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BROADCAST MEDIA’S DOLLAR DRIVERS
At the NAB Show, a plethora of tools and tips for fiscal success were shared. In attendance: Many of Radio and TV’s top financial leaders.
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THE BROADCAST BEST FINANCE LEADERS OF 2022 ARE CROWNED BROADCAST DATA’S GIANT LEAP FOR TV MEGA TECHNOLOGY TRENDS FOR RADIO AND TV THE CONNECTED CAR: WHAT’S TO WORRY ABOUT?
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RBR+TVBR’s BROADCAST BEST FINANCE LEADERS
It started in 2019, with rankings coming one year later in 2020. Now, we honor 15 of the top CFOs, comptrollers and finance leaders in U.S. broadcast media. Two new names join the list this year, resulting in some noticeable shifts.
20 THE CONNECTED CAR: WHERE’S AM/FM TOMORROW?
Your car radio strategy may be more important than ever, says Jacobs Media’s Fred Jacobs
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BROADCAST DATA’s GIANT LEAP FOR TV
The commercial launch of the first broadcast data service is on track for the latter half of 2022. At the NAB Show, BitPath offered a fascinating sneak peek at a potentially significant nontraditional revenue generator tied to ATSC 3.0. We sat in on the learning lesson.
TECH MEGATRENDS: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW The long-awaited return of the 2022 NAB Show put a spotlight on some novel new technology that deserves attention. While NEXTGEN TV certainly got its attention, broadcast towers and transmission equipment did, too. Then, there’s a novel new offering from Veritone that’s turning perhaps-virtual heads.
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RADIO + TELEVISION BUSINESS REPORT CHAIRMAN Eric Rhoads
erhoads@streamlinepublishing.com
PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER Deborah Parenti
dparenti@streamlinepublishing.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Adam R Jacobson
ajacobson@streamlinepublishing.com
MANAGING EDITOR Brida Connolly
bconnolly@streamlinepublishing.com
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kenneth Whitney
kwhitney@streamlinepublishing.com
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS April McLynn
amclynn@streamlinepublishing.com
ADVERTISING/MARKETING CONSULTANTS Joshua Gertzog
609.647.3994 jgertzog@streamlinepublishing.com
Jennifer Jacques
937.522.5971 jjacques@streamlinepublishing.com
Carl Marcucci
703.670.2860 cmarcucci@streamlinepublishing.com
George Wymer
937.609.6778 gwymer@streamlinepublishing.com
331 SE Mizner Blvd. Boca Raton, FL, 33432 Phone: 561-655-8778 www.rbr.com Twitter: @rbrtvbr
SUMMER 2022
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THE BROADCAST BEST FINANCE LEADERS:
PILOTING THE P&L WAVES
As the last of the first-quarter 2022 earnings reports were released by America’s publicly traded radio and television companies, two words appeared more than perhaps any others: strong and dynamic. Indeed, broadcast media revenue and income are on the rise — and these individuals play a key role in keeping all of the finances in check.
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hether it’s an SVP of Finance Operations or the Chief Financial Officer, navigating the rocky rapids the first half of 2022 has brought takes skill, and patience. Recognizing these efforts for the fourth consecutive year, and offering a ranked honor roll since 2020, is only natural for the balanced voice of broadcast media — the Radio + Television Business Report. Fueled by reader nominations, our editorial board evaluated the results and finalized the 2022 rankings. With pride in those being honored, we present the Broadcast Best Finance Leaders of 2022. It’s once again a Top 15 ranked list, and is in recognition of those who have dem-
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onstrated fiscal finesse and leadership prowess, and have earned the highest respect from their peers. For 2022, two new individuals join the Ring of Honor, resulting in a bit of a recalibration of our rankings. With the inclusion of these executives, combined with votes, two individuals dipped in rank by five notches. To be clear, it is not a reflection of their diminished importance or presence in broadcast media. It simply represents a more competitive landscape — one with diversity, as media companies focused on Hispanic and African American consumers are represented. RBR+TVBR congratulates these 15 individuals.
“When everyone has the same profit objective, it makes achieving a positive outcome much easier and allows us to continue to reinvest in the business.” — Lee Ann Gliha
Lee Ann Gliha
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LEE ANN GLIHA
EVP/CFO, Nexstar Media Group 2021 Ranking: NEW Note: Tom Carter, Gliha’s predecessor, ranked No. 1 in 2020 and 2021
On August 9, 2022, the nation’s largest broadcast TV station owner welcomed a new EVP/CFO. Nexstar Media Group made the move as its previous Chief Financial Officer, Tom Carter, in October 2020 was promoted to President/COO. Lee Ann Gliha settled into the high-profile position with ease, quickly gaining the respect of peers across the industry and within Nexstar. It’s one reason Gliha also succeeds Carter at No. 1 in our Broadcast Best Finance Leaders list for 2022. Gliha is a familiar name on Wall Street, as she was previously a Managing Director at Jefferies LLC. Before joining Jefferies in 2016, Gliha spent eight years as a Managing Director at Houlihan Lokey, specializing in media and out-ofhome entertainment investment banking. Houlihan Lokey, following Gliha’s time there, acquired investment bank MVP Capital, home to such well-known brokers as Bill Fanning and Elliot Evers. Earlier in her career, Gliha held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility in the banking and finance industry at companies such as UBS Investment Bank, Banc of America Securities, and Live Nation, where she served as EVP of Corporate Finance from 2006 to 2008 and was responsible for the company’s mergers and acquisitions, financing, and investor relations functions.
Joining Nexstar wasn’t exactly a left turn for Gliha. Her sister, Lori Jane Gliha, is an investigative journalist at Nexstar-owned KDVR-TV “FOX 31” in Denver and sibling KWGN-2. “Lee Ann is an accomplished finance leader who understands the rapidly evolving media ecosystem,” Tom Carter says. Is there one thing in particular Gliha takes pride in when it comes to keeping the P&L sheet positive at Nexstar? She says, “I am proud of how a focus on profitability is core to the leaders of the Nexstar Nation. At corporate, we establish financial targets, but the leaders of the operating business units have the flexibility to achieve those goals however they choose. When everyone has the same profit objective, it makes achieving a positive outcome much easier and allows us to continue to reinvest in the business.” RBR+TVBR also asked Gliha about the long-term vision at Nexstar as it pertains to core advertising activity. It remains a key concern for some companies, and with political dollars expected to be huge in 2022, sets up a scenario for tough comps across 2023. “Over time, Nexstar has increased the diversity of its revenue mix,” Gliha says. “In Q1 2022, over 62% of our net revenue came from distribution and from digital or other sources. We expect to continue to grow these diverse revenue streams, including capitalizing on the future revenue potential from the applications of converting our stations to the ATSC 3.0 technology. This includes leasing or using excess spectrum capacity for additional multicast channels, and for high-speed data transmission services for a variety of end markets. In the meantime, core and political advertising continues to be a good revenue source for us and an effective medium for our advertising customers.” Lastly, RBR+TVBR wondered how challenging it may be today to balance expenses with revenue. Are expenses a growing concern? Gliha says, “A significant percentage of our expenses are more ‘fixed’ in nature (such as programming and affiliation expenses, labor expenses, etc.) versus ‘variable’ (selling commissions, etc.). This enables us to effectively manage these expenses on a year-to-year basis. As Nexstar has gained scale we are able to achieve scale synergies with our vendors and centralize services, which help improve our bottom line.”
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JIM RYAN
EVP/CFO, Gray Television 2021 Ranking: No. 2
Jim Ryan
COMING SEPTEMBER 2022
Nominations begin soon for RBR+TVBR’s Top Local TV Leaders of 2022. Could it be someone at a Gray Television-owned station or perhaps once again the head of the NBC O&O in Dallas? Your voice matters. Read RBR+TVBR’s Afternoon Headlines Email for more details starting in July!
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Four years ago, when the Broadcast Best Finance Leaders list debuted as an alphabetical honor roll, Jim Ryan offered a one-sentence comment to RBR+TVBR: “I prefer to stay under the radar and off the grid as much as possible.” Ryan has held true to those words and continues to shun the spotlight. But tell that to those across the broadcast media industry who nominated Ryan, making him No. 2 once again on our reader-suggested rankings. Ryan has been a key member of Gray Television’s corporate leadership since October 1998, and was elevated to the role of Senior VP in 2002. He joined Gray following its purchase of Busse Broadcasting Corp., where he had spent the previous 19 years. He held various roles, eventually rising to Chief Financial Officer. Since 2021, Ryan has overseen the financials for a company that not only completed a merger with Quincy Media, Inc., and with Meredith Corp., retaining its Local Media unit, but is also actively purchasing low-power TV stations in DMA after DMA as NEXTGEN TV rolls out. It’s both an assurance its TV stations can be viewed across an entire market in a cord-cutting universe and a potential broadcast data play for Gray. Meanwhile, Gray Television has attracted Hispanic market attention for its new commitment to Tele-mundo, which sees Gray becoming a major purveyor of Spanishlanguage television programming across the South while investing heavily in the buildout of “Telemundo Cleveland.” Keeping expenses in control as Gray grows is already likely a key part of Ryan’s duties. And, given his success in the past, he’s certainly primed to excel in the months and years ahead at ever-growing Gray.
