical documents,professional papers, oral and video histories, books, scripts and photographs. The collection is preserved at the University of Maryland.

As WRAL and WRAZ are pioneers in ATSC 3.0, what is the datacasting potential for these stations and for the industry? “Datacasting is a very interesting opportunity,” he says. “Being able to sell leftover spectrum as a service has huge potential if we can get it right.

Supporting the IOT world, helping other businesses offload data, and other opportunities such as connected cars or enhanced GPS all have the potential to be game-changers. It’s too early to say what the best use of this bandwidth will be, but now is the time to start experimenting and learning as much as possible.”

For all of the tech advancements seen across the last decade at WRAL and WRAZ, Goodmon looks at the growth of digital viewing platforms with some trepidation.

“While there is plenty to gain, we have to acknowledge there are also many reasons for concern and caution,” he says. “OTT will allow local stations to offer even more local content and go deep into their communities. At the same time, it creates a fragmented viewing environment where it’s tougher to get enough audience to be meaningful to advertisers.”

Asked about DEI commitments across the industry and within his organization, Goodmon replies, “Some broadcasting entities have remarkable diversity, while others clearly have a lot of work to do.​All levels of a broadcast TV organization should reflect the diversity represented in the communities we serve.

One risk of not doing that is that we could miss tremendous business opportunities simply because we may not be thinking the way our customers think.

Beyond the business imperative, though, is the moral imperative. Diversity, equity, and inclusion needs to be measured, discussed, prioritized, and part of an ongoing mission. The importance of DEI initiatives cannot be overstated, and must become standard.”

Mike Meara 24 · R B R . C O M

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12

MIKE MEARA

President/Broadcast, News-Press & Gazette Co. 2021 Rank: 12

Like Capitol Broadcasting Co., News-Press & Gazette’s television stations have been at the forefront of broadcast TV’s tech advancements. By early 2019, its three Santa Barbara, Calif.-based TV stations serving California’s Central Coast hosted members of the Advanced Television Systems Committee, with ABC affiliate KEYT-3 becoming an early adopter of NEXTGEN Television.

As the voluntary rollout of ATSC 3.0 continues, Mike Meara comments, “Embrace the transition, learn, and apply the business cases being made. We are encouraged by the investment companies that are beginning to position themselves for success with NEXTGEN.” This explains why News-Press & Gazette is not frightened by new technologies, nor does it want to ignore them or wish them away. “Our goal is to embrace understanding any new technology or distribution platform and find ways to use them to serve our local communities and monetize them,” Meara says.

Asked where he sees the industry in a decade, Meara replies, “We see a continued need for localism and connecting our communities in 2032.

We see a strong advertising business driven by addressable video advertising, along with a healthy political spending market. We also see a maturing NEXTGEN market with new business models based on datacasting.

“With respect to future leaders, we are having success finding our future leaders within our company. We have had success finding young talent, either home-grown or recruited to the market, with a commitment to the local community and an eye toward experimentation and innovation. Fresh perspectives and ideas have made us a stronger and more nimble company.”

13

NEAL SABIN

EVP and President of Content and Networks, Weigel Broadcasting 2021 Rank: 9

“Weigel is an integral part of the American media fabric,” the Chicagobased media company owned by Norman Shapiro says of itself. Today, Weigel owns 30 broadcast TV stations and continues to grow. In late March, it added a low-power TV station in Cleveland to a roster of properties that includes MeTV owned-and-operated stations in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York; the CBS affiliate serving Milwaukee; and The CW Network affiliate in Chicago, picking up the affiliation from WGN-9.

On a national level, Weigel’s digital multicast networks are widely seen.

In addition to MeTV, they include DECADES, H&I (formerly Heroes & Icons), Movies! and the START Network (in partnership with CBS News & Stations).

A sixth digital multicast network, Story Television, debuted on March 28. Stations owned by Hearst Television, Marquee Broadcasting, Maranatha Broadcasting, and other affiliate partners were on board from Day One. In theory, Story TV will serve as a broadcast network resembling The History Channel.

With much growth across the company, RBR+TVBR readers once again saluted Sabin, who was hired by Weigel Broadcasting in 1994. Under his leadership, WCIU was transformed, becoming a strong independent TV station in Chicago before snagging the CW affiliation. From that experience came oversight of local stations serving Milwaukee and South Bend, Ind., owned by Weigel.

