Category Archives: Television Companies

TV Companies

Sinclair Broadcast Group

Posted on by 
by Steven Geer

Logo courtesy of www.sbg.net

Headquarters – 10706 Beaver Dam Road, Hunt Valley, Maryland 21030

Telephone – (410)-568-1500

Social Media – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter (@sbgi)

Brief History

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/photo/262/262314-Credit_Nicholas_Griner_Baltimore_Business_Journal.jpg

David B. Smith, President & CEO – Photo courtesy of Nicholas Griner, Baltimore Business Journal

Sinclair Broadcasting Group is a telecommunications company located in Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA. Founded as Chesapeake Television Corporation in 1971 by Julian Sinclair Smith, its station ownership started in Balitmore (WBFF), Pittsburgh (WPTT/WPMY) and Columbus (WTTE). In 1985, the remaining stocks of the business were bought out by Smith’s four sons and its name was changed to Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Since 1988, David B. Smith has served as President & CEO while the remaining brothers hold executive positions as well. Their leadership brought the company to a new level, expanding both its audience reach and content variety. In 1995, the company became publicly traded on NASDAQ with the symbol SBGI [1][2].

Sinclair Broadcasting was a pioneer of local marketing agreements in the early 1990’s. Though many stations are owned and operated by Sinclair, others are affiliated through LMA’s. Sinclair’s stations are affiliated with major networks like Fox, NBC, CBS, and ABC. Also, this company was one of the first to experiment with “prepackaged” news programs, produced by the news organization, News Central [3].

Sinclair has a diverse array of holdings outside telecommunications as well. Ring of Honor Wrestling is just one of their many subsidiaries. They air the content they produce in certain markets and upload some episodes to YouTube.

Here is Ring Of Honor Episode 54 from October 11, 2012:

Recent Acquisitions and News

A buying spree in 2011 and early 2012 added the assets of Four Points Media Group, the Freedom Communications stations group, and six stations from Newport Television [4][5][6]. Sinclair Broadcast Group now operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States.

Their most recent acquisitions closed December 1, 2012  and include stations in new and previously established markets. In addition to increasing the audience reach of Sinclair 3%, these purchases also increased the number of affiliated stations in Sinclair’s portfolio. Some of the stations now owned by Sinclair are WTTA (MNT) Tampa, KBTV (FOX) Beaumont, WKRC (CBS) Cincinnati, WOAI (NBC) San Antonio, WHP (CBS) Harrisburg, WPMI (NBC) and WJTC (IND) Mobile, KSAS (FOX) Wichita, and WHAM (ABC) Rochester.

See all of Sinclair’s holdings and their information here.

Sinclair’s Markets – Map courtesy of Sinclair Broadcast Group

The failure of New Central and Sinclair’s profile as a “profit first, journalism second” broadcaster prompted the company to shift its focus to quality news in local markets. Sinclair’s recent acquisitions included many local news stations, atypical purchases for the company, but smart because of their powerful local presence. Sinclair has even joined the National Association of Broadcasters, a sign that they’re willingness to participate in Washington alongside competitors [7].

Hurricane Sandy had a large impact on many viewers in Sinclair’s markets, creating an opportunity for the company to serve its local constituents. During the storm, Sinclair provided non-stop coverage by “simulcasting” the news programs online. This allowed those without power to access it using mobiles phones and tablets. Online streaming and other technology platforms are being considered at Sinclair Group. Chief tech executive Del Parks spoke for the company claiming that the multiscreen experience is, “a very personal thing for our news operations.” Simulcasting was also used this fall in local office campaigns within certain Sinclair markets by streaming town hall debates on their website [8].

On November 13, 2012 it was announced that Sinclair Broadcasting would be partnering with Datasphere, a technology company aimed at small business solutions in major media and reaching the hyperlocal market. Sinclair’s television station websites will be retrofitted with Datasphere’s event calendars for local event lists in each market. An example of this calendar can be seen on WBFF Baltimore’s event website. This will be used alongside a whole new technology platform at Sinclair Group. It is a full-sized service that connects local small businesses to media companies for advertising needs. Datasphere’s services will be introduced into 21 markets including Austin, Baltimore, Columbus, Dayton, Nashville and San Antonio [9].

Sinclair attends many industry conferences. Their next conference is the JP Morgan Global HYLFC in Miami Beach, February 25-27, 2013.

Financial Overview

Sinclair’s income statement for December 2, 2012 shows the stock price settling at $11.03; this is still low compared to their period of $14.00+ shares back in 2003-2004. This company has battled through the economic recession, however, showing staggering growth in returns over a three year period. In fact, they’ve quadrupled the 3 year return percentage of their competitor Belo Corporation from 2009 to 2012 [10].

SBGI Total Returns Comparison

Chart courtesy of www.ycharts.com

Three year returns are a significant figure for a long-term shareholder of this company. High returns indicate a growing business. Sinclair has rebounded from the recession and continues to show steady growth.

High third quarter revenues this year were reported following Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath. The 44% increase from $181 million to $260 million was attributed to political advertising associated with the campaign season and a spike in automotive advertising on Sinclair’s stations. After reaching retransmission agreements with networks like Comcast and Dish, Sinclair found that higher retransmissions revenues also contributed to the figure [11][12].

Hear or watch the rebroadcast of the 3rd quarter 2012 earnings results here.

Sinclair’s financial calendar is as follows:

  • February 6, 2013 – Fourth Quarter 2012 Earnings Report
  • May 1, 2013 – First Quarter 2013 Earnings Report
  • June 16, 2013 – Annual Shareholders Meeting
  • August 7, 2013 – Second Quarter 2013 Earnings Report
  • November 6, 2013 – Third Quarter 2013 Earnings Report

Controversies

Sinclair Broadcasting, though successful and respected in the industry, is not immune to scrutiny by its competition and the public eye. The company is known for blatantly taking sides on social and political issues including political campaigns. A conservative bias can be noticed in the programming Sinclair chooses to air around election time. Even so, they deny any partisanship and claim to only be informing and engaging the public.

Photo courtesy of cbs12.com

The 2012 Presidential Campaign was another opportunity for Sinclair to garner the profits of political advertising at the cost of their audience’s scheduled news programming. The decision to preempt regular programs in order to air the “ABC 6 Election Special – VOTE 2012” didn’t sit well with supporters of Obama [13]. The special was aired in markets all located in battleground states.

A writer for The Baltimore Sun wrote in an article that, “the only thing that was lower than the attack-ad-dominated style of campaigning by both sides was the performance of an increasingly superficial and partisan press,” [14][15]. Sinclair has since rejected the criticism, claiming that the specials were focused on the issues and not so much the candidates, and that the markets where they were aired had more “news value.” [16]

Watch a recap of the election special here.

In a dispute with Dish Network this past August, Sinclair was ready to black out 74 of its stations carried by Dish when they wouldn’t accept a new retransmission agreement. A public exchange of words between the two companies resulted in high tensions and little motivation for Sinclair to bargain with the distributor. Dish claimed that Sinclair was charging more than any other broadcaster, resulting in higher subscription fees for customers. Sinclair, however, views retransmission fees as an important resource for the company. A multi-year consent agreement was finally reached after several weeks. Sinclair has become increasingly aggressive towards television providers and retransmission fees. Similar disputes between Mediacom, Time Warner, and Comcast all ended with agreements favoring Sinclair [17].

