Monthly Archives: September 2012

Entercom

Posted on by 
by Alina Rayas

Photo Courtesy of logos.wika.com [1]

About Entercom :

Entercom is one of the five largest radio broadcasting companies in the United States, with 100 stations in 23 markets, including  Seattle, Boston,San Francisco,Portland,Kansas City, Denver,and Sacramento.[2]

Map of All Entercom’s Radio Stations
Photo Courtesy of Entercom [3]

(click here for a list of all Entercom radio stations)[4}

Brief History:

Joseph Field
Founder of Entercom
Photo Courtesy of The Now Explosion[5]

In 1968, Entercom previously known as  Entertainment Communications Inc was founded by lawyer Joseph Field.  He quit law and purchased three radio stations . He believed that FM radio had the potential to grow and would surpass the popularity of AM radio. It was through his vision the company grew and in 1973 bought a radio station in Seattle, the first in the top 50 market. In 1980 Field expanded and began redesigning content and formats on its stations to attract larger audiences.[6]
In the early 1990’s,  Entercom expanded due to less regulations, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and a trade deal with Viacom. Entercom became the eighth largest radio broadcast company and the largest in the northwest with eight stations in Seattle and three in Portland.[6]
 In 1998 and 1999 Entercom purchased radio stations in Boston, Sacramento ,Kansas City, and Portland. In 1999 Entercom acquired  the Sinclair Broadcasting Group for $824.5 million with  46 radio stations in nine markets. Entercom now owned 88 radio stations in 17 markets becoming the fifth largest radio broadcasting company in the US. By 2001 Entercom had acquired 101 stations in 19 markets and brought in $333 million in revenues. Their major markets are Boston, Portland, Denver, Sacramento, and Seattle.[6]

Executive Officers:

Entercom Executives
                                               Click on Photo to learn more
                                                Photo Courtesy of Entercom[7]

 Financials:

On Oct 26, 2012 Entercom released its financial results for the third quarter. The company has increased their net revenues for the quarter by 2% or 102.3 million. The company’s EBITDA   grew   26% to $33.5 million. However the net income  per share decreased 7%  to $0.27. Entercom also managed to decrease station expenses drastically  9% or 63.6 million. Although the company’s results show increasing growth, President and CEO, David Field has his mind set on the next quarter. “Fourth quarter pacings look solid and we expect another quarter of solid growth in EBITDA.”[8]

Photo Courtesy of Google Finance [9]

Photo Courtesy of Google Finance[9]

(click here to read full financial data report)[10]

 

Recent News:

December 2012

 

Entercom’s New Website Layout
Photo Courtesy of Entercom[11]

12/4/12 – Introducing Entercom’s website makeover, the new website has many new features but its most notable is the incorporation of social media. The homepage has a live Twitter feed directly from all Entercom’s stations. The new layout also makes it easier for visitors to follow the company making Entercom more interactive and user-friendly. Browse through alphabetical links to the stations, buttons to stations apps, and social media buttons.[12]

WAAF’s Rise Up Against Hunger
Click Photo to Donate
Photo Courtesy of radioinfo.com[13]

12/4/12 – On December 4- 6th  97.7/107.3 WAAF, radio stations owned by Entercom hosted an event named “WAAF’s Rise Up Against Hunger” the purpose of the event was  to help raise money for multiple food banks in the Boston, Worcester, and New Hampshire areas. The event featured two radio personalities LB and Spanz who lived on an elevated boom crane for three days. In the past the station has hosted a series of outrageous stunts to encourage listeners to donate to local food banks.[14]

 

November 2012

 

Volunteers and Ronald Mcdonald work at 5th Annual “Light the House Radiothon” [15]
Photo Courtesy of KOSI-FM

11/7/12 – Denver radio station  KOSI-FM, one of Entercom radio stations, encouraged its listeners to participate in the 5th Annual “Light the House Radiothon”. The fundraising event took place November 13 between 6 am and 6 pm. The donations from the radiothon went to patients at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children and family members who stay at The Ronald McDonald House. KOSI listeners had the opportunity to call the station to make donations and pledges while be attended by celebrity guests. Many local businesses also participated by writing checks to the hospital and charity.[16]

11/2/12– David Field, President and CEO of Entercom spoke on November 9, 2012 at the Wells Fargo Technology, Media and Telecom Conference along with Entercom’s Executive VP of Operations and CFO, Steve Fisher.  The event was audio streamed on the Entercom website and a podcast version was available for ten days after the conference.[17]

(click here to watch a previous speech by CEO David Field)[18]

         Jack Donlevie
General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Entercom
Photo Courtesy of Radioink.com[19]

11/1/12 – Jack Donlevie will retire from Entercom in 2015. Donlevie the General Counsel and Executive Vice President will begin scaling back starting in January of 2013 by relinquishing his role as General Counsel. Entercom CEO David Field credits Donlevie with the company’s success and commends him for his dedication and commitment for his 28 years of service to Entercom. Entercom’s Vice President and Corporate Counsel, Andrew Sutor, will succeed Donlevie as General Counsel in January 2013.[20]

 

October 2012

 

10/19/12 – KEZW Studio 1430 AM in Denver, Co is the largest radio station in the US to be powered with solar energy. Entercom Denver and Studio 1430 AM have made history by installing 40 solar panels shifting toward energy efficiency by using the power of renewable energy.  This latest project supports Entercoms’s environmental 1Thing initiative for improving our world. This move has already dropped the station’s monthly energy costs by 80%.[21}

Studio 1430 Solar Panels [21]
Photo Courtesy of Entecom

10/2/12 – Over 30 Entercom employees from the corporate headquarters located in Philadelphia’s Bala Cynwyd, dedicated their time to reducing the companies carbon footprint. Employees planted 236 trees at Lower Merion Township’s Rolling Hill Park in Gladwyne in order to neutralize its carbon footprint emitted throughout the year. This environmental conscious company received input about what trees would suit the area and planting the trees in areas with gap or mature trees to benefit the park.[22]

 

September 2012

 

9/21/2012 – The National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Radio Awards held in Dallas awarded WEEI Sports Radio with the honor of Sports Station of the Year. This prestigious award recognized WEEI radio for its extraordinary on-air personalities and dedication to excellence. Entercom’s Jason Wolfe, vice president of programming and operations of Entercom Boston was elated to share the honor with WEEI Sports Radio.[23]

Taylor Swift Album Red [24]
Photo Courtesy of Big Machine Label Group

9/20/2012 – Big Machine Label Group has joined Entercom’s broadcast team in a bold move. Big Machine artists will now be able to partake in revenues associated with Entercom’s vast market. Entercom is hoping to build a new business model with the label industry and its band of artists. Big Machine will begin grow its digital business and its community of artists will benefit from Entecom’s terrestrial royalties. Top artists include Taylor Swift and Tim McGraw.[25]

 

ESPN Radio logo [26]
Photo Courtesy of logos.wikia.com

9/18/2012 – Entercom, ESPN radio, and Boston’s WEII 850 AM have teamed up together to provide top national sports talk and some of the finest play by play available. Highlights will include NBA, Major League Baseball, and college football and basketball’s latest.  Dubbed “ESPN on WEII” listeners can access live audio stream through ESPNBoston.com and get the latest ESPN video content.[27]

9/12/2012 – Entercom has chosen WO Traffic, a part of WideOrbit Inc. to run all of its radio stations. This market includes over 100 of its stations throughout the US that covers 23 markets. WO Traffic will customize its product to serve Entercom with more effective and efficient tools.[28]

August 2012

 

     Ric Bucher [29]
Co-host of The Drive
Photo Courtesy of All Access

8/29/2012 – San Francisco  radio station, KGMZ-FM,  owned by Entercom , signed ESPN analyst Ric Bucher (@RicBucher) to co-host the afternoon weekday show The Drive  from 3-7pm. He will work alongside current host Brandon Tierney.(@BrandonTierney) Bucher’s enthusiasm is evident when he stated that signing on will “ feel like I am coming home.” He has signed on to a deal that will include multiple years at the station.[30]

 

 

Click to Listen Live [31]
Photo Courtesy of WRUF-FM

8/28/2012 – Entercom announced a seven year partnership with the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications radio stations WRUF-AM and WRUF-FM.  The partnership between Entercom and the UF’s  College of Journalism and Communications creates a great opportunity for Entercom to increase its sale profile market while providing UF’s Journalism students with experience in multiple daily activities involved in Entercom’s local radio station.[32]

Sources:

[1] Entercom logo http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/Entercom_Communications

[2][7] Entercom About Us Page and Executive Profile Image  http://www.entercom.com/about-us

[3] Entercom Radio Station Map Image http://www.entercom.com/contact

[4] Entercom Radio Station List http://www.entercom.com/radio-stations

[5] Image of Joseph Field http://thenowexplosion.com/

[6] History of Entercom http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/entercom-communications-corporation-history/

[8] Entercom Financials  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/entercom-communications-corp-reports-third-115500443.html

[9] Google Finance Graphs http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AETM&fstype=ii&ei=Y6PBUMCvBYPL0QGqxgE

[10] Financial Data Report PDF http://www.entercom.com/docs/ETM_financial_data_tables_Q3_12.pdf

[11]  Image of New Entercom Wesite http://www.entercom.com/

[12]  New Website Layout for Entercom http://www.radioink.com/article.asp?id=2585453

[13] Rise Up Againist Hunger Image http://www.radioinfo.com/

[14] Rise Up Against Hunger Article http://rbr.com/waaf-rises-up-against-hunger/

[15] Light the House Radiothon Image http://www.kosi101.com/pages/14788073.php

[16] Light the House Radiothon Article http://www.radioink.com/article.asp?id=2568797

[17] David Field to Talk at Wells Fargo Conference http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/11/02/entercom-to-present-at-november-7-wells-fargo-tech/

[18] David Field Previous Speech link http://vimeo.com/7724884

[19] Image of Jack Donlevie http://www.radioink.com/article.asp?id=2565542&spid=24698

[20] Jack Donlevie Will Retire In 2015 Article http://finance.yahoo.com/news/entercom-announces-general-counsel-executive-210000872.html

[21]  KEZW Studio 1430 AM Solar Panel  Project Article and Image http://www.entercom.com/kezw-studio-1430am-unveils-historic-project-that-turns-sunbeams-into-airwaves

[22] Entercom goes Carbon Neutral Article  http://mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2012/10/02/main_line_times/life/doc506b4c7dbec2d554528024.txt

[23] WEEI Wins Marconi Award Article http://www.weei.com/extras/press-release/weei-wins-prestigious-marconi-award-sports-station-year

[24] Image of Taylor Swift Album Red http://www.bigmachinelabelgroup.com/artist/Taylor_Swift

[25] Big Machine Label Group Signs Deal With Entercom Article http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/big-machine-label-group-signs-terrestrial-1007954192.story

[26] ESPN Radio logo http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/ESPN_Radio 

[27] Entercom and ESPN Radio Article  http://www.weei.com/extras/press-release/entercom-and-espn-radio-join-forces-launch-espn-weei-850-am

[28] WideOrbit Inc And Entercom Article http://www.wideorbit.com/company/news/74-news/press-a-news/767-wideorbit-traffic-and-crm-selected-by-entercom-to-manage-more-than-100-radio-stations-across-23-us-markets-

[29] Image of Ric Bucher http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/109729/ric-bucher-named-afternoon-co-host-at-95-7-the-gam

[30] Ric Bucher Signs with 95.7 THE GAME Article http://www.957thegame.com/95-7-The-Game-Signs-ESPN%C3%A2–s-Ric-Bucher/14110314

[31] Image of WRUF-FM http://www.country1037thegator.com/

[32] Entercom Partners with University of Florida http://www.jou.ufl.edu/news/2012/08/28/uf-and-entercom-communications-announce-new-economic-and-educational-partnership/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cumulus Media Networks

Posted on by 
by Lauren Rush

Courtesy of All Access Music Group [1]

Executives

Photo courtesy of Cumulus Media Network [2]

Lewis W. Dickey, Jr. – Chairman, President and CEO of Cumulus Media. He co-founded the company in 1997 and became its CEO in June of 2000.

 

 

Photo courtesy of Cumulus Media Network [3]

Jonathan G. Pinch- Executive Vice-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer. He joined Cumulus in December 2000 and prior to this was the President of Clear Channel International Radio.

 

Photo courtesy of Cumulus Media Network [4]

John W. Dickey- Executive Vice-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer. He joined Cumulus in 1998.