“The industry continues to evolve, and Weigel has changed dramatically along with it,” the company says. “What remains unchanged is Weigel’s dedication to serving our audiences and clients with compelling programming, products, and innovation.”

Neal Sabin

SPRING 2022

· R B R . C O M · 25

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14

DUJUAN MCCOY

Owner and President/CEO, Circle City Broadcasting 2021 Rank: 15

He’s the owner. He’s the day-to-day local leader for two stations in Indianapolis. And he’s an outspoken fighter in the area of DEI. DuJuan McCoy has been a spirited and charismatic leader whose profile expanded significantly three years ago, when he purchased WISH-8 and WNDY-23 in Indianapolis for $42.5 million. Today, his ownership of the market’s affiliates for The CW Network and MyNetwork TV affiliates has grown to ownership of other stations across Indiana.

Growth hasn’t come without headaches — namely a continuing battle against DISH Network that has seen a retransmission consent fight become a racial discrimination case.

It’s just one DEI cause McCoy is championing. Asked about the level of diversity, equity, and inclusion in broadcast TV today compared to two years ago, given the efforts seen across many industries, he replies, “The talent in front of the screen has improved as compared to two years ago. However, the most impactful change that still lags is the need for more DE&I representation in key leadership positions that hire and manage content within our TV stations and media companies.”

With a pressing need for more DEI representation in the boardrooms and executive committees of America’s public, private, and trade organizations, McCoy adds, “These laggards will only improve if we collectively, sincerely, and consciously keep DE&I as a focal point and include policy and legislation if we can’t selfregulate.”

This perhaps helps explain why McCoy believes broadcasters will always be the leaders in media “as a must have” on whatever platform emerges. “We are connected to our communities like no other media now or in the future,” he says. “Many TV stations in America, including mine, have had relationships with communities since 1954. As consumer behavior and life circumstances continue to evolve, so will broadcasters — just as we have since 1954.”

And future leaders could rise like he did, through programs such as the NAB’s Broadcast Leadership Training.

“Additionally, many local broadcasters, including me, are working with local organizations including colleges and universities to create scholarships, paid internships, and in-school curriculum specifically targeting opportunities in local broadcasting that are not just limited to journalism,” McCoy says. “These NAB programs and local broadcaster initiatives only supplement our ability to grow our current employee base of leaders to keep our pipeline full from within.”

“The talent in front of the screen has improved as compared to two years ago. However, the most impactful change that still lags is the need for more DE&I representation in key leadership positions that hire and manage content within our TV stations and media companies.”

— DuJuan McCoy

DuJuan McCoy SPRING 2022

· R B R . C O M · 27

15

ALBERT RODRIGUEZ

President/COO and Head of Mega TV, Spanish Broadcasting System 2021 Rank: NEW

It’s found nationally on DirecTV. In Florida and in Puerto Rico, it continues to evolve, attracting viewers new and old some 16 years after a launch some industry observers questioned.

Today, there’s no question that Spanish Broadcasting System’s Spanishlanguage Mega TV operation isn’t simply a nice cross-promotion vehicle for its radio stations or its LaMúsica.com platform. Rather, it is a magnet for Hispanics in the markets it serves in its own right.

The Mega TV programming slate is equal parts politics and news, with veteran faces including journalists Pedro Sevcec, Oscar Haza, and Jaime Bayly attracting viewers alongside Bongo Quiñongo and the entertainment variety program El Jelengue, airing in the 10PM hour.

As Mega remains a key alternative to Hispanic media’s bigger visual media players, Rodriguez acknowledges that attracting viewers isn’t easy — and will continue to present challenges he’s eager to overcome. “While it has been a challenge to stay the course, we have to remain laser-focused on our audience as they hold the key to the future and our success,” he says.

“As the largest minority-owned Hispanic multimedia business, SBS bridges the gap between U.S. Hispanics and their native cultural roots. While we have been experiencing slight changes in our viewership, our audience remains loyal because they trust broadcast TV, our personalities, and exclusive in-language and in-culture programming.”

“While it has been a challenge to stay the course, we have to remain laser-focused on our audience as they hold the key to the future and our success.”

Albert Rodriguez

— Albert Rodriguez That’s why Rodriguez believes streaming is critical for Broadcast TV. “That is why we’re rolling out a newly developed MEGATV app.”

