Entravision Communications Corporation, a leading global advertising solutions, media and technology company, today announced financial results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2022.
First Quarter 2022 Highlights
All-time first quarter record revenue, EBITDA and free cash flow
Net revenue up 32% over the prior-year quarter
Net income attributable to common stockholders down 65% over the prior-year quarter
Consolidated adjusted EBITDA up 28% over the prior-year quarter
Operating cash flow up 127% over the prior-year quarter
Free cash flow up 10% over the prior-year quarter
Quarterly cash dividend of $0.025 per share
Repurchased $7.1 million in shares under the Company's $20 million share repurchase program
Post quarter entered into a definitive agreement to make an investment in Jack of Digital
Walter Ulloa
“Entravision begins 2022 on very solid footing, with net revenue for the first quarter totaling $197.2 million, up 32% year-over year. Adjusted EBITDA also improved to total $18.1 million, an increase of 28% over the prior-year period,” said Walter Ulloa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Importantly, even as our top line continues to grow, we have maintained a lean, efficient cost structure, helping to drive our cash flow as well as our ability to provide consistent returns to our shareholders."
Ulloa continued, “Our strength during the first quarter was largely driven by revenue growth of 51% in our digital segment, which comprised 78% of consolidated revenue. Our broadcast businesses, and, in particular, audio, helped drive our strong margins and cash flow. Simultaneously, our strategic expansion of our commercial partnerships with some of the world’s leading technology platforms has positioned us at the forefront of digital innovation across emerging economies, including Latin America, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Pakistan when we complete our investment in Jack of Digital. We are excited about the enormous opportunities that lie in front of us and look forward to sharing our progress throughout the year."
Cumulus Media announces that it has appointed Jason Ginty as Program Director for radio stations WZRH-FM/Alt 92.3 and WRKN-FM/NASH Icon Country 106.1 in New Orleans, LA, and for WRQQ-FM/Classic Hits 103.3 in Baton Rouge, LA.
Jason McGinty
This marks a return to Cumulus for Ginty, who has programmed and been on-air for Louisiana radio stations for the past 15 years and was Program Director for Cumulus New Orleans’ WRKN-FM from 2010-2013. He rejoins Cumulus Media from WKBU-FM (Classic Rock), where he was On-Air Host, Middays, for almost seven years. Ginty also served as Program Director for New Orleans stations WDVW-FM (Hot AC) and for WMIT-FM (Oldies), and was Program Director of KRDJ-FM (Rock) in Lafayette, LA.
Pat Galloway, Regional Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus New Orleans/Baton Rouge, said: “I have known Jason for a long time, and he has had years of success in New Orleans radio. Jason is a great fit for this opportunity and will bring the knowledge and passion needed for these three stations to continue to thrive and grow.”
Jason Ginty commented: “It’s great to be back in the Cumulus family! I’m excited to work with Doug Hamand, Troy Hanson, Val Garris and James Kurdziel on these incredible stations. Pat Galloway and I have worked in the New Orleans market for years but never at the same company. Can’t wait to finally work with him and the entire New Orleans and Baton Rouge teams!”
Beasley Media Group announces Toucher & Rich, the Marconi Award winning morning show featured on Boston’s WBZ-FM 98.5 The Sports Hub, has added Saga Communication’s Lazer 99.3 and 98.5 in Springfield and Northampton, MA to its syndication network beginning on Monday, May 9th, 2022.
The addition of the new affiliation further expands the show’s audience across New England.
Toucher and Rich, featuring Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb, along with Jon Wallach, is the #1 ranked morning radio show in Boston. The program recently celebrated its 12th anniversary on 98.5 The Sports Hub as the dominant program for Male and Adult audiences 25-54.
“We’re excited to be launching Toucher & Rich in Springfield and Northampton on Lazer 99.3 and 98.5 with our new friends at Saga Communications,” said Toucher and Rich. “We’re fortunate to have some of the most loyal listeners in radio and look forward to introducing our show to a whole new audience of potential T&R diehards.”
➦In 1911...Frank Brandon Nelson born (Died from cancer at age 75 – September 12, 1986). He was a comedic actor best known for playing put-upon foils on radio and television, and especially for his "EEE-Yeeeeeeeeesssss?" catchphrase.
He made numerous guest appearances on television shows, including The Addams Family, The Jack Benny Program, I Love Lucy, The Real McCoys, and Sanford and Son. He also provided voices for animated series such as The Flintstones, Mister Magoo, The Jetsons, Dinky Dog, and The Snorks.
Frank Nelson
Nelson began his entertainment career in radio, and later moved into television and movies. In 1926, at age 15, Nelson played the role of a 30-year-old man in a radio series broadcast from the then-5,000-watt KOA-AM Dener. In 1929, Nelson moved to Hollywood, California and worked in local radio dramatic shows, usually playing the leading man. The first sponsored radio show he appeared in to reach a national market was Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel, a situation comedy radio show that aired from November 28, 1932, to May 22, 1933, starring two of the Marx Brothers, Groucho and Chico, and written primarily by Nat Perrin and Arthur Sheekman.
Nelson first found fame as the put-upon foil to Jack Benny on Benny's radio show during the 1940s and 1950s. Nelson typically portrayed a sales clerk or customer service worker.
Nelson performed on a number of Hollywood-based radio shows during this time, including Fibber McGee and Molly, and did radio work well into the late 1950s, on the few shows that remained on the air, including dramatic roles on such programs as Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.