 

 

Photo courtesy of Cumulus Media Network [5]

Joseph P. Hannan- Senior Vice-President, Treasurer and CFO. He joined Cumulus in April 2008.

 

 

 

Corporate offices: 

3280 Peachtree Toad, NW Suite 2300

Atlanta, Georgia 30305

Ph. (404) 949-0700

Overview/History

Cumulus Media Network is a company that runs approximately 525 stations within 110 cities in the US1. They also have more than 4,500 affiliate radio stations; through these means they reach around 140 listeners above the age of 12 every week2.  The company was founded in 1998 and works as developers of original content and as syndicators. As of 2011 Cumulus acquired Citadel Broadcasting Corporation, making Cumulus the largest pure-play radio company and the second largest operator of radio stations in the US 1, 4.  The most famous programs and affiliates that Cumulus airs include: The Mike Huckabee show, A Better Life With Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Perez Nights Live, ABC News Radio, CBS Sports Radio, along with many others3. Furthermore, they now have many Spanish language programs broadcasting across the country.  In addition, Cumulus operates national scale digital and mobile platforms with websites that deliver over 70 million page views per month as well as the third largest radio-streaming network, Cumulus Streaming

Courtesy of Billboard [6]

Network, in the US according to Triton Digital10. Also in 2011,  Cumulus partnered with other top radio company, Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, to allow Cumulus network programs to be streamed on Clear Channels iHeartRadio app and website and for Clear Channel to give ad space to SweetJack, Cumulus’s daily deals program5.  Cumulus prides itself on its local and national advertising space stating, “high-impact local marketing solutions…help our customers build strong brands and tap into over $4 trillion of local spending power”1.

Finances

Cumulus as of Thursday December 6th was selling on the New York Stock Exchange for $2.25 a share6. However, like many companies in the current economy has been on a steady decline since its being priced around $22 a share in 200420 On November 5th Lew Dickey, CEO, announced the third quarter results, which showed an increase in net revenue, up 120.7%, or $1.50.6 million from $124.8 million to $275.4 million7. However, earnings declined 5.9% from $59.5 million in 2011 to $56 million this quarter. Dickey pointed out that this quarter was the first anniversary of the Cumulus/Citadel merger and that integration was mostly complete. Plus he also made reference to the fact they the company is hopeful in its “turnaround” of 10 under performing stations that equate to 100% of revenue loss that they believe will be restored to growth in revenue in 20138.

Chart courtesy of Bloomberg [7]

Recent News

Courtesy of Top News UK [8]

In accordance with its new acquisition of Citadel Broadcasting Corporation, Cumulus’s stock price rose to $2.98 in September. This was the highest the stock has been since October 2009. CRT capital Group LCC commented, “the company’s cost-savings forecast with the acquisition may be ‘understated’”9.

Another development that happened in September was Marketron’s interface connection between its Network Connect service and Cumulus Media Networks’ traffic system10. This service automates and facilitates network orders and scheduling at an advanced technological level. Therefore allowing “valuable and efficient workflow” for affiliates and advertisers that work with Cumulus10.

Courtesy of The Conservative Beacon [9]

On October 17th, Cumulus announced that it would be adding a new talk show, “Michael Savage’s The Savage Nation”, to air on stations across the country.  Michael Savage is an author of 28 books and is ranked as the third most listened to radio talk show over broadcast and is ranked first via online streaming. Savage is a graduate from UC Berkeley. His show consists of politics, American conservative culture and values, and the ways in which these things are changing within the country. Cumulus hopes this acquisition will bring many new listeners and lead them toward their goal of having “radio’s most compelling mix of show hosts”11.

The Savage Nation Full Show from November 26 [10]

Along with progressive talk shows and hosts, Cumulus is trying to compete in the sports format by dropping ESPN radio from 47 stations

Courtesy of CBS Radio [11]

and exclusively syndicating CBS Sports Radio12 . Beginning on January 2nd. CBS Sports Radio will air on approximately 100 stations, including the major markets of New York, Boston, and Dallas. These programs are estimated to reach 10 million households12 . However, it is not clear how much of a success CBS Sports Radio will be because ESPN radio still has more station affiliates and total listeners. Plus NBC also launched a sports radio network this fall with NFL rights12. However, Cumulus has signed a 12-year contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers football team. This allows the games to continue to be broadcast through 2023 on three Cumulus stations in the Bay Area10.

Damon Amendolara
Courtesy of The DA Show [12]

Two new changes that will be launching on CBS Sports Radio are “The D.A. Show” and three new hosts for the morning drive13, 14. “The D.A. Show” was announced on November 16th and will debut Wednesday January 2, 2013. It will be available in 12 major markets across the country, including Boston, Detroit, Dallas, Houston, Washington D.C., and more. The host will be Damon Amendolara who was a previous host on CBS Radio Boston’s WBZ-FM and has had many other positions within the Boston, Miami, and Kansas City areas. He is a graduate from Syracuse University13. The new hosts of the morning drive were

Tiki Barber
Courtesy of USA Today [13]

announced on November 26thand they will include Tiki Barber, Brandon Tierney and Dana Jacobson. Barber was a professional football player with the New York Giants, while Tierney and Jacobson both already have prolific careers as broadcasters and reporters14.

Along with the third quarter reports Lew Dickey announced that Cumulus received $4.3 million from political ad revenue23. However, Dickey was disappointed with this outcome since they had received $5 million from the same quarter in 2010. One explanation given for this downturn was the amount of experimentation with social media that occurred during this election, which was greater than ever before. Although Cumulus, and radio in general, did not profit too heavily from this seasons elections, Dickey told the Wall Street Journal that he believes “radio can do a better job of selling itself” in the future and “perhaps we can change [sales] in the next cycle23.

Cumulus announced on November 26th that JT Batson would be appointed as the company’s first Chief Revenue Officer. He would direct sales strategy and operations for their broadcast, commerce, events, publishing, and digital platforms. Batson’s previous positions include: Chief Strategy Officer at Mediaocean, an advertising systems provider,

JT Batson
Courtesy of Radio Ink [14]

and facilitation of the merger between Donovan Data Systems and Mediabank. He also worked on marketing for Mozilla Firefox. Batson is a graduate from Stanford University15. Prior to this major announcement, on November 13th, Cumulus also announced promotions of Bob Raleigh and Davey Morris to Corporate Program Directors14.

Along with these corporate announcements Cumulus made some regional changes as well this fall. In September, they launched a new Adult Hits station in Atlanta16 as well as flipping a Modern Rock station to Active Rock format, also in Atlanta 17.  In October, Cumulus published that it is purchasing WFME-FM in the New York metro area but has not released format plans18. Plus, Ann McManus was named the Regional Vice President of Northeast Cumulus markets on October 18th. Markets included are: Bridgeport, New London, Westchester and Poughkeepsie. Some disappointing news came to Cumulus on November 9th when Steve Borneman, their New York Market Manager moved to Clear Channel Media and Entertainment19, the only company more prolific in radio than Cumulus and their fiercest competitor. Lastly Scott Jameson replaced Dave Hamilton on December 3rd as the OM of Cumulus Media’s Minneapolis three-station market21.

Most recently many of Cumulus’ AC stations across the country have switched to all Christmas music formats for the holiday season. They will remain on this format 24/7 through December 25th 10.

The Future

Looking towards the future Cumulus is very happy with its new acquisition of Citadel and believes that it will remain a huge player in the radio industry for years to come because of this deal. Dickey, comments that Cumulus is one of really only three major radio corporations in the business and they are looking to expand on numerous platforms in the months to come. Regarding their partnership with Clear Channel, Cumulus is excited about the outcome of more EasyJack airtime and increased efforts towards improving ways of bringing better advertising to consumers and advertisers22. Cumulus’ CEO also does not believe that the radio business will suffer substantial losses in the future because  93% of the population is continuing to listen to radio 2, 22.

Any Future for Radio? [14]

 

References

1 http://www.cumulus.com/local-radio-2/- Company overview (local).

2 http://www.cumulus.com/cumulus-media-network/- Company overview.

3 http://www.abcradio.com/Article.asp?id=341544- List of Cumulus programs.

4http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/96553/it-s-official-cumulus-announces-completion-of-cita- Acquisition of Citadel Broadcasting Corp.

5http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/business/media/clear-channel-and-cumulus-form-daily-deal-alliance.html

6www.bloomberg.com/quote/CMLS:US/- Stock profile.

7  http://www.cumulus.com/cmls/– Third Quarter Report given by Cumulus Media Network on November 5th.

8 http://www.4-traders.com/CUMULUS-MEDIA-INC-8822/news/Cumulus-Media-Inc-Cumulus-Reports-Third-Quarter-2012-Results-15471263/

9 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-19/american-water-jazz-pharmaceuticals-western-gas-u-s-equity-preview.html – Rise in stock price in September.

10http://news.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/radio_news_search – Cumulus joins Marketron’s Network Connect, Cumulus Names Two New Corporate PDs, Cumulus signs extension with San Francisco 49ers, Triton Digital findings, Christmas format.

11 http://adsales.cumulusmedianetworks.com/content/press-release-101712 – Press release given by Cumulus Media Network on “The Savage Nation” on October 17th.

12http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/espn_radio_sacked_H7pmVZM058sECDWVcQ6sRM- Cumulus/CBS Sports Radio deal.

13 http://www.cbsradio.com/single-press/1876 -Press release given by CBS Sports Radio on November 16th.

14  http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/79745/cbs-sports-radio-names-morning-show/ – Press release given by CBS Sports Radio on November 26th.

15 http://news.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/radio_news_search – Press release given by Cumulus Media Network on JT Batson on November 26, 2012.

16 http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2526179 – New hit station in Atlanta

17http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2524521 – Flips stations in Atlanta

18  http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2553572 -Purchase in New York market.

http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2555248 – Ann McManus new RVP of Northeast.

19 http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2571039 – Steve Borneman moves to Clear Channel.

20 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumulus_Media

21http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2586001 – Minneapolis market

22http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000045781 play=1#eyJ2aWQiOiIzMDAwMDQ1NzgxIiwiZW5jVmlkIjoiT3pUVGFZd3JNekdyRWRucn pPbGdnZz09IiwidRhYiI6InRyYW5zY3JpcHQiLCJ2UGFnZSI6MSwiZ05hdiI6WyLCoExhdG VzdCBWaWRlbyJdLCJnU2VjdCI6IkFMTCIsImdQYWdlIjoiMSIsInN5bSI6IiIsInNlYXJjaCI6IiJ9

23http://radioworld.com/article/dickey-%E2%80%98radio%E2%80%99s-share-of-political-dropped%E2%80%99/216214 – Political ad revenue.

Image and Video References

 [1] http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/111718/more-cumulus-media-networks-affiliates-this-week

[2] http://www.cumulus.com/leadership/lewis-w-dickey-jr-2/

[3] http://www.cumulus.com/leadership/jonathan-g-pinch/

[4] http://www.cumulus.com/leadership/john-w-dickey/

[5] http://www.cumulus.com/leadership/joseph-p-hannan/

[6]http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/clear-channel-cumulus-announce-streaming-1005616182.story

[7] http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/CMLS:US/chart/

[8] http://topnews.co.uk/21458-citadel-broadcasting-corp-files-bankruptcy-protection

[9]http://theconservativebeacon.com/the-conservative-beacon-on-the-savage-nation

[10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN4ctWMq9Ks

[11] http://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-radio/releases/view?id=32726

[12] http://thedashow.com/about/

[13]http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2010/04/tiki-barber-takes-the-heat-off-jesse-james-tiger-woods/1#.UMIlEERCWfs

[14] http://www.radioink.com/article.asp?id=2581128&spid=24698

[15] http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000045781&play=1#eyJ2aWQiOiIzMDAwMDQ1NzgxIiwiZW5jVmlkIjoiT3pUVGFZd3JNekdy RWRucnpPbGdnZz09IiwidlRhYiI6InRyYW5zY3JpcHQiLCJ2UGFnZSI6MSwiZ05hdiI6WyLCoExhdGVzdCBWaWRlbyJdL CJnU2VjdCI6IkFMTCIsImdQYWdlIjoiMSIsInN5bSI6IiIsInNlYXJjaCI6IiJ9

Clear Channel Communications

Posted on by 
by [Gabriel Sansone]

Clear Channel Communications Logo [1]

Who is Clear Channel?

