THE TOP 10 BROKERS

As we review the top brokers in the U.S. as determined by the readers of RBR+TVBR, each broker was asked to answer one question: What is the one thing that is most vital to the future success of the radio broadcasting industry, as you see it? Their responses, where given, appear with their brief biographies below.

MICHAEL J. BERGNER President, Bergner & Co.

Boca Raton, Fla.-based Michael J. Bergner has been providing his deal-making expertise to media since 1987. Formerly a practicing corporate tax attorney, Bergner became a media broker two weeks after the stock market crashed in 1987. In the nearly 32 years since the days of Wall Street and famed film character Gordon Gekko, Bergner has handled more than $1 billion in transactions. These transactions have included radio and TV stations, broadcast towers, print media and digital businesses.

For Bergner, the one thing that is most vital to the future success of the radio industry is “the focus on being local.” He says, “Radio gets great results for local advertisers, as streaming services cannot compete with the local service that radio provides. Developing a strong local sales team will have a big advantage in any economic environment.”

ELLIOT EVERS Managing Director, MVP Capital LLC

If there’s one thing Elliot Evers may have in common with Michael J. Bergner, it is the date he co-founded his media brokerage, today known as MVP Capital: the San Francisco-based firm dates to 1987. Under Evers’ leadership, MVP has managed deal volume in excess of $3.5 billion — including former CBS Radio properties. His most recent engagement is serving as the divestiture trustee for the Cox Media Group/Apollo Global Management radio deal. The firm today has 30 employees spread across five offices.

“What the radio industry needs most now is top-line revenue growth,” says Evers. “Whether this comes from NTR, digital, better pricing due to deregulation and consolidation, or podcasting and other ancillary services, the industry needs to show the investment community forward motion in order to attract fresh capital and boost trading multiples.”

To say he’s a fan of “modernization” of the FCC’s local media ownership rules would be an understatement. “Hopefully, the FCC will adopt the NAB’s deregulatory proposals and rid the industry of antiquated regulations that prevent radio from having a level playing field when competing with other services in the audio marketplace,” Evers says.

BETH GRIFFIN Principal Owner, Griffin Media Partners

From 1990 to 1992, Beth Griffin was an account executive in the Los Angeles headquarters of Radio & Records. She would later hold sales positions at Billboard and at iHeartMedia-owned Inside Radio. Today, she’s celebrating her 13th year overseeing Griffin Media Brokers — an endeavor she says made her firm a top media broker in the nation based on the number of financial transactions, as determined by SNL Kagan.

Griffin says it’s her first-name-basis knowledge of key decision makers and her knowledge about their companies, combined with her professional people skills, that have made Griffin Media Brokers a successful anomaly in a maledominated industry. In fact, she is the lone solo female nominee among the Top 10 Brokers.

So, what is the one thing that is most vital to the future success of the radio broadcasting industry, as Beth Griffin sees it?

“Keeping radio local — bring back DJs, the only entertainment that is free!”

GREG GUY Managing Partner, Patrick Communications

Before 1999, Greg Guy was a research analyst at the NAB. That knowledge has certainly paid off for Guy, who took the role of Director of Research and Marketing at Patrick Communications. Today, he’s a Managing Partner who has personally brokered over 300 radio and television transactions, valued well in excess of $1 billion, over the past 20 years.

“In an exploding world of audio content options, broadcasters must continue to differentiate themselves to be successful,” he says when asked what is most vital to radio’s long-term success. “With new companies delivering on-demand music, playlists and long-form audio directly to consumers, radio must adapt to these changes while maintaining the connection with the listeners. For many broadcasters this means continuing to invest heavily in local content. Broadcasters are uniquely positioned to serve as content companies that touch their listeners in a variety of ways, maximizing engagement and expanding revenue opportunities. In an era of increased competition, cost savings are attractive in the short term, but those who are able to invest in differentiating their content are the ones who will thrive going forward.”