Nelson continued to appear on Benny's television show in 1950, doing the same "rude clerk" shtick. His other catchphrase, that would be worked into every routine, would have Benny asking something mundane, such as, "Do these shirts come in a medium?", and Frank would bellow, "Oo-oo-oo-ooh, DO they!" He also appeared on several other radio programs. Nelson's sudden appearances usually led to spontaneous laughter or applause on the part of the audience.
Orson Welles
➦In 1915...George Orson Welles born (Died – October 10, 1985). He was an actor, director, writer and producer who worked in theatre, radio and film.
In 1934, Welles got his first job on radio—on The American School of the Air
In 1937, Welles co-founded their own repertory company, the Mercury Theatre. The name was inspired by the title of the iconoclastic magazine, The American Mercury. Welles was executive producer, and the original company included such actors as Joseph Cotten, George Coulouris, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Arlene Francis, Martin Gabel, John Hoyt, Norman Lloyd, Vincent Price, Stefan Schnabel and Hiram Sherman.
Simultaneously with his work in the theatre, Welles worked extensively in radio as an actor, writer, director and producer, often without credit. Between 1935 and 1937 he was earning as much as $2,000 a week, shuttling between radio studios at such a pace that he would arrive barely in time for a quick scan of his lines before he was on the air.
In addition to continuing as a repertory player on The March of Time, in the fall of 1936 Welles adapted and performed Hamlet in an early two-part episode of CBS Radio's Columbia Workshop. His performance as the announcer in the series' April 1937 presentation of Archibald MacLeish's verse drama The Fall of the City was an important development in his radio career and made the 21-year-old Welles an overnight star.
In July 1937, the Mutual Network gave Welles a seven-week series to adapt Les Misérables. It was his first job as a writer-director for radio, the radio debut of the Mercury Theatre, and one of Welles's earliest achievements. He invented the use of narration in radio.
That September, Mutual chose Welles to play Lamont Cranston, also known as The Shadow. He performed the role anonymously through mid-September 1938.
After the theatrical successes of the Mercury Theatre, CBS Radio invited Orson Welles to create a summer show for 13 weeks. The series began July 11, 1938, initially titled First Person Singular, with the formula that Welles would play the lead in each show. Some months later the show was called The Mercury Theatre on the Air. The weekly hour-long show presented radio plays based on classic literary works, with original music composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann.
The Mercury Theatre's radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells October 30, 1938, brought Welles instant fame. The combination of the news bulletin form of the performance with the between-breaks dial spinning habits of listeners was later reported to have created widespread confusion among listeners who failed to hear the introduction, although the extent of this confusion has come into question. Panic was reportedly spread among listeners who believed the fictional news reports of a Martian invasion. The myth of the result created by the combination was reported as fact around the world and disparagingly mentioned by Adolf Hitler in a public speech.
➦In 1922...KSL is Utah's oldest radio station, signed-on. The station KSL/KZN began as life as the radio arm of the Deseret News, a Salt Lake City newspaper also owned by the LDS Church. The station's first broadcast was talk by then-LDS Church president Heber J. Grant. In 1924 the station was sold to John Cope and his father, F.W. Cope, who formed the Radio Service Corporation of Utah. Earl J. Glade (later a four-term mayor of Salt Lake City) joined the station in 1925 and guided KSL's operations for the next fourteen years. John F. Fitzpatrick, publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune (owned by the Kearns Corporation) acquired a quarter interest of KSL for a modest price, as did the LDS Church. This was the Tribune's first business partnership with the LDS Church, though the Church later (re)acquired full interest in the station.
KSL first broadcast
In 1924, it changed its call letters to KFPT for one year and then adopted its current call letters in 1925 after they became available, with the "S" and "L" standing for "Salt Lake." (Until that time the KSL call sign had been used by a radio station in Alaska.) A series of power boosts over the next decade brought the station to its current 50,000 watts (daytime broadcast power) in 1932. It spent time at several frequencies over the years before settling at 1160 kHz in 1941.
The station's owners made their initial foray into FM broadcasting in 1947 when they started the original KSL-FM on the then sparsely-populated FM band at 100.3. After simulcasting KSL for a number of years, the FM station switched to a beautiful music format, a contrast to the then-current KSL format of news and talk interspersed with middle of the road music. The FM station was sold to a private owner in the mid-1970s due to FCC regulations on multiple station ownership, since greatly relaxed. The station, now the adult contemporary KSFI, was reunited with KSL when Bonneville repurchased the station in 2003 in a deal that included classic rock station KRSP-FM (103.5) and then-hot AC KQMB-FM (102.7). In the mid-1980s KSL adopted an all-talk format, completely dropping music programming, aside from its Sunday broadcasts of the Tabernacle Choir.
On September 3, 2005, KQMB was converted to a simulcast of KSL, with the call sign changed to KSL-FM. Since then, the stations have branded as "KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM & 1160 AM," though the AM signal is the main station. FM 102.7's former branding, radio station, call sign, and hot adult contemporary format were later picked up an unrelated station, and an unrelated company licensed to Levan on a lower powered version of the station on 96.7 FM.
➦In 1935...KTM-AM in Los Angeles changed call letters to KEHE (now KABC)
➦In 1937...WLS-AM Chicago reporter Herb Morrison described fiery disaster of zeppelin Hindenburg ("Oh, the humanity!") at Lakehurst, NJ. Here's a corrected synch of Herb Morrison's recording of the event matched with footage from the Pathe newsreel and the Universal newsreel. Where film isn't available, pictures are substituted.
Some of radio's greatest moments are when the actual event occurs live on the air or while a reporter is recording and the unexpected happens. One such event happened to reporter Herb Morrison on May 6th, 1937 in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The mighty German passenger Zeppelin, Hindenburg, was attempting a mooring. The Hindenburg was one of Nazi Germany's finest airships. It was supposed to reflect the greatness of the German Reich and its leader, Adolf Hitler.
