News Corp posted a wider loss in its latest quarter as advertising revenue halved amid the coronavirus pandemic, more than offsetting profit growth at Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones & Co. and at the company’s video-subscription unit.
The Wall Street Journal reports the New York-based company, which owns the Journal, HarperCollins Publishers and newspapers in the U.K. and Australia, said its fiscal fourth-quarter loss was $397 million, or 67 cents a share, compared with a loss of $51 million, or 9 cents a share, a year earlier. The wider loss was partly due to noncash impairment charges of $292 million and higher restructuring costs related to the coronavirus crisis, News Corp said.
Results were heavily affected by the pandemic as well as by a decline in revenue related to the sale of the company’s supermarket-coupon business, News Corp said. When adjusted to remove impairment and restructuring charges, the loss amounted to 3 cents a share, the company said.
Revenue fell 22% to $1.92 billion from $2.47 billion. Of that decline, $330 million was attributable to the negative impact of the pandemic and 7%, or $179 million, to the loss of contributions from News America Marketing, which was sold earlier this year, the company said. Another 3%, or $63 million, were the result of foreign-currency fluctuations, it said.
News Corp’s advertising revenue was the most-heavily affected, dropping 52% to $332 million.
The company for the first time broke out reporting for its Dow Jones unit, which publishes the Journal, MarketWatch, Barron’s and others. The unit reported a 4% decline in revenue to $381 million, largely due to advertising declines. It saw a 13% rise in segment earnings to $60 million, the company said.
Circulation and subscription revenue at the Dow Jones grew by 5.6% to $303 million, bolstered by gains in digital subscribers. The company said the Journal averaged more than 2.2 million digital subscribers in the quarter, up from 2.041 million in the March quarter. In a call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Susan Panuccio said the Journal had added 203,000 net new digital subscribers in the quarter. In the previous quarter, it had gained 112,000 subscribers. The Journal averaged nearly 3 million total subscriptions—print and digital—in the quarter, the company said. Total subscriptions for all Dow Jones publications were just shy of 3.8 million for the quarter, News Corp said.
News Corp said its news media unit, which includes newspapers in the U.K. and Australia, recorded a 41% decline in revenue to $490 million. The unit recorded a segment loss of $44 million. Advertising revenue for the news media unit declined 58%, partly affected by the removal of revenue from News America Marketing following its sale, while circulation and subscription revenue fell by 9%.
Houston-based broadcast syndication company SuiteRadio, led by long-time industry creatives Cruze and Pat Fant, have signed an agreement to exclusively represent Bud Ford and Jerry Broadway for morning show syndication to radio stations everywhere.
“Now, managers can have the morning show they really want at a cost they can actually afford,” said Pat Fant. “Our SuiteRadio Country Ambassador & First-Class Talent Wrangler Rowdy Yates was instrumental in helping bring this deal together,” Fant continued.
The Bud and Broadway Show, winner of both CMA and ACM trophies, hits the air September 7 and is represented on a market exclusive basis by Colbert Media Group.
For information on adding The Bud and Broadway Show to your station (before the fall book begins) contact June Colbert today: june@colbertmediagroup.com.
"Finding great talent is always one of the biggest challenges in radio. Finding great talent during the reduced budgets brought about by our pandemic-fueled economic downturn can be even more difficult.” said Cruze, veteran programmer and President of SuiteRadio. “These guys are hands down the funniest and friendliest Country Radio morning show I have ever heard, and they’re perfect for Country, Classic Country and even Classic Rock or Classic Hits. We are thrilled to be able to offer this show to anyone looking for a Morning Show solution!”
Rowdy noted, “I have known Bud and Jerry for years. These two will fit the RFC Media/SuiteRadio culture perfectly and be another great addition to The Brand, our 24/7 Country format. Bud and Broadway are without a doubt the funniest morning show in all of country radio – no Bones about it,” Yates concluded.
For information on becoming a 24/7 affiliate of The Brand, with Bud and Broadway in the morning, contact Sun Broadcast Group Affiliate Sales today: robrien@sunbgi.com
President Trump has issued a pair of executive orders that would impose new limits on Chinese social-media apps TikTok and WeChat, escalating tensions with Beijing and effectively setting a 45-day deadline for an American company to purchase TikTok’s U.S. operations, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The orders bar people in the U.S. or subject to U.S. jurisdiction from transactions with the China-based owners of the apps, effective 45 days from Thursday. That raises the possibility that U.S. citizens would be prevented from downloading the apps in the Apple or Google app stores.
It also renews pressure on Microsoft Corp. and TikTok’s parent, Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., to reach a deal for the app’s U.S. operations. The TikTok order formalizes Mr. Trump’s earlier calls for shutting down the app should no American buyer complete a deal within 45 days. Contracts agreed to before the 45-day period elapses aren’t subject to the prohibitions in the order.
Mr. Trump’s first order argues that TikTok poses an economic and national-security threat to U.S. interests. U.S. officials have expressed concern that China’s authoritarian government would have access to the data TikTok collects from users, including Americans. TikTok has said it would never hand over such data.
“This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information—potentially allowing China to track the locations of federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage,” the order says.