Does broadcast TV have much to gain, or perhaps to be frightened of, as AVOD, FAST Channels, and OTT continue to grow? “We have to rip the Band-Aid and come to terms with the fact that broadcast TV will probably never be the same as what we’re used to,” Rodriguez bluntly admits. “The pandemic showed all of us that we have to be pragmatic and be ready to adapt to change quickly. We have much to gain because AVOD, FAST Channels, OTT, and other streaming platforms provide new opportunities that help us broaden our distribution and grow our audience.”

That’s why broadcast TV will continue to evolve a decade from now.

“The convergence of technology, the continued growth of the multicultural community in the U.S., and their influence on trends notwithstanding, I believe that Broadcast TV will still be the nucleus of it all, especially when it comes to localized, real-time, in-culture (and in our case, in-language) programming.

The future industry leaders will be the ones who are invested in truly understanding their audience, embrace diversity, and are exploring all forms of media throughout their career.”

Dujuan Mccoy 28 · R B R . C O M

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ABOUT BROADCAST TELEVISION’S BEST LEADERS: The fourth annual Broadcast Television’s Best Leaders List is generated from Radio + Television Business Report reader nominations, which are used to fuel RBR+TVBR’s staff research and editorial evaluation based on 2021 revenues for broadcast television companies and corporate units. RBR+TVBR reader nominations were gathered via e-mail in February and March 2022. © 2022 Streamline Publishing.

INTRODUCING PUBLIC TV DELIVERY OF NEXTGEN AT-HOME LEARNING Its mission is “to inform, engage, educate, and connect New Mexico’s diverse communities, reflecting their interests and needs through quality programming, services, and online content that can be accessed anytime, anywhere.” Now, New Mexico PBS has taken that education pledge one step further.

KNME-5 in Albuquerque has become the first public television station in the U.S. to deploy an ATSC 3.0 at-home family learning program for elementary through high school students. It is doing so to assist at-home students underserved by broadband.

New Mexico PBS, in its words, “saw a greenfield opportunity” to serve their community.

Franz Joachim, General Manager and CEO of New Mexico PBS, commented, “Looking back at where we started, it’s amazing how quickly we were able to modify our system and respond to the unique needs of our communities. When New Mexico PBS and the New Mexico Public Education Department formed an outreach team to meet with students, we discovered challenges that were hard to predict.”

To make the plan work required “serious listening” that led to a series of innovations, Joachim added.

“Our team was offering students free access to the SpectraRep EduCast system with a free DigiCAP ATSC 3.O receiver box, yet there were fewer takers than we would have liked,” he said.

“When students grow up in homes and communities with no Internet access, there is no assurance that they have familiarity with basic online tools.”

The outreach team found some students and parents were not familiar with how a web browser or mouse worked.

After dealing with basic technical training, the next step was to realize that many teachers and families who experienced frustrations with distance learning during the pandemic needed reassurance to welcome datacasting

into their homes. In New Mexico multi-lingual communities that are underserved by broadband, adults are often working several jobs.

“We soon realized that to support our students we had to ask who in the household was helping the kids with schoolwork,” Joachim said. “In many cases it was grandparents.”

CLARO Consulting was hired to help implement the technical side of the program. Ferdi Serim, CLARO’s owner, commented, “To help grandparents and other family members understand datacasting as a family learning system, we needed to make modifications. Through rapid changes to EduCast and DigiCAP’s ATSC 3.0 gateway we were able to make and integrate the changes quickly.”

From there, CLARO found volunteers willing to engage with underserved New Mexico households and train them to move receivers into these homes.

“They became ambassadors to their own communities, evangelizing the value of these digital learning tools,” Serim said.

Joachim called the result “a win-win for everyone.” He said, “Since the start of the pandemic, some senior citizens have not been able to make in-person contributions to their community but still had enough knowledge and willingness to help a young person’s education.”

Another innovation came when Joachim’s team realized that students at home often needed access to additional information to help with their studies, as would family members and volunteers helping them. Again, working with the flexibility of the DigiCAP ATSC 3.0

platform, SpectraRep was able to modify the system to provide in-home access to digitized library materials available statewide from New Mexico PBS’s network.

Serim said, “By this time, we realized we were not operating in a traditional broadcast/supplier relationship where platforms are updated every six months or so. We were able to put our operational innovations into effect in days.”

Joachim also gave credit to America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) for laying the groundwork for New Mexico PBS to build on.