Clear Channel Communications is a global entertainment and media company from San Antonio, Texas, that specializes in digital and radio platforms, as well as outdoor advertising. Clear Channel’s radio division, Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, reaches 239 million monthly listeners in the United States, giving it the largest reach of any television or radio outlet in the country.[2] Clear Channel Media and Entertainment has holdings in 150 cities and owns 850 radio stations,[3] which can be heard via AM/FM transmission, Sirius/XM satellite radio, HD digital radio, the Internet, mobile applications on smartphones and iPads, and navigation systems from Garmin and TomTom. Other properties of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment include Premiere Radio Networks, the number one radio network in the country with 90 radio programs in syndication, and Katz Media Group, the leading media representation company in the U.S., with over 500 television and 4,000 radio stations.[2] Clear Channel Media and Entertainment also owns iHeartRadio, a free digital radio service that allows users to listen to more than 1,500 Live Stations.[2] Clear Channel Media and Entertainment is run by Chairman and CEO John Hogan, who graduated from Lake Forest College in 1979.[4]

Clear Channel’s History

Clear Channel Communications was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs as the San Antonio Broadcasting Company, and by 1984 Clear Channel had six AM and six FM stations in seven different markets. Clear Channel first entered the television business in 1988, and by 1995 was in control of 43 radio stations and 16 television stations in 32 different markets. With the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the company acquired 49 new radio stations that covered 20 markets. In 1997, Clear Channel acquired Eller Media Company, helping it to become a leader in outdoor advertising. By 1999, Clear Channel was ranked by The Wall Street Journal as the fifth best-performing stock of the 1990s, and today, under the leadership of CEO Bob Pittman, Clear Channel continues to be one of the leaders in both the entertainment and advertising industries.[5]

What’s Clear Channel Doing Today? 

September

On September 27th, Clear Channel announced that it had struck a deal with Glassnote Entertainment Group to pay sound recording performance royalties to artists signed to the Glassnote record label, whether their songs are played via digital media or over the air.[6] The revolutionary deal, similar to one Clear Channel

Glassnote Entertainment Group Logo [8]

forged with the Big Machine Label Group in June, allows the label to receive a (undisclosed) percentage of Clear Channel’s digital and terrestrial advertising revenue, as opposed to just receiving revenue on a per-play basis.[7] Clear Channel CEO Bob Pittman released a statement to the press, saying that the deal not only allows for Glassnote Entertainment Group artists to participate in Clear Channel’s radio revenues, but “it also creates a vibrant new digital radio business model that we believe will provide more money for the artists and the labels and more digital choices for the consumer.”[7] Popular Glassnote artists that will benefit from this deal include Mumford and Sons, Childish Gambino, and Phoenix.

October

On October 25th, Clear Channel announced that the company successfully completed a private debt exchange of $1,999, 815,000 for new notes that are worth the same principal amount but due in 2019.[9] As Clear Channel is currently in almost $20 billion in debt,[10] this debt exchange is a step in the right direction for providing the company with “greater flexibility to manage our debt maturities in the future,” says company Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Tom Casey.[9] The offering was reportedly highly oversubscribed, which shows that debtholders are prepared to allow Clear Channel more years to repay some of its  debt.[11]

Throughout the week of October 27th, Clear Channel dismissed dozens of local radio D.J.’s across the country in an effort to revamp their 600 U.S. regional stations. In a company statement, spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg said the firings came about because Clear Channel rethought their regional market strategy and “reinvented our operations in those markets in a way that will let us…succeed using all of Clear Channel’s resources, scale and talent.” However, the layoffs proved controversial, as many media reform groups believe that Clear Channel is sacrificing radio’s integrity by replacing locally produced programs with less costly shows that are syndicated nationally.[10]

On October 29th, Clear Channel announced that it had stuck a deal with another record label, Naxos. Naxos is America’s largest digital distributor of independent

Naxos Logo [14]

classical music, with over 30,000 albums from various classical labels, including 6,500 on its own labels.[12] The deal is different from Clear Channel’s previous deals with Big Machine and Glassnote, as it only permits Clear Channel to pay Naxos for digital, not terrestrial, radio play.[13] The agreement is representative of Clear Channel’s current desire to continue to help radio permeate the digital world, and as part of the deal Naxos will assist with iHeartRadio’s digital classical station, “Classica.”[12]

November

On November 2nd, Clear Channel released their quarterly earnings report for the third quarter of 2012, which ended on September 30th of 2012. Clear Channel Media and Entertainment revenues experienced a 1%, $7 million dollar increase in comparison to the third quarter of 2011. This increase is due in large part to a 3% growth in radio revenues, which occurred as a result of increased national advertising, the growing popularity of digital radio service iHeartRadio, and the iHeartRadio Music Festival.[15]

On November 20th, Clear Channel announced that its popular digital radio service, iHeartRadio, has been downloaded more than 135 million times and has over 20

iHeartRadio Logo [17]

million registered users. These numbers are particularly impressive, considering that iHeartRadio was launched a mere 13 months ago. In a company statement, Clear Channel Media and Entertainment Chairman/CEO John Hogan said “iHeartRadio has reinvented the digital radio experience and is a key element of how Clear Channel continues to reshape the media and entertainment industry.”[16]

 

On November 29th, it was announced that innovative social commerce web site Lockerz made an agreement with iHeartRadio. Lockerz is a website on which users can discover the latest fashion trends and top brands, receive points (called PTZ) for sharing images and videos from the web, and use their PTZ for big discounts on fashion and electronic products.[18] Now, iHeartRadio’s 1,500 live and user-created custom stations are available on Lockerz, and members can earn PTZ for sharing and adding their favorite music and radio stations. Clear Channel hopes the agreement will help iHeartRadio to continue to grow in popularity. “Lockerz has built an incredibly passionate and social user base and is a great distribution platform for us,” said Brian Lakamp, President of Digital for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment.[19]

What’s Next for Clear Channel? 

Clear Channel is helping produce the 12-12-12 concert, a show that will take place in New York City on December 12, 2012, with all proceeds from ticket purchases going to the Robin Hood

Poster for the 12-12-12 concert, featuring some of the notable artists who will be playing at the show [20]

Relief Fund to assist the victims of Hurricane Sandy. The concert has already secured distribution to over one billion people via various mediums to maximize awareness and relief efforts, and in a joint statement, event producers James Dolan (Chairman of The Madison Square Garden Company), John Sykes (President of Clear Channel Entertainment Enterprises) and Harvey Weinstein (Co-Founder and Chairman of The Weinstein Company) said the concert and its media distributors “will enable us to create a tremendous and unprecedented fundraising effort on a global scale to benefit the victims of this devastating storm.”[21]

Tickets to the show are currently available on Ticketmaster

Because of its current debt situation, Clear Channel could be experiencing some financial turmoil in the future.  According to a Moody’s report released during the week of December 5th, while Clear Channel should be able to manage the amount of debt they have due through 2015, they could very well be unprepared to deal with the $10 billion of debt that will be due in 2016. Moody’s senior analyst Scott Van den Bosch writes that “the company’s ability to avoid restructuring will be challenging as debt levels will exceed our expected asset value. The possibility of a restructuring or a distressed exchange remains high…in our downside scenario the company is likely to face a restructuring of its balance sheet in excess of $16 billion in debt.” It is possible that Clear Channel will be able to avoid the restructuring, but it is going to “depend on the receptivity of the financial markets and moderate underlying interest rates.” So, in the future, Clear Channel will be very sensitive to changes in the economy.[22]

Contact Clear Channel

Wish to contact Clear Channel Communications?

Web: http://www.clearchannel.com

Mail: 200 E. Basse Rd. San Antonio, TX, 78209.

Phone: (210) – 822 – 2828

Sources

1.http://www.mxdwn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/clear_channel-logo.gif

2.http://www.clearchannel.com/MediaAndEntertainment/

3.http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=clearchannel

4.http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=3155827&ticker=CCMO

5.http://www.clearchannel.com/Corporate/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=1166&p=hidden

6.http://www.radioinfo.com/tag/glassnote-entertainment-group/

7.http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/clear-channel-glassnote-deal-royalties-radio-374870

8.http://api.ning.com/files/hlQ-vCRmc7HLq7s2h095TW2ASni-7sqYnVv*HTSsNnP*DxoNt4pidwK7SO6S–ofSU6ONB9KxxSHctjKIrDFxMgiYnJq87GE/GlassnoteLogo.jpg

9.http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20121025-913636.html?mod=crnews

10.http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/clear-channel-cuts-d-j-s-across-the-country/

11.http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2012/10/25/clear-channels-well-received-debt-exchange-creates-flexibility/?KEYWORDS=Clear+Channel

12.http://www.radioink.com/article.asp?id=2562695&spid=24698

13.http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/clear-channel-goes-classical-sort-of/

14.http://www.europadisc.co.uk/images/additional/Naxos%20Logo%20Square%20200×200.jpg

15.http://www.ccmediaholdings.com/documents/Quarterly/CC-Media-Holdings-Q3-2012-Earnings-Release.pdf

16.http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2577966

17.http://images.wikia.com/logopedia/images/6/68/Iheart_radio_logo.jpg

18.http://lockerz.com/101

19.http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lockerz-announces-innovative-agreement-with-iheartradio-181421021.html

20.http://www.msgsoundcheck.com/content/dam/msgsoundcheck/featuredArticles/600x400_121212_soundcheck.jpg

21.http://www.clearchannel.com/MediaAndEntertainment/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=3162

22.http://blogs.barrons.com/incomeinvesting/2012/12/05/moodys-10b-of-debt-due-in-2016-could-trip-up-clear-channel/?mod=BOL_hpp_blog_ii 

 

 

CBS Radio/Infinity Broadcasting

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CBS Radio – Courtesy of SportsMediaJournal.com

by Elgin Panetto

The media conglomerate known today as CBS Corporation Inc. was created in 1927, when a talent agent named Arthur Judson started his own radio network in order to showcase his own roster. He named his newly created network United Independent Broadcasters, but after a crippling amount of debt was accrued sold it to a man named William Paley for $400,000. [1] Columbia Broadcasting System, or CBS, has gone on to become one of the largest media companies in the world, with ventures in TV, Film, and Radio. In 2006 Viacom Inc., under the leadership of Sumner Redstone, decided to break up its entities to discontinue the age of media conglomerates and improve stock performance. During the split previously named Infinity Broadcasting, with their 179 stations at the time, was renamed CBS Radio and became a part of CBS Corporation under the leadership of Les Moonves. [2]

Company Overview:

CBS Radio currently holds 127 major market radio stations in 28 major markets throughout the United States of America. CBS Radio station formats run the full gamut including news, sports, talk, rock, country, Top 40, classic hits and urban. [3]

CBS Radio’s radio personalities attract almost 70 million weekly listeners. One of CBS Radio’s greatest strengths is their attention to on-air talent, in an age of radio where more automation usually means more dollars. In a recent interview with CBS Radio CEO Dan Mason, he explains the importance CBS Radio puts on the personalities who speak between playing music. “I don’t think the temptation is there to extract talk to add more commercials, the temptation is there to extract talk and thinking that was the clear pathway to get ratings. I believe that there is a fine line, a balance, that can’t be tilted to one side or another…” The rest of that interview with Mark Ramsey can be seen below:

CBS Radios Dan Mason on Radio’s Brands and its Digital Future from Mark Ramsey on Vimeo.

As stated before, CBS Radio stations can be found in 28 different major markets. In many of those markets CBS Radio finds itself with the #1 total rating. The list below, provided in the CBS Corporation 3rd quarter 2012 Investor Newsletter, shows CBS Radio’s strong performance regarding revenue in some of the largest markets in the country.

CBS Radio Revenue Ranking in Top 10 Markets
New York No. 1
Los Angeles No. 2
Chicago No. 1
San Francisco No. 1
Dallas No. 3
Houston No. 2
Philadelphia No. 1
Atlanta No. 2
Washington, D.C. No. 3
Boston No. 1
[4]

In each of those markets, CBS Radio’s high arching influence over both music and talk format stations can be easily seen. Below are just some of CBS Radio’s most influential channels across the United States.

