Tribune Media Reports Strong 2018 Start During 1Q

Tribune Media Company today reported its results for the three months ended March 31, 2018.

FIRST QUARTER 2018 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (compared to first quarter 2017)

• Consolidated operating revenues increased 1% to $443.6 million
• Consolidated operating profit was $187.3 million, including a $133 millionnet pretax gain on the sales of spectrum, compared to an operating loss of $21.0 millionfor the first quarter of 2017
• Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA increased 108% to $119.9 million
• Television and Entertainment net advertising revenues fell 7% to $270.4 million
• Net core advertising revenues (which exclude political and digital revenues) decreased 10% to $245.0 million
• Retransmission revenues increased 25% to $118.1 million
• Carriage fee revenues increased 24% to $41.7 million
• Programming expenses decreased 29% to $100.7 million, primarily due to the shift in strategy at WGN America
• Cash distributions from TV Food Network were $115.1 million

'Tribune Media is off to a strong start in 2018 with first quarter revenues up one percent and consolidated Adjusted EBITDA more than doubling year-over-year,' said Peter Kern, Tribune Media's Chief Executive Officer.

'Our new strategy at WGN America, our sustained focus on overall expense management, and our very strong growth in retransmission and carriage fee revenues, are driving meaningful improvements in profitability across the company. These improvements more than offset the anticipated headwinds to core advertising due to the soft overall advertising environment and our limited exposure to Olympics and Super Bowl advertising. When adjusted for the substantial impact of core advertising dollars shifting into the Olympics and a challenging Super Bowl comparison to last year, we estimate that first quarter core advertising revenues were down in the low single digit percentage range year-over-year.

'As we continue to move toward closing our previously announced merger with Sinclair, the company maintains an aggressive focus on profitability. At WGN America, our new programming strategy has produced solid audience growth and made the network a significant contributor to consolidated Adjusted EBITDA. Additionally, corporate expenses were down double-digits year-over-year. Finally, while we expect to generate the majority of our political advertising revenue in the second half of the year, the momentum of political spending we saw in the first quarter is very encouraging. As we move deeper into 2018, we are well positioned to execute on our strategy and remain committed to delivering value for our shareholders, advertisers and the communities we serve.'

D-C Radio: Emily Sklar Lands Evenings At WIHT

Emily Sklar

iHeartMedia/Washington DC announced today that Emily Sklar has been named new On-Air Personality for WIHT Hot 99.5 FM, effective Monday, May 14th, 2018. Sklar will broadcast weeknights from 7 p.m. – 12 a.m.

“I couldn’t be more excited to bring Emily to the Nation’s Capital and HOT 99.5,” said Rob Kruz, Program Director for HOT 99.5. “Her talent, energy and work ethic make Emily the perfect choice to take nights on HOT 99.5 to new heights!”

Sklar joins the Washington D.C. market from Detroit, where she most recently served as the midday jock on WKQI Channel 955. Before taking over middays, she began her career as an intern for “Mojo in The Morning” on the station. Sklar is a graduate of Michigan State University.

WIHT 99.5 Fm (22 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

“The energy and passion behind this team is contagious,” said Sklar. “I am so excited to be joining the HOT 99.5 family and can’t wait to connect with the listeners here in D.C.!”

Emmis Reports Revenue Dropped 16 Percent

Emmis Communications Corporation today announced results for its fourth fiscal quarter and full-year ending February 28, 2018.

Emmis' radio net revenues for the fourth fiscal quarter were $28.4 million, down from $34.0 million in the prior year, a decrease of 16%. Pro forma for the sale of Los Angeles and Terre Haute radio stations, Emmis' fourth quarter radio revenues as reported to Miller Kaplan, which excludes barter revenues and syndication revenues, were down 1% in markets that were down 3%.  New York and St. Louis clusters both grew their revenues in the quarter and outperformed their markets.

For the full year, radio revenues were $142.9 million compared to $165.1 million in the prior year, a decrease of 13%. For the full year, Emmis' pro forma radio revenues as reported to Miller Kaplan were down 2%, narrowly missing the performance of its markets, which were down 1%.