Morrison
The airship had made this voyage before and friends and family were at Lakehurst waiting for the arrival of the great zeppelin. Reporter Herbert Morrison was there too. The day was rainy and there had been strong thunderstorms earlier. Morrison was recording the event for later rebroadcast. The early part of his recording reflects information about the airship and the day and what is necessary to bring it into mooring under such conditions.
Engineer Charles Nehlsen was manning the Presto Direct Disc recorder. The recorder includes a large turntable with a 16-inch platter, a heavy-duty lathe, which would actually cut into the lacquer disc, and an amplifier. It was important that these recorders be perfectly level and that vibration be avoided. Ultimately, the complete broadcast would be recorded on four 16" Green label lacquer discs.
As the zeppelin arrives, listen as Morrison is describing the mooring when suddenly it bursts into flames. Morrison is shocked, but keeps talking though breaking occasionally overcome by the tragedy unfolding in front of him. Later the broadcast continues after the tragedy as the victims are being brought in and survivors are interviewed.
An interesting side note is at the moment of explosion, when Morrison is heard yelling "It burst into flames!" the vibrations from the explosion caused the recorder to bounce on the disc creating deep grooves until Engineer Nehlson was able to momentarily lift the lathe from the disc and place it back down. The discs, which are contained at the National Archives reflect the grooves and the force of the explosion.
It was radio news at its finest; news events reported as they happened. The description is brought home to radio's listeners and we in turn grieve for the dead and injured. This event reflected the potential and power of radio broadcasting immediately before and, later, during World War II as the Murrow Boys and others would bring the war home to America via the airwaves.
While the event was not aired live, it did air later. In those days radio reporting of events was always broadcast live only since the networks had policies forbidding the use of recorded material except for sound effects. But Herbert Morrison, the reporter, was not there to report disaster and had no facility for broadcasting live. Instead, he was there at the behest of his radio station, WLS, Chicago, to record a report on the grand airship.
Later that day, Morrison and his sound engineer, Charlie Nehlsen left New Jersey with the transcription discs and headed back to Chicago. The morning after the disaster is when parts of the recording first aired over WLS. Logs of when it first appeared over NBC are not known to exist. It is known that at least five minutes of the recording did broadcast on May 7th at 11:38 AM in the New York area and over the Red Network. It was later in the day that the longer sections were played to a national audience. This was one of the few times that the networks allowed a recording of an event to be broadcast. (Radio Days)
➦In 1944...Fishers Blend radio stations KJR & KOMO in Seattle swapped frequencies. KOMO was moved to 1000 kc where its power could be increased, while KJR, now at 950, was sold within two years. With the new frequency, KOMO was broadcasting at 50,000 watts, sending its signal over several states.
➦In 1945...in the final hours of WWII, the German radio announcer known as “Axis Sally” made her final propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
➦In 2015…Veteran radio newsman/talk show host 63-year-old Ty Wansley died of congestive heart failure.
Ty Wansley
Wansley began in broadcasting as a newscaster in the 1970's at two of St. Louis' powerhouse radio stations, KWK and KATZ. Following several prominent years in his native St. Louis, Wansley was wooed by Sheridan Broadcasting to become the National News Director of the Sheridan Network.
Following his successful stint at the helm of the Sheridan Network, Wansley returned to St. Louis to become National News Director of Amaturo Broadcasting; overseeing the news departments of radio stations in St. Louis,Miami, Houston, and Detroit. In 1979, Wansley moved up the broadcasting ladder as he traveled to Chicago, where he headed the news department of WBMX and WJPC radio.
Wansley most recently was news and information director for three iHeartMedia stations — urban contemporary WGCI FM 107.5, urban adult-contemporary WVAZ FM 102.7 and gospel WGRB AM 1390. He anchored morning news on V103 and WGRB and hosted two weekend public affairs shows, “Chicago Insight” on WGCI and WGRB, and “Chicago Speaks” on V103.
Roma Downey is 62
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Singer Bob Seger is 77.
Singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore is 77.
Singer and comedian Lulu Roman (“Hee Haw”) is 76.
Actor Alan Dale (“Lost,” ″Ugly Betty”) is 75.
Actor Ben Masters (“Passions”) is 75.
Actor Richard Cox (“Alpha House,” ″American Tragedy”) is 74.
Host Tom Bergeron (“Dancing with the Stars,” new “Hollywood Squares”) is 67.
Singer John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants is 62.
George Clooney is 61
Actor Julianne Phillips is 62.
Actor Roma Downey (“Touched by an Angel”) is 62.
Actor George Clooney is 61.
Child actor turned rodeo star Clay O’Brien (“The Apple Dumpling Gang”) is 61.
Singer-bassist Tony Scalzo of Fastball is 58.
Actor Leslie Hope (“24”) is 57.
Actor Geneva Carr (“Bull”) is 56.
Guitarist Mark Bryan of Hootie and the Blowfish is 55.
Guitarist Chris Shiflett of Foo Fighters is 51.
Actor Stacey Oristano (“Bunheads,” ″Friday Night Lights”) is 43.
Actor Adrianne Palicki (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) is 39.
Actor Gabourey Sidibe (“Precious”) is 39.
Comedian Sasheer Zamata (“Saturday Night Live”) is 36.
Cumulus Media Inc. today announced that it intends to commence a “modified Dutch auction” tender offer to purchase up to $25 million of shares of its Class A common stock, or such lesser number of shares of its Class A common stock as are properly tendered and not properly withdrawn, at a price not greater than $16.50 and not less than $14.50 per share of Class A common stock, to the tendering shareholder in cash, less any applicable withholding taxes and without interest.