The Thursday orders are likely to be met with indignation in China, where talk of a TikTok sale has sparked anger and is hardening long-held suspicions that the U.S. aims to sabotage the country’s efforts to grow its technology. The orders come at a low point in U.S.-China relations, with an economic face-off between the two countries escalating.
NFL legends Tom Brady and Michael Strahan were once rivals on the gridiron.
Now they are business partners chasing a new sports dream, reports FOX Business.
Both greats have been working together on a sports media venture called Religion of Sports, which received $10 million last month in backing from Elysian Park, LinkinFirm and existing investors Courtside Ventures and media mogul Shari Redstone’s Advancit Capital.
“The goal with this fundraise is to build more content and built out our clear brand and point of view,” the company’s CEO Ameeth Sankaran told FOX Business via email. “Our business model to date has primarily been selling/licensing content to networks.'
The sports media company clients include Facebook Watch, Showtime, NBC, ESPN, Apple Plus, AT&T and Amazon, among others and the company has partnered with brands like Under Armour.
“One hundred percent of the investment is based on: (a) Building out our content slate (video and audio), and (b) Focusing on building our brand -- with creators and our audience.” Sankaran said regarding the round of big money poured into the company.
Religion of Sports is looking to stand out and compete in the current sports digital media landscape with a distinct point of view and brand – sports as a hallmark of unity.
— Religion of Sports (@religionofsport) July 10, 2020
“Our stories answer the question ‘Why sports matter’ and delve into deeper human and emotional storytelling," Sankaran said. "Between our creative network and our co-founders, Tom Brady and Michael Strahan, we believe this storytelling, plus our access, puts us in a unique position for our content to cut through and make an impact. Sports change lives and we contribute to that through content.”
The company, which doesn’t plan to go public any time soon, will focus on all sports, not just football.
"We have been successful at this to date with projects like ‘Tom vs Time’ on Facebook Watch with Tom Brady, ‘Stephen vs the Game’ also on Facebook Watch with Stephen Curry and ‘Greatness Code’ on Apple Plus with Lebron, Brady, Alex Morgan, Usain Bolt and others," Sankaran said. "We will continue and scale this strategy and approach.”Religion of Sports is not too worried about the competition because it doesn’t see itself as a production company.
“Production company competition are companies that made content like the ‘Last Dance’ (Mandalay Sports), Sankaran said. "But our goal is to build more of a brand based on the content - as ‘The Ringer’ for example has done starting with podcasting.”
Entercom has announced “Howard Walks to Tampa,” sponsored by PDQ Signature Systems, a two-month charitable initiative. Philadelphia sports media legend and SportsRadio WIP 94.1 FM on-air host Howard Eskin is walking the virtual 1,103-mile distance between Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, the home of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL, the location of Super Bowl LV to raise money for fighting local hunger and animal welfare.
All money raised from Eskin’s daily walks, which will run through September 13 prior to the start of the Eagles 2020 season, will benefit Philabundance, Delaware Valley's largest hunger relief organization, and the Brandywine Valley SPCA, a nationally recognized leader in progressive and lifesaving initiatives in animal welfare.
“It's been a tough time in our country due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Eskin. “Without any games or practices to attend to, I needed an escape. So, I started walking. It's been great for my physical and mental health, and raising money for two great charities like Philabundance and Brandywine Valley SPCA makes it even better.”
To date, Eskin has walked 736 miles with only 367 miles to go before September 13 and has raised over $10,000 for Philabundance and Brandywine Valley SPCA. SportsRadio 94WIP is tracking Eskin’s every step, delivering daily updates, including photos and videos, to followers on air and on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages and encouraging them to donate via the station’s website.
Howard Eskin is an on-air personality for SportsRadio 94WIP (WIP-FM), the undisputed voice of the Philadelphia sports fan, and the flagship station of the Eagles, who joined the station in 1986. Eskin is touted as the station’s original sports talker. Eskin not only launched the station’s first sports talk show in 1986 (then 610 WIP), but his show launched the station’s transition to 94.1 FM in 2011.
➦In 1885...Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke born (Died at age 84 – May 14, 1970). She was professionally known as Billie Burke and was famous on Broadway, on radio, early silent film, and subsequently in sound film. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie musical The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Billie Burke and Judy Garland
Burke was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1938 for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live and is also remembered for her appearances in the Topper film series. Her high-pitched, wavering, aristocratic voice was her trademark, which made her a frequent choice to play dim-witted, spoiled society types.
Billie Burke was the wife of Broadway producer and impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. founder of dance troupe and theatrical revue (and adapted to a radio program from 1932 and 1936), the Ziegfeld Follies which operated from 1914 until his death in 1932.
On CBS Radio, The Billie Burke Show was heard on Saturday mornings from April 3, 1943, until September 21, 1946. Sponsored by Listerine, this situation comedy was initially titled Fashions in Rations during its first year. Portraying herself as a featherbrained Good Samaritan who lived "in the little white house on Sunnyview Lane," she always offered a helping hand to those in her neighborhood. She worked often in early television, appearing in the short-lived sitcom Doc Corkle (1952). She was a guest star on several TV and radio series, including Duffy's Tavern.