On April 30, the company finalized the sale of its St. Louis radio stations, and after applying the net proceeds therefrom, has less than $20 million of net credit facility debt outstanding.

"In the last 12 months, we have paid down over $120 million of senior debt, leaving us on firm financial footing and providing flexibility as opportunities present themselves," Jeff Smulyan, CEO & Chairman of the Board of Emmis said.

"Ratings for our New York radio stations remain strong, and they are rebounding nicely in Indianapolis. The NextRadio team has done a tremendous job rolling out Dial Report, an industry-wide data attribution platform, and we believe it is uniquely positioned to meet the growing demand for robust analytics and insights into the behaviors of radio listeners."

CNN: Salem Radio Pressured Hosts On Trump Criticism

CNN Graphic

Executives at Salem Media Group, which syndicates some of the country's most recognized talk radio hosts and operates a batch of popular commentary websites, pressured some of their radio talent to cover Donald Trump more favorably during the 2016 presidential campaign, emails obtained by CNNMoney show.

One former radio host employed by Salem is now speaking out on the record, claiming the company fired her because of her refusal to play along.

Elisha Krauss

According to CNN, it might not be unusual that a conservative-minded media organization would aim to support the Republican nominee. But the former host, Elisha Krauss, said she feels it's disingenuous to ostensibly hire hosts to be open about their views, only to pressure them behind the scenes to change.

For months, Krauss said, Salem executives explicitly pressured her to change how she treated Trump. Though Krauss said she praised Trump when she felt he deserved it, it ultimately wasn't enough. In January 2017, Krauss said, she was shell-shocked when a casual meeting with a company executive turned into her dismissal.

Krauss declined to discuss the details of her severance, but said the rest of her contract had been settled.

Phil Boyce

Krauss said Salem executives sat her down several times, including twice during the 2016 Republican National Convention, trying to encourage her to change her tone and questioning why she couldn't find anything positive to say about Trump. She believes her firing was "ideological," though she noted executives never explicitly told her that was why she was let go.

In a lengthy email, Phil Boyce, a senior vice president at Salem who was one of the executives in the emails urging Krauss to be more favorable toward Trump, told CNNMoney that Krauss was not let go because of her position on Trump. He said that "it should not surprise anybody" that Salem radio hosts often "support conservative candidates in elections" and explained that the company, which also operates the conservative Regnery publishing house, does "a lot of research on what our audience wants."

Ben Shapiro

"That research shows that our listeners want our hosts to support the President when he does well, and criticize him if and when he does or says something wrong," Boyce said.

One of the emails CNNMoney obtained was sent by Boyce in June of 2016, responding to what he said was Shapiro's request for guidance on the company's position on Trump.

Boyce wrote that "Salem has not taken an official position," but noted that the company's chief executive officer, Edward Atsinger, had made the case that supporting Trump was necessary to beat Hillary Clinton.

Shapiro, who remained intensely critical of Trump throughout the election, declined to comment.

Krauss now works with Shapiro at his podcast and website, "The Daily Wire."

Radio's Hugh Hewitt Gets MSNBC Verbal Reprimand

Hugh Hewitt

MSNBC has scolded conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt for advocating that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt take action on a contaminated site, according to The Hill.

Emails obtained by the Sierra Club under the Freedom of Information Act show that Hewitt emailed Pruitt last year to set up a meeting with the law firm Larson O’Brien, where Hewitt works and which represents the Orange County Water District.

The water district wanted the EPA to put more effort into a Superfund cleanup effort that the Obama administration had designated. Pruitt soon put the project on a short list of sites slated for “immediate and intense action.”

After Politico reported on the exchange this week, MSNBC, where Hewitt hosts the Saturday show “Hugh Hewitt,” reprimanded him. Hewitt's radio show also is syndicated by Salem Media.

“He was given a verbal warning as such activity is a violation of our standards,” an MSNBC spokesman said in a statement.

The spokesman said Hewitt had previously agreed not to discuss EPA matters on his show, since he considers Pruitt a friend and Hewitt’s son works at the agency.

Hewitt, a columnist for The Washington Post, has also gotten in trouble with the paper. Editorial page editor Fred Hiatt told The Hollywood Reporter that he is “disturbed” by the news, but that Hewitt had agreed not to write about the EPA going forward.