The Offer will be made upon the terms and subject to the conditions that will be described in the offer to purchase and in the related letter of transmittal that will be distributed to shareholders and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Company plans to commence the Offer on May 6, 2022, with an expiration at the end of the day on June 3, 2022, unless extended or earlier terminated by Cumulus.
Mary Berner
Mary G. Berner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cumulus Media, said, “Following yesterday’s announcement of the Board’s authorization of a $50 million share buyback program, we are launching this tender as a first step in our capital return plan. This action is underpinned by our strong financial and operating momentum, our continued belief that the Company is significantly undervalued and our desire to allow shareholders who seek it the ability to take advantage of the liquidity we can provide them. It is also our expectation that, even with this tender offer, we will be below our target of 3.5x net leverage by year end with significant continuing liquidity and financial flexibility for accretive M&A.”
Cumulus will conduct the Offer by means of a procedure commonly called a “modified Dutch auction.” This procedure allows shareholders to select the price, within a price range specified by Cumulus, and the number of shares they are willing to sell at that price (or, should a higher price be determined as the “purchase price,” such higher price). The Offer is being made under Cumulus’s previously announced $50 million share repurchase program.
More than one in five TV news directors reported there had been an attack on their newsroom employees in 2021, the continuation of a troubling trend of increased danger to journalists. That is one of the key findings in the latest RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey, the first report of which is being released today.
It was the second consecutive year that at least that many TV news directors reported these physical attacks and verbal threats.
The bigger the market, the more likely that there have been attacks, with nearly a third of news directors in top 25 markets reporting attacks. While that’s lower than last year, news directors in markets 101 and smaller reported increases in attacks compared to 2020. Journalism is most dangerous in the West and then Northeast — less dangerous in the South.
A year ago, almost half of the attacks were against crews covering what news directors described as riots, protests and civil unrest. Security increased at stations as fences, locks and gates were installed. One-person crews became two-person; two-person crews became three. This year, attacks were much more varied and seemingly random.
What happened? Many survey respondents offered anecdotes, including:
One photographer was attacked while covering an out-of-hand fraternity party
One reporter was approached on the street and hit unprovoked
One reporter had a drink thrown at them from a car
Police detained a news crew covering a protest
One crew had its car surrounded by a group of people, who shook and pounded on it
Multiple reporters were spit on, and one was spit on several times
One photographer was hit in the face by a rock
One photographer was punched at a crime scene
Several reporters were the victims of racist verbal harassment
One anchor received a death threat
Several crews had their gear damaged or broken
Several TV news directors reported their staff receives constant harassment, whether via phone calls or emails.
A majority of TV news directors (52.2%) thought that 2021 was about the same in danger to journalists as 2020; more than a quarter (27.4%) thought 2021 was more dangerous, and 20.4% thought it was less dangerous.
Interestingly, there wasn’t much difference based on market size or staff size, network affiliation or region.
Not surprisingly, the level of attacks at radio stations and on radio news people is much lower. Of radio news directors and general managers, 3% reported attacks on newsroom employees. A year ago, it was primarily a problem in major markets, with 1 million and more people. This past year, market size made no meaningful difference. A year ago, region made no difference. This time, most of the attacks were in the West and Midwest, and news directors and general managers in the West were more than twice as likely to say 2021 was more dangerous than the year before.
More than three-quarters (77%) of radio news directors and general managers thought the level of danger for journalists was about the same in 2021 as it was in 2020. Fourteen percent said it was more dangerous; nine percent said less.
Similar to TV news directors, several radio news directors and general managers reported their employees had been victims of phone and internet harassment, which included threats.
Saga Communications, Inc. reported today that net revenue increased 12.0% to $25.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 compared to $22.3 million for the same period last year.
Station operating expense increased 8.7% for the quarter to $20.6 million compared to the same period last year. For the quarter station operating income increased 17.8% to $5.6 million and operating income was $1.7 million compared to $883 thousand for the quarter last year. Free cash flow was $1.9 million for the quarter compared to $1.8 million for the same period last year. Net income was $1.2 million for the quarter compared to $758 thousand for the first quarter last year. Diluted earnings per share were $0.20 in the first quarter of 2022.
The Company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share on April 8, 2022. The aggregate amount of the quarterly dividend was approximately $970 thousand. Additionally, the Company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share and a special dividend of $0.50 per share on January 14, 2022. The aggregate amount of the January 14, 2022 quarterly and special dividend was approximately $4 million. To date Saga has paid over $78 million in dividends to shareholders since the first special dividend was paid in 2012.
The Company’s balance sheet reflects $55.2 million in cash on hand as of March 31, 2022 and $52.1 million as of May 2, 2022.
Capital expenditures in the first quarter of 2022 were $923 thousand compared to $534 thousand for the quarter ended March 31, 2021. The Company expects to spend approximately $5.5 – 6.0 million for capital expenditures during 2022.
Urban One, Inc. today reported its results for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. Net revenue was approximately $112.3 million, an increase of 22.9% from the same period in 2021.
The Company reported operating income of approximately $36.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to approximately $23.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021.
Broadcast and digital operating income1 was approximately $48.4 million, an increase of 33.0% from the same period in 2021. Net income was approximately $16.4 million or $0.32 per share (basic) compared to $7,000 or $0.00 per share (basic) for the same period in 2021.
Alfred C Liggins
Adjusted EBITDA2 was approximately $42.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to approximately $30.2 million for the same period in 2021.