➦In 1886...Louis Hazeltine, who invented the neutrodyne circuit, was born. (Died - May 24, 1964)
➦In 1906...Actress/singer Ernestine Wade born (Died at age 76 – April 15, 1983). She is best known for playing the role of Sapphire Stevens on both the radio and TV versions of The Amos 'n' Andy Show. Ernestine began playing Sapphire Stevens in 1939, but originally came to the Amos 'n' Andy radio show in the role of Valada Green. In her interview which is part of the documentary Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy, Wade related how she got the job with the radio show. Initially there for a singing role, she was asked if she could "do lines". When the answer was yes, she was first asked to say "I do" and then to scream; the scream got her the role of Valada Green.
Stan Freberg
➦In 1926...Stan Freberg was born (Died – April 7, 2015). He was an author, actor, recording artist, voice artist, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director, whose career began in 1943. He remained active in the industry into his late 80s, more than 70 years after entering it.
His best-known works include "St. George and the Dragonet", Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, his role on the television series Time for Beany, and a number of classic television commercials.
Freberg began making satirical recordings for Capitol Records, beginning with the February 10, 1951, release of "John and Marsha", a soap opera parody that consisted of the title characters (both played by Freberg) doing nothing but repeating each other's names (with intonations to match the moods). Some radio stations refused to play "John & Marsha," believing it to be an actual romantic conversation between two real people. In a 1954 follow-up, he used pedal steel guitarist Speedy West to satirize the 1953 Ferlin Husky country hit, "A Dear John Letter", as "A Dear John and Marsha Letter". A seasonal recording, "The Night Before Christmas"/"Nuttin' for Christmas", made in 1955, still remains a cult classic.
The popularity of Freberg's recordings landed him his own program, the situation comedy That's Rich. Freberg portrayed bumbling but cynical Richard E. Wilt, a resident of Hope Springs, where he worked for B.B. Hackett's Consolidated Paper Products Company. Freberg suggested the addition of dream sequences, which made it possible for him to perform his more popular Capitol Records satires before a live studio audience. The CBS series aired from January 8 to September 23, 1954.
The Stan Freberg Show was a 1957 replacement for Jack Benny on CBS radio.
➦In 1941...TV station WNBT, Channel 4 in New York City, broadcast the first audience-participation show. Studio guests played charades as part of the fun. Now known as, NewsChannel 4, the station signed on the air as WNBT on July 1, 1941, at 1:29 p.m. This historic event was the beginning of commercial television in the United States. But the imminent start of WWII for America put TV on the back burner for another five years.
➦In 1969...Charlie Greer aired his last show on WABC 770 AM New York.
Charlie Greer (1923-1996) did mid-days and overnights. Given WABC's 50,000 clear channel signal, Greer became a popular all-night disc jockey heard on more than 38 states punching his way through famous tongue twister commercials for an all night men's clothing store called Dennison's in Union, New Jersey.
Greer also spent time with New York City's WCBS-FM in 1973, then and became part of WCBS-FM's Rock and Roll Radio Greats Weekend in the '80s and '90s.
From WAKR in Akron Ohio, Charlie started at WABC on December 7, 1960. He moved back and forth between overnights and middays a couple of times. He was one of the original Swingin’ Seven from Seventy Seven.
He moved to Philadelphia's WIP in 1969 and then back to the New York area to WRKL in New City for a short while, and later worked at WHAM in Rochester, before returning to Akron.
➦In 1971... 93KHJ - Los Angeles early evening DJ/personality - “Humble’ Harve Miller pleaded guilty to second degree murder of his adulterous wife Mary. In a short statement, he said he accidentally shot his wife and still loved her. Miller was the subject of a 13-day nationwide search after the murder in May.
"Humble" Harve Miller began his career in 1958 at WAAT in Trenton, NJ. Soon after, he moved to WIBG 990 AM in Philadelphia, where he worked from 1958 to 1962. Miller subsequently moved to Los Angeles, California, and became part of the enormous hit station KHJ as part of the "Boss Radio" DJ teams working under Bill Drake and other executives.
Humble Harve was the top-rated nighttime DJ throughout a five year period, and also did commercials, voice-over work, and narrated the 1967 counterculture documentary film Mondo Mod. He also narrated the late-1969 syndicated version of KHJ's The History of Rock and Roll 48-hour special, which aired throughout the early 1970s.
In 1971, Miller's career took a dramatic turn when he was found guilty of murdering his adulterous wife Mary and wound up serving a ten-year prison sentence for manslaughter. In 1980, Harve was released from prison and soon found work at LA station KKDJ.
Among the Los Angeles radio stations Humble Harve has worked for throughout the years are KIQQ, KIIS, KUTE, KRLA, KRTH, KCBS-FM, and KZLA. In addition, Miller also again worked for WIBG in Philadelphia in 1985 and KVI in Seattle, Washington from 1986-1989, and also narrated a variety of syndicated radio specials during the 1980s and 1990s.
In 1995 Miller was inducted into the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. He died in June 2019.
➦In 1974...Cousin Brucie (Bruce Morrow) aired his final show on MusicRadio 77WABC and moved over to WNBC 660 AM.