Entercom Stock Drops

Shares of Entercom Communications were slammed on Tuesday, falling as much as 24.1%.

According to The Motley Fool, the stock's decline follows the company's first-quarter earnings release, which featured worse-than-expected revenue and adjusted earnings per share as the company's net revenue for the quarter fell about 7% year over year on a same-station basis.

For its first quarter, Entercom Communications reported revenue of $300.6 million and a net loss per share of $0.10. Non-GAAP earnings per share were at about breakeven. On average, analysts were expecting revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share of $317 million and $0.08.

While results were worse than expected, Entercom CEO David Field gave investors an upbeat update on the company's merger with CBS Radio, which closed last November.

[W]e have moved quickly to implement rapid change and have made good progress on our various integration, synergy and transformation goals. We have built a terrific leadership team and are driving strong ratings growth and launching a number of revenue-driving initiatives to capitalize on our scale and compete far more effectively against other media for a larger share of ad spending.

But Field said its first quarter was negatively affected by "soft general local advertising conditions and a number of temporary factors, most notably the exclusion of $12 million in revenue due to financial issues at [United States Traffic Network]."

Insisting that Entercom's current headwinds are temporary, Field said he is looking forward to its growth initiatives gaining traction. He believes these initiatives will help drive "meaningful sustainable growth as we capitalize on the compelling brands, assets and capabilities of this exciting, emerging company."

Liberty Media Still Interested In iHeartMedia

Greg Maffei

CEO Greg Maffei told investors during today’s first quarter earnings call that the radio and online broadcaster’s assets are complementary to Liberty’s music holdings, reports deadline.com.

Liberty has a controlling interest in satellite radio broadcaster SiriusXM, which, in turn, holds a 19% stake in the streaming music company Pandora.

“iHeart is an attractive free-cash flow generator,” Maffei said. “At the right price, I think it would be additive to our music holdings.”

Liberty made a $1.2 billion proposal to acquire a 40% stake in a restructured iHeartMedia. Under the proposal, Liberty would invest $600 million, SiriusXM would pump in $560 million and the two companies would split newly issued shares in the recapitalized company.

iHeartMedia sought the shelter of bankruptcy court in March, as it worked to restructure a portion of its crushing $20 billion in debt.

Philly Radio: WMMR's Preston&Steve Mark 20 Years As A Team

Preston Elliott & Steve Morrison (philly.com photo)

Neither remembers the exact date they went on the air together, but this month marks 20 years of Philadelphia radio raunch for WMMR 93.3 FM hosts Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison. After two decades of live radio, maybe some memory loss is to be expected, writes Philly.com.

Known better collectively by the title of their show Preston & Steve, Elliot, 50, and Morrison, 58, officially began their careers together in May 1998 at Philly's Y100 as Preston, Marilyn & Steve alongside former co-host Marilyn Russell, who is now on mornings at WOGL 98.1 FM. By May 2005, the guys had taken their antics to WMMR, where they occupy the  5:30-10:30 a.m.  slot, joined by Casey Foster, Kathy Romano, Marisa Magnatta, and Nick McIlwain.

Today, Elliot and Morrison dominate the radio ratings. In the winter, Preston & Steve finished first in the market among men ages 25-54, beating out second-place WIP’s Angelo Cataldi by a wide margin. Their annual  Campout for Hunger charity event raised more than $270,000 and collected 839 tons of food last year. The pair made it through WMMR’s ownership change from Greater Media to current parent company Beasley Broadcast Group in 2016, and their 20th anniversary coincides with the station’s 50th.

“If you walk up and down the halls [of WMMR], you can see the history of the radio station,” Elliot, a native of St. Louis, Mo., says. “I see all these people I never met but have heard about. My name is up there too, and I think it’s pretty f— cool, man.”

None if it, however, would have happened without an on-air introduction in the mid-’90s at WDRE. Elliot was hosting an afternoon show, and Morrison, a New York native, would do live spots from Manayunk’s River Deck Cafe, as well as commercials. Every few hours on Fridays, Elliot would check in with Morrison, and the two developed a rapport a month before ever meeting in person. They were paired together as hosts and lasted until WDRE changed formats in 1996.