“This string of innovations all started when we looked closely at the needs of our students in the context of the family they live with,” Joachim said. “Every time we had an idea to make our program more inclusive, with other family members, grandparents, senior citizen volunteers, or with library access, we were able to quickly make those modifications in collaboration with our technology partners.”

This article originally appeared March 28 at RBR.com for all members. Gain full access to the Radio + Television Business Report by becoming a member today. Visit www.rbr. com/premium-membership/ now.

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WHERE TELEVISION AND STREAMING CONVERGE Fantastic studio facilities no longer require vast, warehouse-sized spaces to transmit a program. That’s just one of the takeaways from a March visit to Red House Streaming, powered by CP Communications. Thanks to tech advancements, opportunities abound.

One of the nation’s hottest housing markets is Pinellas County, Fla., where growth can be seen, from toll road construction to the cranes dotting the downtown skyline of St. Petersburg. On the northern edge of this city, hidden among warehouses, is a company that is perhaps on the leading edge of broadcast and streaming technology.

How so? Its cost-cutting products and services are one reason Red House Streaming and its parent, CP Communications, deserve attention.

The other eye-popping takeaway one walks away with following an on-site visit is just how little space is devoted 30 · R B R . C O M

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to studio use. In fact, the majority of CP’s Florida headquarters is used for storage — and a cool new camera on wheels that is already revolutionizing the delivery of live sporting events airing on television stations across the nation.

The main studio area available in the Red House space is about the size of a typical child’s bedroom. Yet, with a green screen in place and remotecontrolled cameras and lighting, that’s just fine for those who use the area for their live-streamed shows or a newscast.

A second, more cozy space is ideal for a talk show environment.

On display is the ENG CamSTREAM, which was brought to market in January 2020, weeks before COVID-19 robbed it of its big planned NAB Show splash.

With that opportunity now in the past, the ENG CamSTREAM’s capabilities have now been enjoyed by its customers for over two years. The benefits of the product? Broadcast-quality production and bonded cellular streaming, something CP believes is ideal for broadcast news applications.

Given the importance of broadcast news as a driver for local over-the-air television viewership, streaming live shots is one practical application. The other, on display in St. Petersburg, is the sit-down studio set. An entire chroma key studio is in place, with cameras that enjoy tilt and zoom capability.

“The only people who are present in the studio during a live show or

a taping are the talent — the people who appear on camera,” notes Karl Prentiss, who joined Red House Streaming as its Director of Production at the start of 2022. “Everything else is controlled remotely.”

That’s no longer an oddity in newsrooms across the U.S. TelePrompter control is now in the hands of the person in front of the camera; having cameras controlled from miles and miles away is well within the reporter’s and anchor’s comfort zone. And, with today’s journalism studies courses focused on multimedia tasks rather than simply broadcast or print, knowing what to do in back of the camera is a skill that’s just as important as delivery of the day’s top news stories.

Until 2014, Prentiss was based at The E.W. Scripps Co.’s ABC affiliate serving Tampa-St. Petersburg, WFTS-28.

Even then, he recalls, “The talent — the anchors and the reporters — all had to learn how to become ‘MMJs.’ They were starting to realize the power of streaming and the power of making sure you could get on social media channels and all of the other venues outside of over-the-air. We’ve tapped into that, and fine-tuned our abilities and our technology and our staff to be sure we can address a lot of those issues that large stations have been trying to embrace for the last few years.”

In the traditional newsroom studio, chroma key technology is in place to personalize the set, making it a station’s own through the use of their logos and color scheme. This opens up remote reporting and anchoring opportunities. For instance, should a news organization wish to broadcast live from St. Petersburg in concert with a sporting, political, or headlinemaking news event in the region, it can do so here — and not have to rely on a big truck or trailer or a makeshift space in a locale open to the elements with questionable internet connectivity.

COMPACT AND COMPLETE

With no Stage Manager, no camera person behind each camera, and no TelePrompter operator in sight, the two studio spaces are a far cry from what can still be viewed behind the scenes at some of the nation’s top-market broadcast TV stations.

That compact efficiency doesn’t stop there for Red House. Prentiss demonstrated to RBR+TVBR the Master Control suite used for its two studio sets. The word “suite” is perhaps

“There’s a camera operator in the front of the car with a little joystick operating a camera that’s hanging off the back of the car. That’s very much the same way films and car commercials are made.”

— Kurt Heitmann appropriate, since it’s nothing like the glass-enclosed, button-filled scenario popularized in feature films — something one may still see today at a television network’s headquarters but rarely, if at all, at a local TV station.