 

Sources

[1]: http://www.sbgi.net/about/history.shtml

[2]: http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/sbgi

[3]: http://www.sbgi.net/about/profile.shtml

[4]: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/473517-Sinclair_Grabs_Four_Points_Stations_for_200_Mil.php

[5]: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/19/sinclairbroadcast-acquisition-idUSL4E8IJ3M120120719

[6]: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/19/us-sinclairbroadcast-acquisition-idUSBRE86I0OY20120719

[7]: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/481963-Local_TV_s_Death_Star_Gets_in_Sync.php

[8]: http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/63574/second-screens-now-a-necessity-at-sinclair

[9]: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/13/4981878/datasphere-teams-up-with-sinclair.html

[10]: http://ycharts.com/companies/SBGI/performance

[11]: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hmOfM9u5nekq4hbPyXAmLOj9OErg?docId=365c480866ce41d9b245673a0f614900

[12]: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/490194-Sinclair_Revenue_Up_49_.php

[13]: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/sinclair-under-fire-for-airing-partisan-special-on-stations-in-battleground-states-on-election-eve_b68439

[14]: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-11-07/entertainment/bal-election-night-tv-twitter-youtube-20121106_1_sinclair-stations-baltimore-s-wbff-sinclair-broadcast-group

[15]: http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=21681

[16]: http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/63412/sinclair-rejects-criticism-of-election-specials

[17]: http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/dish-network-sinclair-retransmission-agreement/

 

Links

http://www.linkedin.com/company/13038?trk=tyah

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sinclair-Broadcast-Group/112322242116588?ref=ts&fref=ts

https://twitter.com/sbgi

http://http//www.sbgi.net/corp_governance/directors.shtml#David_Smith

http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/sbgi

http://www.sbgi.net/business/markets/all.shtml

http://www.rohwrestling.com/

http://www.nab.org/

http://datasphere.com/

http://events.foxbaltimore.com/

http://www.sbgi.net/investors/calendar.shtml

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=sbgi+Income+Statement&annual

http://www.belo.com/

http://www.sbgi.net/investors/webcasts.shtml

http://www.sbgi.net/investors/calendar.shtml

http://www.cbs12.com/news/features/vote/local/#

http://www.baltimoresun.com/

Raycom Media

Posted on by 
by Raja Ram

Raycom Media

Company Description:

Raycom Media Inc. engages in television and radio broadcasting through its subsidiaries. It participates in the sports marketing, video production and telecommunications. The firm also participates in video broadcasting with a focus on corporate, commercial, and manufacturing clients. In addition, they work with state and local governments nation-wide to provide systematic support in telecommunications and broadcasting. For example, one subsidiary, KCBD, broadcasts political advertisements. Below is a video that demonstrates their involvement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhBTc1EMfNg  [3]

Raycom Media Inc currently owns and provides services for 52 stations [1]. It covers 12.6% of US households and employs over 3,500 individuals [1]. The firm is currently employee-owned and is not publically traded [1]. In addition, Raycom’s chief subsidiaries include Raycom Sports, a sports marketing firm in Charlotte, North Carolina and Broadview Media which is a post-production company in Montgomery, Alabama. They also own the rights to regional cable and syndication television to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Athletics [1].

The firm bolsters offices in Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, North Carolina and South Carolina, but is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama. The company’s contact information and key executives are listed below [9].

Key Executives for Raycom Media, Inc [9]:

Mr. Paul H. McTear
Chief Executive Officer and President

Ms. Melissa Thurber
Chief Financial Officer and Vice President

Mr. Wayne Daugherty
Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President

Mr. David Folsom
Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Technology

Ms. Rebecca Bryan
Vice President and General Counsel

Contact Information:
201 Monroe Street
RSA Tower
20th Floor
Montgomery, AL 36104
United States
Phone: 334-206-1400
Fax:334-206-1555
http://www.raycommedia.com/

Company History:

Raycom Sports was founded in 1979 [7] by Rick Ray who left his former station in order to a tap into the college basketball market.

He partnered up with Dee Birke and started buying the rights to games, and producing, syndicating, and selling commercials to cover expenses. Eventually, Ray acquired the rights to ACC sports teams by 1981 [7] after forming a joint venture with another broadcasting firm Jefferson-Pilot Sports. All syndicated programming was distributed over landlines through AT&T networks. The company flourished under a unique business model in which they purchased all advertising space from local stations, and then sold the allocated time to advertisers at a higher premium. They also incorporated a central monitoring system that allowed for easy billing the following day to advertisers.

The firm continued its successful growth based off the model that local stations broadcasting local sports could be more successful than broadcasting out of region sports programming in multiple sites. In addition, they broadcasted sports programming from ESPN, and in “blacked out” regions. Raycom also partnered with ABC and purchased airtime from the network in order to show sports programming. The deal was so successful, that up until 1995 [7], the two remained partners.

The network continued to expand its horizons and began broadcasting bowl games, and ACC championship games. In addition, they got the rights to broadcast the Charlotte Bobcats NBA games [7]. They also began airing television programming such as “More than a Game”, which featured positive stories from the sports world. They also syndicated a number of specials on the life of Elvis Presley including “Elvis Graceland” (1987) [7].

In 1992, Bert Ellis formed Ellis Communications which at the time consisted of 13 television stations [7]. Ellis was a good friend of Ray’s and acquired Raycom Sports in 1994 [7]. He consequently sold the firm to an Atlanta based pension fund, Retirement Systems of Alabama, later that year. Through the merger of three big media hubs, Raycom Media Inc was founded in 1996 [1]. Initially the merger consisted of the purchase of 15 television stations, and other networks. This included the sports marketing firm that Raycom Sports, a distribution company and two radio stations.

Current Activity

Raycom Media Inc. is currently employee-owned, and has performed moderately well in comparison to competitors. Some of the firm’s current competitors include Media General Inc., Hearst Television Inc., and Nextar Broadcasting Group Inc [4]. Although these competitors provide similar broadcasting, marketing, and television services, Raycom excels with its sports marketing division. In addition, in recent years they have made strides to advance their uniqueness by branching out onto mobile devices and tablets [5].

Since Raycom media is a privately owned firm, their financials are not made available to the public. They are however, subject to auditing by the SEC and its subsidiaries [10]. Some financial data is available. Their annual revenue is $183.6 million [8]. The firm has not reported any significant loss or inability to meet expectations in the past year.

The firm has a number of subsidiaries. These include but are not limited to the following: KAIT, KCBD,KFVS, KGMB, KHNL/KOGG/KHBC, KLTV, KOLD, KPLC, KSLA,KTRE, WAFB, WAFF, WALB, WAVE, WBRC, WBTV, WBXH, WCSC, WDAM, WDFX, WECT, WFIE, WFLX, WFXG, WIS, WLBT, WLOX, and WMBF [2].

Raycom Media has four major programs. The first is “America Now” [14] which is a lifestyle magazine with several local appeals. The second is the “ACC Network” [15]. This network broadcasts both basketball and football games of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They also broadcast a number of individual programming such as player, coaches, and team interviews. In addition, they provide feedback and analysis on games including the ACC championship games. Third is “Bounce TV” [13] which airs programming and sports directed at African Americans 20+ and provide regional original programming as well. Finally, there is “Right this Minute” which airs originally programming that connects the internet and social media to broaden the appeal of television [2].

       

The firm also provides a number of career opportunities in marketing, sales, programming, and broadcast to prospective employees. To see the different opportunities within Raycom Media, please watch the following clip [3]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3lxtbJrF4I

Recent News

April 13, 2011: Raycom Media Inc., Cox Media Group, and The E.W Scripps Company partners up with MagicDust to create “Right this Minute”. This original programming will incorporate the internet, social media, and new storytelling methods to broaden the appeal of modern television. In addition, the programming is expected to reach 30% of American households and will be available for nationwide syndication. It will comprise of an hour-long special every weekday [9].