Morrow worked for WABC for 13 years and 4,014 broadcasts until August 1974, when he transferred to rival radio station WNBC; after three years there, he quit performance to team with entrepreneur Robert F.X. Sillerman to become the owner of the Sillerman Morrow group of radio stations.
In 1982, Morrow resumed working as a radio announcer, for New York's oldies WCBS 101.1 FM. Initially, he filled in for Jack Spector every third Saturday evening for the Saturday Night Sock Hop program. After Spector's resignation during 1985, Morrow became the main performer for the program and renamed it the Saturday Night Dance Party. The station also added his nationally syndicated show Cruisin' America. During 1986, he began working the Wednesday evening shift, where he hosted The Top 15 Yesterday and Today Countdown. During 1991, the Wednesday show became The Yearbook, emphasizing music from the years between 1955 and 1979. Cousin Brucie was also the "breakfast presenter" on Atlantic 252 from 1992 to 1996.
When the radio program Cruisin' America ended during December 1992, Morrow continued hosting a WCBS radio program named Cruising with the Cuz Monday evenings until the end of 1993. After that program ended, he hosted the Saturday night and Wednesday night programs there until the station's change to an adult hits format named Jack FM on June 3, 2005. Soon thereafter, he signed a multi-year deal to host oldies SiriusXM Satellite Radio, where he can be heard.
➦In 1981...FCC established General Radiotelephone Operator License and ceased issuing First and Second Class Operator licenses.
➦In 2000...NYC's WADO 1280 AM increased power to 50 Kw Day / 7.2 Kw Night-DA.
➦In 2015…Art Finley died of a heart attack at age 88. (Born Arthur Finger 1926). He was a TV and radio personality, mostly in San Francisco and Vancouver, until his retirement in 1995.
His broadcasting career began at KXYZ Houston in 1943. During the last half of his 50-year career, Finley returned to radio as a newsman and talk-show host. He relied on his wife Geraldine as his career advisor, researcher and editor throughout their 56-year marriage. She died in 2006.
In the U.S., Finley's station affiliations were primarily in San Francisco: 10 years at KGO, and KCBS. Three interim years were spent at XTRA in San Diego and WNIS in Norfolk. Two radio stations in Vancouver, B.C., needed a talk-show host. He spent five years at CKNW, and later, six years at CJOR. He retired in 1995; his final years in broadcasting were as a KCBS news anchor.
Art Finley served as Master of Ceremonies for San Francisco's official celebration of Independence Day for 14 years between 1960 and 1979. HAPPY BIRTHDAY:
Sydney Penny is 49
Humorist Garrison Keillor is 78.
Singer B.J. Thomas is 78.
Actor John Glover (“Smallville”) is 76.
Actor David Rasche (“Sledge Hammer!”) is 76.
Country singer Rodney Crowell is 70.
Actor Caroline Aaron (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) is 68.
Actor Wayne Knight (“Seinfeld”) is 65.
Singer Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden is 62.
Actor David Duchovny (“Californication,” ″The X-Files”) is 60.
Actor Delane Matthews (“Dave’s World”) is 59.
Actor Harold Perrineau (“Lost,” ″Oz”) is 57.
Jazz pianist Marcus Roberts is 57.
Country singer Raul Malo of The Mavericks is 55.
Actor David Mann (“Madea” films) is 54.
Actor Sydney Penny (“The Thorn Birds,” ″All My Children”) is 49.
Actor Greg Serano (“Power”) is 48.
Actor Charlize Theron is 45.
Drummer Barry Kerch of Shinedown is 44.
Actor Eric Johnson (“Fifty Shades Darker,” ″Smallville”) is 41.
Actor Liam James (TV’s “Psych,” film’s “The Way, Way Back”) is 24.
iHeartMedia, Inc. today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020.
Financial performance in the second quarter was significantly negatively impacted by the economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic ("COVID-19").
Total company revenue declined 47% in Q2 compared to the prior-year period
Rate of YoY revenue decline has improved in each month since the April low-point: April (50)%, May (49)%, June (41)% and July (27)%
YoY Podcasting revenue grew 103% in Q2
Continued position of ample liquidity and resilient capital structure:
Cash balance of $518 million as of June 30, 2020; Adjusted1 cash balance as of June 30, 2020 was $708 million
Total available liquidity is approximately $868 million as of June 30, 2020 on an adjusted basis2
Over 90% of long-term debt maturing in 2026 or later
Second Quarter
Revenue of $488 million, declined 47% YoY
YoY performance by revenue stream:
Broadcast revenue declined 57% from $561 million to $244 million
Networks revenue declined 38% from $156 million to $96 million
Digital revenue increased 2%, from $91 million to $93 million, led by a 103% increase in podcasting revenue
Sponsorship and Events declined 65% from $42 million to $15 million
Audio & Media Services declined 33% from $59 million to $39 million
GAAP Operating loss of $159 million, compared to GAAP Operating income of $182 million in the prior-year-period
Adjusted EBITDA declined to $(29) million, compared to $263 million in the prior year period
Cash flows provided by operating activities from continuing operations of $11 million
Free cash flow (used in) continuing operations of $(7) million
Bob Pittman
“The challenges that we have faced due to COVID-19 were unprecedented and had a severe, negative impact on our revenue in the second quarter,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of iHeartMedia, Inc.