Five workstations, all working simultaneously with no interference, are in place in what could easily be mistaken for a Communications 101 classroom. It’s hardly a junior college environment, however, as a small team dutifully produces a live streamed talk show, inserting advertisements, unique chyron, and a background scene with ease across the 30-minute program. Red House uses vMix live production software at three of the five workstations.

Pointing to the main vMix station, Prentiss says, “You’ll notice that it’s very unlike a typical control board or a switcher in that everything is software-based. You’ll see all of the different inputs on-screen, and we can pretty much do everything a traditional switcher can do, but with a much easier, in many ways, user interface.”

Prentiss is a big fan of the vMix system, which he says was “probably impossible” just six years ago. Yet to a first-timer in a television production facility, technology akin to the Atari CX40 joystick can’t be missed. That would be the PTZ controller, and indeed it is a joystick that’s a wired camera controller — and essential to the remote operation seen today across many newsrooms.

While Red House Streaming makes its mark with studio capabilities, parent CP has innovated a safer way to cover such events as road races. For the November 7, 2021 running of the 50th New York City Marathon, CP put to use a Smart car equipped with two rear-facing golf cart seats, putting commentators at eye level with the lead men and women pounding the pavement en route to Central Park.

The Smart car, complete with cameras and bonded cellular technology, was introduced in 2018.

Kurt Heitmann, whose first name sounds like “Court,” is particularly proud of the street-to-internet capabilities that the bonded cellular SPRING 2022

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“It starts with glass, and it ends with glass, and it has IP in between.”

— Kurt Heitmann rooftop antennas bring. Three carriers are represented; the top mounts are adjustable, which allows for separation and connecting with all of the respective towers without any problems.

The mini-vehicles were designed to replace the use of a motorcycle during the marathon. They could one day see use at a parade, or even at the Olympic Games. Heitmann notes that one car was used by Hoka for an ultramarathon — a 100-mile run. Its use in a news environment, moving beyond an entertainment or sports environment, is also a possibility.

“These are actually camera cars,” Heitmann explains. “We have used these cars on track and field, running down a long length of the runway. As a car that has an open back, we can put any type of camera on.”

At present, CP has two types of cars. One has two seats, one for a camera operator and the other for the on-air talent. “We can put a Steadicam rig on here, with a mount,” Heitmann says. “We have something called a ‘Black Arm,’ which adjusts up and down and not sideways. There’s a camera operator in the front of the car with a little joystick operating a camera that’s hanging off the back of the car. That’s very much the same way films and car commercials are made.

We’ve designed it to do multiple things. The catalyst was the New York City Marathon, but the cars have done many other types of events.”

That includes golf tournaments, which see a seven-camera bonded cellular setup and a traditional TV control room workflow from a truck on site. But the studio is at Red House, and there are announcers in both locations.

“We cut a live show out of the truck, and the announcers here would do the same things they would do if they were at a tower or in a booth on the course, talking in time to the live coverage,” Heitmann says. The course announcers’ “hot” commentary is delayed to be placed in sync with the bonded cellular video feed.

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“For me to leave traditional TV was a lot, personally. One of the reasons I left was because it is going to streaming.”

— Sarina Fazan

For Heitmann, the efficiencies’ biggest statement is the bill a client would get compared to the “traditional” way of bringing a golf tournament to broadcast. “A normal golf show is $800,000 to do 18 holes of coverage,” he says. “For us, it is $120,000, and you get the same thing. You don’t have towers, but ACC Golf is interested.”

During the March visit, preparations were being made for a junior golf tournament with Fairway Films.

REELS ON WHEELS

Parked alongside the garage entrance to CP Communications’ headquarters are a handful of production trailers and a 36-foot production truck. The truck has everything you’d ever need in a production studio, all with a traditional workflow and accessible anywhere there’s a road.

“When our clients get beyond using vMix and bringing stuff into those machines, the audio component isn’t really vMix [compatible],” Heitmann says. “You can’t really fly in DVE and multiple graphics. It’s a small, basic production tool. This is a traditional broadcast or production board, using a Ross switcher and Ross XPression graphics, along with a Ross dashboard to control everything.”

Two traditional EVS-style replay machines, with six in and two out, are present.

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says. “For Fairway Films, we were going to start them out using just a vMix show, with six cameras. They really wanted a Golf Channel-style shoot, so they were bumped up, giving them a traditional broadcast environment to work in. But we don’t need to bring the truck there; we don’t need the cost or expense of that.”