WCBS-F in NYC
WCBS in NYC
WINS in NYC
KRTH in LA
KROQ-F in LA
KCBS in SF
KYW in Philly

[5]

 Executives

CBS Radio has been led by President and CEO Dan Mason for a total of 12 years. Mason started his position at the helm of CBS Radio in 1995 and continued until 2002. After a brief hiatus he returned as CEO in April of 2007. Mason has championed CBS Radio’s industry leading foray into the digital realm. As a keystone speaker at the 2011 RAIN (Radio and Internet Newsletter) Summit Dan Mason talked heavily about CBS Radio’s entrance into digital media, pointing out CBS Radio’s involvement streaming through Radio.com and Last.FM. He also noted that the profits are not coming yet, but success through digital streaming services will come in the long term. [6] Due to his outstanding leadership of CBS Radio, Dan Mason was awarded the National Radio Award in 2012 by the National Association of Broadcasters. [7]

Dan Mason – Courtesy of CBSRadio.com

Finances

CBS Radio’s performance, as a subsidiary company of CBS Corporation Inc., attributes to the stock performance of CBS Corporation Inc.. At the close of the New York Stock Exchange on December 5, 2012 CBS Corporation Inc. was trading at $35.43 a share. [8]

CBS Radio Stock – Courtesy of marketwatch.com

With $5.33 Billion of reported gross income in 2011, CBS Radio saw an increase of $.82 Billion over their reported gross income the previous year. After a steep drop from 2007 to 2009, CBS Radio has steadily increased gross income to the point of surpassing their 2007 mark. [8]

Recent Events

There have been many news-worthy moves by CBS Radio recently, whether it be format changes, new stations, acquisitions, or partnerships.

WODS 103.3 Format Change

At the end of the summer, WODS-FM in Boston changed formats. The switch moved the station from playing hits from the 60s-80s to yet another contemporary hits radio station, or CHR format. CBS Radio Market Manager in Boston Mark Hannon stated, “When looking at the habits of Boston radio listeners, it is clear the music most favored by the biggest group of people is contemporary hit music.” [9] The most recent ratings made available by stationratings.com have WODS-FM as the 12th most popular radio station in the Boston market. [5]

CBS Radio News receives Murrow Award

This past October the RTDNA (Radio Television Digital News Association) awarded CBS Radio News its fourth consecutive Edward R. Murrow Award. CBS Radio News was given the award due to excellence in broadcast and online journalism. At the awards CBS Radio News correspondent Cami McCormick, who was injured while reporting in Afghanistan, accepted the award for all of CBS Radio news. [10]

Edward R. Murrow Award – Courtesy of HuffingtonPost.com

CBS Radio steps up Hurricane Sandy relief efforts

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and the immense damage done to the east coast, CBS Radio used its vast resources and connections in the Music Industry to organize celebrity endorsements for donations to the American Red Cross. Some of music’s biggest stars such as Usher, Katy Perry, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, and Kenny Chesney recorded messages imploring audiences for donations. Usher’s public service announcement can be heard HERE. [11]

CBS re-ups contract with the Chicago Bears

For 13 years WBBM Newsradio in Chicago has been the exclusive provider of Chicago Bears live play-by-play announcement. The Chicago Bears have granted CBS Radio an extension of the companies exclusive rights to do the football team’s radio broadcast. The Bears have one of the largest fan bases in the entire sport, a size reflected by the astounding five CBS Radio stations that will simulcast each and every Bears game. [12]

Chicago Bears – Courtesy of RadioInk.com

CBS Radio buys 101.9 WRXP in New York

In early November CBS Radio announced the purchase of 101.9FM in New York, NY from Merlin Media for the sum of $75 Million Dollars. CBS Radio purchased the station in order to begin simulcasting WFAN on the higher definition 101.9FM. WFAN became the first ever all-sports talk station in 1987, and has pioneered the now insanely popular and lucrative 24/7 sports radio news cycle. WFAN houses many of sports radio’s biggest stars, including Boomer & Carton, Mike Francesa, and Joe Benigno. It also is the sole broadcaster of the Super Bowl champion New York Giants, New York Mets, Brooklyn Nets, and New Jersey Devils. This move by CBS Radio signals a response to ESPN NY’s recent decision to simulcast on 98.7FM. [13]

WFAN Logo – Courtesy of newyork.cbslocal.com

 CBS Radio announces launch of CBS Sports Radio Network

Perhaps the biggest news in the radio industry in the past few months has been CBS Radio’s announcement of CBS Sports Radio. In their press release the company called the  newly created station, “the largest major market sports radio network in the nation.” The network will launch on January 2, 2013 in at least eight stations full time. At the time of the announcement the station was reported to be carried part time in 14 more stations, and through a distribution deal with Cumulus Media Networks an additional 47 Cumulus stations. [14] Since then it’s been announced that the station will be on around 100 stations, with a reach of about 10 million households. While its estimated that ESPN Radio will continue to dominate with 350 full time stations in 30 million households, Dan Mason stated, “ESPN affiliates are in small markets. Maybe you find that adds up to a lot of audience.” [15]

CBS Sports Radio – Courtesy of CBSPressExpress.com

Footnotes

[1] Museum of Broadcast Communications 

[2] Infinity Broadcasting to Become CBS Radio

[3] http://www.cbsradio.com

[4] CBS 3rd Quarter 2012 Investor Newsletter

[5]http://www.stationratings.com/Default.aspx

[6] Dan Mason at RAIN Summit

[7]Dan Mason to Receive National Radio Award

[8]http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/cbs/financials

[9] WODS Changes Format

[10]CBS Radio Takes Murrow Award

[11]CBS Assembles Big Names for Storm Relief

[12]CBS Extends Contract With the Bears

[13]CBS Purchases WRXP

[14]CBS Launching Sports Radio Network

[15]CBS Sports Radio to Compete with ESPN Radio

Trinity Broadcasting Network

Posted on by 
by Eli Thomas

Courtesy of tbn.org


Courtesy of The Orange County Register

Key People

CEO/ President/Board member/Founder: Paul Crouch (left)

Vice-President/Founder/Director of programming: Jen Crouch (center)

(Pictured: Brittany Koper, right)

 

History:

Trinity Broadcasting Network was started by Paul Crouch, Jan Crouch, Jim Bakker, and Tammy Faye Bakker in 1973 on the rented airtime Santa Ana California UHF TV station. The station almost went bankrupt in the first two days, however the channel slowly began to spread to cable and satellite distribution. Jim Bakker left TBN to start Praise the Lord, which collapsed in 1987 due to a sexual harassment and embezzlement scandal involving Jim Bakker [2]. TBN acquired many TV Networks to create its “family” of eighteen networks that span the globe [3].

About/Assets:

Trinity Broadcasting Network, the world’s largest Christian television network, has five thousand television stations operating on cable and thirty-three satellites. It is a non-profit religious organization that provides twenty-four hour religious programming for Protestant, Catholic, and Messanic Jewish – a combination Evangelical Christian theology and Jewish practice – faiths. It boasts eighteen networks that operate in thirteen different countries and continents including, Europe, the Middle East, Central Africa, Russia, India, Southwest Asia, and Brazil. The Christian programs include Gospel music, Live coverage of major Christian events, talk shows, and services of different churches in America. This also includes children’s programming such as Smile of a Child, offered in various languages across the globe as well. [3]

coutesy of fimbaza.net

TBN has several assets including Trinity Music USA located in Trinity City, Hendersonville, Tenessee. This includes a 2,000 seat Trinity Music City Church. TBN also has virtual reality theaters, two more of which they plan to build in Hawaii and Jerusalem, where they play famous ministry services and movies produced by TBN. TBN has produced twenty movies such as “The Revolutionary” (1995) and “The Revolutionary II” (1996), which are about the life of Jesus Christ, through its production company Gener8xion Entertaintment, which was headed by Matthew Crouch until mid 2010 and is currently under the direction of Jan Crouch. [5] [22]

Revolutionary (1995) produced by Gener8xion Entertainment. Image courtesy of Amazon.com

TBN also has The Holy Land Experience, a family-related park in Orlando, Florida designed for people to experience Jesus Christ’s life. It is ranked 78 out of 156 of the attractions in Orlando by Trip Advisor, on which it has a 3.5 out of 5 rating [6].

TBN has a program for prison inmates called Second Chance in which they show them TBN programming in order  “…to offer America’s inmates a second chance to make good choices by providing positive, life-affirming television programming 24 hours a day.” [8] The program was started in 2007 and its most recent addition was installed in California’s San Quentin State Prison on August 20, 2012. The program is currently installed in prisons in thirty-one different states. The satellite dish, equipment, installation and broadcast is all donated by TBN. The program offers the TBN station as well as The Church Channel, which provides twenty-four hour sermons, as well as JCTV, the network for viewers ages 12-29,  and Enlace, TBN’s Spanish-language religion channel.  [9]

Recent News

November 2012

courtesy of enlace.org

  • Nov. 25; Enlace, TBN’s Spanish-Language religious station, taped its annual Noche De Paz (Night of Glory) Christmas program, a Christmas music event. This will be broadcasted during Christmas week on both DirecTV Latin America, and Enlace in Latin America and the U.S. [12]
  • Nov. 30; Enlace’s Facebook page reached one million likes [13]

October 2012

  • Oct. 10: TBN purchased London Production Facility near Wimbledon. TBN states that it will use this production facility for its London chapter of TBN Europe, and other international TBN networks. Dr. Raafat Girgis stated that the new facility will help TBN reach out to Muslims. [14]
  • Oct. 11: Scott Strapp of Creed will be on the program Praise the Lord on the TBN netowrk, and talk about his book “Sinner’s Creed” and how he changed from a rock star’s lifestyle to being saved by jesus. [15]

September 2012

  • Sept. 28: TBN announced that its program Second Chance, that donates programming to prisons for inmates, will start a pilot program providing TBN’s JCTV (Jesus Christ Television) to one of West Virginia’s twelve juvenile correctional halls. [16]
  • Sept 26: TBN purchased property for a studio in Jerusalem. The studio space will be used for producing programming for and broadcasting TBN shalom, a program started in TBN Russia, that will soon be based in Jerusalem. [17]
  • Sept 24: TBN won a bronze Stevie lifestyle award in the American Business Awards for their mobile app, iTBN, which allows for access to all 18 of their networks as well as on demand programming. The Stevie award is a business award with multiple categories extended to sixty nations that was started in 2002. [18] [19]

Finances:

Courtesy of Ministry Watch.

TBN is a religious non-profit organization that made over $200 million in the year 2010 and

Courtesy of Ministry Watch.

had $92.5 million in donations. It is classified as a 501(3) (c), a religious non-profit, by the IRS. Independent non-profits such as Ministry Watch keep records on TBN’s fiscal year in order to advise possible donors. Ministry Watch has given TBN an “F” in their “donor alert” section of the TBN profile due to a transparency issue from conflict in the Crouch family and information released about the abuse of donor funds and TBN finances in general. [20]

This has erupted from the lawsuit Paul and Jen Crouch’s granddaughter, Brittany Koper, 26, who was in charge of TBN’s finances, has launched on the founders of TBN. Paul and Jen Crouch have responded by suing Brittany Koper for drawing attention away from her and her husband’s own financial “sins”. Mr. and Mrs. Koper borrowed money from TBN for a down payment on a house, bought a condo, and extended a $650,000 loan to her uncle. Although all the loans have clear repayment terms with Paul Crouch Sr.’s signature,

Brittany Koper in front of her grandmother’s home in Newport Beach, CA. Courtesy of The New York Times.

TBN claims that Crouch’s signature was forged. In addition there are reporter letters from fall of 2011, when these loans were made, where Brittany Koper apologizes for lying and loaning herself company money. Mrs. Koper and her husband, Michael Koper, who also worked at TBN managing airtime sales, were fired from TBN after the network accused them of also stealing $1.3 million from the company for purchases of real estate and expensive cars. [21] [22]

Janice Crouch’s home in a gated community in Newport Beach, CA. worth $5.6 million. Courtesy of The New York Times.