BOB HEYMANN Director, Media Services Group

Remember “FM

99, The Quake” — a San Francisco modern rock station of the early 1980s featuring Alex Bennett and Joe Regelski in morning drive? If you do, you know who managed the station still remembered by many in the Bay Area: Bob Heymann.

Today, Heymann serves as a Chicagobased broker for Media Services Group, a role he’s held since 2008. Heymann has bought or sold dozens of radio stations, TV stations and towers for clients of the firm, highlighted by co-brokering the radio portion of the $415 million Gray Television acquisition of Schurz Communications in

2016 and the sale of the Poole Tower Complex at Mt. Wilson in Los Angeles.

Before joining Media Services Group, Heymann spent 24 years in the media brokerage business in Chicago. Some of the deals he was involved in: the $165 million sale of WNIB-FM (now WDRV-FM) in Chicago and the $54 million sale of KOMA-AM & FM in Oklahoma City.

Heymann is also one of the youngest persons in history to be awarded a First Class Radio Telephone Operator License by the FCC, having become interested in broadcasting at the age of 14. When not working, Heymann is an avid golfer and a Chicago Bears fan, and he bleeds Carolina Blue, as he is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

What does he see as the one thing that is most vital to the future success of the radio broadcasting industry?

“Growth of radio industry revenue,” he says. “Somehow, either through regulatory relief, new technologies or some other means, radio has to grow its overall revenue despite the enormous competition it now faces from all the new sources of audio.”

FRANK HIGNEY VP, Kalil & Co.

Of the media brokerages active in the U.S., Kalil & Co. has emerged as one of the biggest in terms of dollars and volume. Several of its brokers received nominations from RBR+TVBR readers, including Todd Hartman, Frank Kalil, Fred Kalil and Lou McDermott. While all have excelled in their roles, it is Kalil VP Frank Higney — a 27-year media brokerage veteran — who got the largest nod from the radio and television broadcasting industry.

Over his time at Tucson-based Kalil & Co., Higney has participated in negotiations and sales for thousands of radio and television stations, worth billions of dollars. He’s also made his mark as an expert witness before the Federal Communications Commission, as well as Federal Bankruptcy and state courts.

Prior to joining Kalil & Co., Higney served as COO at BIA Consulting, the largest appraisal firm serving the broadcast industry.

“It appears to me that it is critical the radio industry embrace and develop the digital side of the business,” Higney says. “This is now where the bulk and future growth of advertising dollars exist. Radio sales executives must have the skills and ability to add a digital component to their mix to satisfy any and all clients.”

MARK JORGENSON Partner, Jorgenson Broadcast Brokerage

In 1976, after two years as a Peace Corps volunteer, Mark Jorgenson took his first professional post-college job, becoming a local AE for WXII-TV, the NBC affiliate serving Winston Salem and Greensboro, N.C. He’d go on to TV station roles in Cincinnati, Miami and Tampa before becoming a partowner, in 1987, of the first Hispanic radio station serving Tampa-St. Petersburg.

From this experience, a broker was born, as Jorgenson in 1990 — while serving as COO of the former ZGS Broadcast Holdings — launched his broadcast media brokerage. During that time, he’s also been a station owner, including with the Concord Media Group. His Synchronous Media Group owns and manages broadcast tower sites, and he was VP of the National Association of Media Brokers from 2009-2015.

With such a strong background in media and his recent involvement as the broker of record in Salem Media Group’s August 2019 sale of nine AMs and four FM translators to Relevant Radio parent Immaculate Heart Media, Jorgenson believes it is vital for radio to provide compelling and meaningful content that engages the audience.

This, he says, will ensure its long-term success.

LARRY AND SUSAN PATRICK Managing Partners, Patrick Communications

While this first-ever reader-driven Honor Roll is not ranked, RBR+TVBR received an unprecedented level of nominations for two individuals who are among the most beloved and respected in the media brokerage community.