To ensure reliable connectivity, a 10GB “pipe” from Crown Castle is in place, ensuring good bandwidth.

Up next for CP and Red House is a track and field event in Bermuda.

“Everyone will cut the show here,” Heitmann says.

Could a similar setup be perfect for covering the first set of 2024 Republican and Democratic presidential debates, given the number of trucks observed

by RBR+TVBR while covering the first 2020 Democratic debate, held in June 2019 in Miami? “One hundred percent,” Heitmann replies. “We know that news stations can get maxed out, so one of our goals is to market this to those news organizations. If you need a control room, you can come here and utilize ours. You don’t need to send everybody to Miami, you can send a crew here. It starts with glass, and it ends with glass, and it has IP in between.”

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES

At noon on an otherwise quiet Friday, the activity at Red House Streaming rapidly ramped up as Sarina Fazan, a veteran local television reporter

who departed WFTS-28 in January 2019 to launch her own media brand, began hosting the 12th episode of her program “Love in America.”

The in-studio guests: Julie JohnsonWeintrub, head of regional jewelry powerhouse Gold & Diamond Source, and her 21-year-old daughter, Emily.

The jeweler also happens to be the program’s inaugural sponsor.

With the chroma key technology creating a virtual background, the three women conducted their chat in-studio, with a production team of four in an adjacent, windowless control room. The team controlled all of the cameras and the TelePrompter, adjusting the audio as needed when concerns arose in the first few seconds of the 30-minute show, streamed on YouTube Live and on Fazan’s own app.

Fazan’s show is perhaps a beta test for what local broadcast television stations may wish to do when it comes to added value, offering similar programming on their app or website; sponsored content opportunities and community-oriented public affairs shows are just part of the opportunities the Red House facility presents.

How did Fazan find herself at the forefront of a significant tech-driven program delivery evolution?

“I actually ran away from home to pursue a career in television — broadcast television,” she says. “For me to leave traditional TV was a lot, personally. One of the reasons I left was because it is going to streaming.

People are not watching traditional TV anymore unless there is a catastrophe within that market. Here, that would be a hurricane. I hate saying that, but people are getting everything on demand … Television is changing significantly, and traditional television has not caught up with what the market needs and what viewers want.

That’s why I feel we are pioneers.”

THE TV DEAL OUTLOOK … OH, AND RADIO, TOO Unless you’ve been quarantined since 2019, it won’t be a surprise to hear the media transactions marketplace is less than stellar. Lowpower TV stations comprise the bulk of dollars among the deals being filed with the FCC for approval. Religious entities appear to be radio’s biggest players. Is this the “new normal”?

The brokers RBR+TVBR spoke with were frank in their responses, each offering a unique take on the state of broadcast media transactions.

Greg Guy, a Managing Partner of Patrick Communications, notes, “From where I sit and from what I’m seeing — and I’ll start on the TV side because I think that’s a bit cleaner and easier of a story — you have a few different buckets of potential transactions. The network affiliate transactions have slowed to a trickle, save for some major transactions, and that’s an inventory issue. And we’re in the ninth inning of consolidation there. There are not a lot of groups left to be acquired. A lot of the larger groups are right up against the cap.”

This leaves media mogul Byron Allen as the most obvious major buyer out there, and perhaps no one else who has made themselves known.

“For sellers of network affiliates there are still multiple bidders, but there are just fewer and fewer targets,” Guy says.

Then there is the “stick transaction” marketplace. Where there’s a sale, the activity has shifted to UHF assets as part of a spectrum grab tied to the rollout of ATSC 3.0. “The market for Class As and low-powers has picked up significantly,” Guy notes. “There is a much more robust buyer pool there and values are up.”

Indeed, one day after he spoke with RBR+TVBR, he revealed that

he was the broker on a deal that saw Weigel Broadcasting purchase a low-power TV station in Cleveland — equally a spectrum play and market expansion for the company that owns MeTV Network. The Weigel deal is meaningful in that it is reflective of a shift from “spectrum speculators” that snapped up many LPTV properties in the last few years.

POTENTIAL MOMENTUM

One of the more intriguing comments made by Guy is his belief that the “could be” or “wouldn’t that be nice” media transaction landscape is hot. Is that all speculation, or is that a hopeful reflection of what could legitimately transpire in the next six to 12 months?