“Despite those financial challenges, we retained our strong relationship with the consumer as the #1 audio company in America and the #1 media company in America by reach. As the advertising marketplace is recovering, we are working hard to ensure that we have the products and services to fully capitalize on the opportunity while proactively taking steps to fortify our balance sheet and our liquidity. Finally, I want to thank our employees for their commitment and creativity under such difficult and challenging circumstances.”
Rich Bressler
“In response to COVID-driven market weakness, we acted rapidly and decisively to further streamline our cost structure and capital-spending programs, while continuing to implement pre-COVID cost savings programs through our modernization initiatives,” said Rich Bressler, iHeartMedia, Inc. President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer.
“These actions played an important role in minimizing the negative impact on our free cash flow results against the backdrop of the significant revenue declines we saw in the second quarter. We believe that these actions, in combination with our proactive capital structure management provides the Company with sufficient liquidity to operate effectively even in an extended period of economic weakness.”
ViacomCBS Inc.today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020.
Statement from Bob Bakish, President & CEO:
“ViacomCBS delivered another solid quarter, with clear operational momentum and sequential improvement in key earnings and cash flow metrics. Despite the impact of COVID-19 on revenue in the quarter, we’re successfully managing through the effects of the pandemic, reaffirming the strength of our combined operations. Our results underscored our strong progress delivering on our value-creation initiatives, including integration cost synergies, expanded and new distribution agreements, as well as the rapid acceleration of our streaming business, where we achieved record users and revenue in free and pay while building toward the relaunch of our diversified super service.”
➤OVERVIEW OF Q2 REVENUE
Affiliate revenue increased 2%, reflecting growth in station affiliation and retransmission fees, as well as subscription streaming revenue, which more than offset declines in pay-TV subscribers.
Advertising revenue declined 27% year-over-year, driven by the adverse effects of COVID-19 on global advertising demand, the comparison against the broadcast of the national semifinals and championship games of the NCAA Tournament in the prior-year quarter, as well as the cancellation and postponement of professional golf tournaments.
Domestic streaming and digital video revenue – which includes streaming subscription and digital video advertising revenue – rose to $489M, up 25% year-over-year, driven by 52% growth in streaming subscription revenue and robust growth in Pluto TV advertising revenue.
Content licensing revenue was relatively flat, primarily reflecting the licensing of domestic streaming rights to South Park, offset by significant licensing activity in the year ago quarter, as well as the timing of deliveries, which were affected by COVID-related production delays.
Theatrical revenue was immaterial in the quarter due to the closure of movie theaters in response to COVID-19.
Publishing revenue decreased 8%, mainly driven by lower print book sales as a result of the impact of COVID-19, partially offset by growth in sales of electronic and digital audiobooks.
➤STREAMING & DIGITAL VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Domestic streaming and digital video revenue rose to $489M, up 25% year-over-year, driven by 52% growth in streaming subscription revenue.
Domestic pay streaming subscribers reached 16.2M, up 74% year-over-year.
CBS All Access continued to break records, with its paid subscribers, streams and minutes watched reaching all-time highs in the quarter.
Original programming, titles from Paramount Pictures and children’s content from Nickelodeon drove strong subscriber acquisitions and engagement.
Showtime OTT delivered its best quarter ever in sign-ups, streams and minutes watched, driven by original programming, including Homeland, Billions and The Chi.
In free, Pluto TV continued to build on its strong momentum in the US and internationally:
Pluto TV maintained its position as the #1 ad-supported streaming TV service in the US, with its domestic monthly active users (MAUs) growing to 26.5M, up 61% year-over-year.
Despite the impact of COVID-19, Pluto TV continued to deliver robust advertising revenue growth in the quarter.
➤ON TRACK FOR SUPER SERVICE RELAUNCH
In July, ViacomCBS unveiled the first major step in transforming CBS All Access into a rebranded super service and remains on track to relaunch this differentiated streaming product in early 2021.
In a significant content expansion, the company added more than 3,500 episodes from the ViacomCBS portfolio, spanning series from BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Smithsonian and more. This brings the CBS All Access library to more than 20,000 episodes and movies.
CBS All Access will be home to a growing slate of new original and exclusive movies and series, including:
Big Brother Live Feeds, The Stand and the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run and Kamp Koral, a new original kid’s series premiering in 2021 and the first spinoff derived from SpongeBob SquarePants, one of ViacomCBS’ biggest franchises
In addition to its vast library and original content offering, CBS All Access will feature compelling live programming, spanning news, tentpole events and a critical mass of live sports, including:
Live streams of local CBS stations nationwide and CBSN, CBS News' rapidly growing 24/7 digital news service
➤TV ENTERTAINMENT
CBS finished the broadcast season as America’s most-watched network for the 12th straight year and was #1 in all key dayparts, including Prime, Late Night and Daytime, for the 3rd straight season.
Revenue declined 22%, primarily driven by the impact of COVID-19 on the advertising market and lower content licensing revenue.