Cable Growth Drives 21st Century Fox Earnings

Twenty-First Century Fox Inc’s reported quarterly revenue that beat analysts’ estimate on Wednesday, as higher fees from cable and satellite distributors drove cable business earnings to a record high.

Fox, which agreed to sell the bulk of its film and TV assets to Walt Disney Co last year in a $52.4 billion deal, expects to ask for shareholder approval of the transaction this summer, Lachlan Murdoch, executive chair, said on an analyst call.

Murdoch declined to comment on reports that Comcast Corp is preparing an all-cash rival offer for the assets, which Reuters first reported Monday

Fox expects to receive UK regulatory approval on its bid to buy the remaining stake it does not already own of European pay-TV provider in the next couple of months, James Murdoch, chief executive officer of Twenty-First Century Fox, said on the call. Comcast this week notified regulators of its plans to bid for Sky.

Revenue from Fox’s cable division, which houses the Fox News and FX channels among others, rose 9.8 percent to $4.42 billion, accounting for more than half of total revenue in the fiscal third quarter ended March 31.

Despite the departure of former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly amid sexual misconduct allegations last spring, prime-time ratings of Fox News have held up when looking at April compared to the year-ago period, Lachlan Murdoch said.


Fox is pricey, real pricey right now: Pro from CNBC.


Revenue at its television unit, which houses Fox Broadcasting, was $1.15 billion, down 32 percent from the year-ago quarter, which included the Super Bowl, and missed analysts’ estimate of $1.28 billion.

Total revenue fell 2 percent to $7.42 billion, but beat estimates of $7.4 billion.

Chicago Radio: WBMX Adds 'Sonic" For PM Drive

Sean Leckie

Entercom has announced the appointment of Sean “Sonic” Leckie as the new host for the afternoon drive show on WBMX 104.3 Jams in Chicago. The new show will air weekdays from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. CT beginning Thursday, May 10.

“Sonic brings a passion for music and drive to succeed to 104.3 Jams,” said Jimmy de Castro, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Entercom Chicago. “We’re looking forward to having him take the helm of Chicago’s new afternoon drive show.”

“Thank you to everyone at Entercom that has believed in and supported me from the beginning,” said Sonic. “It’s a great feeling to know that your company truly cares about you. My hat is off to Jimmy de Castro, Bob Bolinger, Todd Cavanah, Kevin Callahan, Jeremy Pritchard and Erik Bradley for this opportunity. I’m more than excited to call 104.3 Jams and Chicago my home!”

WBMX 104.3 FM (4.1 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

Sonic has been in radio for over a decade and was on-air in the San Diego market at KZBT, KEGY, and KHTS and also held roles at WWPW in Atlanta. Sonic is an active member of the community and has supported the Special Olympics for the past four years.

Stockton Radio: Nikki Blades Added To KWIN Morning Show

Nikki Blades

Cumulus Media announces that it has named radio personality Nikki Blades as Co-Host of The Morning Block Party on Top 40/Rhythmic station KWIN-FM in Stockton-Modesto, CA.

Blades joins Co-Host Lucas on the popular morning show, which airs weekdays from 6am-10am on 97.7/98.3 KWIN-FM. Blades moves to Mornings from the Middays slot on KWIN-FM, a position she has held since January of this year.

A social media influencer with over 120,000 Instagram followers, Blades began her career as a professional model who was featured in Maxim magazine and earlier this year, appeared on MTV’s Wild ‘N Out with Nick Cannon.

Danial “Jiggy” Diaz, Program Director, KWIN/KWNN, said: "We are very excited for today. It's not very often you find someone who fits the mold of the brand so well and is also destined for greatness. Nikki Blades is by far the next big talent on the West Coast and I'm so excited for her to take the next step here at KWIN!"

KWIN 97.7 FM (6 Kw) Red=local Coverage Area

Blades said: "I am beyond excited to be the new co-host on the Morning Block Party with Lucas on KWIN! Thank you so much to my PD Jiggy for giving me a chance to prove my talent and express myself! I feel truly blessed to be able to do what I love every day."