An Exceptional
LEADER
Congratulations goes to Jim Ryan. He was selected as one of Radio + Television’s Top 15 Broadcast’s Best Finance Leaders, again. His talent and dedication to our industry is evident and appreciated. Best wishes to him and his fellow honorees. #GrayProud
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RICH BRESSLER
President/COO and CFO, iHeartMedia 2021 Ranking: No. 3
For the third year in a row, the top-ranked Broadcast Best Finance Leader from an audio creation and distribution company — one that happens to own a lot of radio stations — is the right-hand man for Bob Pittman. At No. 3 overall and No. 1 among radio companies is Rich Bressler. He’s held the CFO role since January 2013, when he joined the former Clear Channel Communications following a stint at institutional investor Thomas H. Lee Partners, where he served as a Managing Director. Prior to that, he had a lot to say to the late Sumner Redstone and his daughter, Shari Redstone. Bressler once served as Sr. EVP/CFO of the former Viacom Inc., where he led all strategic, financial, business development, and technology functions. Bressler’s resume also includes a role as EVP/CFO of Time Warner Inc. From its iHeartRadio app to its music festivals and FOX-televised awards program, iHeartMedia is perhaps the best-known radio company among U.S. consumers. While much of this is the result of forward-thinking C-Suite leadership, and Bressler’s stewardship of the finances, successfully weaving through the microeffects of COVID-19 is a big part of the story, too. In Q1 2022, iHeartMedia swung to operating income of $12.34 million, from an operating loss of $76.36 million in Q1 2021. Despite external factors that
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have been impacting the economy, and its stock price of late, iHeartMedia is on the right track and on target to lower its net leverage to 4x. That’s testament to Bressler, CEO Pittman, and the entire iHeartMedia family, with AM and FM in its DNA and all things audio fueling its future.
most proud of the exceptional financial teams that work at Sinclair because they are the ones keeping the operators on track to meet their goals and ensure the company EVP/CFO, SINCLAIR remains strong to support future growth BROADCAST GROUP strategies,” Rutishauser tells RBR+TVBR. 2021 Ranking: NEW While political dollars are expected to be big across the remainder of 2022, core In January 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group advertising activity remains a key concern appointed a new Chief Financial Officer, a for some companies. What’s the long-term woman who had risen through the ranks vision for Sinclair? Rutishauser replies, at the media company since taking a role “Whether executing the first cable retransas Assistant Treasurer. Lucy Rutishauser mission consent agreement many years ago today holds the EVP/CFO role, awarded to or developing the critical IP for NEXTGEN her in February 2020. broadcasting (ATSC 3.0), Sinclair was built For those who dial in to Sinclair’s Lucy Rutishauser on a culture of innovation. Today, our focus quarterly earnings calls, Rutishauser is on using our spectrum to deliver data as a service (DaaS) has gained considerable national exposure, joining such as our recent announcements around electric vehicle President/CEO Chris Ripley in offering the latest financial charging stations, precision GPS business use cases, and details from a company with assets ranging from the Bally deploying a free open-source broadcast app; launching Sports regional sports networks to three digital multicast the first local sports direct-to-consumer offering; adding networks, the Tennis Channel, the NewsOn OTT app, and gamification products including free-to-play games and broadcast TV properties in markets as diverse as EurekaNFTs; reimaging local news; launching FAST channels such Arcata, Calif.; Las Vegas; Wichita; and Syracuse, N.Y. as T2 for tennis; and an enterprise-wide unified ad sales Thirty years ago, Rutishauser was far from broadcast platform. This is just the short list!” TV. Perhaps her only link to it would have been the use of a With ownership of Dielectric and its lead role in the Black & Decker product in the studio, or the presence of a rollout of NEXTGEN TV, Sinclair is in a strong position Laura Ashley ensemble on a news anchor. From 1988-1992, as the broadcast television industry enters a new era. For Rutishauser held various Treasury positions with each of Rutishauser, keeping the finances balanced will likely keep those companies. her focused for years to come. “Thank you. This is very exciting!” Rutishauser said upon learning of her honor from the readers of RBR+TVBR. Is there one thing in particular she’s proud of when it comes to keeping the P&L sheet positive at Sinclair? “I’m
LUCY A. RUTISHAUSER
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RICH SCHMAELING EVP/CFO, Audacy Corp. 2021 Ranking: NEW
Of the nation’s audio content and distribution companies with their roots in radio, Audacy Inc., is one of the biggest. When it comes to its finances, as heard on every quarterly earnings call, Rich Schmaeling is the individual who oversees it all for the company formerly known as Entercom. He’s celebrating five years at what is today Audacy, and also cheering his first appearance on the Broadcast Best Finance Leaders list. It’s been a long time coming, as Audacy is a radio-industry leader that Rich Schmaeling also has ownership of podcast entities Cadence13 and Pineapple Street and sports betting brand BetQL. Sports wagering
Jason Combs
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JASON COMBS
CFO, The E.W. Scripps Co. 2021 Ranking: No. 5
With the promotion of Lisa Knutson to the role of Scripps Networks President, Jason Combs rose to the occasion, filling the Chief Financial Officer role at Scripps in January 2021. For nearly six years before that, Combs served as VP of Financial Planning and Analysis. In that former role, Combs led Scripps’ finance organization and oversaw all financial processes around budgeting, forecasting, corporate earnings guidance, and analysis of potential investments. That was before the Ion Media merger, which has helped transform Scripps into a major purveyor of digital multicast networks. At the same time, Scripps has invested heavily in its local news, with new sets, graphics packages, and the free-to-air Florida24 Network, delivered as a streaming channel on devices including Roku.
in particular is a big growth area for Audacy, as is the eponymous app previously known as Radio.com. With Audacy devoted to all things audio, how it grows is largely tied to Schmaeling’s review of the company’s finances. It’s a role he took after serving as CFO for Travel Leaders Group. While the transition to a media company may seem odd, Schmaeling’s earlier career experience is highlighted by seven years as LIN Media’s CFO, directing the finances for the now-defunct broadcast television station owner through its integration with Media General, now within the Nexstar Media Group family. Schmaeling began his career at Arthur Andersen, and the Rutgers grad has also served as VP of Finance of Dow Jones & Company. Schmaeling is also sticking around Audacy for a while, as he signed a four-year deal in April 2021.
In 2021, Combs ranked at No. 4. With the first-time appearances of Lucy Rutishauser at Sinclair and Rich Schmaeling at Audacy, Combs places at No. 5 in 2022. Speaking to RBR+TVBR, Combs says that, despite the ongoing challenges in the broadcast television industry, Scripps “is always looking to identify opportunities to better the company for financial stability and long-term success while also ensuring our employees are cared for.” He points to how Scripps, during the toughest period of the COVID-19 pandemic, “leaned into the disruption” by identifying the opportunity to purchase Ion. This, Combs says, “positions us for a strong future and has already led to some new opportunities, such as televising the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee.” For the second half of 2022, political revenue expectations for Scripps are at record levels. “We continue to be innovative on this front to try to take advantage of massive political fundraising,” Combs says. In April, the company announced the formation of the Scripps Political CTV Consortium, an effort to better serve political advertisers on connected TV platforms. Several broadcasting companies are participating. When Election Day 2022 passes, Combs is convinced there won’t be a big dollar drop-off, as core advertising returns to spaces political candidates and issues had snapped up. “We see future growth in all three of our main revenue sources: advertising, political, and retransmission revenue,” Combs says. “Core advertising has rebounded well from COVID and quickly gotten back to pre-COVID levels. Sports betting is a new category driving growth, and retransmission revenue growth outlook remains strong.” Before joining Scripps in 2015, Combs spent 14 years at Convergys Corp. in a variety of roles, including corporate finance and treasury. He played a key finance role on several significant acquisitions, acted as the lead finance resource for one of the company’s divisions, and oversaw a major redesign of the corporate management structure.
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JOHN J. DRAIN
CFO, Hearst Television 2020 Rank: No. 10
John Drain
Six years ago, John Drain celebrated six years as Chief Financial Officer of New York-headquartered Hearst Television. That’s when Drain rose from the role of SVP/Finance, a position he took upon joining Hearst in 2010. With experience that includes seven years as SVP of Finance and Administration at Comcast Spotlight and CFO of the One-on-One Sports Radio Network, which in 2001 became the Sporting News Radio Network following its purchase by Vulcan Ventures, Drain has spot cable and national radio in his broadcasting DNA, too. But it was his role as CFO of Hughes Broadcasting Partners some 30 years ago that helped to give him the skills needed to serve as the lead financial executive for a TV station owner. At Hughes, Drain was associated with such stations as KUTV-2 in Salt Lake City. Since 2020, like his peers, Drain has had to navigate Hearst through a challenging period. However, he tells RBR+TVBR, “I am proud that we have continued to provide our stations and journalists with the financial resources necessary to serve our communities at the levels of quality our viewers expect. We have achieved our financial goals while also investing in our people and launching innovative, valuable products to serve our advertisers and viewers.” The Very Local streaming service, now available in several Hearst markets, is just one example of these home-grown innovations.