➤WORLDWIDE STREAMING
Alongside earnings today, ViacomCBS says its ViacomCBS Networks International unit is launching a premium streaming service internationally.
Rollout for the subscription service globally will begin early in 2021. It will feature exclusive premieres of new Showtime series, as well as exclusive CBS All Access originals.
It's also featuring Paramount Pictures films and premieres and box sets from Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Network, along with VCNI originals in some markets.
Priority for the launch will go to fast-growing over-the-top markets, including Australia, Latin America and the Nordic countries.
Along with retailing direct-to-consumer, ViacomCBS will work with existing distribution partners and new distributors in various markets.The rollout will move in parallel with the global launches of ViacomCBS' free streaming via Pluto TV.
Nielsen on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 released the third batch of July 2020 PPM data for the following markets: 21 Portland OR 23 Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill NC 25 San Antonio
27 Sacramento 28 Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo UT 29 Pittsburgh 30 Orlando 31 Las Vegas 33 Cincinnati 34 Kansas City 35 Cleveland 36 Columbus
Investigators looking into Tuesday's massive explosion at Beirut, Lebanon's port that killed at least 135 people and injured some 5,000 others are eyeing possible negligence in the storage of highly explosive ammonium nitrate in a warehouse. There were 2,750 tons of the chemical, which is used in fertilizers, stored at the port since being confiscated from a ship in 2013. It's believed to have exploded after a fire broke out nearby.
The government has also ordered the house arrest of several port officials. In addition to the deaths, Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud said that nearly 300,000 people are now homeless after their residences were destroyed in the blast, and financial losses from the explosion are estimated at $10 to $15 billion.
➤NEARLY 1,400 CORONAVIRUS DEATHS YESTERDAY; NYC SETTING UP CHECKPOINTS TO HELP ENFORCE TRAVEL QUARANTINE: The U.S. recorded nearly 1,400 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, the 1,388 reported fatalities adding to the total count of more than 158,200 as of early this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University's count. The total number of confirmed cases is now more than 4,823,000, with another 52,810 added yesterday. Even with the high number of daily cases and fatalities, AP reports that the number of people getting tested is falling, down 3.6 percent over the past two weeks. Officials largely blame the decline on people getting discouraged with having to wait hours to take a test and days or even weeks to get the results.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced yesterday that checkpoints are being set up at entry points to the city, such as bridges and train stations, to help enforce the 14-day quarantine on travelers from 35 states and territories that have an elevated rate of spread of the coronavirus. At the checkpoints, travelers from the affected areas will be told they must quarantine for 14 days, and be given a health form to complete so that contact tracers can follow up and make sure they are quarantining. The checkpoints will be set up at different entry points each day, and New York City Sheriff Joseph Fucito, whose deputies will staff the stations, said there will be a "random element," with, for instance, every sixth or eighth car on a bridge possibly checked.
Negotiations between Senate Democrats and the White House on a coronavirus relief package continued for yet another day yesterday, with little apparent progress. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows threatened after the day's talks, as has President Trump, that Trump is looking at options to use his executive authority to act on his own to extend a partial ban on evictions and act on unemployment benefits. On two of the key areas of dispute, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is standing by wanting to extend the $600 a week extra unemployment benefit that has just expired, while Republicans are now offering to cut it to $400, according to Politico; and while the White House has offered $150 billion to help state and local governments that were plunged into a financial hole because of the coronavirus, Pelosi wants a much higher figure of closer to $1 trillion, and several key Senate Republicans also want more money for state and local governments.
The Trump Campaign Is Seeking an Early September Debate Against Bidenhttps://t.co/cd7ptFj2Q6
➤TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN, RNC SUE NEVADA OVER NEW VOTING-BY-MAIL LAW: President Trump's re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee have filed a lawsuit against Nevada's top elections official over a new law that will automatically send a ballot for November's election to all active registered voters. The lawsuit alleges the law would make, quote, "voter fraud and other ineligible voting inevitable." It seeks an injunction to prevent the law from being implemented and enforced. Trump has for months been railing against efforts to expand mail-in voting amid the coronavirus pandemic, making unsupported claims that it would lead to widespread voter fraud. However, Trump reversed that stance on Tuesday for Florida, tweeting to encourage voting by mail in the critical swing state, contending its election system is, quote, "Safe and Secure, Tried and True."
➤FACEBOOK, TWITTER TAKE ACTION OVER TRUMP'S POST SAYING CHILDREN 'VIRTUALLY IMMUNE' TO CORONAVIRUS: Facebook and Twitter both took action yesterday against a statement by President Trump that children are, quote, "virtually immune" to the coronavirus. Facebook deleted a post by Trump that linked to a Fox News video in which he made the comment, saying it violated its policy against spreading misinformation about the coronavirus. A few hours later, Twitter temporarily blocked Trump's reelection campaign from tweeting at all until it removed a post with the same video, which the account later did.