May 5, 2012: Raycom Media Inc announces the first ever exclusive African American programming station, Bounce TV. It is intended to reach 26 Raycom markets [2].

May 12, 2011: Raycom overhauls its broadcasting graphics system and replaces it with Chyron BlueNet graphics workflow. All 31 of its stations will now have the HD upgrade and will be outfitted with two dual-channel LEX3 on air graphics systems, a CAMIO server, and iSO monitoring application. This will allow Raycom’s networks to broadcast programming in HD and have fully automated playout as well as real-time playout. Raycom will incorporate BlueNet into its current cloud-based services [9].

May 23, 2011: MSA Security forms partnership with Raycom Media Inc.  This allows Raycom’s Media’s local news affiliates to use MSA Security’s analysis in its local news broadcasting. This includes analytics on some of the top counterterrorism operations within the past year [2].

July 12, 2011: Raycom media is recognized by PromaxBDA which represents broadcasting, cable, and advertising agencies as well as new media programming. This is one of the first steps for Raycom Media to become a national contender in broadcasting [2].

July 25, 2011: Raycom Media Inc, and Meredith Local Media sign an online pact that allows Meredith Local Media to access Raycom News Network and its digital content hub in Montgomery, Alabama [2].

September 29, 2011: Raycom Media Inc. debuts “America Now” which provides local news and broadcasting for regional areas. Upon initial airing of the program, it bolstered a strong viewership, and attracted many new viewers in “blacked out” regions [2].

January 18, 2012: Raycom Media Inc acquires New York based firm Tupeo-Honey Productions (THP) and 50% of the parent company My Tueplo Entertainment. This adds to the company’s production capacity. Most of Tupelo-Honey Production’s managing staff will remain in their current positions [2].

August 1, 2012:Raycom Media Inc. partners up with the College Football All-Star Classic to bring together the top contenders in college football in a week-long event played in Montgomery, Alabama [2].

August 13, 2012: Raycom Media Inc. launches its tablet applications for all 32 news stations. This is intended to connect consumers with local news and weather remotely. It is available for both android and iPad tablets. In addition, it includes live radar and storm tracking, breaking news push alerts, local sports including high school and college, and viewer submitted content. The application is compatible with iOS, Android, RIM, and mobile web [9].

References

1. Raycom Media Inc.–http://www.raycommedia.com/about/

2. Raycom Media News–http://www.raycommedia.com/news/

3. Youtube.com–http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3lxtbJrF4I, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhBTc1EMfNg

4. InsideView–http://www.insideview.com/directory/raycom-media-inc

5. New York Times: BusinessWeek–http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/business/the-media-business-advertising-addenda-people-111716.html

6. Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail– http://www.rtjgolf.com/partners/

7. Raycom Sports History–http://www.raycomsports.com/about-us/company-history/expanded-company-history/

8. Hoovers D&B Company–http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/competition.Raycom_Media_Inc.8cc7c242ffb31d6f.html

9. Bloomberg BusinessWeek–http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=681777

10. Bloomberg–http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/24601Z:US/

11.Victory Management Group– http://vmg1.info/vmg-names-rick-ray-chairman-2/

12. IMD– http://www.imdb.com/

13. Bounce TV– http://www.bouncetv.com/

14. America Now — http://www.americanownews.com/

15. ACC Network– http://www.americanownews.com/

16. Right this Minute — http://www.rightthisminute.com/

Meredith

Posted on by 
by Joseph Palagonia

Address: 1716 Locust Street,

Des Moines, IA 50309-3023

Phone: 515-284-3000

Official Website: www.meredith.com

Overview

Meredith Corporation, a media and marketing company, engages in magazine publishing and related brand licensing, television broadcasting, digital and customer relationship marketing, digital and mobile media, and video creation operations in the United States. It operates in two segments, National Media and Local Media. The National Media segment publishes magazines for women focusing on the home and family market. [1]

Mission Statement

“We are Meredith Corporation, a publicly held media and marketing company founded upon service to our customers and committed to building value for our shareholders. Our cornerstone is knowledge of the home and family market. From that, we have built businesses that serve well-defined readers and viewers, deliver the messages of advertisers, and extend our brand franchises and expertise to related markets. Our products and services distinguish themselves on the basis of quality, customer service, and value that can be trusted.” [2]

Meredith Corporation’s main principles include focusing on long term success, returning superior funds to their stockholders, and dedicating their lives to their employees and customers.

Strategies

As we build our businesses for the future, the company is focused on three key strategies:

  • We will further develop our fundamental commitment to publishing – the essential element of our home-and-family focus.
  • We will further develop our fundamental commitment to broadcasting – an essential element of our growth strategy.
  • We will produce additional revenues and profit by integrating and leveraging the assets of our core businesses across multiple platforms. [2]

History

Edwin Thomas Meredith [2] founded the Meredith Corporation in 1902, when he began publishing Successful Farming magazine. After the publication’s success, the company in 1912 moved to it’s current headquarters located in Des Moines. Since then, many additions have been added to the building including a $40 campus addition completed in 1998.

Key Personnel

Stephen M. Lacy                                                                                  Joseph H. Ceryanec

Chairman, President and CEO                 Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

————————————–

John S. Zieser

Chief Development Officer, General Counsel

Tom Harty

President, Meredith National Media Group

Paul Karpowicz

President, Meredith Local Media Group

Steven M. Cappaert

Corporate Controller

Local Coverage

Meredith Corporation provides entertainment for audiences on a local level. Led by President Paul Karpowicz, it’s television station group affiliates include CBS, FOX, and NBC. With its 12 local broadcast stations across the country, over 10 million U.S. households world wide receive forms of media from Meredith.

Meredith Stations

CBS Atlanta 46 CBS Atlanta (WGCL 46)
Atlanta, GA
Local News | Weather		 CBS 5 KPHO
Phoenix, AZ
Local News | Weather
FOX 12 Oregon KPTV FOX 12 Oregon (KPTV)
Portland, OR
Local News | Weather		 PDX TV PDX TV (KPDX)
Portland, Oregon
WFSB Channel 3 WFSB Channel 3
Hartford/New Haven, CT
Local News | Weather		 WSMV Channel 4 WSMV Channel 4
Nashville, TN
Local News | Weather
KCTV Channel 5
Kansas City, MO
Local News | Weather		 My KSMO TV
Kansas City, MO
FOX Carolina 21 FOX Carolina (WHNS 21)
Greenville, SC – Asheville, NC
Local News | Weather		 FOX 5 Vegas FOX 5 Vegas (KVVU)
Las Vegas, NV
Local News | Weather
WNEM Channel 5
Flint/Saginaw, MI
Local News | Weather		 CBS 3 Springfield WSHM CBS 3 Springfield (WSHM)
Springfield/Holyoke, MA
Local News | Weather

Also within Meredith’s Local Media Brands is a service developed and known as ONE Service, or On-Air Notification Entry System. ONE Service is an efficient solution to presenting time-sensitive information on the news, that would be traditionally found in local newspapers. A major service of ONE Service is their Obituary Notification service, which announces during weekday morning or noon shows and on weekend morning shows of any obituary notifications within up to 4 days, along with information of the respective upcoming funeral services. [4]

National Coverage

On a national level, Meredith Corporation is solidified by its core selection of magazines. From ranging selections including fitness to farming, Meredith Corporation helps provide knowledge to help women in all aspects of their lives. Magazines within Meredith Corporation include:

  • Better Homes and Gardens
  • More
  • Ladies’ Home Journal
  • Family Circle
  • Fitness
  • Parents
  • ReadyMade
  • Traditional Home
  • American Baby
  • Midwest Living
  • Wood
  • Successful Farming
  • Siempre Mujer
  • Ser Padres

Over the last year, Meredith has aggressively expanded its digital portfolio by offering:

  • Subscriptions and single-issues of nearly 20 brands on a range of tablet devices and distribution channels;
  • Over a dozen branded mobile Apps each with over 1 million downloads;
  • A broad array of branded consumer websites, including the recently acquired Allrecipes.com, that comprise the Meredith Women’s Network and reach approximately 40 million unique users every month;
  • Over 10,000 original videos, including the recently launched Digs Channel on YouTube. [5]

International Coverage

Along with local and national coverage, Meredith Corporation offers an service to international consumers throughout the world through its international branch, Meredith International. Meredith International’s goal, led by Meredith Corporation’s Chief Development Officer John Zieser, is to extend Meredith’s leading consumer publications to people of all countries.