“I believe that answer varies based on the type of transaction the buyer is looking to make,” he replies, noting that the three different types of available TV stations, as described SPRING 2022

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AWAITING THE BIG THAW

Greg Guy

“The market for Class As and lowpowers has picked up significantly.

There is a much more robust buyer pool there and values are up.”

— Greg Guy above, each reflect different buyer scenarios. “It’s been a very active start to the year in all three of those different kinds of deals, with pending transactions in each of those categories.”

One of the bigger LPTV buyers in 2022 is Gray Television. Patrick Communications brokered many of the deals, including a four-station transaction giving it properties held by Scott Saldana’s L4 Media Group.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to inventory. Like the housing market in many cities, there’s just not a lot of TV stations out there for those who desire to purchase them.

Network affiliate groups, and groups like Gray, will continue to seek such deals for two reasons — ensuring complete DMA coverage in a cordcutting universe, and bulking up their ATSC 3.0 capabilities.

This will likely continue the highly unbalanced tilt toward television for media deals, says Lou McDermott, a VP at Kalil & Co. “Television has been the much more vibrant space,” he says.

“The bottom line is that you have a ‘Big Four’-affiliated station and you decide

There has been outsized attention to TV in the transactions landscape, in particular to low-power and Class A stations. Is that fueling a tepid dealmaking marketplace for broadcast television, and why?

Bob Heymann, the Chicago-based Media Services Group Director, says he’s fortunate to have brokered a significant number of LPTV transactions over the past 10 months. “What’s interesting is how you can have such a disparity of interest among the major TV groups regarding usage of LPTV spectrum,” he says. “On the one hand, you have Gray Television being very aggressive with acquisitions (I have sold them six LPTVs recently) and on the other hand a company like Nexstar, who has not been as active in acquiring LPTVs.” Maybe that’s because Heymann doesn’t see much movement within specific markets, and Nexstar’s opportunities are rooted in other business growth initiatives. “What I do see, however, are smaller TV groups being acquired by much larger groups with, of course, the necessary spinoffs required to comply with ownership limits,” Heymann says.

Then, there’s radio. With valuations dropping for full-powered stations and hardly any secular buyers, where are things headed, in his opinion? “I sense a hesitancy by group owners to acquire additional stations. Let me give you an example. I am currently selling a cash-flowing cluster of stations in a very nice market. I have contacted all of the likeliest buyers for this cluster and the interest level one would expect hasn’t approached the level that there would have been had the stations been marketed, for example, in 2015.”

What is causing this hesitancy? Heymann points to two factors. “One, a continuing hangover from COVID, and two, general uncertainty regarding revenue growth in radio.”

Heymann feels confident that he will be successful in selling this specific cluster. “The question is what effect the overall lack of demand will have on the cash flow multiple and the ultimate purchase price,” he says.

Regarding FM translators, Heymann doesn’t believe there will be any repeat of the “frenzy of activity” seen between 2010 and 2016. “One, many potential buyers were successful during that period in acquiring translators that fulfilled their needs,” he says. “Two, the FCC window allowing AM stations to apply for and acquire new FM translators was very successful in creating hundreds of new FM stations.” to sell it, you’re going to sell it. That will move. The problem is there aren’t a lot of those opportunities out there.”

Where are the opportunities?

McDermott, like Guy, points to UHF low-power TV outlets rich with ATSC 3.0 capabilities, free of FCC owner caps. “They’ll be able to utilize that spectrum in a manner in which they weren’t able to a few years ago,” he says.

“They’ll monetize those stations now, whereas when they couldn’t get retrans or cable, they perhaps couldn’t. And they are learning how to monetize that as we speak.”

And, despite what the digital media PR professionals enjoy sharing every business day, the “Big Four” TV affiliates still have strong value. This will be seen in the deal-making market for years to come, McDermott says.

“We’ve been very busy with TV and we remain busy with TV. It has been a much more active market than radio.”

AN EMPTY DRIVERS’ SEAT

Is it unfair and perhaps an overreach to suggest that those looking to purchase a broadcast media property are turning up their noses at radio, in particular the forlorn AM station?

“The driving difference between radio and television right now is that ATSC 3.0 is a driver on the TV side,” Guy says. “Radio? The deal market right now lacks a clear driver. There is not a lot of new money coming in. Groups are not looking to consolidate. You’ve lost some of the momentum for stick transactions with [Educational Media Foundation] slowing down. You still have a good fundamental business that does have headwinds and challenges, with a slow recovery from COVID, but there’s just no driver.”