Alfred C. Liggins, III, Urban One's CEO and President stated, "We had extremely strong first quarter performance across the platform, with advertising revenues up double-digit percentages in all of our operating segments.
"Digital revenues were up 49.5%, Cable TV advertising revenues were up 46.9%, and radio advertising, excluding political and digital, was up 17.4%. This enabled us to grow Adjusted EBITDA by 38.9% year-over-year, and by $14.3 million or 51.6% vs. Q1 2019. Looking back at pre-pandemic revenues, when we aggregate our radio broadcasting, syndication, events and digital operations, net revenues were up 11.5% compared to Q1 2019. Second quarter core radio advertising is pacing up mid-single digits, as we start to lap the tougher comps from 2021. Our balance sheet continues to strengthen, with $166.4 million of cash and net leverage down to 4.07x."
RUSSIA COMPLAINS WEST 'STUFFING UKRAINE WITH WEAPONS': As Russia targeted railroad stations and other supply line targets in Ukraine with missile strikes to try to block the flow of weapons from Western nations, and also attacked Ukrainian troop strongholds and fuel and ammunition depots with artillery and aircraft, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Russia of using, quote, "missile terrorism tactics in order to spread fear across Ukraine." Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, meanwhile, complained that the West is, quote, "stuffing Ukraine with weapons."
.@Debora_Patta says there may be around 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers, alongside civilians, still trapped inside a Mariupol steel plant, according to Russia. Ukrainian defenders say Russian troops have stormed the plant.
Attacks were reported Wednesday near the capital of Kyiv, in Cherkasy and Dnipro in central Ukraine, and in Zaporizhzhia in the southeastern part of the country. However, AP cited a senior U.S. defense official as saying that even though Russia has been trying to hit railroads around the western city of Lviv near the Polish border, there's been, quote, "no appreciable impact" on Ukraine being able to resupply its forces with weapons from the West. Ukraine's General Staff said Ukrainian forces made some gains on the border of the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv, and repelled 11 Russian attacks in the eastern Donetsky and Luhansk regions.
The mayor of Mariupol said there was heavy fighting at the sprawling steel mill that's been the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in the devastated southern city. The commander of the military unit defending the plant said Russian forces got into the plant's territory and that their incursions continued for a second day with, quote, "heavy, bloody battles." Russia, however, denied its forces were storming the plant.
Rumours are swirling in Moscow that former generals / KGB officials are preparing to oust Russia’s president Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, which is increasingly seen across Russia as a strategic mistake / an economic disaster. Interesting.https://t.co/1SCK9PLdjk
E.U. Prez Calls for It to Ban Russian Oil Imports: European Union President Ursula von der Leyen called on the 27-nation bloc yesterday to ban Russian oil imports, something that would need unanimous approval. The E.U. is also considering barring Russian natural gas, and has already approved cutting off coal imports from Russia.
NY Post 5/5/22
➤FEDERAL RESERVE TARGETS INFLATION WITH HALF-POINT INTEREST RATE INCREASE: The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a half-percentage point yesterday (May 4th) as part of its bid to tackle inflation, which is at its worst level in four decades. The increase raised the rate to a range of 0.75 percent to one percent, its highest point since before the pandemic. The increase was the Fed's most aggressive move since 2000. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said, "Inflation is much too high, and we understand the hardship it is causing." Powell also made clear that more interest rate hikes will be coming. Addressing concerns that the actions could send the economy into recession, Powell said he believes the economy is resilient enough, saying, "I see a strong economy. Nothing about it says it’s close to or vulnerable to a recession."
➤OATH KEEPER IS THIRD TO PLEAD GUILTY TO SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY OVER JANUARY 6TH: A 44-year-old North Carolina man who's a member of the far-right Oath Keepers milita group pled guilty to seditious conspiracy yesterday, admitting to conspiring with other members of the group to forcefully halt the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden. William Todd Wilson is the third Oath Keepers member to plead guilty to seditious conspiracy related to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Wilson and other Oath Keepers entered the Capitol during the January 6th attack and later than afternoon, according to a court filing, he joined Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes in a hotel suite. There Rhodes called an unnamed person on a speaker phone and repeatedly urged them to tell then-President Donald Trump to, quote, "call upon groups like the Oath Keepers to forcibly oppose the transfer of power." The person on the phone refused to let Rhodes speak directly with Trump.
➤JUDGE ACCEPTS CHAUVIN PLEA DEAL IN FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS CASE: The judge overseeing the federal civil rights cases against four former Minneapolis police officers in the May 2020 killing of George Floyd said yesterday that he's accepted the terms of Derek Chauvin's plea agreement and will sentence him to 20 to 25 years in prison. Chauvin pled guilty in December to violating Floyd’s civil rights when he knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes, leading to his death, admitting he willfully deprived Floyd of his right to be free from unreasonable seizure, including unreasonable force by a police officer. He could have potentially faced life in prison if convicted in federal court. Chauvin is already serving a 22 1/2 year sentence for his murder conviction in Minnesota last year. He would serve the federal sentence concurrently with the state sentence.
➤AMBER HEARD RECALLS FIRST TIME JOHNNY DEPP ALLEGEDLY HIT HER: During her emotional testimony Wednesday, Amber Heard detailed the first time Johnny Depp allegedly hit her.
Heard told the jury that she had asked the Pirates of the Caribbean actor a question about his famous “Wino Forever” tattoo and he slapped her across the face.
Heard recalled, “I laughed because I didn’t know what else to do. I thought this must be a joke because I didn’t’ know what was going on. I just stared at him thinking that he was going to start laughing too.”Instead, she says he slapped her again.