Meredith offers its partners high-end editorial content, marketing expertise and consumer research derived from more than 100 years of experience as the leading media company serving women in the United States. The backbone to our ability to share content is Meredith’s proprietary digital library, housing over a million images and articles, and hundreds of hours of video. [12]

Click on the following link to watch a detailed description of Meredith International

 

Latest News

January

Meredith Corporation acquired the assets of Family Fun from Disney Publishing Worldwide to acquire the highly popular magazine, along with its special interest publications and its Toy Hopper and digital magazine applications. Financial terms of the acquisition however have yet to be disclosed [6].

February

Meredith Corporation announces its renewal of The Better Show for its sixth straight season, beginning in September 2012. The show has already cleared four of the top five U.S. markets (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia) and has already sold in 135 cities. Groups such as CBS, Lin, Sinclair, Hearst, Newport, Gray, Northwest, and New Age have renewed or acquired the rights for the fall. [7]

March

Meredith Corporation and the Reader’s Digest Association Inc. reached an agreement for Meredith’s acquisition of Allrecipes.com, the world’s NO. 1 digital food brand. This acquisition placed Meredith first in comScore’s Food Community rankings, doubled Meredith Women’s Network’s audience, and granted it the power to offer advertisers and marketers access to more than 100 million American women across all media platforms. The transaction was valued at $175 million [8]

April

Meredith Corporation increased its rate base for EatingWell magazine from 500,000 to 600,000, an increase from 70 percent from the year before. In January 2012, EatingWell’s rate base had been raised from 350,000 to 500,000, and is currently being visited by close to 4 million unique visitors a month. [9] On April 16, 2012, Jon Werther had been named Meredith Corporation’s Chief Strategy Officer, placing him in charge of evolving corporate and business unit strategies and leading key initiatives. [10]

June

Meredith Corporation announced its decision to offer digital editions of its most popular magazines, including such well-known titles as Family Circle, EveryDay with Rachel Ray, Ladies’ Home Journal, Midwest Living, and MORE, as magazines on Google Play. [6]

October

Meredith Corporation announced that it had reached an agreement with CelebTV (www.celebtv.com)  to feature daily original HD videos on Meredith’s Divine Caroline (www.divinecaroline.com) site. Under the terms of the arrangement, CelebTV will play videos on everything Hollywoood, ranging from breaking news, movie reviews, celebrity hookups, pregnancies, and more. With Divine Caroline having over 2 million monthly unique visitors, Meredith Women’s Network had reached 40 million unique vistors monthly. [11]

 

Works Cited:

[1] Meredith Corporation Summary – Yahoo! Finance

[2] Meredith Corporation Mission Statement

[3] Meredith Corporation Local Coverage

[4] Meredith Corporation ONE Service

[5] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=130026

[6] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=110544

[7] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=118747

[8] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=122827

[9] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=126857

[10] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=126930

[11] http://meredith.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2311&item=134685

[12] http://www.meredith.com/meredith_corporate/meredith_intl.html

 

Gannett Broadcasting

Posted on by 
by Scott Weinstein

Gannett Co., Inc.
7950 Jones Branch Drive
McLean, VA 22107-0150
703-854-6000 / www.gannett.com

A Brief Overview

In 1923, Frank Gannet founded Gannett Company, Inc. in Rochester, New York. It began as an extension of Gannett’s newspaper company that was founded in 1906 and has expanded to a multi-media company that no longer just publishes newspapers (1). “Gannett is a media and marketing solutions company with a diverse portfolio of broadcast, digital, mobile and publishing companies.” They own more than 90 daily newspapers, about 1,000 weekly newspapers, 23 television stations and many more media holdings. Gannett operates in 41 U.S. states and six countries (2). Gannett is expanding its brand and as the CEO, Gracia Martore said at the UBS Global Communications Conference, “The media business does not stand still for even a minute we take for granted that change is relentless and we have to show up with our A game everyday.” (3)

Gannett Broadcasting: Company Overview

Gannett Broadcasting’s division is comprised of 23 television stations and its subsidiary Captivate. The former reaches 21 million households in 20 markets, which is approximately 18.2% of the U.S. population (2). The latter is a company that delivers news, information, and advertising through video monitors in elevators. They are currently located in North America and reach more than 4 million workers (4). At the end of 2011, the amount of employees, both full-time and part-time, totaled about 2,600 (5).

 

Executives (6)

The Faces of Gannett Company, Inc. (Lougee, Beall, Martore, Harker)(16,17,18,19)

Broadcast Office

David T. Lougee , President, Gannett Broadcasting

Lynn Beall; Executive vice president, Gannett Broadcasting, and president and general manager, KSDK-TV, St. Louis, MO

Company Office

Gracia Martore, President and Chief Executive Officer

Victoria D. Harker, Chief Financial Officer

Assets 

As noted earlier the company owns 23 different television stations across the country, in 21 different markets. Seven of the 21 markets owned by Gannett are in the top 20 market (7).

(20, 21, 22, 23)

The stations are comprised of 12 NBC affiliates, 6 CBS affiliates, 3 ABC affiliates, and two MyNetworkTV affiliates. These affiliation agreements expire with NBC in 2017, with CBS in 2015, and with ABC and MyNetwork TV in 2014. The most successful weekly audiences, based on the November 2011 Nielsen sweeps, are the CBS affiliate in Washington DC (WUSA-TV) with 1,797,000; the NBC affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia (WXIA-TV) with 1,602,000; and the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota (KARE-TV) with 1,297,000. (8)

The ratings of these stations continue to do well. Lucky for Gannett, more than half of its stations are NBC affiliates, and this past November was the first time since 2003 that NBC ranked number one in the Nielsen prime time ratings programming amongst adults 18-49. This increased revenue, as many people tuned into the NBC programming. Furthermore, the past Summer Olympics in London were the most watched games in Olympic history, attracting more than 200 million people. KUSA-TV in Denver was the top rated NBC market affiliate during the two-week span of the games. Their Atlanta and Minneapolis NBC affiliates were ranked second and third respectively; and their St. Louis and Phoenix did well. In total the Gannett owned affiliate stations took six of ten top NBC affiliate markets in terms of ratings during the Olympics (3).