➤SURVIVORS MARK 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIROSHIMA ATOMIC BOMBING: Survivors of the world’s first atomic bombing in Hiroshima, Japan, gathered Thursday to mark the 75th anniversary of the World War Two attack by the U.S. There were a significantly smaller number of people than usual despite the landmark anniversary because of the coronavirus pandemic. As part of the ceremony at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park, a moment of silence was held at 8:15 a.m. local time, the time when the bombing took place. There were 140,000 people killed in the Hiroshima bombing, and another 70,000 killed when the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb three days later on Nagasaki. Japan surrendered days later on August 15th, ending World War Two.
Newsday 8/6/20
➤MLB MANDATES TOUGHER CORONAVIRUS PROTOCOLS: MLB is mandating tougher coronavirus protocols after outbreaks among players on the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals that led to the postponement of 21 games in the first two weeks of the shortened season. A memo was sent to teams yesterday outlining the changes, including that players and staff must wear face masks at all times, including in the dugout and bullpens, except for players on the field. Among others, players and staff are banned from visiting bars, lounges, malls or other places where groups of people congregate while in their home cities, and teams must limit the size of traveling parties to essential personnel.
➤NO NBA PLAYERS POSITIVE IN LATEST TEST RESULTS: Having the NBA play in a "bubble" is continuing to be successful, with no players positive for the coronavirus in the latest test results released by the league yesterday, the first since July 29th. In addition to playing and living in the bubble at Walt Disney World, everyone must fill out a questionnaire on their phones each morning and measure their temperature and blood oxygen level. Face mask use is required, as is observing social distancing.
➤BIG TEN TO PLAY CONFERENCE-ONLY GAMES: Big Ten football teams will play 10 conference-only games, according to the schedule released yesterday by them, the last of the Power Five conferences to announce its coronavirus-affected schedule. Games will begin as early as the weekend of September 5th, but the conference warned it's still not certain that games will even be played.
➤NO FALL CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR HUNDREDS OF DIVISION II AND III SCHOOLS: There will be no fall championships for hundreds of colleges and universities this year after NCAA Division II and Division II officials canceled their fall postseasons yesterday due to the coronavirus pandemic. That came after the NCAA's governing board said earlier in the day that each division would be able to make its own decision. Division I officials, who have yet to make a decision about their fall championships, now have two weeks to do so.
NAB President and Former U-S Senator Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) suffered a stroke Tuesday, according to his employer, the National Association of Broadcasters.
Smith, 68, served two terms in the Senate, from 1997 to 2009. A former state lawmaker whose family built a fortune as one of the country's chief providers of frozen peas and corn at Weston, Ore.-based Smith Frozen Foods, Smith lost a close race for reelection in 2008 to now-U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) by 49% to 46%.
After leaving the Senate, Smith became president of the NAB, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and advocates for the television and radio industries.
NAB spokesperson Ann Marie Cumming said in statement that Smith suffered the stroke last night but that the outlook is positive.
"He is responding well to treatment, is stable and alert, and is resting comfortably," Cumming said. "His prognosis is good, and he is expected to make a full recovery."
During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Smith’s committee assignments included the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the panel that oversees all broadcast-related legislation. He also served on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Sen. Smith’s role on the Commerce Committee and as chairman of a Senate High Tech Task Force helped foster his interest in new media and new technology issues.
Smith attended Brigham Young University, received his law degree from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, and practiced law in New Mexico and Arizona before returning to Oregon to direct the family-owned Smith Frozen Foods business in Weston, Ore. Before his election to the U.S. Senate in 1996, Smith was elected to the Oregon State Senate, rising to the position of president of that body after only three years.
iHeartMedia's WAIO 95.1 FM, Home of Brother Wease and DiTullio & Moran, announced Wednesday the debut of “The Big Show,” weekdays from 2 – 7 p.m.
“The Big Show” will be hosted by Earl David Reed, Megan Carter and Pat McMahon. Every afternoon the hosts will entertain listeners with their unique takes on the top headlines of the day and topics that focus on the community’s general interests. The show is a non-stop blend of hilarious conversation, pop culture headlines, news and information, sports, and even the occasional dose of parenting and relationship advice. Interactive and socially-engaged, for listeners, the dynamic trio are their friends, and they don’t want to miss a chance to hang out with them daily.
Reed is a nationally recognized stand-up comedian who has played some of the nation’s biggest comedy clubs and has appeared on “The Tonight Show.” Carter most recently served as the afternoon host on iHeartMedia Rochester’s KISS 106.7. McMahon has also been an important contributor to iHeartMedia Rochester’s success in his six years with the company.
“Earl, Megan and Pat clicked from the minute we put them together,” said Joe Bonadonna, Program Director for Radio 95.1. “They are the three friends you want with you when you’re getting a garbage plate, grabbing a Genny Light or spending the day at Seabreeze.”
In April, when large swaths of the economy were shut down because of COVID-19 and commuters stayed put, their car radios off, WHYY’s radio audience plummeted 39% from March. That led to a steep revenue drop from corporate underwriting and other sources.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports but unlike some of its peers around the country facing the same evaporation of listeners and advertisers, WHYY, the Philadelphia region’s largest public media organization, has not cut staff or instituted furloughs and doesn’t expect to in the foreseeable futur
That doesn’t mean the nonprofit has an easy road ahead, given continued uncertainty over how corporate sponsorships and individual giving will fare as the pandemic’s economic disruption continues. WHYY is expected to report a net loss for the year ended June 30, its first since 2009.