Valuations historically have used a trailing three-year basis for radio, examining revenue more than anything. If revenues were wiped out SPRING 2022

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for $1.4 million by Todd Robinson. In fall 2006, Robinson paid $4.75 million for the FM.

BRAND VALUE

Lou McDermott

“The bottom line is that you have a ‘Big Four’-affiliated station and you decide to sell it, you’re going to sell it. That will move.

The problem is there aren’t a lot of those opportunities out there.”

— Lou McDermott

by COVID, what does that mean for the deal-making market? Sellers may have no incentive to make a deal, given the cash flow story of 2019-2022.

Valuations have also come under the microscope across the first half of 2022, quite frankly because of how small some of the more high-profile deals are. In the Dallas market, religious broadcaster VCY America spent $9.25 million on a former ESPN Radio owned-and-operated property that has a signal covering all of the hot growth areas of North Texas. Couldn’t The Walt Disney Company have attracted a bit more for the station? It all comes down to potential buyers … and who has the money to make a deal.

Kalil & Co. continues to file “sizable” radio industry transactions with the FCC, including a late March deal McDermott teased prior to RBR+TVBR’s deadline. It was valued at $20 million.

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Bob Heymann In July 2000, the predecessor to Cox Media Group agreed to purchase what is today top-rated WFEZ-FM in Miami.

It paid a jaw-dropping $100 million to Woody Tanger’s Marlin Broadcasting for what had been Classical WTMI-FM, and took a trip to Active Rock and Dance-driven Top 40 before yielding a format that perhaps justifies the amount Cox paid for the station.

Fast-forward to July 2022. Could a Miami FM attract even $10 million, if it were to come up for sale? Are we ever going to see a $15 million deal for a single FM, outside of perhaps the Top 5 markets?

“I can’t answer that,” McDermott says. “A deal like that would be driven by cash flow. I do think there’s a possibility of seeing a deal like that at some point. But that might require further deregulation or significant swapping among some major players to consolidate in some markets between No. 25 and No. 50. If you had a heritage station with significant cash flow, then I could still see those deals come to the fore.”

Who’s the buyer? McDermott sees “a strong family-owned operation paying up for something they’ve tried to purchase over the years in a sub-Top 20 market that has heritage.” And this would be a cash flow-driven deal.

At Patrick Communications, the $15 million-plus single-station deal isn’t gone.

“Oh, yes,” Guy confidently asserts.

“If you go back and look at radio transactions 10 years ago versus today, the difference in those values is substantial.”

That’s not always the case. In Tucson, Bustos Media reacquired a station it formerly owned, some 25 years ago. KZLZ-FM 105.3 “La Poderosa,” licensed to Casa Adobe, Ariz., was sold

While cash flow is the No. 1 determining factor in putting a price tag on a radio station, now more than ever, content is king. “The brand definitely carries a lot of weight on valuations now,” McDermott says.

Nevertheless, cash flow — even in COVID-19 times — wins when it is time to talk to the financiers. “Banks easily understand purchasing cash flow,” McDermott comments. “They don’t readily buy in to blue sky. And especially now, with the lingering question of what this economy is going to look like in 12 months, it is much easier to go to your bank and say, ‘I’m paying x-times for $3 million in cash flow. Here are all of the financials.’”

Population coverage? It’s not as big of a factor in station valuations anymore.

What’s the long-term view for radio at Patrick? Guy remains upbeat, and loves the fact that radio is an industry that can still generate “significant cash flow,” given the right advertiser mix.

“You have a lot of longtime owners who are debt-free and asked themselves a question in terms of where multiples are: ‘Why sell?’ Many of them aren’t.

But on the flip side, some investor groups that got in the market around 2004 are looking at the market and accepting that this is where values are, and are getting out.”

Lastly, Guy believes the deal market in radio right now has caused people to be creative. “Some of what you see in those values — not all of it — involves companies pulling out towers and selling real estate separately,” he says. “There are a number of ways to drive value.”

What does longtime media broker Dick Foreman, President of Richard A. Foreman Associates, say about the current deal-making climate?

“Radio is frozen for the time being, but the good news is that, for good operators, revenue lines have largely restored to pre-COVID-19 levels,” he says. “Some inventory may shake at the NAB, but until the multiples are firmly established, few deals are likely to get done.”