Congratulations
Jason Combs CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER THE E.W. SCRIPPS COMPANY
ONE OF RADIO+TELEVISION BUSINESS REPORT’S TOP 15 FINANCE LEADERS IN THE BROADCAST INDUSTRY FOR 2022.
Thank you for your mission-driven leadership that supports our vision of creating a better-informed world.
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Then there is the subject of core advertising growth following a big year for political dollars. Drain comments, “Core advertising has faced growth hurdles for various market-related and non-financial factors over the past few years. However, maintaining strong partner relationships with our core and digital advertisers has always been a priority. While some core categories are experiencing challenges, others are growing, and there are new emerging categories.” Gambling is one such emerging category. Drain continues, “The development of new business remains a staple for our sales teams, and I expect that disciplined focus to continue to provide new dollars and new core advertiser relationships. In addition, the expansion of innovative digital offerings has allowed our sales teams to deepen advertiser relationships.” Lastly, Drain was asked how companies like Hearst are balancing necessary expenses with revenue trends. He says, “We certainly expect financial pressures to impact the expense side of the profit equation. However, we have always managed with financial discipline and a keen awareness that we need to invest continually in strengthening our stations, content, and market position. I don’t expect us to deviate from that discipline. Growing organic revenue streams and innovation continues to be a priority. In addition, investing in our employees and attracting new qualified and diverse talent into our company remains a priority. “For example, we have partnered with the Emma Bowen Foundation, which since 1989 has been working to increase diversity in media, to bring new talented young professionals into broadcasting. And recently we launched the Marty Faubell Fellowship, named for our recently retired VP of Engineering, to attract young engineers and IT professionals into the broadcast industry.”
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DAVID ATKINSON
Treasurer/CFO, Educational Media Foundation 2021 Rank: No. 7
Tune to 100.3 FM in Los Angeles or 95.5 MHz in New York. How about 107.3 FM while motoring around Washington, D.C., or 90.7 FM as you head to the beaches of South Florida? On each of these frequencies, and many, many more across the U.S., you’ll hear the nation’s most prominent Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) network, KLOVE. It’s the premier offering of Educational Media Foundation, which also offers Worship Music-focused Air1 on a national level, as well as variants of those brands tied to classic fare. EMF is also the parent of film, author representation, and consumer products advisory services provider WTA, and across its media entities employs some 500 individuals between Rocklin, Calif., and its new headquarters in Nashville. Overseeing the finances of Air1, KLOVE, and WTA is David Atkinson, who began his career at EMF in 1998 as Controller. In that time, EMF has grown to become the second-largest licensee of FM radio stations in the U.S. behind iHeartMedia. Its digital footprint has also grown in that time. Before joining EMF, Atkinson served in the United States Navy as an Electronic Warfare
JOHN DRAIN
RADIO + TELEVISION BUSINESS REPORTS TOP 15 BROADCAST’S BEST FINANCE LEADERS FOR 2022
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David Atkinson Technician and then, after obtaining his business degree, worked as an auditor at Price Waterhouse LLP in Sacramento. Speaking of his accomplishments and how Educational Media Foundation has managed its P&L sheet, Atkinson tells RBR+TVBR, “EMF has been able to create economies of scale over the years by centralizing its radio and media operations, and their associated costs, to one or two primary locations. This reduces or eliminates the need for additional headcount and other operational overhead across the country.”
In addition, team members are “constantly reminded of their responsibility to be good stewards of the resources provided [by] the ministry and to spend accordingly.” He adds that the budgeting process has been instrumental in ensuring expenses are kept within preestablished guardrails, and in ensuring projected revenue and expenses result in acceptable operating margins as established by the leadership team and the EMF Board of Directors. “The team recognizes that our loyal donors are sacrificing to support the ministry. Therefore, we want to honor their gifts and their trust in everything we do.” As a nonprofit, EMF operates differently than many of the for-profits represented in this honor roll. However, like those other organizations, EMF strives to do everything with excellence, Atkinson says. “Our content teams employ some of the best talent in the country, and their expertise is recognizable in the quality of the broadcasting. It is important that the content reaching our audience is world-class. Otherwise the primary message within the medium — the positive and encouraging message of the Gospel — would never reach their ears.” This is not to take away, of course, from what EMF considers the primary reason for its financial success. “There would be no success possible without God touching the hearts and minds of our audience, prompting them to support the ministry to keep their local broadcasts strong while also allowing the acquisition of new signals and other media so that others can be encouraged as well,” Atkinson notes. “That is more important than ever during these current times.”
C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S
DAVID ATKINSON We are inspired by your heart, passion and leadership. A N D C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S TO A L L T H E
BEST FINANCE LEADERS OF 2022
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TEGNA
salutes our own
Victoria D. Harker Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Congratulations on being selected as one of the Best Finance Leaders in the media industry. Your leadership, vision and dedication are invaluable to all of us at TEGNA.
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VICTORIA HARKER EVP/CFO, TEGNA 2021 Ranking: No. 4
It’s a period of change for everyone associated with TEGNA, which has its roots in the Gannett family. With stations ranging from CBS-affiliated WTSP-10 in Tampa and WUSA-9 in Washington to big NBC affiliates including KARE-11 in Minneapolis and WXIA “11 Alive” in Atlanta, TEGNA has excelled as a local TV leader across a variety of markets. Pending regulatory approval, TEGNA will be going private, with Soo Kim’s Standard General the majority equity stakeholder. Apollo Global Management, the majority shareholder in Cox Media Group, will Victoria Harker have a non-voting stake in TEGNA, too. With this ownership change, CEO Dave Lougee will step down, with Deb McDermott taking the chief executive role. No other executive changes have been noted. And, with TEGNA in a quiet period, there’s little discussion as
to what other C-Suite changes could be forthcoming. For now, EVP/CFO Victoria Harker, a widely respected individual, will stay in her role. And, for the readers of RBR+TVBR, that’s a good thing, as Harker ranked No. 4 in 2021 and shifts to No. 9 in 2022, due primarily to the addition of Rich Schmaeling and Lucy Rutishauser to our honor roll. RBR+TVBR also took into account revenue trends, and growth across The E.W. Scripps Co. and Educational Media Foundation. Performance at Hearst stations in highly competitive markets including Savannah, Ga.; West Palm Beach; Cincinnati; Kansas City; and at its flagship Boston property was also considered in determining the rank for TEGNA in 2022. To be clear, the sale of TEGNA did not play a role in Harker’s ranking. Harker became TEGNA’s CFO in July 2012. Before taking her current role, she served as CFO and president of global business services of the AES Corporation, a global power company. From November 2002-January 2006, she was CFO of MCI Group.