During her testimony, the Aquaman actress said that there were two different sides to Depp. She said, “He was the love of my life but he was also this other thing and this other thing was an awful, awful thing that would come out and take over. You couldn’t see the Johnny I loved underneath it.”
➤MAN ARRESTED FOR ATTACKING DAVE CHAPPELLE ONSTAGE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL: A 23-year-old man was arrested Wednesday for attacking Dave Chappelle onstage at the Hollywood Bowl during Tuesday night’s Netflix Is A Joke Festival at the Hollywood Bowl.
The LAPD says that Isaiah Lee, who was carrying a plastic replica gun that contained a knife blade, was taken into custody for assault with a deadly weapon.
According to reports, the incident occurred just after the comedian told the crowd that he needed to ramp up security due to backlash from his remarks about the trans community last year. Lee was corralled by security and fellow comedian Jamie Foxx as Chappelle joked, “It’s a transman,” causing backlash online once again.
A Chappelle spokesperson told Deadline in a statement, “Dave Chappelle celebrated four nights of comedy and music, setting record-breaking sales for a comedian at the Hollywood Bowl. This run ties Chappelle with Monty Python for the most headlined shows by any comedian at the Hollywood Bowl, reaching 70k fans of diverse backgrounds during the first Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival, and he refuses to allow last night’s incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment.”
BREAKING: U.S. surpasses 1 million Covid-19 deaths, according to data compiled by NBC News. https://t.co/IteGJQW8ZO
➤SECRETARY OF STATE BLINKEN TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19: Secretary of State Antony Blinken tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday, the State Department announced, saying he is fully vaccinated and experiencing only mild symptoms. Blinken attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner over the weekend, as did President Biden, but he isn't considered a close contant of the president. Blinken will isolate at home and work virtually.
🏖NANTUCKET TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO GO TOPLESS AT BEACHES: The island of Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts is moving toward allowing people to go topless at all of its beaches regardless of gender. At the annual town meeting Tuesday night, the Gender Equality on Beaches bylaw amendment passed 327-242. It must still be approved by the state attorney general's office in order to go into effect. Currently, only men can be topless in public under Massachusetts law. Resident Dorothy Stover proposed the bylaw, which says, in part, "In order to promote equality for all persons, any person shall be allowed to be topless on any public or private beach" in Nantucket. She told station WBUR that she hopes to normalize bodies of all shapes and sizes and foster an environment of acceptance. AP reports there had been a proposed amendment to exempt two beaches that are popular with families and tourists, but it was withdrawn.
➤STUDY: FACEBOOK OUTAGE MAY REVEAL DEPTH OF SOCIAL MEDIA DEPENDENCY: How much do you rely on social media? Penn State researchers looked at tweets reacting to a six-hour Facebook outage in the fall of 2021—there were enough that the hashtag #FacebookDown was a trending topic. Many of the tweets showed anger or ridiculed Facebook, and users also expressed a need to find other social media outlets. Researcher Shyam Sundar explains, “It is not simply that people are dependent on it at a social level. When these social media sites go down, businesses also will go down. A lot of people engage in business transactions on the whole family of Facebook apps […]. There are newspapers that run completely on Facebook and small businesses and entrepreneurs who have their businesses, like yoga classes that hold lessons through Facebook. So, for some people, it’s a utility because it’s critical to their livelihood.” Tweets that expressed a desire to find another form of social media actually grew as the outage continued, and another trending topic suggested that users were ready to leave social media altogether. Researchers say the findings suggest that social media platforms need to look at outages as seriously as utility companies, which are constantly planning to face outages and preparing communication plans to help consumers navigate the outage.
🏀NBA PLAYOFFS: Results from second-round games yesterday:
Miami Heat 119, Philadelphia 76ers 103 - Miami leads series 2-0
🏒NHL PLAYOFFS: Results from first-round games yesterday:
Carolina Hurricanes 5, Boston Bruins 2 - Carolina leads series 2-0
Tampa Bay Lightning 5, Toronto Maple Leafs 3 - Series tied 1-1
Minnesota Wild 6, St. Louis Blues 2 - Hat trick for Wild's Kirill Kaprizov - Series tied 1-1
Edmonton Oilers 6, L.A. Kings 0 - Series tied 1-1
🏀ESPN: WARRIORS' PAYTON TO BE OUT FOR MONTH WITH FRACTURED ELBOW: The Golden State Warriors will have to continue their playoffs battle without Gary Payton II, with ESPN reporting Wednesday that he's expected to be out for about a month with a fractured left elbow. The report said that if the Warriors make it to the NBA Finals, there's a possibility he could return. Payton was hurt when the Memphis Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks hit him in the head in the air as he chased him down early in Memphis' 106-101 win in Game 2 of their second-round playoffs series Tuesday. Brooks was ejected for a flagrant foul, and could potentially be suspended.
🏀NETS' SIMMONS TO HAVE SURGERY FOR HERNIATED DISK: The Brooklyn Nets' Ben Simmons will have surgery for a herniated disk, the team said yesterday, with the procedure set to be done today. Simmons didn't play at all this season, staying off the court in Philadelphia after requesting a trade from the 76ers, citing mental health concerns, and then because of back pain after he was traded to the Nets in February. He'd hoped to return during the playoffs, but his back troubles resurfaced before the game in which he'd been on track to make his debut, which turned out to be the game that eliminated Brooklyn in the first round.