Mr. and Mrs. Crouch each have a mansion one block away from each other in Newport Beach, CA, paid for by donations and tax-free revenue from TBN. Ms. Crouch’s mansion is worth $5.6 million. Mrs. Crouch rarely slept in the house, preferring a large company house near TBN’s amusement park, The Holy Land Experience, which Mrs. Crouch runs on the side. There were many empty houses owned by TBN in Texas, private corporate jets worth $8 and $49 million each bought and used for personal use by the founders of TBN, and a mobile home purchased supposedly for the use as an office, worth $100,000 that was actually used by Mrs. Crouch solely for her two Maltese dogs. [21] [22]

Brittany Koper’s Ordination. Many of the TBN employees were ordained as ministers to avoid paying social services and justifying giving family members houses often listed as “parsonages”. Courtesy of the New York Times

A former executive of TBN, Troy Clements, who was sales director and eventually personnel director until he resigned in 2008, reported Mrs. Crouch renting two adjacent rooms in the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel from 2008 to 2009 while they were remodeling the amusement park The Holy Land Experience. One was for herself, the other for her Maltese dogs and clothes. Matthew Crouch (son of Paul and Jen Crouch) racked up a food bill of $300,000 in one year alone, from “business dinners”. Mr. Clements, and several other TBN employees, reported that Mr. and Mrs. Crouch attributed these extravagances to them doing the lords work. A TBN spokesperson also stated that the executive salaries, established by an independent consulting firm, were $400,000 for Mr. Crouch as president, and $365,000 for Mrs. Crouch, as vice president, in 2010. [21] [22]

Colby May, TBN’s lawyer, denied all of these claims. Mr. May stated that all of the houses bought for Matthew Crouch, and those in Texas and Newport, were used for housing traveling employees and guests. The house that Mrs. Koper and other ex-employees of TBN claimed was for Matthew Crouch, was reported by Mr. May to have been a house used for filming the TBN program “Smile of a Child”. Mr. May addressed the extravogant spending as being necessary “…to convey the ministry’s position of accomplishment.”[21] [22]

Being a 501(3)(c) TBN could potentially loose tens of millions from the lawsuit should the label as a religious non-profit be retracted by the IRS. TBN will therefore be unable to accept any donations (of which they accepted $92.5 million of in 2010) and will have to pay taxes on all income they receive ($175.5 million total revenue in 2010). [21]

References

[0] TBN logo http://tbnnewswire.com/tbn/

[1] Paul and Jan Crouch http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2012/05/15/extravagant-spending-a-pervasive-issue-for-trinity-internal-review-says/154873/paul-and-jan-crouch/

[2] http://broadcasting.wikia.com/wiki/Trinity_Broadcasting_Network

[3] http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/156936-TV_s_Religious_Revival.php

[4] Gener8xion Entertainment logo http://www.filmbaza.net/indexes/index-logos/g-g_logos.htm

[5] http://www.imdb.com/company/co0059564/

[5.1] http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41N0YKQZ7YL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

[6] http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g34515-d318444-Reviews-Holy_Land_Experience-Orlando_Florida.html

[7] http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Na5Z_XcrrUg

[8] http://www.tbnsecondchance.org/mission.php

[9] http://tbnnewswire.com/tbn/second-chance/

[10] http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nqQBTV0A_rA

[11] http://www.tbnnetworks.com

[12] http://www.standardnewswire.com/news/101897798.html

[13] http://www.standardnewswire.com/news/357217823.html

[14] http://www.tbn.org/announcements/trinity-broadcasting-network-announces-purchase-of-major-london-production-facility

[15] http://www.tbn.org/announcements/tbn-s-praise-the-lord-welcomes-scott-stapp-of-multi-platinum-rock-band-creed

[16] http://www.tbn.org/announcements/pilot-program-takes-tbn-s-jctv-youth-channel-to-west-virginia-juvenile-facility

[17] http://www.tbn.org/announcements/trinity-broadcasting-network-purchases-property-for-studio-in-jerusalem

[18] http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/awards/403_2654_21618.cfm

[19] http://www.tbn.org/announcements/trinity-broadcasting-network-recognized-with-stevie-award-for-innovative-mobile-app

[19.1] Revenue and Expenses Balance sheet for TBN http://ministrywatch.com/profile/trinity-broadcasting-network.aspx#balance

[19.2] Functional Expense Breakdown of TBN http://ministrywatch.com/profile/trinity-broadcasting-network.aspx#balance

[20] http://ministrywatch.com/profile/trinity-broadcasting-network.aspx#5star

[21] http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2012/05/20/tbn-extravagance-read-internal-memos-for-yourself/155188/

[22] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/05/us/tbn-fight-offers-glimpse-inside-lavish-tv-ministry.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2

[22.1] Brittany Koper in front of Jan Crouch’s house http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/05/04/us/20120505_TBN-6.html

[22.2] Jan Crouch’s House in Newport Beach, CA http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/05/04/us/20120505_TBN-8.html

[22.3] Brittany Koper’s certificate of Ordination http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/05/04/us/20120505_TBN-13.html

 

Sinclair Broadcast Group

Posted on by 
by [Taylor Van Sickle]

[1]

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.

10706 Beaver Dam Road

Hunt Valley, Maryland 21030

(410) 568-1500

www.sbgi.net

[2]

David D. Smith, President and CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.
[7]

Executives

David D. Smith: President, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board and Director – David D. Smith has held his position as President and CEO since 1988. Prior to working for Sinclair he founded Comark Communications, Inc. He played a very important role in the creation and success of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc [2].

Frederick G. Smith: Vice President and Director

J. Duncan Smith: Vice President, Secretary and Director

David B. Amy: Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

David R. Bochenek: Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer

Barry M. Faber: Executive Vice President and General Counsel

[2]

History

Sinclair Broadcast Group started out as one station in Baltimore, Maryland. The original station was created in 1971 by Julian Sinclair Smith, but it wasn’t until 1986 that his four sons came up with the idea of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. After only 10 years Sinclair Broadcast Group became the largest commercial television broadcasting company not to be owned by a network in the country. Sinclair Broadcast Group faced some rough times during 2001, but was able to make it through and by 2006 had become the largest FOX and MyNetworkTV affiliate groups. They also became the second largest ABC affiliate and the third largest affiliate for the CW network in the United States. The success of Sinclair Broadcast Group in the past is not surprising when looking at their continued success in 2012 [4].

Company Overview

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. Network Affiliates [3]

The Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is headed by President and CEO, David Smith. David Smith has been President and CEO since 1988 and has contributed exponentially to the company. He has also served at Chairman of the Board since 1990. He has helped build Sinclair Broadcast Group since the start of the company. As one of the leading television broadcasting companies in the United States, Sinclair Broadcast Group manages 74 television stations within 45 markets. The broadcasting company includes FOX, ABC, CW, CBS, MTV, NBC, MyTV, and Azteca affiliates. Sinclair operates 20 FOX stations, 18 MyTV, 11 ABC, 14 CW, 9 CBS, 1 NBC, and 1 Azteca. With these networks Sinclair is able to reach about 26.3% of households in the country [3]. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. continues to grow in size and range. They reach a large amount of households in the country and continue to increase the number of people that they reach.

Competitors

Media General, Inc.

Hearst Television Inc.

Local TV, LCC

[6]

Recent News

August 13th, 2012 Sinclair Broadcast Group’s retransmission consent agreement with Dish Network was about to end and the two companies were in talks to either create a new one or Dish would stop carrying some of Sinclair’s stations. To be exact if the companies did not create a new retransmission consent agreement Dish would stop broadcasting 70 of Sinclair’s stations. Later Sinclair Broadcast Group announced its agreement with Dish Network to create a new retransmission consent agreement [5].

September 19th, 2012 Michael Simon was named Director of Advanced Technology for Sinclair Broadcast Group. Previous positions include Manager of Advanced Technology for Rohde & Schwarz, Lead Application Engineer for Harris Corporation, and Chief Engineer for Sinclair’s Pittsburgh market. In this position Mr. Simon will be in charge of developing new technologies to further advance the broadcasting company’s business. Sinclair’s Vice President of Advanced Technology, Mark Aitken said that, “Sinclair is probing the fundamental technologies that will enable us to leverage future business-enabling technologies,” which Mr. Simon will contribute to greatly [5.1].

October 12th, 2012 Sinclair Broadcast Group decided to close their previous contribution of $500 million of senior unsecured notes. By closing this offer, Sinclair Broadcast Group used the profits to then buy multiple stations from Newport Television LLC. Also, they intended to use the profits from this to pay off outstanding debt and for other company purposes [5.2].

November 13th, 2012 Sinclair Broadcast Group announced an exciting partnership with DataSphere Technologies. DataSphere Technologies is a marketing company that focuses mainly on local businesses to help them gain exposure. The two companies made an agreement that Sinclair will promote event calendars, and small business marketing solutions over 21 of their markets in the country. This partnership is important for both DataSphere and Sinclair. It offers DataSphere an opportunity to promote their services and get more business. The deal offers Sinclair a way to connect with local businesses in their markets and get advertising for their stations and website [9].

December 1, 2012 Sinclair Broadcast Group has obtained several more stations, while also getting rid of some of its previously existing stations. Through their deal Sinclair gained 6 new stations from Newport Television LLC. Along with the stations Sinclair also purchased Newport’s rights under the local marketing agreements with two stations. Sinclair also obtained Newport’s non-license assets for their station in Rochester for $54 million. While gaining stations, Sinclair also sold some of its preexisting stations. Sinclair made a deal with Deerfield Media, Inc. selling them their station in San Antonio and Cincinnati. Sinclair also sold them license assets to two of their stations. With these stations gains Sinclair added stations to four markets that they presently existed in and added two new markets to their business. The total deal cost them $459.7 million [8]. 

Finances

In Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.’s quarterly numbers, they are doing significantly well this year. Their total revenue over a three-month period this year was $260,489 as opposed to last year’s total revenue of $181,042. Also their total revenue over a nine-month period increased between this year and last year as well from, $552,511 to $736,817 [10].

In November the Board of Directors at Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. stated that the company’s Class A and Class B stock will have a $1.00 dividend per share and a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share [5.3]. Also the company announced that for the third quarter of this year the earned $0.32 per share. This earning did not, however, match the estimated amount of $0.35 per share [10].

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. Stock Information [11]

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. Income Chart [12]

Future

Sinclair Broadcast Group Stock [12]

With their newly obtained stations Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. plans to keep expanding their hold on television broadcasting. The company is well versed in the television broadcasting business and they understand what they need to do to stay successful. Their revenue numbers show increased success throughout the fourth quarter. The company’s stock from the last month has decreased but over the course of this year it has stayed steadily in the same region. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. has been a strong company since its humble beginning as one station in Maryland. There is no doubt that Sinclair Broadcast Group will continue to be a major player in the television broadcasting spectrum.

Sources

1. Google: http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110515151804/logopedia/images/6/67/Sbg.gif

2. Sinclair Broadcast Group Website: http://www.sbgi.net/corp_governance/officers.shtml

3. Sinclair Broadcast Group Website (Company Profile): http://www.sbgi.net/about/profile.shtml

4. Sinclair Broadcast Group Website (History): http://www.sbgi.net/about/history.shtml

5. Sinclair Broadcast Group Website (News Releases): http://www.sbgi.net/site_mgr/temp/Dish%20Aug%202012%2D2%5Fdsrp65vp%2Eshtml

5.1 Sinclair Broadcast Group Website (News Releases): http://www.sbgi.net/site_mgr/temp/Simon%5Fwfbylrjx%2Eshtml

5.2 Sinclair Broadcast Group Website (News Releases): http://www.sbgi.net/site_mgr/temp/2012%20Notes%20Offering%20closing%5F46lhc5gp%2Eshtml

5.3 Sinclair Broadcast Group Website (News Releases): http://www.sbgi.net/site_mgr/temp/CS%2012142012%5Fqvd16wqb%2Eshtml

6. Hoovers: http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.Sinclair_Broadcast_Group_Inc.16dff58899664af8.html

7. http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2012/04/17/sinclair-broadcast-ceo-smith-gets-16.html

8. Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/article/2012-12-03/a5oA5IyRyJak.html

9. Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/article/2012-11-13/a9hfDdS2uETk.html

10. New York Times: http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/business/companies/sinclair-broadcast-group-inc/index.html

11. New York Times: http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/stocks/tools/analysis_tools.asp?symbol=SBGI

12. Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/SBGI:US

Scripps Television Group

Posted on by 
by Kayla Schultz

Scripps logo via TheLAW.TV

“Give light and the people will find their own way” [1]

The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP; Price Per Share: $10.54) is a multimedia enterprise that owns 19 television stations in major cities across the nation and serves 13 different markets with locally owned newspapers.  Scripps has expanded its reach in the media universe by venturing into digital strategies and social gaming.  The company is also host to the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. [2]

The Scripps Television Group is comprised of major network affiliates as well as independently owned stations.  This make up is broken down into 10 ABC affiliates, 3 NBC affiliates, 1 independent, and 5 Spanish language stations.  Scripps provides television services to the following cities: Bakersfield, CA; San Diego, CA; Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland, OH; Tulsa, OK; Lawrence, KS; Tampa, FL; West Palm Beach, FL; Denver, CO; Baltimore, MD; Phoenix, AZ; Kansas City, MO; Indianapolis, IN; Detroit, MI. [3]

KEY PEOPLE

Image courtesy of Scripps. [4]

Richard A. Boehne, President and CEO

Image courtesy of Scripps. [4]

Timothy M. Wesolowski, Senior VP, CFO, and Treasurer

Image courtesy of Scripps. [4]

Brian G. Lawlor, Senior VP of Television

CONTACT [5]

