Headlines
Economic Pulse: BIA’s Monthly Quick Take for October 2023
It is absolutely amazing to me that we are at the end of October already. Things here at BIA have been quite busy the last few weeks as we were feverishly working to publish our latest forecast updates in time to help with the budget prep that we know is going on for 2024 right now at stations, agencies and businesses throughout the country.
Spending Tops $1 Billion In 2024 Election Cycle
The presidential field of contenders is shrinking on the Republican side while expanding among Democrats.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Flood Sweeps Up LPTV Along South Platte River
Nestled along the South Platte River, the county seat of Keith County, Neb., has perhaps an outsized role when it comes to local media for a population of roughly 5,000. Thanks to 100kw FMs such as KMCX-FM, iHeartMedia enjoys a three-station operation in the community due west of North Platte.
Ascential Initiates Sale Of Hudson MX, Omnicom Participating
As part of a surprise announcement that Omnicom has acquired the digital commerce operations of Cannes Lions owner Ascential PLC -- as well as its former CEO Duncan Painter -- the agency holding company also is participating in the sale of struggling agency tech startup Hudson MX, the companies announced.
Omnicom Agrees To Acquire Flywheel Digital From Ascential For $835M
Omnicom has agreed to acquire Flywheel Digital, the digital commerce business of Ascential, for a net cash purchase price of approximately $835 million. For the 12 months through June, Flywheel had revenue of about $300 million.
Television
Station Groups Notch Lessons As Collaborations Proliferate
News executives at Nexstar, E.W. Scripps, Sinclair, Fox Television Stations and ABC Owned Stations told a TVNewsCheck panel last week that collaborating more frequently between stations and their national news products is yielding important lessons about people and tech, not to mention better quality news.
Nielsen Won’t Sunset Legacy TV Ratings As Planned
Nielsen is backing off a plan in the works for years to end trading on average commercial minutes (ACM) — the TV industry’s long used C3 and C7 currencies — by next year.
Radio
As Biden Grabs Reins On AI, Here's How It Affects Radio
In a landmark move on Monday, President Biden issued an executive order based on the use of artificial intelligence in America, emphasizing safety, job security, and privacy. This order comes as AI is at the forefront of radio’s attention, especially with concerns about how the technology will be used in media’s future.
"Radio's Honestly The Last Thing We Talk About"
Every week, our consultants send me a half dozen or so articles designed to be topic fodder for this blog. And as he does every week, Mike Stern emailed me some pretty good ideas in this weekend's packet.
FCC
FCC Announces Second EEO Audit of 2023 – 150 Radio and TV Stations Must Report on Their EEO Compliance
The FCC this week released its second EEO audit notice for 2023. The FCC’s Public Notice, audit letter, and the list of stations selected for audit is available here.