Arizona FlagstaffPhoenix KNAZ-TV (NBC)KPNX-TV (NBC)
Arkansas Little Rock KTHV-TV (CBS)
California Sacramento KXTV-TV (ABC)
Colorado Denver KTVD-TV (My Network TV)KUSA-TV (NBC)
District of Colombia Washington WUSA-TV (CBS)
Florida JacksonvilleTampa-St. Petersburg WJXX-TV (ABC)WTLV-TV (NBC)WTSP-TV (CBS)
Georgia AtlantaMacon WATL-TV (My Network TV)WXIA-TV (NBC)WMAZ-TV (CBS)
Maine BangorPortland WLBZ-TV (NBC)WCSH-TV (NBC)
Michigan Grand Rapids WZZM-TV (ABC)
Minnesota Minneapolis-St. Paul KARE-TV (NBC)
Missouri St. Louis KSDK-TV (NBC)
New York Buffalo WGRZ-TV (NBC)
North Carolina Greensboro WFMY-TV (CBS)
Ohio Cleveland WKYC-TV (NBC)
South Carolina Columbia WLTX-TV (CBS)
Tennessee Knoxville WBIR-TV (NBC)

 

Financial Information

Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly traded media holding company (GCI). On October 15 the third quarter results were released, and the broadcasting division’s success was monumental. Both revenue and profits were at a record high in all of Gannett broadcasting history. The operating revenue increased 36% from $174.3 million the last 3rd quarter to $237 million during the most recent 3rdquarter.  The television revenue was also up 38.1% from $168.8 million a year ago to $233 million. The substantial increase is mostly attributed to advertising, which includes $41.7 million spent on political advertising and $37 million spent on the summer Olympics related ads. The Olympics brought in an unprecedented amount of revenue from advertising. Their total was up 18% from four years ago during the Beijing Olympic games. Part of the explanation was that Gannett reached out to local advertisers to sell television time to. Lougee is looking to increase the revenue even more during the 2014 Winter Olympic games in Sochi, Russia. In total, political revenue for the year will be $150 million. Prior to the 2012 election, Gannett lacked a strong political footprint, but that changed during this election. Because of more local coverage of elections, especially in swing state markets including Colorado, Florida, and Ohio, political advertising increased by a significant margin. Another source of the revenue came from retransmission fees, which accounted for $22.3 million. With retransmission consent in 2013, Gannett  will receive 135-140 million from distributors, which is up 41 to 46% from 2012. The fourth quarter results are expected to be at an all time high. When the books are closed for Gannett’s fiscal year, the broadcasting division will report record growth and revenue (3) (9).

YTD Stock Price (December 6, 2011-December 6, 2012) (24)

As far as the stock market is concerned, the current share price for GCI is $17.88. Their share price has seen an incline for the most part, as a year ago it was being sold at $13.13 (10) Just recently, a report was released by Dividend Channel that named them the top dividend stock with insider buying. On October 23, the Board of Directors of Gannett announced that a dividend of $0.20 per share would be payable to stockholders just after the new year. As of now the company is on track to return dividends up to $1.3 billion through 2015. Throughout the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference a common theme that both the CEO and CFO spoke about was making sure an increasing level of capital is returned to their shareholders. Furthermore, there is currently a large amount of cash flow totaling over one billion dollars. That money will be used to return even more cash and to invest into things that will expand the Gannett brand (3) (11).

Recent Happenings

Gannett and Dish Network

(25)

In late May, Dish Network introduced its Auto Hop feature available on its DVR service. This new technology allows users to skip over commercials on broadcast networks. While this is beneficial for TV viewers it hurts the broadcasters who lose advertising revenue. As a result of this feature, Dish Network and Gannett were having difficulty renewing their retransmission agreements (12). Gannett was looking for a 300% rate increase to compensate for the loss of revenue from advertisers. Dish Network’s stance was that they wanted to take a stand for customer choice and control. Fortunately for subscribers, rather than suffer from a blackout, the two companies reached a deal as the October 7th deadline was slightly extended. The terms of the deal have not been released, but the new contract is long term according to press releases by both companies (13).

Gannett and DirecTV

(26)

DirecTV customers narrowly avoided a blackout of Gannett television stations across the country. As the November 30th deadline approached, Gannett warned their viewers that they may experience a blackout of affiliate stations until an agreement was reached. This was all because Gannett was looking for a fair deal for retransmission fees, while DirecTV said that Gannett was trying to get customers to pay almost twice what they pay now for their stations. While the deal was made by the deadline, the details of the agreement have not been made public yet (14).

Sources

1. History of Gannett

2. Background info on the company

3. 40th Annual UBS Global Communications and Communications Conference Slide Show presentation Dec 5, 2012

4. About Captivate

5. 2011 Annual Gannett Company, Inc. Report

6. The Gannett Company, Inc. Leadership Team

7. http://www.stationindex.com/tv/tv-markets

8. 2011 Annual Gannett Company, Inc. Report pgs. 14-17

9. Q3 Earnings, October 15, 2012

10. Google Finance

11. Press Release, December 5, 2012

12. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443768804578038742408997314.html

13. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/us-dish-gannett-idUSBRE89403I20121008

14. http://www.rapidtvnews.com/index.php/25251/gannett-directv-avoid-local-tv-blackout.html

15. Captivate Image

16. Lougee image

17. Beall image

18. Martore image

19. Harker image

20. MyNetworkTV image

21. NBC image

22. ABC image

23. CBS image

24. Google Finance image

25. Dish Network image

26. DirecTV image

27. Gannett image

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entravision

Posted on by 
by [Sean Schupak]

Key Executives:

                                  Total Assets       Net Income               ($000; 2012 through Q3) [1]

  • 2008 –                592,983       –       528,556
  • 2009 –                487,927       –       50,072
  • 2010 –                490,810       –       18,086
  • 2011 –                467,321       –       8,200
  • 2012 –                451,507       –       5,904

Financial Overview:

The third period of 2012 was a period of growth for Entravision, highlighted by an increase of $8.4 million–17%–net revenue.  Television net revenue increased by $7.3 million–22%–which is by far the bulk of the company’s overall net revenue increase. [1]

Company Overview:

Entravision Communication Corporations is a Spanish-language media company with holdings in television, radio, and digital formats.  The company’s head quarters is located in Santa Monica, CA, where the company was first started in 1996.

Entravision holds 53 television stations in the United States, operating in 19 of the top 50 Hispanic markets.  Entravision’s television holdings are, for the most part, affiliates of the networks Univision and TeleFutura–the two networks owned by Univision Communications Inc.  [2]

The company’s primary source of revenue is “sales of national and local advertising time on television and radio stations, and from retransmission consent agreements.”  The company’s profits peak in the 3rd quarters of off years i.e. during years when there is either a presidential election of the FIFA World cup.

Relationship with Univision

Some of Entravision’s channes have exclusive rights deals with Univision to broadcast the corporation’s Univision and TeleFutura programming.  These are “long-term affiliation agreements” that expire in 2021, at which point they can be renewed.  Until that point, though, Entravision is entitled “to sell approximately six minutes per hour of available advertising time on Univision’s primary network, and approximately four and a half minutes per hour of available advertising time on the TeleFutura network.”

Univision also acts as Entravision’s “exclusive sales rep for the sale of national advertising on [Entravision’s] Univision–and TeleFutura–affilate television stations.”  During the third quarters of the past two years–2011 and 2012–Entravision has paid Univision “$2.8 million and $2.4 million, respectively.”

Official Logo of Univision Communications, Inc.
-corporate.univision.com

Entravision also has “marketing and sales agreements with Univision which give Entravision rights to manage marketing and sales operations of Univision owned TeleFutura and Univision affiliates in nine markets–Albuquerque, Boston, Denver, Orlando, Tampa, and Washington, D.C.” [1]

Increasing Revenue and Impact of Political Advertising:

On November 1st, Entravision reported a television revenue of $40.9 million for the its third quarter this year.  This represented a 22% increase from its third quarter revenue in 2011.