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KIMBERLY PARKER
EVP/CFO, Graham Media Group 2021 Ranking: No. 10
Of all of the Broadcast Best Finance Leaders RBR+TVBR spoke with for the 2022 edition, Kimberly Parker of Graham Media Group was perhaps the most forward-thinking individual to comment on the state of local broadcast TV today. Parker spoke with RBR+TVBR one day after the conclusion of the 2022-2023 Upfront presentations from Paramount (and CBS), Disney (and ABC), NBCUniversal, and TelevisaUnivision. In every single one of these live events held in New York, the focus was on over-the-top (OTT) delivery and ease of access to Kimberly Parker network content. What does this mean for the network affiliate in 2023? Just ask Parker. “We’re obviously really looking heavily at the future of broadcasting, and there are numerous things that are going to come, as networks are pushing their content to their streaming apps,” she says. It’s a silent concern that will likely grow in the coming years. And Graham Media Group is already positioning itself for the future, to get ahead of that coming day of reckoning for broadcast TV. “We need to ensure that core revenue doesn’t shrink, which it has over the past five to seven years,” Parker says. “We don’t want to rely on just retrans and political.” Going into the Memorial Day holiday, Graham Media executives including President/CEO Catherine Badalamente gathered the local market GMs and held a retreat. Parker says it allowed for a relaxed atmosphere in tackling big issues on the horizon not just for Graham, but all broadcast television companies. “I’m sure it applies to all of our competitors as well, but we try to stay on the cutting edge of technology,” she says. “And
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JOSÉ MOLINA
CFO, Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) 2021 Rank: No. 6
It’s been a year full of growth for SBS. In Q1 2022, its radio stations enjoyed year-over-year revenue growth of 75%. According to President/COO Albert Rodriguez, more than $1 million in advertising is on the books for its newly launched radio stations in Orlando and Tampa-St. Petersburg. MegaTV, which had a soft first quarter due to lower revenue, is expected to benefit from rich political advertising across the second half of 2022. While political dollars are expected to be big, core advertising activity
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José Molina
we are trying to partner with anyone we can — even a competitor — to keep the local affiliate vital to the community for which it serves.” Parker is based in Jacksonville, where Graham-owned WJXT-4 has excelled as a non-affiliate TV station focused on local news as “NEWS4JAX.” Twenty years ago, there was some concern that success for WJXT wouldn’t be easy. It had lost its CBS network affiliation in a dispute over monetary compensation for airing the full CBS schedule, as the owner at the time — Post-Newsweek Stations — told CBS to take a hike. The network shifted to what is today Cox Media Groupmanaged WJAX-47. As of June 2021, WJXT had the most viewers aged 25-54 during the 2020-2021 television season, Nielsen research shows. Parker reflects on the last 20 years and notes, “The income may have been low in the beginning, but that station has proved you can be a fully local station and be on top in revenue and ratings.” As such, WJXT could be the model for a future where WDIV “LOCAL 4” in Detroit, its NBC-affiliated flagship property, could take a similar path. The same could be said for KSAT-12 in San Antonio, even as it remains one of the nation’s top-rated ABC affiliates. Given the focus on Hulu and digital advertising solutions during the May 17 Disney Upfront presentation, having a discussion on the long-term future of KSAT just may be the smartest move Graham Media could make. For Parker, who began her broadcasting career in 1996 working for broadcast software companies Enterprise Systems Group and Marketron, it’s also a matter of profit and loss, and growing the net income in the coming years. “They can push their new content toward streaming, but we can start to create our own content,” she says of the broadcast networks. “We are looking at the business model and understand what WJXT can do. With good content and a good staff, it can be successful in other markets.” remains a key concern for some companies. What’s the long-term vision at SBS? José Molina, its Chief Financial Officer, responds, “What’s exciting for us is that our long-term vision doesn’t involve a strategic redesign or any meaningful post-pandemic changes to our business. Prior to COVID, we were delivering industry-leading growth and expanding our aggregate multiplatform audience. Once the impact of the pandemic subsided, we returned to that trend.” While its linear assets continue to drive SBS’s revenue, the digital and mobile initiatives are also seeing revenue growth and audience expansion. “We’ve never been in a stronger position to connect national brands with the rapidly increasing Latino population,” Molina says.
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Masyr tells RBR+TVBR. “Virtually everything we do is done with these customers in mind. With traditional spot advertising EVP/CFO, Salem Media Group coming under pressure, we have adapted.” 2021 Rank: No. 15 This saw the 2020 launch of SalemNOW, a transactional video-on-demand platform that streams conservative and Christian While many broadcast media companies saw films. In January 2021, the Salem Podcast big year-over-year financial improvements to Network bowed. Then, at the end of last year, start 2022, some remain in the red — albeit the Salem News Channel was born as an OTT with a lower net loss. For Salem Media television network, joining the ranks of OAN Group, the focus on conservative spoken and Newsmax with news and commentary word programming and Christian-themed Evan Masyr for those with conservative viewpoints. publishing and radio formats paid off. There Just weeks ago, Salem released its first feature film. The was no net loss in Q1 2021, and the positive momentum only release, “2000 Mules,” is a documentary on the alleged voter continued in the first three months of 2022. During Q1 2022, fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election that remains a big net broadcast revenue grew to $48.4 million from $44.05 topic among many Republican and Libertarian voters. “The million, with net digital revenue rising to $10.3 million from long-term vision for Salem is the same as its current strategy $9.62 million. — to meet the needs of our passionate and loyal audiences,” That’s helped Salem shine with its shareholders and on Masyr says. Wall Street. Keeping the finances in order is Evan Masyr, How challenging is it today to balance expenses with who in July celebrates 15 years as Salem’s Chief Financial revenue, and are expenses a growing concern — no pun Officer. Masyr’s time at Salem dates to February 2000, when intended? “It is a challenging situation with so many he joined the company as Controller. Since being at Salem, expenses on the rise in our current inflationary market,” Masyr has been involved in raising more than $1.5 billion Masyr shares. “My biggest concern, however, is the impact in capital. Most recently, he raised $255 million in senior this is having on our employees. With increased costs in gas, secured notes and a $30 million revolver in May 2017 to food, utilities, and other areas, they are feeling pinched. refinance all of Salem’s debt. We have an amazing workforce both at the corporate office With political advertising such a big focal point for many and throughout the country in our operating units. They broadcast media companies, from where does Salem see its are hard-working and dedicated, with so many on our team revenue spark in 2022? “Salem is a unique company, with its having been with Salem for 10, 15, 20 years, and even longer.” focus on two large audiences — Christians and conservatives,”
EVAN MASYR
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“We believe in and focus on service to our local communities. Our long-term vision continues to be growing and training our sales teams to always be prospecting new clients and offering the best products and services to everyone.” —Paul Rahmlow
Paul Rahmlow
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PAUL RAHMLOW
CFO, Midwest Communications 2021 Rank: No. 13
“Radio is no stranger to reinvention. Television, satellite, and streaming have all mandated local radio innovation.” Those are the words of Midwest Communications’ Chief Financial Officer, Paul Rahmlow. He’s been with Midwest Communications since 1999 and before that held senior accounting positions at River Valley Bank and the Wipfli CPA accounting and consulting firm.
A familiar figure across the industry as a Media Financial Management Association Board of Directors Member, Rahmlow oversees the finances for some 82 radio stations across the U.S. at the company helmed by Duke Wright. Asked what drives Midwest and what its vision is for future growth, Rahmlow tells RBR+TVBR, “We believe in and focus on service to our local communities. Our longterm vision continues to be growing and training our sales teams to always be prospecting new clients and offering the best products and services to everyone.” Rahmlow adds that, in his view, “The key to prosperity is the continuous growth of local commerce.” He says, “Disposable income leaving town is the biggest threat to a community’s economy. We pride ourselves on educating local business and civic leadership on the importance of inviting neighbors to do business at home. We teach how to battle the big commerce and tech giants. Without a strong local economy, growth is impossible.” As such, Rahmlow concludes, “Large local sales teams and continuous training ensure we are properly servicing local businesses and offering them the services and advertising platforms they need to be successful.”
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PETER D. THOMPSON EVP/CFO, Urban One 2021 Rank: No. 12
As 2022 reaches its second half, Urban One continues its role as the leading multimedia and entertainment company superserving African Americans. From social justice protests to Black Lives Matter-fueled diversity and inclusion initiatives across Fortune 500 companies, Urban One has been at the center of it all. Luckily, dollars from marketers and advertisers have followed verbal commitments to step up investment with Black-owned media including the Radio One properties and Urban One’s Reach Media national audio arm. In Q1 2022, CFO Peter Thompson again provided a clean and easy-to-read balance sheet, and noted that Broadcast and Digital Operating Income increased to $48.4 million from $36.4 million. It now represents 43.1% of total net revenue. 18 · R B R . C O M
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Peter Thompson
While the ONE Casino + Resort in Richmond, which voters in November 2021 rejected, remains on the drawing board, the current focus for Urban One is on growing revenue at its media properties and its MGM National Harbor casino property in Prince George’s County, Md., near the southeastern portion of the Capitol Beltway. With second-quarter core radio advertising pacing up mid-single digits at the time of publication, Deutsche Bank analyst Aaron Watts asked during the company’s Q1 2022 earnings call if this moderation was because pacings are getting tougher or because they are softening. Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins III explained that radio is moderating due
to economic slowdowns. “I don’t know how strong political is going to be,” he added, knowing that it will be up but unable to say growth will be “gangbusters.” Liggins said, “There is absolutely a slowdown in economic activity, but that doesn’t mean there is going to be a recession.” Thompson has been in the top financial role at Urban One since February 2008 and joined the company in October 2007 as EVP/Business Development. Before working with the company, Thompson spent 13 years at Universal Music in the United Kingdom, including five years serving as CFO.
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TOMMY TRUJILLO
SVP of Finance, Meruelo Media 2021 Ranking: No. 14
With President/CEO Otto Padron at the helm, former LBI Media COO Winter Horton in a similar role at Meruelo, and veteran programming pro Haz Montana now in the mix, Tommy Trujillo is again a nationally recognized financial leader in the eyes of RBR+TVBR readers for his efforts at Meruelo Media. For 2022, he rounds out our Top 15 honor roll, with recognition from his peers for his role overseeing the finances for a group of radio and television stations serving Los Angeles. RBR+TVBR caught up with Padron on a typical weekday morning that involved a studio visit and a chance to say hello to office-building floormate Sherrie Shepherd, the TV personality who co-hosts “Dish Nation.” Asked what makes Meruelo Media unique and how Trujillo’s role is integral to the company’s operations, Padron says, “Tommy is a great finance leader in every aspect and dimension. His ability to inspire every team member to treat all our resources as if they are the owner is perhaps one of his standout traits.” Padron also singles out Trujillo for his “best idea always wins” mentality, which he says brings a different kind of flavor to every department of the company. “He has a unique problem-solving approach nested in his understanding of our business and a crystal-clear self-awareness that it takes a team to get it done. This rare blend of strategic thinking and tactical execution is what sets Tommy above all others.”