While Larry Patrick is one of the most ubiquitous figures in the world of buying and selling of radio and TV stations, his wife, Susan Patrick, has been equally integral in building a brokerage that has a track record of 600 radio and 165 TV transactions worth more than $8 billion. Patrick Communications also specializes in station valuations, tower sales and expert testimony.

In addition to their brokerage activity, the couple operate 23 radio stations in Wyoming and a digital marketing company and hold a minority interest in 11 large-market television stations. Furthermore, both have been very active in industry associations, with Susan serving six years on the NAB Radio Board and Larry serving as Director and Chairman of the NAB’s Leadership Foundation. Larry also served as President of the National Association of Media Brokers. Both are very active with a number of orphanages, schools and medical charities in the United States and in several African countries.

What is the one thing that is most vital to the future success of the radio broadcasting industry, as Larry and Susan Patrick see it?

“We believe it is local innovation,” they respond. “Whether that means podcasts by your staff, aggressively providing digital marketing solutions for your clients or finding new ways to become the entertainment and information center for your market, all are important. It takes trying new things, keeping what works and constantly trying to reinvent your stations. Your stations are so much more than radio. But they still need that local focus and connection.”

ROGER RAFSON President, CMS Station Brokerage

“What a thrill to be honored by people in our industry!”

Pittsburgh-based Roger Rafson was delighted to learn of his honor from the readers of RBR+TVBR.

Not bad for an industry veteran who began his career in radio when he was 11 years old, as a studio engineer for high school football games on WEEF-AM & FM in Highland Park, Ill. When his voice changed, they let him go on the air as a disc jockey.

Rafson first got involved in advertising sales in 1975, selling for Classical WEFM-FM in Chicago. After graduation from the University of Illinois in 1980, Rafson sold television advertising in his native Chicago for TeleRep, a national rep firm. Before establishing Commercial Media Sales (CMS), he worked in advertising sales for KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh.

That was a long time ago. Since 2013, CMS has expanded beyond ad services by offering radio station brokerage services. Then, in 2013, Gen Media Partners bought Rafson’s

Commercial Media Sales unit and brought him on board as SVP of Political/Issue Advocacy, helping foster political advertising growth. Today, CMS Station Brokerage continues working with broadcasters in small and medium-sized markets across the U.S.

When he’s not at GMP or brokering a deal, Rafson can be found as the PA announcer for Carnegie Mellon University football, men’s and women’s basketball and track and field.

“Broadcasters need to stay focused on their top-line revenue,” Rafson says in response to our question about what will make radio thrive in the years ahead. “Broadcasting is a business. Every station needs to nurture a professionally managed sales team.”

GEORGE REED Director, Media Services Group

“Radio is in trouble,” warns George Reed, who co-founded Media Services Group in 1989 and has had an active role in radio broadcasting since 1972. “Google, Facebook and the rest are devouring local radio budgets.”

That is why he believes the one thing that is most vital to the future success of the radio broadcasting industry is deregulation.

“Our local competitors, TV and newspaper, have already been deregulated by the FCC,” he says. “Yet radio ownership rules are the same today as in 1996, when neither Google, Facebook or the iPhone had been invented. The world has changed. We now face competition from Spotify, Pandora and SiriusXM Satellite Radio.

“There is hope. The FCC recognized the problem and is considering action (thank you, Chairman Pai). I believe that our long-term survival hangs on their decision. I encourage all broadcasters to let your voices be heard.”

Strong words from an individual who entered the brokerage business in 1987, with Chapman Associates. Reed has completed over $1 billion in transactions and served as Managing Director of MSG from 2004 through 2017.

Reed’s practice includes radio and TV station and tower brokerage, valuations, investment banking, and workout restructuring consulting. He also owns and operates six radio stations in Charlottesville, Va., and five in Blacksburg, Va., through his Monticello Media, as well as cell tower company USAntenna, with towers in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.