The company attributed the increased revenue, in large part, to political advertisements.  2012, being an election year, saw a large number of advertisements for various campaigns [3].  The opportunity to broadcast such advertisements was not available the previous year.  This leap in revenue due to the election period is reflective of Entravision’s increasing role in the Latino political world, and the increasing population and activity of this particular market in the United States.

2012 Presidential Election:

Entravision covered the 2012 Presidential election extensively, providing a platform with which the Latitino population in the U.S. could stay informed.  They provided the most expansive coverage of the Democratic and Republican Conventions in September.

On Labor Day, Entravision aired an exclusive interview with President Barack Obama.  Entravision was also the only Spanish-language television company that was allowed an interview with the President in the contentious, battleground state of Colorado. [4]

In October, Entravision partnered with national non-profit Mi Familia Vota Education Fund.  The two came together to provide free rides for to polls in Denver, CO; Orlando, FL; Tampa, FL; Reno, NV; Las Vegas, NV; Palm Springs, CA; Stockton, CA; and Modesto, CA in an effort to help turn our Latino voters. [5]

New Management Structure:

On November 1, Entravision announced a new management structure.  The overhaul included promoting Jeffrey A. Liberman–who had previously been President of Entravision’s radio branch–to Chief Operating Officer of the company.  Mario M. Carrera–previously Senior Vice President of Spanish-Language Television–became Entravision’s Chief Revenue Officer.  Esteban Lopez Blanco–previously Entravision’s Executive Director of Interactive–was made Chief Strategy Officer, Corporate Development and Innovation.

The restructuring was a step in Entravision’s growing interest in digital, mobile, multi-media platforming. [6]

With television, radio and interactive assets serving the fastest-growing Latino markets in the nation, Entravision is uniquely positioned to meet the integrated multi-platform marketing needs of advertisers.  Our diverse asset base provides a comprehensive offering of media solutions targeting the Spanish-language community. This new management structure will allow us to strengthen our ability to serve our advertisers and consumer audiences, drive operating efficiencies and capitalize on a range of growth opportunities.
-Walter F. Ulloa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Wells Fargo Debt:

On November 29 Entravision’s Board of Directors declared that it would pay back $40 million worth of 8.750% notes due to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.  The payment is an early payment of a part of a larger debt outstanding due in 2017.  That debt will total at $324 million after the $40 million is payed.  The payment will be payed with $20 million cash-in-hand along with another $20 million from a separate, senior banking contribution.

Official Logo of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
-upi.com-

In addition, the Board of Directors declared that it would offer up a one-time-only $0.12 a share cash dividend to stock holders. [7]

Today’s announcements demonstrate our confidence in the health of our business and its ability to deliver solid cash flows, as well as our commitment to rewarding our shareholders.  We continue to review the strategic use of our capital and are pleased to further reduce our outstanding debt and return capital to shareholders through this special dividend.”

-Walter F. Ulloa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Stock Upgrade:

On December 4th, the investment website thestreet.com upgraded Entravision’s stock from a “sell” status to a “hold,” implying that the stocks have overall become more valuable and will, at least as projected, continue to improve in value.

The ratings site cites a number of reasons for the upgrade.  Entravision has slightly exceeded the average growth rate–15.8%–by achieving 16.7% growth in the last year.  As a result, the average earnings-per-share has increased considerable over the last year, an improvement that is considered indicative of overall improvement.

However, the website also cites a number of issues with Entravision stock.  Despite a high gross profit margin, Entravision’s net profit margin is an umimpressive 12.36%, which lags behind the industry average.  And despite maintaining a “very strong quick ratio of 2.87, which shows the ability to cover short-term cash needs, “debt-to-equity ratio is very high at 50.55 and currently higher than the industry average, implying increased risk associated with the management of debt levels within the company.”  Additionally, Entravision’s closing prices in the market have remained fairly consistent–neither increasing nor decreasing dramatically. [8]

Luminar:

In early August Entravision launched Luminar, an analytics company specifically geared towards the United States’ Hispanic market.  Luminar is a partership of Entravision and Impetus Technologies.  The project aims to create “a data driven organization, creating a cloud based data services platform, and creating new revenue streams focused on Hispanic consumers.”

Entravision presented the company at the Strata.Hadoop World Conference October 24.  The new division was unveiled as “the first Big Data analytics and modeling provider connecting marketeers with US Latino consumers. Luminar helps clients identify predictability models of consumer behavior to allow companies to reach, up-sell and retain Latino consumers more effectively.” [9]

References

[1]      Entravision Quarterly Report – Yahoo Finance

[2]      Entravision Company Website

[3]      Entravision Provides Expansive Election Coverage – Yahoo Finance

[4]      TV News Check

[5]      PR Newswire

[6]      Entravision Announces New Management Structure – Yahoo Finance

[7]      Entravision Partially Redeems Wells Fargo Notes – Yahoo Finance

[8]      TheStreet.com

[9]      LuminarInsights.com

Cox Media Group

Posted on by 
by Tyler Limpert

Cox Media Group is a company within Cox Enterprises which also owns and operates the national advertising firm Cox Rep. and the national marketing company Valpak.  Cox Enterprises was founded in 1898 in Dayton, Ohio by the founder, James Middleton Cox when he purchased Dayton Evening News. Cox was so successful with the newspaper that he eventually became Ohio’s first three-term Governer and the presidential nominee in 1920. The Cox Media Group was founded over a century later in December of 2008 when Cox Enterprises combined Cox Radio, Cox Newspaper and Cox Television. Out of the 15 stations Cox Media Group owns and operates, only two were started by the group,WHIO-TV in Dayton, Ohio and WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia.  [1],[2]

2011 Metrics

  • Revenue = $1.7 Billion
  • Television Stations = 15
  • Television Viewer Reach = 30+ Million
  • Local Cable Channels = 1
  • Television Markets = 11
  • Local Cable Channels = 1
  • Page Views for Television Website = 996 million
  • Employees = 9,000 [3]
Mission Statement

Building on the foundation and talents of our core, we are transforming CMG into a digital media company by creating scalable content and advertising services businesses. And we will accomplish this with speed, passion and courage. [4]

Top Competitors

 Recent News

With the rise in audience approval of homegrown developed entertainment in the past few years and it’s expected hike in fall of 2012, Cox Media Group made sure they wouldn’t miss out on the new trend by taking up a one-third stake in RightThisMinute (along with Scripps and Raycom). The show airs during primetime on the local news channels owned by Cox Media Group all over the nation and includes viral videos with commentary from the cast. The show has a quirky 60 minutes vibe and has a log line of “Videos First, Before They Go Viral”. The show’s website also offers an option where viral videos can be sent to you by email (finally we don’t have to keep responding to that annoying coworkers emails to find the coolest viral videos!). The show which premiered in 2011 has been a success ever since and was a great investment by Cox Media Group. The show’s video content is available online at RightThisMinute.com, but to get the full episodes you need to be subscribed to a Cox, Scripps or Raycom Broadcasting network. Below is a promotional video for the show and is a good representation of the kind of informative entertainment Cox Media Group likes to provide it’s customers. [6],[7]

OCTOBER

October 3rd, 2012 Cox Media Group announces its plans to start a state-wide news operation in Georgia. The Georgia News Station powered by Cox Media Group will be replacing the the current Statewide News Network which will be filling out it’s duties until it retires at the end of the year. Cox Media Group has a long history in Georgia news and already owns WSB radio, WSB TV and the Atlanta Constitution. The headquarters for The Georgia News Station will be within the WSB radio facilities in Atlanta, GA. This integration of Cox Media Group resources combines more than 150 daily news reporters knowledge and sends it to the entire state of georgia in an easily digestible format.[8]

NOVEMBER

Dayton,Ohio
On November, 13th Cox Media Group Ohio, located in Dayton announced it will be accepting an award for it’s philanthropic contributions to the surrounding community. The award will be presented by the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Greater Dayton Region Chapter. It is a huge honor for WHIO-TV, WHIO radio and the Dayton Daily News especially since the entire Cox name grew out of Dayton, Ohio. The Cox Media Group Ohio Market Vice President Julia Wallace is accepting the award.[9]


Cox Media Group Ohio is very proud of it’s roots as the start of Cox Enterprises. In this promotional video you can see CMGO’s involvement with the surrounding community and how important Dayton’s success is to the group.