Tommy Trujillo
ABOUT RBR+TVBR’s BROADCAST BEST FINANCE LEADERS: This fourth annual Honor Roll is produced from RBR+TVBR reader nominations, which were gathered in April and May 2022. Rankings are based on nomination totals, in addition to research and analysis by the RBR+TVBR editorial department. © 2022 Streamline Publishing
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RADIO’S IN-CAR CONSUMER PURSUIT Just as the smart speaker is recapturing the home for AM and FM radio, radio’s presence in the automobile continues to be pelted by numerous tech-driven alternative audio options. Being “front and center” in the connected car is more important than ever. FM radio is no longer the most important feature among new car buyers. Digest that for a moment. This revelation was delivered at an NAB Show session by Jacobs Media President and founder Fred Jacobs, as he offered a preview of Techsurvey 2022, which has received much attention from industry trade journals for its key takeaway — terrestrial radio listening levels are trending downward, with particular erosion seen for Alternative music-formatted radio stations. Where are those listeners going? They’re being entertained by sources other than terrestrial radio, Jacobs said. This is likely illustrated by the fact that Bluetooth is now the most important feature in an automobile among Techsurvey 2022 respondents. Of course, Bluetooth is used by many for in-car voice calls via their mobile phones. However, it is also used for streaming audio, podcasts, iTunes, and the like. As such, the pressure is on for AM and FM radio, seen as the second most-important feature among new car buyers. Some 7 in 10 of these respondents put linear, traditional radio first — not too shabby in 2022. But it marks the first time it is not No. 1. There’s another way to look at the results: more robust data displayed on the in-dash auto entertainment system matters. This could very well help stop what Jacobs calls an “oil leak” with respect to the continued erosion of radio listeners. How seriously should radio industry executives take this downward trend? An auxiliary smartphone connector was the third most-important feature among new car buyers participating in Techsurvey 2022. This was followed by in-dash 20 · R B R . C O M
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navigation, and voice commands. AM radio? Only one-third of new car buyers surveyed found this to be the most important feature in an automobile they’d consider purchasing. That’s higher than SiriusXM satellite radio. But HD Radio was the most important feature among new car buyers surveyed for only 25% of respondents.
“So much has changed,” D’Angelo said. “Disruption is here, and it is everywhere.” That disruption includes the increased presence of the electric vehicle on America’s highways and active planning for the coming of autonomous cars. Those advancements in the auto world did not slow down over the last two years. “Automotive companies did not hunker down during COVID. And whoa, things are moving at a high rate of speed,” Jacobs noted. With radio no longer the top need for new car buyers surveyed by Jacobs
Joe D’Angelo of HD Radio parent Xperi is highly attuned to the continued fight to win over audio consumers, some 25 years after digital FM radio plans were put into action in the U.S. While DAB dominated the first-quarter RAJAR radio ratings across the UK, HD Radio is still in its infancy in the U.S. Some call it a flop. While that may be an extreme view, one thing is clear to D’Angelo: from Apple Music and Spotify to TuneIn, TIDAL, Stitcher, and SiriusXM, radio “is under attack from some extremely well-funded, highly consolidated audio services.” He made the remarks at the April 24 NAB Show session also attended by Fred Jacobs — a gathering devoted to the connected car and radio’s presence in the automobile.
Media, how does Fred Jacobs respond to this change? “We’re leaking oil. Literally,” he said. “It is slowly going down year after year and people are definitely using their choices.” Not helping is the finding that “people pig out on satellite radio when they first get it,” Jacobs added. What can radio do to help stem the slide? Metadata is one answer, he believes, as artist and title information and HD Radio “rich data” could greatly assist broadcast radio. What, specifically, do consumers want? The TechSurvey respondents’ top answer is emergency weather info, followed by a song preview for music radio stations — a common feature seen on German radio today. Programming details and the year the song came out
WINNING SALES STORIES FROM SMALLER MARKETS:
It’s been a tough two years for some radio broadcasting companies, as the COVID-19 pandemic practically erased nontraditional revenue from events as auto dollars evaporated. For a handful of big companies in markets such as Richmond and Cincinnati, creating virtual events and new opportunities with a little creativity proved to be winning efforts. They were on display at the 2022 NAB Show. Among those showing off their sales prowess on the street: Beasley Media Group/Charlotte Senior Account Executive Vedra Grant. She emphasized how Beasley “is all about community” across the company and how a WSOC “Country 103.7” golf tournament and a Secret Santa effort are emblematic of this. Details of a successful case study involving a faith-based college that wished to go national by increasing its online enrollment were shared by Jon Latzer, the Eastern Region Digital Sales Manager of Salem Media Group. Work began four years ago on the partnership, and it was reset in autumn 2021 as COVID-19 pandemic challenges receded. The ad project involved Salem’s radio network, conservative Talk radio stations, its web network, its podcast network, and even a movie studio producing work for viewing in the OTT space. Salem came out of the effort with some $1.2 million in its coffers. Yet Latzer says the biggest challenge was getting the local salesperson to yield at least some control over the account to the national sales team. “The hardest part was working with the local and national teams and having them come together, and this had to be led by trust,” he said. Virtual events created during the pandemic may become a permanent offering at some broadcast radio companies. Urban One VP of Revenue Development Brandeis Hall talked excitedly of the virtual events her team has staged since summer 2020, even getting dollars from MillerCoors. Hall’s mission? To make its salespeople multimedia consultants. That’s easier said than done, but she wants all traditional sales executives to figure out online sales opportunities for all clients. “You’re still not selling digital? The fastest way to learn is teach. That’ll scare the hell out of them.”
were also in-demand metadata suggestions, along with the art of the album the song playing is from, the name of a caller to a Sports station, and live scores for Sports Talk radio. The “screenification” of radio was also a topic shared on the NAB Show panel. It is the key business focus of Quu, led by founder and CEO Steve Newberry. The former NAB executive was joined by Quu Head of Marketing Suzy Schultz to share how radio can benefit from a connected car by amplifying its display. This doesn’t require HD Radio, they noted, with RDS technology running independent of the Xperi product. For Newberry, the work being pushed by Quu is designed to help the industry move forward so that its stations look as good as they sound and can remain topof-mind — and of high appeal — to today’s on-the-road audio consumer. For those seeking more connectivity via Android Automotive systems in their
vehicles, progress is being made. Like Apple CarPlay, this system manages the automotive experience and, for radio broadcasters, creates some interesting opportunities. And a number of car manufacturers are actively seeking to place Android Automotive in their OEM in-dash audio systems. A second NAB Show session that also featured Xperi’s D’Angelo put a spotlight on the importance of “full broadcast radio functionality” in Android Automotive. Xperi is working with Ford Motor Company on bringing the tech advancement to cars and trucks. Albert Choi, Content Lead for Commercial and Technology Partnership at Ford, believes keeping radio in a dashboard that is more connected than ever for consumers is a vital need. By the time you read this, Google is expected to provide Xperi an update of what they’ll do with their software. Choi believes that “some version of an industry standard” will eventually come for Google Automotive Services, making Ford a leader in the connected car space. SUMMER 2022
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BROADCAST DATA’S GIANT LEAP FOR TV The commercial launch of the first broadcast data service is on track for later this year. RBR+TVBR got a sneak peek at the potentially huge revenue-generation engine at the NAB Show, and the technology could positively impact all over-the-air TV stations in the U.S. On the 22nd floor of the Wynn Las Vegas, John Hane held court with two of the highest-level broadcast television executives in the U.S. A large-screen television monitor located in the center of the tower suite featured dual dashcam views of drivers in the Washington, D.C., area, one on Interstate 270 heading toward the Capital Beltway, and another near Arlington National Cemetery in Northern Virginia. With open microphones, the drivers chimed in with their feedback when needed as they sped around the National Capital Area, home to a live test of its first data broadcasting services, marketed as NavPoint and BitPoint. While buzz phrases like “gamechanging” may elicit groans, the technology is potentially highly advantageous for broadcast TV in an ATSC 3.0 world. And it has absolutely nothing to do with NEXTGEN TV, as far as consumers are concerned. Thanks to the data-rich world of ATSC 3.0, BitPath has created a broadcast data network with position, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. PNT is a fast-growing sector in the tech universe, and the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the PNT sector is projected to be above 22% for the next decade. This compares to 9% for streaming services. “Through BitPath, broadcasters can participate in this rapidly growing market without compromising their core over-the-air broadcast service,” said Hane, who serves as BitPath’s President.