Headquarters: 312 Walnut Street 2800, Scripps Center, Cincinnati, OH 45202

Phone: 513-977-3000

RECENT NEWS

September 2012

On September 3, 2012, Scripps announced an exciting new venture for its local TV programming.  Rather than purchasing the popular syndicated staples Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, the television group decided to fill the time slots with original content.  The two new shows were to be called Let’s Ask America and The List.  According to Broadcasting & Cable, an accredited television business website, Scripps made a “massive bet on the programs, a game show and newsmagazine, that its top execs say fit right into the company profile of educating and entertaining the public.”  Though the endeavor was considered to be a long shot by most critics, Brian Lawlor, Scripps senior vice president of television, was confident in the company’s ability to produce quality content that would appeal to each of its well established, locally owned markets.  The new shows were set to release on September 17th of that year, but faith in the company’s innovative new plan was hard to find.  Critics of the new strategy stressed network-affiliate relations and how original creative content being aired on the affiliate station could cause even more tension to what is often considered a particularly tense relationship.  Another concern was the possible failure of either program.  Scripps didn’t have many syndication options to fallback on after dropping the two most popular syndicated programs in American television history from its repertoire.  To make matters worse, Jim Paratore was signed on to executive produce Let’s Ask America but unexpectedly passed away in the midst of production.  Scripps made the decision to forge on without the acclaimed EP and hired 60 new people to take charge of the newsmagazine show in stations all over the country.  Clearly, the company believed in the project regardless of what the critics had to say; to Scripps, is was much better to own its content than to rent it. [6]

Let’s Ask America logo via newsnet5.com

On September 17, 2012, Scripps aired its two new programs to seven of its TV markets. [7]

October 2012

October 2012 was a particularly slow month for Scripps Television Group.  The company operated as it normally would, with the exception of their new original programming.  Despite the relative normalcy of October, Scripps made a newsworthy contribution to the mobile television discussion, which seems to constantly be preoccupying the conversations among leading TV conglomerates.  Scripps made it known that they were in full support of the mobile TV movement and were willing to contribute the time and energy that its innovation requires.  The Chicago Tribune reported that the E.W. Scripps Company, along with Fox, NBC, Cox Media Group, Garnett Broadcasting, and Hearst Television, partnered up with Dyle mobile TV, which offers 90 stations in 35 markets. [8]

Dyle on the Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G courtesy of gottabemobile.com

November 2012

While October proved to be a not-so-newsworthy month for the Scripps Television Group, November brought the company multiple headlines that highlighted its overwhelming success.  Whether it was talk of the quarterly revenue report, the newly acquired financial support of Cincinnati, or the beautiful sight of a risk paying off, Scripps found itself in the news constantly and for good reasons.

On November 9, 2012, multiple television business websites reported the remarkable 79% increase in Scripps’ station revenue according to the company’s third quarter reports.  The television group reported $125 million for Q3 of 2012.  Apparently, the increase in earnings was “fueled by [Scripps] acquisition of McGraw-Hill stations,” as well as the unexpected success of “its two homegrown access programs, Let’s Ask America and The List.” [9]  Arguably even more influential on the group’s financial gains was the money generated from local, state, and national elections in early November.  Political advertisers spent $28 million to endorse their candidates on Scripps’ multiple stations.  The 2011 election campaigns only brought in $2 million for the TV group, so political advertising alone made a huge contribution the company’s overall increase in revenue for the third quarter. [10]

As a contributing member of Cincinnati’s booming economy, the E.W. Scripps Company received $750,000 from the city so that it could grow its digital sector.  The goal of the city was to have Scripps “create at least 112 jobs within three years and maintain 184 existing jobs.”  The expansion of Scripps’ digital group could only be beneficial to the TV side of the company.  With its continuing efforts to support mobile television and promote its new original programming, an expansion of the digital sphere would potentially open up an array of new possibilities for the TV group. [11]

On November 13, 2012, the E.W. Scripps Company announced a partnership with Arizona State University that will include an innovative new journalism program.  Together, Scripps and ASU have formed the Scripps Cronkite Journalism Career Program that will directly connect aspiring broadcast journalists to one of the country’s leading broadcast journalism companies.  Keeping with the company’s theme of educating the people of America, Brian Lawlor believes that this new partnership will “harness the creative energy, skills, and enthusiasm of recent ASU grads and channel it into shaping tomorrow’s storytellers.” [12]

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication courtesy of Wikipedia

On November 14, 2012, the gamble that Scripps took by dropping Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! appeared to be paying off for the TV group.  The new original shows were consistently exceeding the company’s ratings goals, based on the Nielsen live-plus-same-day ratings.  They did particularly well among 25-54 year old women which put them ahead of the game financially according to vice president of TV content Bob Sullivan.  With this newly established viewer base, Scripps will easily be able to sell more advertisements and make long-term deals with companies who wish to target that particular demographic.  TVNewsCheck, a broadcasting business website, suggests that the more money that the shows rake in for the TV group, the more likely Warner Brothers, a 50-50 partner on Let’s Ask America, is to distributing the original content to multiple non-Scripps stations.  The company seems to be thrilled with the current success of its new content, but so is the competition, which picked up Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! in the seven vacant markets. [13]

On November 20, 2012, Audiovox Electronics announced plans for a new mobile TV “rear-seat car entertainment system” that would be fully “Dyle-enabled.”  Since Dyle is the mobile distributor of the Scripps TV Group, the new product launch would expand the company’s modest network to 35 markets and reach “approximately 55 percent of the U.S. population,” according to Broadcast Engineering. [14]

Audiovox rear-seat entertainment system courtesy of Voxx International

On November 30, 2012, Scripps announced the exciting new acquisition of Brian Bracco, former vice president of news for Hearst Television, Inc.  The long-time TV executive will be leading Scripps Kansas City station, which is a place that Bracco is particularly familiar with from his work with Hearst station in KC.  Brian Lawlor believes that “Bracco will provide strong leadership as KSHB” and that “he is vastly qualified to motivate and inspire his staff to become the go-to source for news and investigations in the market,” according to The Sacramento Bee. [15]

FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS

Due to Scripps enormous success in Q3, the talk of projected fourth quarter revenue has been extremely positive.  The current projection is that “TV revenues will be up about 80%,” according to TVNewsCheck.  The high percentage will mostly be attributed to the previously mentioned newly acquired McGraw-Hill stations.  Surely the earnings won’t come close to what the TV group raked in during the third quarter, with the election providing a lot of ad revenue, but the December month is sure to provide a good look at the “first pure month without political influence,” says Brian Lawlor.  Even without the boost from McGraw-Hill, Scripps’ revenue has been on a positive incline, estimating a 35-40% independent of the newly acquired stations. [16]

REFERENCES

  1. Scripps – Our Mission & Motto
  2. Scripps – About Us
  3. Scripps – Brands: Television
  4. Scripps – Our Leaders
  5. Scripps – Contact
  6. Malone, Michael (September 3, 2012). “Station Groups Spin Wheel on Homespun Shows”. Broadcasting & Cable.
  7. Scripps – Timeline
  8. Morris, Chris (October 2, 2012). “Mobile TV searches for breakthrough”. The Chicago Tribune.
  9. Malone, Michael (November 9, 2012). “Scripps Station Revenue Up 79%”. Broadcasting & Cable.
  10. Friedman, Wayne (November 9, 2012). “Election Money Fuels Big Gains For Scripps”. Media News Daily. Media Post.
  11. The Enquirer (November 9, 2012). “City Oks $750,000 for Scripps jobs”. The Community Press & Recorder.
  12. PRNewswire (November 13, 2012). “Scripps and Arizona State join forces to create innovative career initiative”. equities.com: Global Financial Network.
  13. Downey, Kevin (November 14, 2012). “Scripps Stations Survive Without Top Syndies”. TVNewsCheck.
  14. McMahon, Franklin (November 20, 2012). “Audiovox launches rear-seat Dyle Mobile TV experience”.  Broadcast Engineering.
  15. The E.W. Scripps Company (November 30, 2012). “Bracco to lead Scripps stations in Kansas City”. The Sacramento Bee.
  16. Messmer, Jack (November 9, 2012). “TV Soaring For Scripps In 4Q After Record 3Q”. TVNewsCheck.

Liberman Broadcasting

Posted on by 
by Daniel Grove

Liberman Broadcasting Logo Courtesy of Nasdaq

{1}

Liberman Broadcasting Incorporated

Contact
Address: 1845 Empire Avenue,
Burbank, CA 91504
Phone: (818) 729-5300
Website: www.lbimedia.com
Email: LBIinfo@lbimedia.com {2}

Overview

Founded by father-son duo Jose and Lenard Liberman, Liberman Broadcasting, Inc. (also referred to as LBI) is the largest privately held, minority-owned Spanish-Language television and radio broadcaster in the United States. With a primary concentration on the hispanic demographic, the company provides advertising opportunities to local markets and communities through product integration, talent sponsorships and appearances, and longform advertising. {3}

The company owns and operates Empire Burbank Studios and develops roughly fifty-six hours of programming a week, consisting of comedy, music, game, talk, and news shows, on their Spanish-language network: EstrellaTV. LBI also hosts the annual Premios De La Radio awards show featuring several hispanic artists. {4}  These are broadcast via the following stations:

An Overview as to what stations LBI Broadcasts Through on the United States West Coast

Important Figures {5}

-Jose Liberman: Co-founder and President
-Lenard Liberman: Co-founder, Executive Vice-President and Secretary
–Eduardo Leon: Vice President of Programming
–Winter Horton: Vice President of Programming for KRCA ch62 Television
–Blima Tuller: Chief Financial Officer

Major Competitors

–Univision Communications Inc.
–Telemundo: Owned by NBC
–Entravision Communications Corporation {7}

Company History

Founded in 1987, LBI began as small cluster of independent Radio and Television stations scattered throughout the Los Angeles and Houston city limits. Within the 1990’s the company then began to expand into San Diego and Dallas as they began to draw in more Revenue.

The company truly began to take off in the mid 2000’s with the catalyst being the $95 million purchase of five Dallas radio stations from Entravision. This gained LBI the ability to provide a variety of different programs towards Hispanic audiences throughout Texas, ultimately gaining them a strong grasp over the aforementioned demographic. {8} In the year 2007, Liberman Broadcasting purchased a UPN (now the CW) station KPNZ for $10 million in Salt Lake City Utah allowing them to expand eastward. LBI then began to expand down into Phoenix, Arizona in 2008 after a deal with Latin America Broadcasting for $1.25 million over a local Station, KVPA-LP. {9}

Estrella TV logo, courtesy of Estrella TV Reno

{10}

On July 1st, 2009, Liberman announced the launch of their brand new, exclusively Spanish-speaking network, Estrella TV, which then made its worldwide debut on September 14th that same year. The programming of this new network currently focuses on the 18-49 demographic, airing a variety of different shows in highly populated Hispanic markets. The introduction of this company showed (and still currently shows) a significant threat to both Univision and Telemundo, as it had both a station in every top 20 market and made itself a potential option for ad buyers as the current revenue in Spanish-language TV was rather dull growth in comparison to prior years. {11}

In recent years, Estrella TV has managed to become the 2nd highest rated network within Los Angeles after Univision, and with it has produced two of the highest rated shows within Spanish-language Televison {12}: “El Show De Don Cheto” and “Estudio 2“.

“El Show De Don Cheto” is a talk show starring “el hombre del vozarrón” (the loud-voiced man) Don Cheto where he interviews with Latino celebrities, parodies of famous viral music videos, and features popular Hispanic artists on to perform, much like that of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno“.

Acting as LBI’s biggest show on EstrellaTV, “Estudio 2” is a variety show featuring live musicians, comedians, and other forms of entertainment from the Los Angeles region. The show has received high amount of praise from critics due to its original programming in comparison to other programs produced by rival companies. The show currently attracts men between the ages of 18 to 34 and allowed the network to reach out to 76 percent of Hispanic households. {12}

About 5 months after the purchase of a WWTO-TV (now WESV-LP) in Chicago, LBI faced its largest PR crisis in the history of the company.

In the beginning of April, 2011, several organizations across the country sent letters to the FCC due to the outrage sparked by popular LBI show, “Jose Luis Sin Censura“, due to its crude nature and tendency to insult the homosexual community. {13} This led to both Time Warner and AT&T to pull its advertising away from the program {14}, and which ultimately caused the show’s cancellation on August 9th, 2012. {15}

Recent News

September:

-09/12:

One LBI’s newest and most popular shows on EstrellaTV, “Mi Sueno Es Bailar” (or my dream is to dance), premiers for its third season. {16} The show stars several celebrities within the Latino community, such as Nora Salinas and Jose Luis Gonzales, and pairs them with highly trained dancers in a multi-round, elimination contest to see which celebrity shows the highest skill on the floor (much like ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars“). Outside of the competitive aspects, each episode involves the winning couple granting a wish made by one lucky Hispanic family. {17} The series aired its finale on November 16th.