“While we feel good about where we are, we are hardly without financial challenges. We got a boatload of them,” but they “won’t trigger some of the more arbitrary or unfortunate cuts in staff or cuts in benefits or cuts in wages, at least not for the foreseeable future,” chief executive William J. Marrazzo said.
To save money, WHYY has frozen wages this year and will consider a reduction in its matching contribution to employees’ retirement accounts, if necessary, a spokesperson said.
The average weekly number of individual listeners fell sharply in April, the first full month that COVID-19 stay-at-home orders were in effect in WHYY's market area.
WHYY, which has expanded in the last decade through the acquisitions of news sites PlanPhilly and Billy Penn and of radio licenses at the Jersey Shore, still has plans to hire, including a mid-day radio host. It is something of an outlier in an industry that has seen peers in some other big cities, including Boston, Chicago, and Houston, cut jobs and institute furloughs, according to a tally by the Poynter Institute.
National Public Radio, which supplies a substantial amount of news to local affiliates such as WHYY, is among those instituting furloughs.
At WHYY, corporate and nonprofit sponsorships — elsewhere in media known as advertising — fell by $1 million in fiscal 2020, to $4.4 million. Two-thirds of that decline came in the three months ended June 30. The station is budgeting for even lower numbers in the current fiscal year.
This year’s final total revenue figure was not yet available. In 2019, WHYY had total revenue of $42.7 million, which means that advertising accounted for 13%. The organization’s biggest revenue source are memberships and contributions, comprising $18 million last year.
Over a three-month period dominated by the coronavirus pandemic and a slowdown in advertising, The New York Times Company for the first time reported quarterly revenue that owed more to digital products than to the print newspaper, The Times reports.
As much of its staff worked remotely, The Times brought in $185.5 million in revenue for digital subscriptions and ads during the second quarter of 2020, the company announced on Wednesday. The number for print revenue was $175.4 million.
The company added 669,000 net new digital subscribers, making the second quarter its biggest ever for subscription growth. The Times has 6.5 million total subscriptions, a figure that includes 5.7 million digital-only subscriptions, putting it on a course to achieve its stated goal of 10 million subscriptions by 2025.
In a statement, Mark Thompson, the chief executive, called the company’s shift from print revenue to digital “a key milestone in the transformation of The New York Times.”
Attracting subscribers willing to pay for online content is a high-wire act that practically every company in the news business is trying to pull off. The Times started charging for digital content in 2011, when asking news consumers to pay for what they read on their screens was seen as a risky gambit.
Adjusted operating profit for the second quarter was $52.1 million, a 6.2 percent decline from $55.6 million in the same time last year.
At the Times Company, ad revenue fell 32 percent in the digital part of the business and 55 percent in print compared with the equivalent period last year. Total ad revenue fell to $67.8 million, from $120.8 million, a 44 percent drop. That figure fell short of the 50 percent to 55 percent decline forecast by Times executives in May.
The Times laid off 68 employees in June, most of them in advertising, including all those who worked at its marketing agency Fake Love, which was closed. The newsroom and opinion departments were not affected by the cuts.
Pretty soon it'll be hard to escape Joe Biden on your television. Or your radio. Or your phone.
CBS News reports the Biden campaign on Wednesday is announcing what it says is the largest TV ad buy ever by a presidential candidate, with $220 million set aside for commercials to air through the fall and another $60 million budgeted to reach audiences digitally on social media or gaming platforms.
Biden's team is planning to reach voters in at least 15 states, with messages that feature the former vice president speaking directly to camera about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic fall.
Signaling the states they see as most competitive, the Biden campaign said their ads will target: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Colorado, Virginia, Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and Texas.
And given the 15-state reach of the TV campaign plus the buys on digital platforms, it's likely most Americans will be unable to miss at least some of Biden's advertising, either on traditional broadcast TV channels in swing states; during coverage of sporting events on cable channels; as they watch video clips on their Vevo feed; or while playing online games.
Most of all, many Americans can expect to see Biden for longer periods of time — 60 seconds, up from the usual 30 seconds for a political spot. Top Biden strategist Mike Donilion said that's designed to give voters a "fuller, clearer message."
The Trump campaign has currently reserved $147.7 million in television advertising buys across 11 battleground states beginning in September, through the general election, according to Kantar/CMAG data. More than a quarter of the advance bookings zero in on Florida, as of now.
After pausing TV advertisements for six days to re-evaluate campaign spending under new campaign manager Bill Stepien, the president's re-election bid returned to the airwaves this week in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona — states that cast the majority of ballots early or absentee in 2016.
Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon also promised an "unprecedented focus on voter education" in their ads."With voting in general we've seen chaos in recent primary elections and we know that our responsibility is to make sure that we give voters everything they need to be able to vote—vote early and vote safely," she said.
The company for the first time broke out reporting for its Dow Jones unit, which publishes the Journal, MarketWatch, Barron’s and others. The unit reported a 4% decline in revenue to $381 million, largely due to advertising declines. It saw a 13% rise in segment earnings to $60 million, the company said.