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE SAFETY THROUGH OTA Picture this: You’re in a driver-free Tesla en route to the Rosslyn Metro 22 · R B R . C O M
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BitPath COO Sasha Javid station, speeding along Route 110. Upon exiting, the car turns left — directly into oncoming traffic. Why would that happen? GPS technology today has accuracy issues. It’s hampered deliveries of food and packages to multiunit dwellings, and in a future where autonomous vehicles could be standard, ensuring GPS accuracy is paramount. Enter BitPath, which has created an overlay technology designed to correct GPS mapping when a signal is present. Indeed, a GPS signal is required for the BitPath products to work. That said, even a poor GPS signal is better than none, and the improvement is one that can easily build on the 10-meter accuracy of GPS today. For broadcast TV stations, the implementation of BitPath’s services would not only be easy, Hane says, but take up just a sliver of broadcast capacity afforded by ATSC 3.0.
“Everyone uses location services every day, and the value of precise location will grow exponentially with demand for autonomous transportation and delivery, augmented reality, internet of things, environmental monitoring, and other technologies on the horizon,” BitPath COO Sasha Javid commented. “We want BitPath’s suite of PNT services to allow everyone — and every device — to have access to high-precision, low-cost location services all the time.” Broadcast television is empowered with making it happen. Speaking with RBR+TVBR, Hane explained that the practical application of the PNT services ranges from e-scooter pickup to making sure gas leaks in a big city are monitored and acted on in the most efficient ways. Oh, and there’s ensuring that the Uber Eats delivery gets to the customer correctly. Optimization of PNT services isn’t new. But, Hane says, paying a fraction of what some customers are forking over to get it today is new. As such, he’s pitching BitPoint and NavPath as “inexpensive, scalable, and precise” tech solutions over-the-air TV station owners can embrace. Importantly, he adds, broadcast architecture effectively eliminates the one-to-one service with a oneto-many service. What does this mean? Let’s say your local energy company has reached a maximum service level in the midst of a heat wave. A message is sent to customers’ cell phones asking them to set the thermostat at 77 or risk a blackout. Today, those messages are sent one at a time. BitPath’s technology allows the broadcast, if you will, of this message, making it more efficient while ensuring the message gets to everyone who needs to receive it. Javid took time to share how the NavPath architecture works. It involves a route that begins with a GPS base, travels to an ATSC 3.0 transmitter, then heads to a GPS Rover. From there, the
NEXTGEN TV’S BIG SYNC
Do you like how you can access a local TV station via an app, with a menu giving you several choices along with a live broadcast signal? That’s exactly how NEXTGEN TV viewers will tune to a station, thanks to a new platform set to arrive soon, revolutionizing channel access forever. : Across the history of television, one thing has been consistent for the viewer. Turn to a channel, and you’ll get a full-screen broadcast feed. In recent years, a transparent logo for a network or TV channel appears, ensuring all know what channel they are tuned to. Soon, this will change. It’s perhaps a good thing, especially for those who have grown fond of the look and feel of a broadcast TV station’s app, accessible via a device such as Roku. That very look — menu and all — is what those with a NEXTGEN TV will see when they tune to one of their local TV stations, should the technology be enabled. It’s a huge development, one that bridges the app with broadcast TV. In an ATSC 3.0 world, it’s possible. Pearl TV put it on display in the welltrafficked West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center during the 2022 NAB Show. Yet news of the big leap forward for over-the-air television has yet to reach the masses until now. Introducing RUN3TV, which has been marketed as a way segments available on a TV station’s website can be found alongside a live, linear broadcast. Goodbye, single-channel viewing. Hello, weather or sports on demand, or perhaps a three-minute micro newscast. “RUN3TV is not a channel guide, but rather a menu of interactive options that each station can use to power its ATSC 3.0 offerings to viewers,” the Pearl TV team notes. It’s already live in select markets across the country. Among the stations that are using it: Graham Media Group’s WDIV “LOCAL 4” in Detroit, the market’s NBC affiliate and the company’s flagship property. RUN3TV gives broadcasters the ability to leverage the new ATSC 3.0 A/344 Interactive Content broadcast standard “to create television applications that enhance over-the-air viewing with interactive and on-demand content delivered over broadband,” said Anne Schelle, who serves as Managing Director of Pearl TV. “With NEXTGEN TV and RUN3TV, broadcasters can now bring the OTA environment into the digital world.” Pearl TV is launching the RUN3TV platform through a subsidiary, the ATSC 3.0 Framework Alliance LLC (A3FA). RUN3TV development partners include Kineton, MadHive, IBM Weather, Freewheel, and Google. Early adopters such as Gray Television, The E.W. Scripps Company, Graham Media, TEGNA, Hearst, and Howard University’s WHUT have launched broadcaster applications in more than 30 markets. The launch of RUN3TV comes more than two years after it was first shared publicly, at CES 2020 in Las Vegas. To be clear, RUN3TV is not adding ATSC 3.0 compatibility to TV sets that are not equipped for NEXTGEN TV. That said, add-on applications on display at the Pearl TV booth suggest a pivot from fall 2019, when it was understood NEXTGEN TV would naturally be embraced through the replacement of current TV sets. Given a fragile post-pandemic economy impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and inflationary traits in the U.S., more options for access via an HDMI port are welcome news for the TV industry. At the NAB Show booth, which saw much lighter traffic than companies such as Bitmovin or AWS, Pearl TV touted how 59 U.S. markets now have ATSC 3.0 service. It also shared that more than 140 NEXTGEN TV models have been developed for consumers. Now, it’s up to broadcast TV companies to get the word out that in a NEXTGEN world, more content and on-demand choices await. With greater consumer understanding of what’s about to unfold, the next great broadcast TV boom may indeed be a click away.
data is placed in the cloud and on to a live web application. With members including Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group, BitPath’s technology could rapidly see a build-out once D.C.-area testing concludes.
ATSC’s IoT EMPOWERMENT
Using RF Channel 44, WIAV-CD in Washington, D.C., is the vital TV station enabling BitPath to demonstrate its NavPath and BitPoint services. The digital Class A property is owned by Sinclair and is a sibling to ABC affiliate WJLA-7. It is also, in a sense, the second “lighthouse” for ATSC 3.0 in the D.C. market, as NEXTGEN signals are using Howard University-owned PBS member station WHUT-32 as their hub.
As SFNs eventually emerge with ATSC 3.0’s growth in the coming years, similar scenarios are poised to unfold in markets where NEXTGEN TV has already launched. For the general manager of a TV station looking at potential P&L over the next decade, powering “internet of things” services could perhaps be a viable substitute for retransmission consent revenue. With cord-cutting still a problem for MVPDs and viewers shifting to an “over the top” universe dominated by apps, retrans wars are likely to be fierce by the end of the decade. At the same time, there’s no guarantee that any of the Big Four networks would want an O&O, given the swift viewer changes already unfolding in the U.S. Where does that leave the broadcast TV company? How about being the conduit for ensuring distributed energy resources, or empowerment of a solar or wind turbine grid? In short, BitPath has the power to put broadcast TV in a spot that literally makes it essential for keeping the power on. That could bring more green to an industry with a bevy of nontraditional revenue opportunities that are just now reaching the starting line.
SUMMER 2022
· R B R . C O M · 23
BROADCAST MEDIA’S
TECH MEGATRENDS
The long-awaited return of the NAB Show put a spotlight on some novel new technology that deserves a look. While NEXTGEN TV certainly got attention, broadcast towers and transmission equipment did, too. Then there’s a novel new offering from Veritone that’s turning perhaps-virtual heads. From the sparkling new West Hall of the sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center to the North and Central Halls, there were plenty of opportunities at the NAB Show to get in those steps while reconnecting with peers and clients for the first time since spring 2019. While the foot traffic was unquestionably high at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) booth, and equally bustling at the oversized booth for streaming media company Bitmovin, the level of interest from the steady stream of visitors to broadcast media’s key tech companies was the true gauge of success — and nearly every company RBR+TVBR met with was highly pleased with the show. The lack of three-to-fourperson-deep lines to get the chance
to speak with tech company representatives was welcomed across the board. And it gave several companies ample opportunity to share their wares with us.
