Townsquare Puts ‘Reset Year’ In Rearview As Digital Leads 51%
"Townsquare is no longer the radio broadcast company it was when it was founded in 2010." That reminder from Townsquare Media CEO Bill Wilson was brought even closer to home by the Purchase, NY-based company's revelation that for the second year in a row, more than half of its revenue came from digital sources.
Court Converts Stolz Bankruptcy To Chapter 7 After ‘Egregious Conduct’
As previously reported by RBR+TVBR, Larry Patrick, the pre-petition receiver for the radio stations once licensed to Ed Stolz's Royce International Broadcasting, had urged the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Nevada to convert Stolz's bankruptcy from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7. The Court granted that motion today.
musicFIRST: No Evidence ‘Main Studio’ Savings Increased Localism
It caused a stir when FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel used a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to publicly question the efficacy of the FCC's 2017 Main Studio Elimination Order. Now musicFIRST Coalition and Future of Music Coalition have submitted comments on that NPRM, leaning toward the Main Studio Rule's hopeful reinstatement.
BIA 2024 Ad Forecast Cools, But TV Has Less Reason To Worry
In October of last year, BIA Advisory Services predicted a tidal wave of local ad spending fueled by political revenue. Now, two months into 2024, BIA has tempered its US Local Advertising Forecast for the year, and while it's not necessarily good news overall, it does bode best for television in terms of most impressive growth.
Local Radio Freedom Act Gains Majority Support In US House
As Congress pushes toward the finish line on the AM For Every Vehicle Act, legislators are showing increased support for radio's financial protection as well. The Local Radio Freedom Act has seen a boost in significant bipartisan support within the US House of Representatives, growing to 225 cosponsors.
U.S. Media Facing A ‘Content Spend Slowdown’
According to MoffettNathanson analyst Rob Fishman, 2022 marked a high for content spend for the biggest OTT players. For 2024, far less spending is expected. In fact, ABC Owned Stations parent The Walt Disney Co. is expected to spend 30% less this year than it did two years ago.
A ‘Variable Dividend’ For Saga As Q4 Earnings Arrive
In the energy sector, companies such as Devon have turned to variable dividend payments in response to quarterly cash-generation fluctuations. Now, radio industry pure-play operator Saga Communications has followed a similar path, as its Board of Directors OK'd a healthy shareholder bonus.
Comscore Shares Dip After Shaky Q4 Report
As Comscore CEO Jon Carpenter sees it, 2023 had both highs and lows for the business. Unfortunately, the audience measurement company's fourth quarter brought a big earnings surprise that led shareholders to sell their stock on Thursday. Revenue missed the Zacks estimate by 2.46%.
Xperi Corp. Shares Get A Big Confidence Boost
Xperi Corp. lowered its Q4 net loss significantly, with revenue up. With three new DTS AutoStage contracts on the way and a goal to deliver more than 10 additional TiVo broadband wins, one influential Wall Street investment influencer took notice. As such, it boosted its rating on XPER.
Broadcasters Gather In D.C. For Advocacy Opportunities
The NAB's annual State Leadership Conference (SLC) saw WJLA-7 in Washington, D.C. reporter and journalist Michelle Marsh emcee the event, which featured remarks from policymakers, panel discussions and briefings ahead of meetings with legislators on Wednesday.
Political, Olympics Cash To Fuel 2024 Media Spend Rise
Global advertising and marketing growth slowed to 4% in 2023, as brands trimmed their budgets on both inflation and recession fears. Now, media spend is forecast to rise at double that pace, thanks to record political and Olympics dollars, new data from PQ Media show.
Pro-vMVPD Group Calls Out NAB For Pushing Expanded Retrans
The Preserve Viewer Choice Coalition, which counts among its members vMVPDs Hulu and YouTubeTV, is calling out the voice of broadcast media in Washington — the NAB — for its efforts to help get carriage fees from these digitally distributed platforms.
No Retrans Impasses For Gray With Agreement Renewals Lock
Gray Television is spreading the word that it has surpassed "a major retrans renewal milestone." How so? It reached new carriage agreements without any disruption to viewers.
TVB: TV The Top Influencer Across The Purchase Funnel
Television is the most important influencer at all stages of the purchase funnel, and holds true across all key age groups and ethnicities. That's a key conclusion from the TVB's just-released 2024 Purchase Funnel Study, conducted by GfK for the association.
Strong Q4 Report Can’t Prevent FUBO Stock Slip
Fubo has released Q4 2023 results that beat analysts' estimates and show healthy subscriber growth. Yet, it appears the specter of the FOX/Disney/WBD platform-to-be is still making investors skittish. At Friday's Closing Bell, FUBO was down to $1.90 per share — a big change from fall 2021.