The Seattle Sounders make history, becoming the first MLS team to win the modern CONCACAF Champions League after a 3-0 win over Pumas 🏆
➤KENSETH AMONG THOSE VOTED INTO NASCAR HALL OF FAME: Driver Matt Kenseth headed the class that was voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame yesterday. The 50-year-old Kenseth retired in 2020 with 39 Cup victories, winning the Daytona 500 twice and the 2003 Cup Series championship among his accomplishments. He was chosen in his first year of eligibility. Joining him were driver Hershel McGriff and crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine. They will officially be inducted in a January 20th ceremony.
Cumulus Media has announced that it has promoted Chris Hoffman to Vice President of Adult Contemporary.
Hoffman will continue in his role as Operations Manager for Cumulus Salt Lake City’s KUBL-FM, KBEE-FM, and KKAT-AM. As Vice President of Adult Contemporary for Cumulus Media, Hoffman will be responsible for 27 Cumulus AC-formatted radio stations, overseeing best practices, artist and label relations and company communications pertaining to the AC format
Hoffman is a 35-year radio veteran, programming stations in the AC, Classic Rock, Classic Hits and News/Talk formats. He started his career while still in high school, at the University of Colorado’s radio station. As a teenager he worked his way up at Shamrock Broadcasting’s Kool 105 (KXKL FM) in Denver, rising to Program Director in 1996. He went on to program KCMO FM in Kansas City, MO, where his team won two Marconi Awards, and took on Operations Manager and Program Director roles for Cumulus at KCMO-AM and KCFX-FM. After two years in San Francisco programming KUZX/KUFX, Hoffman moved to Salt Lake City as Operations Manager for Cumulus Media’s KUBL, KKAT and KBEE, where he also served as Program Director and Midday host.
John Dimick, Senior Vice President Programming Operations, Cumulus Media, said: “Having the depth to recruit from within and promote someone with Chris’ abilities is another example of our commitment to having the best and brightest in Cumulus Media. This is well deserved recognition, and we are delighted to have Chris as part of the Audience and Content leadership team.”
Hoffman said: “I couldn’t be more thrilled to lead our AC team at Cumulus and work with our PDs to grow our legendary group of stations. A huge thank you to EVP Brian Philips and our VPs of Programming, John Dimick, Doug Hamand and Greg Frey for this amazing opportunity. I can’t wait to get started.”
Cumulus Media announces that it has kicked off a year-long Centennial celebration for Detroit radio station News/Talk 760 WJR.
The iconic station signed on for the first time on May 4, 1922, as WCX, which changed a few years later to WJR to reflect the ownership of the Jewett Radio and Phonograph Company. The station has served the community with excellence for 100 years, with a 50,000-watt signal that can be heard across nearly half the country at night, providing the city of Detroit, the state of Michigan, and the Upper Midwest with news, music, sports, and information by some of the most talented people in the radio industry. Through the years, WJR’s legendary lineup has featured broadcasting giants such as Paul W. Smith, Jack Parr, Mitch Albom, J.P. McCarthy, Frank Beckmann, Ernie Harwell, Guy Gordon, and Rush Limbaugh.
In the last several months leading up to today’s 100th year birthday, WJR has presented dozens of on-air vignettes that mark memorable moments, tell interesting stories, and feature the unique sound and talented people from WJR’s history. In addition, the station has populated www.wjr.com with archival video, audio and photos that tell the story of WJR’s first 100 years.
Steve Finateri, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Detroit, said: “Being at WJR is like being part of an all-star team at every position in this famous Fisher Building. WJR is iconic because of the extremely high standards set by so many world class broadcasters over the past 100 years. Today, those same high standards and our “blow torch coverage” is what still attracts top newsmakers from around the Great Lakes Region and is the reason for our continued success. We take great pride in our programming, our business and civic relationships, and serve the community by raising millions every year for numerous worthy charities that improve the quality of life in Detroit. The best-of-the-best seem to find their way to WJR, and I know that tradition will continue on for the next 100 years.”
Mike Wheeler, Program Director, News/Talk 760 WJR, added: “What an honor to be here at this moment in WJR’s history. Truly one of the most important and special radio stations in American history—and we are just getting started!”
Netflix Inc has been hit with a shareholder lawsuit in a U.S. court in California accusing the streaming entertainment company of misleading the market about its ability to keep adding subscribers in recent months, reports Reuters.com.
The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday seeks damages for declines in Netflix's share price this year after the company missed its subscriber growth estimates.
Filed by a Texas-based investment trust, the lawsuit accused Los Gatos, California-based Netflix and its top executives of failing to disclose that its growth was slowing amid increased competition and that it was losing subscribers on a net basis.
Netflix shares dropped 20% in January after it disclosed weak subscriber growth. Netflix shares then plunged more than 35% on April 20 to close at $226.19 after it said it lost 200,000 subscribers in its first quarter, falling well short of its forecast of adding 2.5 million subscribers. Its shares were trading at $199.87 at midday on Wednesday.
The company attributed the quarterly decline to inflation, competition from other streaming services and its suspension of service in Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which cost Netflix 700,000 members.
A Netflix spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit names Netflix Co-Chief Executives Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos and Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann. It seeks damages for investors who traded Netflix shares between Oct. 19, 2021 and April 19, 2022.
The U.S. broadband industry ended late on Wednesday its legal challenge to California's landmark net neutrality law, which seeks to protect the open internet, reports Reuters.
A group of industry associations that represents major internet providers, such as AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications, Comcast Corp and others, dismissed their 2018 legal challenge.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had last month refused to reconsider a ruling upholding the 2018 state law, which bars internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic or offering paid fast lanes.
"After multiple defeats in court, internet service providers have abandoned this effort to block enforcement of California's net neutrality law," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Wednesday.