October:

-10/04:

Liberman Broadcasting announces that they will bring the “El Shaka“, a drama that portrays the constant drug war within Mexico under the control of the drug lord”El Shaka”, and it 36 episodes to MIPCOM, the global market for all entertainment content. {18}

-10/08:

Estrella TV launches a brand new comedy series, “A2D3” (an abbreviation for “A Dos de Tres”), based around the sport of Mexican wrestling, or Lucha Libre. The program focuses around the character of Elverio Gudino, a man who wishes to become a professional wrestling under the pseudonym “El Veri Gud” (which ironically is the complete opposite of his status in the sport) and his strive to protect his identity from criminals who are trying to collect money from him. The series only ran for eight episodes, each one hour long, {19} and ended November 17th, 2012.

-10/11:

Investigative news magazine show “En La Mira con Enrique Gratas” (On target with Enrique Gratas) premiers on EstrellaTV. The show features famous Latino news Anchor Enrique Gratas and journalist Myrka Dellanos discussing popular stories that occur throughout both the United States and the world. {20}

November:

-11/04:

Estrella TV launches an advertising campaign with Toyota of Southern California by awarding a Toyota Tundra to a fan of the Network, specially designed and customized by Mexican-musical sensation, Gerardo Ortiz. The campaign involved both the network and its website using Ortiz within interactive content developed by the advertising and marketing team at Estrella TV and Toyota, as well as Castells Hispanic ad agency. {21}

-11/07:

In response to the large popularity of Psy‘s, music video, Gangham Style, Don Cheto launched a parody of it entitled: “Ganga Style”. The video contains several elements that are reminiscent of the South Korean rapper, but with Spanish lyrics and cultural elements and stereotypes of Mexican society. The video became viral instantly and led Cheto to move away from radio broadcasting, due to the low ratings he has received in the past few months, and into the internet medium via Youtube and Facebook. {22}

-11/12:

Logo for the 2012 “Premios De La Radio” awards ceremony, courtesy of Ticketmaster.com

{23}

Broadcast live from the Empire Burbank Studios, Estrella TV hosted the 13th Annual Premios De La Radio award show. After receiving a total of 562,000 viewers between the hours of 7 to 11 pm, it became the most watched program in Estrella TV’s history as a network. The show also ranked second in its highest total for the viewers within the 18 to 49 demographic, as it managed to bring in approximately 303,000 within the group. {24}

-11/19:

Kristoff Raczynski Tatomir, courtesy of Quien.com

{25}

Televisa Star, Kristoff (Krzysztof Racqynski Tatomir), leaves the company for EstrellaTV. Kristoff, who was one of the largest personalities for the Televisa, moved networks as Liberman Broadcasting provided him a deal to work as the host of their “bloopers” show. This led to massive lawsuit between the two companies, as members of Televisa found Kristoff accepting money from LBI to work for their company, which caused a massive breach in the exclusivity provision his contract (by which Kristoff is only allowed to host shows that are run by Televisa). {26} As of now, no news has risen regarding the case.

December:

-12/04:

Liberman Broadcasting announces that they have extended the expiration of private exchange offers and solicitation of consents to December 7th, 2012, at 5 p.m. A total of $207 million Old Notes and consents in the Discounts Notes Consent Solicitation will no longer be allowed to be withdrawn. {27}

Upcoming Projects

Currently, Liberman Broadcasting has three new shows that are still currently in the works. The first one being “La Supermodelo Latina”, a reality show produced by Michael Ohoven, in which sixteen beautiful Latina women are forced to live in a mansion with one another for several weeks while partaking in competitions for a chance to become a supermodel. The second show in production is “Chalino”, a drama miniseries that illustrates the life of the man who founded the Banda movement of the 1980’s, Chalino Snachez. Finally, there is “El Sueno Americano” (or “the American Dream”) starring and be produced by actor Hector Suarez and his son. The show would be a sitcom about a family just moving to LA and facing all the challenges that come from living in a foreign country. {28, 29} No set air date has been announced for any of these shows.

Works Cited:

{1} http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/ipos/filing.ashx?filingid=2713436 
{2} http://www.lbimedia.com/contact.html
{3} http://www.lbimedia.com/about.html
{4} http://www.yellowpages.com/burbank-ca/mip/empire-studio-30609825
{5} http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=643286
{6} http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/cbs-dominates-broadcast-cable-shows-showing-strength-in-ratings/2012/12/04/99354e0c-3e55-11e2-8a5c-473797be602c_story.html
{7} http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.Liberman_Broadcasting_Inc.de35e9d98bfffd35.html  
{8} http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2006/07/31/daily42.html
{9} http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/115113-Deals.php
{10} http://www.estrellatvreno.com
{11} http://www.medialifemagazine.com/coming-a-new-force-in-hispanic-tv/
{12} http://www.lbimedia.com/Media/PressReleases/09.17.10%20–%20Estudio%20Beats%20Telefutura%20media%20alert%20-%20FINAL.pdf
{13} http://www.glaad.org/releases/040611jlsc
{14} http://www.glaad.org/2011/06/02/at-two-broadcasters-drop-programat-dos-estaciones-transmiso/
{15} http://www.towleroad.com/2012/08/spanish-language-talk-show-jos%C3%A9-luis-sin-censura-dropped-after-glaad-and-nhmc-protest.html
{16} http://www.cynopsis.com/editions/cynopsis/091212/
{17} http://www.c21media.net/archives/93527
{18} http://www.cynopsis.com/editions/cynopsis/1042012/
{19} http://www.cynopsis.com/editions/cynopsis/100112/
{20} http://www.cynopsis.com/editions/cynopsis/100512/
{21} http://www.portada-online.com/2012/11/12/sales-leads-nissan-dominos-heineken-wendys/
{22} http://hoylosangeles.com/news/2012/dec/06/el-empujon-que-necesitaba/
{23} http://www.ticketmaster.com/Premios-De-La-Radio-tickets/artist/1505367
{24} http://www.cynopsis.com/editions/cynopsis/111212/
{25} http://www.quien.com/photos/2012/05/02/sserur-175024-009.jpg
{26} http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/kristoff-sparks-legal-battle-between-392008
{27} http://www.marketwatch.com/story/liberman-broadcasting-inc-lbi-media-holdings-inc-and-lbi-media-inc-announce-extension-of-the-expiration-date-of-private-exchange-offers-and-solicitation-of-consents-2012-12-04
{28} http://www.cynopsis.com/upfront-2010-2/estrella-tv/
{29} http://telemundomediakit.com/2012/05/21/2012-upfronts-a-closer-look/

 

Ion Media Networks

Posted on by 
by Bailey Normann

Picture courtesy of Ion Media Networks [5]

601 Clearwater Park Rd.
West Palm Beach, FL, 33401 United States
(561) 659-4122

About

Originally founded as Paxson Communications in 1991, ION Media Networks was officially established in 2006 and has since made great lengths in all of its key areas including: general entertainment television, special interest television, and mobile television. ION is a leading American television provider and brings their content to nearly 260 million Americans. They deliver their entertainment “through innovation, offering quality content, new formats and innovative packages that are affordable and accessible to all consumers” [5]. At its helm is CEO and Chairman Brandon Burgess along with Chris Addeo in Marketing, Douglas Holloway in Distribution, and Jeff Quinn in Finance. Under the ION Media Networks Inc. flagship is ION Television, Qubo, and ION Life.

Photo Courtesy of Ion Media Networks [1]

Photo Courtesy of Ion Media Networks [5]

 

Holdings

Under the networks’ “Positively Entertaining” brand, ION Television offers an array of blockbuster movie titles, hit shows in syndication, and more recently, a jump into original content. The network reaches more than 1oo million US Homes and boasts it is “the only entertainment network with double-digit growth” [11]. It is available through all major distribution companies and is one of the fastest growing networks in America.

Qubo, ION’s “Good Fun” children’s network provides a safe space for childhood and adult viewing. It functions to provide content for preschoolers to tweens and tries to promote good role models and values in order to create more constructive members of society. It has also received numerous awards for its healthy programming and fight against childhood obesity. It has been recognized as the “Gold Standard” in kid’s television by the FCC and was also voted as “one of the more trustworthy sources for children’s programming” by the U.S. Government Accountability Office [12].

ION’s final special interest television venture is ION Life, a lifestyle channel that is

Photo courtesy of Ion Media Networks

committed to offering programming that promotes healthy and active individuals. Its programs focus on such topics as relationships, inspirational stories, adventure, and home design. It is available 24/7 and is distributed over-the-air and through cable and satellite providers.

Financials

In May of 2009, ION Media Networks hit a serious road block.  Under the deal of a restructuring agreement with a group of debt holders whom promised they would make its debt into equity, the network filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. With more than a billion dollars in liabilities and ten million in assets, ION rebuilt with a 150 million dollar funding commitment. However, by October of 2010, ION had resurrected from the ashes of bankruptcy. “Per Nielsen ratings data, ION Television averaged 1.12 million viewers in the third quarter of 2010, an improvement of 94 percent versus the year-ago period” [1]. This spur in growth is most attributed to the networks’ acquisition of shows such as Criminal Minds and Without a Trace and “from October 2009 through September 2010, ION has

Douglas Holloway – President of Multichannel Distribution
Photo courtesy of S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications [15]

grown its overall sales prime deliveries 72 percent to 1.01 million viewers, while improving 74 percent among adults 25-54 (450,000), and nearly doubling its delivery of viewers 18-49 (392,000 versus 205,000 in the year-ago period)“ [1]. Although ION is a private company and therefore does not publish their financial reports to the public, in a talk earlier this month, ION’s President of Multichannel Distribution confirmed that the company is continuing on its up-hill climb.

In the News

ION is also a leader in developing the future of mobile television and “co-founded the industry initiative to develop Mobile DTV technology in record time” [5]. This initiative, the Mobile Content Venture, or MVC for short, was also headed by NBCUniversal and Fox. In order to “mobolize” this project, these broadcasters plan to use the Dyle mobile TV service. Dyle mobile TV is working to turn Android and iOS devices into portable televisions and will allow customers to view local broadcast channels such as ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Quobo, Telemundo, and Univision. However, this program is not yet covered in all markets. In a presentation this month at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, ION’s President of Multichannel Distribution, Douglas Holloway, expressed qualms about Dyle’s business model, which at the moment will be entirely based on advertising. Holloway also expressed his concerns about his company’s failure to move at a fast enough rate with the expanding mobile TV platform. He said that creating their own distributable platforms are at the moment nearly impossible. This is mainly due to the fact that ION television is entirely syndication based.

Continuing to strengthen its syndicated content, ION Television announced its acquisition of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” in early August of 2012.  This off-networking licensing agreement has given the network the rights to all 10 seasons including all 195 episodes [7]. Similarly, in the same month, ION also acquired the off-net rights to all six seasons of the CBS procedural drama “Numb3rs,” which fits in perfectly with the networks’ crime drama line up [14].

In late September, ION Television announced what would be their most successful programming of the fall season. On October 3rd, the network premiered the first match of the new WWE Main Event series. The new show was promoted with several promo ads, “featuring the WWE Superstars and Divas of Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown” [9]. The series will premiere live events that are filmed across the country, including an international matchup in Europe. Since its debut, WWE Main Event has been a serious contender in television ratings. Up against a presidential debate on its premiere night, this program, according to Nielson, “garnered the highest male audience in the last year with the most Men 18-49 (422,000), Men 25-54 (444,000), and Men 2+ (876,000)” and was also the #4 program on television among Men 18-49. [9]. This beat not only the male audience watching the presidential debate, but it also beat out ESPN and ESPN2 on the last MLB regular season game. CEO Brandon Burgess describes, “’Fans of the WWE are passionate and seem to have a knack for finding their favorite Superstars wherever they live. Needless to say, we are particularly pleased that WWE has found a new home on ION Television, and we congratulate our new partner in the success of the premiere’” [9]. Vince McMahon , CEO and Chairman of WWE, responded, “’We expect our fans will make WWE Main Event the number one show on the network as they have done for WWE programs with all of our other TV partners’”[9].