Hurricane Sandy
After Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast in early November, Cox Enterprises decided to put on their philanthropy boots. On November 12th in partnership with the John M. Cox Foundation , Cox Enterprises made a cash donation to the American Red Cross of $100,000 to be put towards the Hurricane Sandy Relief efforts. Cox Communications also helped out the American Red Cross by running ads and public service announcements online about the relief effort. Cox Media Group followed up this donation with a $75,000 donation towards Sandy relief efforts. [10]

DECEMBER

On December, 4th 2012 Cox Media Group closed it’s deal with Newport Television Stations in Jacksonville, Florida and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Cox Media Group President Doug Franklin recently commented on the deal closing in a statement release “Countless hours of hard work have taken place over the last few months to prepare for today, and I want to thank everyone at CMG and these stations involved who made today a reality”. Through the deal Cox Media Group acquired WAWS (FOX Affiliate) and WTEV-TV (CBS Affiliate) in Jacksonville, Florida and KOKI (FOX Affiliate) and KMYT-TV (MyNetworkTV Affiliate) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jim Zerwekh the Vice President and General Manager of WAWS and WTEV-TV only had good things to say about the deal too “The Action News Team is thrilled to be joining the Cox Media Group Family with their proven 100-plus year record of producing journalism excellence and commitment to the local community…This opportunity is a big win for our team, our city and our customers.” Even Holly Allen the Vice President and General manager at KOKI and KMYT had positive things to say, stating that her team in Tulsa is “thrilled to be joining a company that not only has deep historic roots in the news business, but also is continually looking toward the future.” The positive feedback from both sides of the deal shows how good the Cox reputation really is and how important this deal can be for Jacksonville and Tulsa. [11]

Conclusion

In conclusion Cox Media Group has had a very busy quarter and has invested time and money into bettering the local communities that they service throughout the nation. There philanthropic nature has existed long before these past few months and in return Cox Media Group Ohio, the birthplace of Cox Enterprises, was awarded a very prestige’s award.  Cox Media Groups philanthropy goes beyond Dayton, Ohio which could easily be seen by their contribution to the Red Cross after the devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought the east coast. You can also see how important the local communities are to Cox Media Group in Atlanta. When the State of Georgia realized they were losing their Statewide News Network by the end of 2012 they looked to Cox Media Group to fill the gap and Cox Media Group answered that call. Cox Media Group is a great example of a company that understands how important it can be in contributing to the growth of the United States one community at a time. With revenue in the billions you wouldn’t think a company would be so giving, especially in a world where high-profiting companies are seen as the bad guy. Cox Media Group gives a good name to big business.

 References

Cox Media Group Logo Image taken from-http://www.coxmediagroup.com/about/
Cox Media Group Video taken from-http://www.youtube.com/user/CoxMediaGroup?feature=watch
Cox Media Group Ohio Promo-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkYn90plYUU
RightThisMinute Promo- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpSNYp-SHgY
1.http://www.coxmediagroup.com/about/
2.http://www.cmgohio.com/?q=direction
3.http://www.coxmediagroup.com/about/
4.http://www.coxmediagroup.com/about/
5.http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/competition.Cox_Media_Group_Inc.43d9201c0129306b.html
6.http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/489055-Station_Groups_Spin_Wheel_on_Homespun_Shows.php
7.http://www.rightthisminute.com/about
8.http://www.coxmediagroup.com/news/cmg-press-releases/cox-media-group-create-georgia-news-service/nSTQd/
9. http://www.whiotv.com/news/news/local/cox-media-group-ohio-honored-for-philanthropy/nS5Qy/
10.http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cox-enterprises-donates-100000-to-american-red-cross-for-hurricane-sandy-victims-2012-11-12
11. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/cox-media-group-closes-on-purchase-of-newport-stations_b71843

AMC Networks

Posted on by 
by Jose Blanco

Courtesy of underconsideration.com

Key Exceutives

 

Charles Dolan Executive Chairman
Josh Sapan President & Chief Executive Officer
Ed Carroll Chief Operating Officer
Sean S. Sullivan Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Jamie Gallagher Executive Vice President & General Counsel
John P. Giraldo Chief Accounting Officer
Bob Broussard President, AMC Networks Distribution
Rob Doodian Executive Vice President, Human Resources
Ellen Kroner Executive Vice President, Communications & Marketing
Steven Pontillo Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer
David Evans Senior Vice President, Broadband
Paul Rehrig Senior Vice President, Business Development

Highest Competitors  

1. Showtime

2. HBO

Corporate Headquarters

AMC Networks Inc.
11 Penn Plaza
New York, NY 10001
Main Phone #: (212) 324-8500

 

Brief Network Description

Previously known as Rainbow Media Holdings (a division of the Cablevision, the American cable television company), AMC Networks [1] is a public entertainment company that focuses on specialty television and independent film production based in New York City. Within their branch of premium cable television channels, AMC Networks focuses on producing original content through their multiple channels (AMC, WE tv, the Sundance Channel, and IFC).  On July 1st of 2011, Cablevision made AMC Networks [1] become a publicly traded company, leaving former Rainbow Media president, Josh Sapan, as President and CEO of AMC Networks. Previously recognized for their airing of classic movies, the company began producing original content in 2007 with the launch of programs such as “Mad Men” in AMC (their most popular channel to which the company was named after).

mad-men.jpg

Courtesy of Zap2it.com

Ever since,  AMC Networks has promoted the creation of high-quality original content in their programming. With hit shows such as “The Walking Dead”, “Mad Men”, and “Breaking Bad”, all of which have received critical acclaim and popular appraisal, AMC Networks has marked its presence in the television industry, especially with through their channel AMC. As their tagline states; “Story matters here.”.

This Year for AMC Networks

Third Quarter 2012 Results

AMC Networks has been seemingly busy this year, given to their known legal dispute [2] with DISH Network early on this summer that led the American cable company to “drop” all of AMC Networks’ programming since this July to early October until the dispute was finalized. A deeper analysis regarding to the  legal dispute and it’s result will continue further along the reading. Given to situations such as the previously stated, the company’s operating income (OI) decreased 8% in its Q3 [3] of this year (in comparison to Q3 of 2011) to a total of $87 million and its AOCF (adjusted operating cash flow) decreased 10.9% to $110 million (Q3 as well). According to AMC Networks’ most recent quarterly report, these blatant decreases in OI and AOCF are due to “ the impact of the litigation and associated carriage dispute with DISH Network.”. Now, OI also decreased due to “flat operating income at national networks and a $9 million increase in the operating loss at International and Other.” Normally when the network refers to its “International and Other” operation, its regarding its independent film production company IFC films, but AMC Networks is currently working on expanding its market on a global scale by opening up markets in Asia, Latin America, Europe, Canada, and Africa. [4]

Regardless of the networks decreasing OI and AOCF, the company has seen a steady increase in net revenues this year by a significant 17% ($332 million by the en of this year’s Q3 ) and an increase of 40% in share value this year (AMCX)[5], a share which is now traded at $52.25.  These revenues, which were off set by their legal disputes, were due to not only the success of their programming but also to their growth in digital and licensing distribution (which is one of the primary reasons for the incitement of their current and past conflicts with cable companies such as DISH Network) through deals with online platforms such as Amazon.com, Netflix, and iTunes. Within their national networks, this led to an increase of 24.3% of revenues to $199 million [3]. Although use of online platforms has increase, Josh Sapan announced at the 40th Annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference that took place recently on Dec. 4th “Our company has taken a rather more restrained approach on making our shows more accessible online. As a matter of policy its not good for the ecosystem, we chose to very selectively to sell our content.” then adding “We will support it. We will have to carefully manage where our rights go. We are in a position to balance that quite well and we have been compensating it for some time. We will be a good and healthy participant.” while referring to these online platforms [4].