The industry associations that had challenged the law said in a joint statement that "broadband providers are united in support of an open internet." They committed themselves to working with Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to develop a federal approach for resolving the issue.
In January, the appeals court ruled 3-0 that a 2017 decision by the FCC to reverse federal internet protections could not bar state action, rejecting the industry challenge.
Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a senior counselor at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society said, "the end of this litigation is a boon for free speech, competition and innovation on the internet."
The FCC under former President Barack Obama adopted net neutrality rules in 2015. They were overturned in 2017 by the FCC under then President Donald Trump. California's legislature responded by adopting a state law requiring net neutrality in August 2018.
The FCC remains divided 2-2, because Joe Biden's nominee for the final commission seat, Gigi Sohn, has not been approved.
TuneIn, the world’s leading live streaming audio service, announced today that Tom Fuelling has been appointed to the role of Chief Financial Officer. With over 25 years of experience working for media and technology companies including leading players in video streaming and music, Fuelling will be a strong addition to the already robust executive team.
“Tom is an incredible addition to our growing leadership team. His experience scaling global media businesses that consumers love is unparalleled,” said Richard Stern, CEO, TuneIn. “Working in a competitive landscape, TuneIn has emerged as a leader in live audio streaming and we look forward to working with Tom as he’ll help us sustain and maintain our growth both domestically and abroad.”
Tom Fuelling
Prior to joining TuneIn, Fuelling served as CFO for Hulu, OpenX, ARTISTdirect and most recently, Spokeo, Inc., among others. During his six years at Hulu where he was the 12th employee, the company saw large growth in its advertising-supported business. Fuelling was involved in the launch of Hulu Plus, the company’s subscription product which he helped to scale to more than 5 million subscribers during his tenure. At Hulu, OpenX and Spokeo, Fuelling was responsible for hiring and developing the accounting and finance teams, implementing financial planning and reporting processes and developing weekly and monthly operational metrics dashboards to provide actionable insights to improve the businesses.
Fuelling began listening to TuneIn more than five years ago and closely follows the digital media space. He is a big consumer of audio content and is looking forward to combining a personal interest with his professional work.
“I am hoping to support the company’s current momentum and work with the team to grow our customer base,” said Fuelling. “I enjoy working at companies that are in a building mode and looking to scale, and I have always been attracted to businesses like TuneIn that are innovating on behalf of the consumer. With a professional background in the music and video spaces, moving to audio seems natural to me.”
BIA Advisory Services has added three key personnel to augment its forecasting and consulting divisions.
In a leadership role at BIA, Nicole Ovadia has joined as Vice President of Forecasting and Analysis to focus on enhancing BIA’s U.S. local media advertising forecast models and to support strategic and financial consulting projects with insights and analysis on broadcasting, digital trends, and economic impacts.
“BIA’s role as a trusted advisor has been increasing significantly, and I am excited to expand our team to support our efforts for clients,” said Tom Buono, CEO and Founder, BIA Advisory Services. “The media marketplace is extremely dynamic and its incumbent on us to continually challenge ourselves to deliver the best data and insights that help our clients with their goals and priorities. Our new team members have exactly the skillsets necessary to immediately deepen our impact and value to clients.”
Ovadia comes to BIA from the New York State Broadcasters Association (NYSBA) where she had a successful track record advocating for NYC Radio. Prior to that, she spent over 14 years with Emmis Communications at both the corporate level in the Strategy Group focusing on sales and acquisitions and at the local level in New York where she served as Vice President Customer Success.
Over her career, Ovadia has focused on building forecast models, implementing process improvements, and building partnerships with clients. These will all be areas she will focus on at BIA. In addition to her role in forecasting, Ovadia will be leading enhanced initiatives to develop recommendations and conclusions based on forecasted outcomes and will work with the forecasting team to develop and share custom analyses with clients. Ovadia possesses a B.S. degree in Economics from Wharton and an MBA from MIT Sloan. She will be based in New York City
BIA also announces that Leyla Chatti has joined as a Senior Media Analyst and Mark Dugan as Director of Data Insights and Client Relations.
Chatti comes to BIA from Warner Brothers Digital where she worked in the business intelligence area analyzing and reporting audience insights to global leadership. Prior to that, she was a client insights analyst for the financial services area at Comscore. At BIA, Chatti will do qualitative and quantitative research and use BIA’s advertising forecast to develop custom strategic business insights for clients. She will also be focused on business vertical analysis by media channel. Chatti earned her B.A. from the University of Virginia. Chatti will be based in Washington, DC.
Dugan comes to BIA from Sinclair Broadcasting, where he was a research director for WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh. In this role, Dugan worked regularly with Nielsen, Scarborough, Media Audit, and Kantar Research to develop customized client-centric presentations and assist sales management to better position the station. He also trained sales staff in projection and estimate techniques. Dugan has also been an Account Executive at Raycom Media and Research Director at Granite Broadcasting. Dugan will be based in Pittsburg, PA.
At BIA, Dugan will use his industry experience to help clients use BIA data and research effectively and efficiently. Mark has his MBA with a concentration in Marketing and a BA in Psychology from the University of Rochester.
BIA’s Managing Director, Rick Ducey, commented on the company’s expansion, saying, “Nicole’s broadcasting experience and unique set of skills and experience will be invaluable as we expand and refine our advertising forecast to reflect today’s digital trends. Combine that with Leyla and Mark’s abilities to develop deep analysis around our data and we will be able to better key into our clients’ business goals and help them succeed.”
Ovadia, Chatti, and Dugan have started in their positions at BIA. More on their backgrounds can be found in the company’s analyst directory here.
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