INTO THE METAVERSE
Perhaps one of the more breathtaking advancements on display in the West Hall during the NAB Show came from Veritone. RBR+TVBR saw firsthand how its synthetic media technology is a potential game-changer for radio and television stations — and their advertisers, too. The “Veritone Avatar” platform is so revolutionary that it picked up an AI/Machine Learning category NAB 2022 Product of the Year award. The Veritone Avatar is an extension of the company’s AI-powered
broadcast offerings, and its media management products, too. Ryan Steelberg, President and co-founder of Veritone, sees it as key to a brand’s migration to the “metaverse,” cyberspace-dwelling virtual reality that, among many other things, includes non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and games such as Fortnite. In simplest terms, the Veritone Avatar is a digital clone of a human being. It can offer lifelike synthetic voices, something Veritone has pioneered independently from the avatar. Now, a VR body can accompany the VR voice. And, as demonstrated by Veritone at the NAB Show, the voice can speak another language that the “in real life” version of an individual may not know. How is this possible? Voice synthesis software is employed that can literally build a vocabulary and speech patterns in one’s native language, map it, and allow for a Sirior Alexa-like voice communication to become enabled. Then, conversations SUMMER 2022
· R B R . C O M · 25
A VISION IN TRANSMISSION
Nautel shows off its (left) HD Multicast rack and (right) its VX transmitter series in another language can be generated from one’s voice and speech — complete with the right accent. For those immediately concerned about fraud and avatar theft, Veritone offers security and protection, and stresses that in its communication. This will ensure that “lifelike experiences for traditional channels in the metaverse” are safe while “humanizing the digital experience” comes forth. What does this have to do with radio or television? Veritone sees it as a natural extension. So does iHeartMedia, which announced in January that it plans to expand into the metaverse. Bob Pittman, Chairman/ CEO of iHeartMedia, commented, “We see this as a unique opportunity to serve our listeners’ needs, provide an important new layer of growth for the company, and help develop the advertising and consumer potential for the metaverse and web3.” The advertising and consumer potential is perhaps the biggest selling point for Veritone Avatar. It may be why Veritone shared a March 2022 report from financial giant Citi that calls the metaverse and web3 a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity. 26 · R B R . C O M
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The report, “Metaverse and Money: Decrypting the Future,” predicts that the metaverse economy could be an $8 trillion to $13 trillion total addressable market by 2030. With media workflows, advertising, and content licensing alongside synthetic media, Veritone’s Steelberg believes his company is wellpositioned to transition customers to, and through, the metaverse.
An Orban XPN-Enterprise on display at NAB Show
Also gaining the broadcast media industry’s attention in the West Hall during NAB Show 2022 were companies devoted to ensuring a signal is received by viewers across the globe. For Nautel, showing off its 10 new VX Series transmitters was a highlight. These are analog transmitters capable of 150 watts to 5kw of power and possessing dual core signal processors. The new VX Series offers advanced control, instrumentation, and features in a compact footprint. And the architecture of the new series incorporates what Nautel calls stateof-the-art DSP, power supply, and Field Effect Transistor (FET) technology. Philipp Schmid, Nautel’s Chief Technology Officer, says, “We’ve built the RF power chain around a new high-voltage FET that exhibits the best analog FM performance we’ve ever seen in our design labs. This new power chain has been mated with a dual-core DSP for pristine signal generation, which gives us large amounts of headroom since we’re only
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exercising one of those cores at the moment.” Schmid adds that much attention was paid to the power supplies; the VX series uses Titanium-grade industrial power supplies implemented as hotswappable with front-panel fingertip access. The other product Nautel had to share first came to market in late summer 2020. It sees Nautel teaming up with Telos Alliance for a “new approach” on HD Radio time alignment. For some broadcasters, issues have arisen for some listeners in areas where the HD1 output isn’t strong enough to be received, so the analog FM stereo signal kicks in. That can mean a multi-second delay, resulting in a rather irritating audio experience. With a Nautel-powered HD Multicast rack, locking the FM and HD1 outputs from the audio processor through the remainder of the HD Radio air-chain into the transmitter eliminates the issue. It’s of particular benefit in markets where listeners may be in the outer perimeter of the HD signal, yet still within the total listening area for a station. This includes RBR+TVBR’s headquarters of Boca Raton, Fla., where Miami-Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach signals intersect, leaving some HD holes for several stations. “HD Radio uses separate but identical streams of audio on the analog and digital channels,” a Nautel spokesperson shared. “These streams can arrive at the transmitter at slightly different times. Diversity Delay, which buffers the analog signal to blend its timing with the digital, is typically employed to ensure that there are no time shifts or artifacts in the signal heard by listeners when their receivers switch between analog and digital. However, minor errors in this time alignment can create audible artifacts, and excessive errors can cause content to be repeated or skipped entirely as the receiver blends from FM to HD1 and back.” Thanks to Nautel and The Telos Alliance, such errors are erased. Meanwhile, Orban used the NAB Show as its first big opportunity to share its new OPTIMOD XPNEnterprise Linux-based processing platform. The key takeaway from Orban? It allows a radio broadcasting company to have eight signals in a single-rack unit — a positive for those with HD subchannels tied to multiple 28 · R B R . C O M
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GatesAir CEO Bruce Swail FM radio stations. The server provides 16 processing channels via AoIP and supports AES-67/SMPTE-2110 protocols. “Broadcasters worldwide are realizing the benefits of moving operations to centralized — and ideally, virtualized — environments,” said David Day, Orban’s President. “Many of these customers have highdensity needs, with many signals that need to be managed.” With XPN-Enterprise, content to be processed via the OptiCloud is brought to one location, using methods of audio transport including AES3, AES-67, SMPTE-2110-30, Dante, ,or Livewire+. It creates the necessary outputs (FM Composite, DMPX, uMPX, and DAB+HD) using the appropriate Orban XPN-Enterprise Nodes for distribution to each transmitter site. Processed channels destined for streaming are also handled by the
XPN-Enterprise server, which sends those outputs to the appropriate streaming devices.
TOWERING PRESENCE
GatesAir, also ensconced in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center during the 2022 NAB Show, used the opportunity to show off a new timing and signal reference product for broadcast and telecom facilities that it believes “speaks to modern navigation technologies used in second-generation Global Navigation Satellite Systems.” The Maxiva GNSS-PTP is now available. It is a standalone 1RU product with a switching algorithm that delivers 10MHz and 1 PPS reference signals to mission-critical components in the signal chain — including transmitters, networking, and studio equipment. Each GNSS-PTP
device feeds up to twelve 10 MHz and 1 PPS reference in the technology infrastructure, removing the need to integrate a standalone timing source in each component. For 100-year old GatesAir, however, the new Maxiva product was perhaps overshadowed by the news — just hours before the NAB Show was to start — that France-based Thomson Broadcast had signed a definitive agreement to acquire GatesAir from The Gores Group. The transaction is expected to close between now and the end of 2022. What does this mean for GatesAir CEO Bruce Swail, who was in attendance at the NAB Show, and for Thomson Broadcast President/Americas Aby Alexander, who stood just feet away from GatesAir at the Thomson booth? No immediate, or major, shifts are expected, with GatesAir noting the “highly complementary fit” and lack of U.S. redundancies. Thomson
Broadcast maintains a West Palm Beach office and production facility. However, its presence in the U.S. has been tiny compared to that of Quincy, Ill.-based GatesAir. Swail said, “Our combination with Thomson Broadcast will create a combined company of larger scale even better suited to meet the everevolving needs of our customers all over the globe.” Ylias Akbaraly, Chairman of Thomson Broadcast, added, “In 2018, we set the goal to establish ourselves in the U.S. market. With Thomson Broadcast and GatesAir now united, these two companies will make us stronger in America and globally as well.” Another big West Hall draw was Dielectric, the Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned broadcast transmitter manufacturer. It showed off its 10-year-old DCR-T and 6-year-old DCR-U circularly polarized FM
antenna, as well as its FM Pylon. A now-available ATSC 3.0 antenna line was also front and center. “There is an enormous number of antenna pattern options to consider when planning ATSC 3.0 deployments, many of which are custom to specific network configurations,” said Dielectric VP of Sales Jay Martin. “Our ATSC 3.0 antennas and software tools can help consultants customize network designs for broadcasters.” This includes support of optimized azimuth patterns with high frontto-back ratios, which will be common in the SFN configurations Martin expects to see gaining traction in ATSC 3.0 network designs. Recently appointed President Keith Pelletier paused to look back on Dielectric’s 80 years of operations. “As we reflect on where our business started, there are three core values that have carried us through: engineering strength, manufacturing innovation, and a customer-first philosophy,” he said. “The current Dielectric team has also made a significant mark in the company’s history over the past several years, especially in terms of product innovation and business growth.” Also in attendance: former Dielectric President Andrew Whiteside, who was readying for retirement following his attendance at the 2022 NAB Show. Tragically, Whiteside died in a climbing accident just days following the Las Vegas affair. Whiteside was in Colorado with his son when the incident occurred. Whiteside, who was 67 years of age, had been a Sinclair Broadcast Group employee since 1999 and first associated with Acrodyne Technical Services. He was also actively involved with PROGIRA, a network-planning software company based in Sweden and owned by Sinclair.