On October 9, it was announced that ION had created a new and much longer-term partnership with DIRECTV, a leader in digital entertainment service providers. This has extended ION Television’s contract with the provider for many years to come. Also, for the first time, the network will be offered in high-definition on DIRECTV and will also be available nationwide, from East Coast to West Coast.

Another piece of programming proving to be a serious asset for the network this fall is its “nail-biting cop drama,” Flashpoint. Back in late January of 2011, ION Television made a deal with CBS Television for the “rights to all existing episodes and future production of the popular police drama”[10].  In this deal, they were given the rights to produce the fifth season of the drama and all subsequent seasons that may occur, which celebrates the networks’ first experience in creating its own original content. On October 16 of this year, the fifth (and final) season of the original crime drama premiered on the ION Television network. The season will include thirteen, one-hour episodes produced by Pink Sky Entertainment and Avamar Entertainment in association with CTV and ION Television. According to a Canadian television website, the show is “averaging 1.7 million viewers, up 13% from last fall’s season average” [13].

Works Cited

[1] Crupi, A. (n.d.). ION Resurrects Ratings After Bankruptcy Scare | Adweek. Adweek        – Breaking News in Advertising, Media and Technology.  http://www.adweek.com/news/television/ion-resurrects-ratings-after-bankruptcy-scare-116251

[2] Hoover’s | A D&B Company. (n.d.). Hoovers | Company Information | Industry             Information | Lists. http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.ION_Media_Networks_Inc.1a21103c9917c587.html

[3] Ion Media Files Bankruptcy With Deal to Swap Debt for Equity – Bloomberg.             (n.d.). Bloomberg – Business, Financial & Economic News, Stock Quotes.              http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aYV7U84_mowg

[4] ION Life | Home. (n.d.). ION Life | Home. http://www.ionlife.com

[5] ION Media Networks | Home. (n.d.). ION Media Networks | Home.  http://www.ionmedianetworks.com/

[6] ION Media Networks | Press Releases. (n.d.). ION Media Networks | Home.  http://www.ionmedianetworks.com/press/hit-crime-drama-flashpoint-returns-to-ion-televisi?id=292

[7] Cable, L. R., & AM, 8. 1. (n.d.). ION Acquires Rights to ‘Law & Order: Criminal Intent’ – 2012-08-08 14:49:37 | Broadcasting & Cable. Cable Television News, Broadcast, Syndication, Programming & Local TV | Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/488339-ION_Acquires_Rights_to_Law_Order_Criminal

[8] ION Media Networks | Press Releases. (n.d.). ION Media Networks | Home.             http://www.ionmedianetworks.com/press/ion-media-networks-announces-new-agreement-with-d?id=297

[9] ION Television’s ‘WWE Main Event’ Debuts With Network’s Highest Male Ratings in a Year – Ratings | TVbytheNumbers. (n.d.). TV Ratings, TV Nielsen Ratings, Television Show Ratings | TVbytheNumbers.com. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/10/04/ion-televisions-wwe-main-event-debuts-with-networks-highest-male-ratings-in-a-year/151696/

[10] ION Television Acquires Popular Police Drama “Flashpoint” from CBS             Television Distribution | Business Wire. (n.d.). Press Release Distribution, Financial Disclosure, Online Newsrooms, PR, Public Relations, Investor Relations, EDGAR filing, XBRL, Breaking News, Business News, Financial News | Business Wire. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110125006261/en/ION-Television-Acquires-Popular-Police-Drama-%E2%80%9CFlashpoint%E2%80%9D

[11] ION Television | Positively Entertaining. (n.d.). ION Television | Positively                         Entertaining. http://www.iontelevision.com

[12] Qubo | TV Programming for Kids. (n.d.). Qubo | TV Programming for Kids.                  http://www.qubo.com

[13] Ratings: Flashpoint up 13% from last fall | TV, eh?. (n.d.). TV, eh? | What’s up in          Canadian television. http://www.tv-eh.com/2012/10/18/ratings-flashpoint-up-13-from-last-fall/

[14] Cable, L. R., & AM, 8. 9. (n.d.). ION Acquires ‘Numb3rs’ – 2012-08-07 13:30:15 | Broadcasting & Cable. Cable Television News, Broadcast, Syndication, Programming & Local TV | Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/488283-ION_Acquires_Numb3rs_.php

[15] http://newhouse-web.syr.edu/newhouse_img/news/Holloway.jpg

Hearst Television

Posted on by

by David William Olivas

Popularly known as (self-proclaimed) The First Choice in the industry, Hearst Television Incorporated is a major broadcast company with diverse holdings in a wide variety of geographic markets and active interests all fields of entertainment. The company was founded in 1997 as the Hearst-Argyle Company but is recognized as part of its father Hearst Corporation venture founded by William Randolph Hearst in 1928 (a company today with interests in newspapers, magazines, networks, TV stations, publishing, cable networks, internet businesses, and real estate). HTV owns and operates two radio stations and thirty television stations, predominately affiliated with either ABC or NBC Universal Television Distribution, and has also recently become a leading contender for the future of internet broadcasting. It is a nationally renowned newscasting company with a long history of award-winning journalism, once feared as much as Rupurt Murdoch’s News Corp was in recent years, now known only for its long standing loyalty to their clients. The company operates out of the Hearst Tower in Manhattan, New York City.

Frank A. Bennack Jr.

(Image courtesy of BC)
Frank Bennack Jr.

“We have grown from a single flagship newspaper in San Francisco to a New York-based global media and information leader whose 24/7 reach extends to more than 100 countries and whose voice speaks in over 35 languages. We are truly, as our 125th anniversary ad campaign says, “Media that moves the world.”

-Frank Bennack Jr, CEO

Hearst Corporation’s 125th Anniversary

Location

Hearst Tower
300 West 57th Street, 959 8th Avenue
Manhattan, New York City, New York
Tel: (212) 887-6800
Fax: (212) 887-6855
http://www.hearsttelevision.com/
Key Executives

David J. Barrett President & CEO
Jordan Wertlieb Executive Vice President
Frank Biancuzzo Senior Vice President
John J. Drain Senior Vice President, Finance
Roger Keating Senior Vice President
Philip M. Stolz Senior Vice President
Candy Altman Vice President, News
Brian Bracco Vice President, News
Emerson Coleman Vice President, Programming
Martin Faubell Vice President, Engineering
Suzanne Grethen Vice President, Marketing & Promotion
Kathleen Keefe Vice President, Sales
Alvin Lustgarten Vice President, Administration and IT
Barbara Maushard Vice President, News
Jonathan Mintzer Vice President, Corporate Secretary
Jeana Stanley Vice President of Financial Planning

 

History

The now-subsidiary company was incepted in the mid-eighties by founder and father George Hearst (1820–1891)–at the time, a U.S. senator. He entered the world of newspaper as a publisher in 1880 by acquiring the rights to the San Francisco Daily Examiner, and seven even years later he gave  the paper to his son William Randolph Hearst, who transformed the Examiner into The Monarch of the Dallies in 1887. William Randolph Hearst made it a point to buy and utilize the most modern printing equipment available to a late eighties publisher and, through the combination of his modernization efforts and the best known journalists and upstanding journalism around, completely transformed the paper into the legendary force it is today. Suffice it to say, the Examiner was a financial success and powerful influence within years. Then, in 1895, William Randolph Hearst bought the rights to popular publication The New York Journal, and his newspaper dynasty skyrocketed into a new era of big corporation publication. Before 1920, his chain of influence would reach from coast to coast.

Assets

As a television player, Hearst owns the largest number of ABC-affiliated stations and the second largest number of NBC-affiliated stations in the business with regards to size of audience reached (18% of total households in the United States). Hearst TV broadcasts all over the country. It also operates two radio stations in Baltimore, WBAL (Channel 1090) and WIYY (Channel 97.9). Hearst is known predominately for its finely tuned, hard-hitting newscasts, but also for engaging audiences through popular entertainment television and a variety local programming. As of 2012, the Hearst name extends to a sum of exactly twenty nine television stations. Ten of those are affiliated with NBC, thirteen with ABC, two through either CBS and CW, and finally a single MyNetworkTV affiliate. Its most recent inter-corporation acquisitions (originally a part of Hearst Broadcasting Inc.) are television stations KCWE, WMOR-TV, and WPBF, as well as radio stations WBAL radio and WIYY, all of these movements taking place 2009.

(Graph by David William Olivas)
CLICK TO ENLARGE

Recent Activity

In 2009 the company blocked public access to their financial records (21). Since then there has been no public release of any kind as to how the Television division of Hearst Corporation is doing financially. More so, in the fall quarter of 2012, Hearst Television managed to keep out of the news altogether from August 26th to November 15th. Starting on the 15th, however, the company was thrown back into the public eye when they released several statements addressing the state of their changing corporation, announced quite a few positional transitions and promotions within their subsidiaries, and made headlines alongside a few of the broader-spectrum changes in 2012 that were sweeping the world of mass media.

Joe Addalia

(Image courtesy of Audio Leveling)
CALM Act and Joe Addalia

On the 15th, Hearst Television’s Joe Addalia was chosen to publicly respond to the implication of a new CALM Act, which would require commercial-making advertisers to comply with clear cut, mandatory auditory limits in order to provide family consumers with quieter programming. Many broadcast companies reacted negatively, knee deep in the backlash from their advertising interests. However, Hearst (and Mr. Addalia) responded positively, re-stating their unwavering stance on loyalty to their long-time consumers and their goad of embracing the changes head on. (1)

John Humpries

(Image Courtesy of MySelda)
John Humphries

On November 30th, John L. Humphries was promoted to President and General Manager of Hearst Television’s WGAL station in Lancaster Pennsylvania. Humphries previously held a powerful position at Hearst Television’s Greenville, South Carolina station WYFF. (2) Also on November 30th, Brian Bracco (former station group Vice President) was named the new Vice President and General Manager of an NBC affiliate in Kansas City as well as a smaller station in Lawrence, Kansas. (3)

 

 

Two other staff changes only now being released in late Fall are that of Jordan Wertlieb’s new Presidency and David J. Barrett’s new position as Chairman, both of the Hearst Television as a whole. Frank A. Bennack, CEO of the company, said this with regard to the two promotions. “I congratulate [them] on [their] new roles and look forward to [their] continued stewardship of the expansion and success of Hearst Television.” (20)

Scheduled for Friday, December 7th, the 27th annual WTAE-TV Project Bundle-Up Telethon will continue Hearst Television’s tradition of senior citizen and children oriented community service in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, through a day-long telethon that won’t interrupt regularly scheduled programming. The details of Project Bundle-Up were announced through the WTAE website as well as a brief history of the project and summation of the Hearst media legacy. Sponsored by the Salvation Army, the telethon will feature an hour-long weather special as volunteers accept call-in pledges, and all proceeds go towards the Salvation Army. In the 27-year history of this program, more than 11 million dollars have been raised. (4) On an interesting side note, this year, the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers decided to team up with Hearst to help a younger audience shop for their winter coats.

Sources
  1. http://broadcastengineering.com/audio/hearst-television-targets-calm-compliance-29-stations
  2. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/63884/john-humphries-tapped-to-be-wgal-gm
  3. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/kshb-names-brian-bracco-general-manager_b71602
  4. http://www.wtae.com/news/27th-Annual-WTAE-TV-Project-Bundle-Up-Telethon-Airs-Friday-December-7th/-/9681432/17608332/-/g89qsg/-/index.html
  5. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/david-j-barrett-named-chairman-jordan-wertlieb-named-president-of-hearst-television_b72342
  6. http://www.hearsttelevision.com/our_company/timeline/index.html
  7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Randolph_Hearst
  8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Television
  9. http://www.hearsttelevision.com/our_company/about_Our_Company/index.html
  10. http://bit.ly/TFSCo0
  11. http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/64044/barrett-wertlieb-upped-at-hearst-TV
  12. http://broadcastengineering.com/audio/hearst-television-targets-calm-compliance-29-stations
  13. http://www.kansascity.com/2012/11/30/3942329/former-kmbc-boss-bracco-now-kshb.html
  14. http://www.deadline.com/2012/12/hearst-television-david-barret/
  15. http://www.hearstfdn.org/
  16. http://www.hearstfdn.org/about/about-hearst-foundations/
  17. http://www.hearstfdn.org/about/william-randolph-h earst/
  18. http://www.hearsttelevision.com/our_company/our_stations/index.html
  19. http://www.hearsttelevision.com/our_company/timeline/index.html
  20. https://plus.google.com/117276923788526037867/posts
  21. http://www.hearsttelevision.com/financial-information/index.html