DISH Network and AMC Networks

Now, what is this huge legal mumbo jumbo with DISH Network all about? AMC Networks current strategy consists of profit maximization through affiliate fees [5]. What they do is come up with two to three hit programs (“The Walking Dead”, “Mad Men”, and “Breaking Bad”) which make the channel indispensable to the carrier then fill the rest of the channels programming with inexpensive content such as non-fiction/reality programming (“Comic Book Men”, “Whisker Wars”). As posted in an article by Bill Gurley regarding affiliate fees on Abovethecrowd.com; “How can a cable company not offer “Mad Men”.” And they can’t and AMC knows so. Hence within their contracts they bundle up their other channels and relatively go better off in the contract [5].

dish_logo.jpg

Courtesy of infospace.ischool.syr.edu

“DISH felt that the network had devalued its admittedly popular dramas… by selling them to outlets such as Netflix, iTunes, and Amazon.com” according to an article on fool.com [6]. DISH felt as if they were being cut out and not just that, but AMC was demanding an increase in affiliate fees (which makes sense do to the success of their programs). DISH argued that AMC’s ratings did not meet with their demands.  Given to their disagreements, DISH dropped all programming from AMC Networks in July 2012. But AMC, as well put in fool.com, “won’t be bullied”[6] .

They retaliated by launching ads denouncing DISH’s decision to drop them from programming. With campaigns such as the “Put Zonbies Back” ad that showed footage of people costumed as zombies scrawling through the streets of New York City (in real life) promoting their apocalyptic series “The Walking Dead” and retaliating the carrier’s decision to drop it’s programming.

These campaigns gave way to fan made spoofs and responses that demanded DISH to bring back AMC programming.

They did not stop there. Through their advertising, they gave DISH customers a week to “switch” providers and leave DISH [7].

Many doubted on AMC’s success given that their viewership had decreased 7%-9% in July when compared to 2011, according to the video by the Wall Street Journal [8]. With these decreases in ratings, AMC gave advertisers free time spaces in online streaming trying to push the ratings up.  “You’d be surprised, there’s been a bit of a drop off since the black out started (referring to ratings when DISH dropped AMC)… these are niche products and as a result don’t have the same financial impact.” argued the WSJ [8].

Before the premiere of the third season of “The Walking Dead”, both parties agreed upon a settlement [9]. AMC and Cablevision would receive $700 million and receive a 20% stake with Voom HD, which offers up to 21 channels of HD programming. DISH acquired wireless spectrum licenses that cover up to 45 separate markets.

 

Television Channels

 

200px-Amc_logo.svg.png

Courtesy of wikemedia.org

A speciality cable television channel that focuses on providing original content such as their hit shows “The Walking Dead”, “Mad Men”, and “Breaking Bad” and airing classic films.

Recent News

People at the WSJ must have been biting their tongues when the “The Walking Dead” premiered on Oct. 14th and received 10.87 million viewers. But the real breakthrough [10]came with the show’s midseason finale that reached 15.2 million viewers on the night of the premiere, a 58% increase in comparison to its previous season finale (yet this was only the mid-season finale) and breaking records for cable television.  It surpassed all other fall programs that appeal to the 18-49 age demographic such as “the Big Bang Theory” and “Modern Family”. Plus, the show’s new follow-up talk show “the Talking Dead” received a viewership of 2.2 million.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUvKSXO_Ipc

In February, AMC will premiere two new non-fiction tv-shows, “Immortalized” and “Freakshow“,  “The Walking Dead“, “the Talking Dead“(both returning Feb. 14th 2013), and the hit reality tv show “Comic Book Men” will also return that same month [11].

 

SundanceChannel.jpg

Courtesy of media.sundancechannel.com

The Sundance Channel is a cable television channel that airs original programming, independent films, documentaries, and short films plus recent news regarding the current year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Recent News

The Sundance Channel announced in November its upcoming releases of 5 new dramas of high caliber talent and “non-formaulative” story lines. These new premieres include shows such as “Valentines”, based off a novel by Olaf Olafsson and produced by Robert Redford that follows the life of a New York lawyer and his three daughters. Other shows include “Death in the Modern Age”, “T”, and “Behind the Sun” [12].

972772_orig.jpg

Courtesy of patrickgallo.weebly.com

 The IFC Channel (Independent Film Channel) airs independent film, original programming, and news and buzz relate to the independent film industry. IFC airs programs that range from slightly off comedies such as “Portlandia“, the multiple chapters of the R. Kelly “hip-hopera” “Trapped in the Closet“, to the absurdity behind beard competitions in the reality tv show “Whisker Wars“.

Recent News

AMC Networks has entered into fierce negotiations with Verizon in the past month concerning contract renewals.  Pressure has also escalated in negotiations with Timewarner concerning the networks low-rated channels that are being bundled with their stronger channels such as AMC. Both carriage companies have threatened to drop [13] the networks programming as a result of weak ratings from both  IFC and WE tv.

wetv-logo.jpg

Courtesy of 1.bp.blogspot.com

WE tv airs is a cable television channel that targets women and women’s issues. Programming includes documentaries, some original programming, talk shows, fashion shows, older feature films, and some re-runs of other TV shows. Their  latest hits include “Mary Mary“, a program that follows the lives of the famous gospel duo composed of the two ATkins-Campbell sister, Erica and Tina.

References

1. AMC Networks Homepage http://www.amcnetworks.com/default

2. Dish Network Settles Suit With AMC -WSJ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203406404578070960821103982.html

3.Third Quarter Report of AMC Networks 2012 http://www.amcnetworks.com/release_release_press.jsp?nodeid=6602

4.40th Annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference http://cc.talkpoint.com/ubsx001/120312a_im/?entity=15_EJSUBIR

5.http://abovethecrowd.com/2010/04/28/affiliate-fees-make-the-world-go-round/

6.http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/10/22/amc-and-dish-work-out-a-new-deal-the-zombies-are-b.aspx

7.http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/07/15/amc-breaking-bad-news-for-dish-but-its-great-for-i.aspx

8. Drama of the Lost Dish Network http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAWgizbYfGw&feature=player_embedded

9. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/amc-back-dish-lawsuit-settled-381472

10. AMC’s “The Walking Dead” is The First Cable Series to Beat Every Other Show of the Fall Broadcast Season in Adult 18-49 http://www.amcnetworks.com/release_release_press.jsp?nodeid=6607

11. http://www.amctv.com/

12.Sundace Channel’s New Shows http://www.amcnetworks.com/release_release_press.jsp?nodeid=6601

13.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-03/time-warner-cable-threatens-to-drop-low-rated-networks.html

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/

 

 

 

 

 

 

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