CAPTIONING AND AUTOMATION EXCEL
Models of Dielectric broadcast products on display
With a new “Zoom” loop powered by Tesla vehicles that weren’t yet autonomous (the state of Nevada doesn’t yet allow it), travel between the West and North and Central Halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center isn’t so time-consuming. As such, getting to see ENCO and Hitachi wasn’t such a task for NAB Show attendees. At the ENCO booth in the North Hall, two items of interest to broadcast media executives were shown. One is the browser-based remote radio automation control interface known as SUMMER 2022
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WebDAD 3.0, which looks completely different from prior versions and is designed with future needs in mind. “For years, WebDAD has been improving flexibility and efficiency for radio stations as personnel worked remotely more often,” said ENCO President Ken Frommert. “These benefits took on even more significance over the past two years and proved invaluable for limiting in-person staff contact during key waves of the pandemic.” Frommert demonstrated the rebuilt WebDAD 3.0 to a reporter. Layout changes are perhaps the biggest takeaway, something Frommert says allows a “more intuitive operation and streamlined workflows for key features.” Selectable dark/light modes let users tailor the look to their preferences and working environment. Reactive forms retain information across interface screens, minimizing the need to re-enter the same data in different sections of the workflow. Performance optimizations also improve the responsiveness of the interface to users’ actions. Captioning technology is ENCO’s other industry calling card, and the NAB Show saw the official release of the fifth generation of the company’s AI-enhanced enCaption automated captioning product, enCaption5. The tool combines machine learning with advanced speech-to-text conversion and grammatical structure analysis. The other big plus? It runs in the cloud.
EQUIPMENT FOR THE NEXTGEN ERA
With NEXTGEN TV rapidly rolling out in market after market in the U.S. and Jamaica embracing ATSC 3.0-delivered digital television, having the right products in the studio matters more than ever. For Hitachi Kokusai, the introduction of the SK-UHD7000 second-generation 4K Ultra HD broadcast and live production camera system is exciting news for TV-industry pros. On display in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, the SK-UHD7000 incorporates three 2/3”, global shutter CMOS image sensors with native 4K resolution, enabling the capture of 3840x2160 Ultra HD (UHD) video. A new prism design with expanded spectral range is present, and Hitachi says it fully complies with all international colorimetry specifications. The high-performance 30 · R B R . C O M
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Hitachi shows off its SKUHD7000 camera
sensors and new prism combine to enable full-range BT.2020 UHD Wide Color Gamut (WCG) capture, too. Additionally, a dual 4K and HDTV workflow supports separate controls for Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) High Dynamic Range (HDR), and standard dynamic range (SDR). Also on full display was the SK-HD1800, six of which were purchased earlier this year by Graham Media Group-owned NBC affiliate WSLS-10 in Roanoke, Va. Today, WSLS believes its on-air look is improved and its production sets are better represented. “Improving our picture quality was the main thing we wanted to do, but our previous cameras had also become unserviceable,” said Ricky Williams, Director of Technology at WSLS. “We also wanted to add new production capabilities such as automated lift.” Systems integrator Digital Video Group (DVG) had built the technology core of WSLS-10’s new studio. Williams recommended the SK-HD1800 cameras as an ideal fit. “Beyond the quality advantages, the success DVG has had with Hitachi cameras at other broadcasters was a big factor,” he said. “We do so much live production every day that taking a camera out of our rotation to resolve any issues would impact our product.” WSLS went live with the SK-HD1800 cameras in November 2021, with
DVG performing the integration and Ross Video handling the setup of camera robotics. With live production happening throughout the day, WSLS deployed the new cameras and robotics two at a time to minimize disruptions. A phased approach to implementation was used. “The improvement in picture quality was very noticeable as soon as we went on-air with the first two units,” Williams recalled. “We could immediately see an A/B difference next to the older cameras we were still using. It motivated us to speed up the deployment of the rest of the new cameras, since it would be so obvious to viewers that we were using both generations at the same time.” Two of the SK-HD1800s are deployed on new Ross BlackBird pan/tilt/lift elevation systems to accommodate varying heights in the studio and sets. The remaining four SK-HD1800s are set up on Miller 3230 Combo Live 55 pedestals with Ross pan/tilt heads. Five of the cameras are used for newscasts, with two — including one shared between both purposes — used on the Daytime Blue Ridge “Spotlight” set on the other side of the studio. Production is automated through the Grass Valley Ignite platform, with Ross Video routing systems, Xpression graphics, and Dashboard control software rounding out the infrastructure.
The Triveni Digital StreamScope XM Monitor
A NEXTGEN MOVE FOR TRIVENI
Of the exhibitors that RBR+TVBR got the chance to meet with at the NAB Show, one that’s deeply tied to the rollout of NEXTGEN TV — and that picked up a 2022 Product of the Year Award for its prowess — is the monitoring and measuring tool StreamScope XM Monitor from Triveni Digital. Launched in late March, it is considered to be “a critical new tool for broadcasters operating in the NEXTGEN TV environment.” Ralph Bachofen, VP of Sales and Marketing at Triveni, demonstrated how the StreamScope can streamline operations with monitoring, reporting, analysis, rules, and auditing capabilities. In short, the Monitor performs advanced, real-time monitoring of ATSC 3.0 streams and allows broadcasters to create rules-based notifications to pinpoint and rapidly troubleshoot NEXTGEN TV servicequality issues. Speaking with RBR+TVBR from the convention hall, Bachofen described Triveni as “basically the plumber of ATSC 3.0.” He continued, “Normally you need to have a whole broadcast chain in regard to what you need from a functionality perspective to deliver ATSC 3.0 over the air, and there are many manufacturers who do different things in that broadcast chain. You start with audio/video, with an encoder, and right after that encoding function, we normally gather all the information and make it ATSC 3.0-compliant so we can go over the air.”
Triveni’s transport encoder takes the information from the encoder, and then EAS alerting information, and meshes them together to push them through a broadcast gateway that creates an RF infrastructure and goes through an exciter. For the C-Suite, Bachofen envisions new revenue opportunities for broadcast TV thanks to Triveni’s “guts of ATSC 3.0” capabilities. Datacasting, in particular, excites Bachofen. A big customer of Triveni is ARK Multicasting, which is pioneering “Broadcast Internet” capabilities that could power everything from a municipal traffic lighting system to educational programming for students with poor broadband connectivity. In April, ARK signed a new collaboration agreement with SpectraRep for deployment of the Educast service on the ARK Broadcast Internet Network of NEXTGEN TV stations. But does Triveni have a learning curve ahead for some in the broadcast media industry? For example, its NAB Show booth had several displays with the “XM” name. To be clear, this has nothing to do with SiriusXM Satellite Radio. Triveni uses the term for its next-generation products, and the SkyScraper XM from Triveni provides the functionality that allows broadcasters to engage in datacasting, Bachofen said. “It’s basically our test of measurement environment,” he explained in describing Skyscraper XM. “We look in great detail at the whole transport stream in ATSC 3.0, take it apart, and make it good-looking
so people can understand what they are looking at.” This explains the monitoring function, as the operational aspect of ATSC 3.0 — now up and running in more markets — has become important for broadcasters. With the transition upon us, Bachofen believes TV stations will now focus their attention on the datacasting application, which the SkyScraper XM product is designed to assist. Aside from the U.S., South Korea, and Jamaica, is there a global marketplace? Bachofen is working for ATSC as part of its Brazil implementation team. In the South American nation, a target market, aspects of ATSC 3.0 standards were adopted, such as the route protocol. “They are still in the early phases of what our nextgeneration TV is going to look like, but it is hopefully a future market for us,” Bachofen said. “The same thing is going on India, and they are heavily focused on mobile, so from a use-case perspective it will be a little different.” Discussions with Mexico are super-early, as are those with other Caribbean nations, Bachofen shared. Europe? Not likely, he predicted, given the dynamics of the marketplace. That leaves the U.S. one of the biggest markets for ATSC 3.0, today and tomorrow. Given its multi-booth presence at the NAB Show, continuing to spread the NEXTGEN TV story will likely be a highlight of the next decade, with consumers and broadcasters each benefiting from new technology that is ready to bring new riches to all. SUMMER 2022
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IT’S TIME. TO RETHINK. TO REFRESH. TO REFOCUS.
Radio Ink and the Center for Sales Strategies are pleased to present the “Radio Masters Sales Summit,” September 22-23 at the Intercontinental at Doral in beautiful Miami.
SAVE THE DATE! RETHINK. REFRESH. REFOCUS.
RADIO MASTERS
SALES SUMMIT September 22-23 • Intercontinental at Doral, Miami FL
A CONFERENCE FOR AND ABOUT SALES AND SALES MANAGEMENT. PERIOD. Here’s just some of what will be covered: What Is Cold Calling in 2022?
For more information:
Balancing Digital and Spot Sales – How to Increase Both
2022 Summit Sponsors:
Radio and the Auto Dash – The Road Ahead
Chairman’s Circle
Generating Sales Leads Excelling with DEI While Hiring the Best People
Platinum
Selling More with Fewer People Organization – How Planning and Preparing Leads to Success
Brand Builders
Mindset for Sales Leaders The Power of HOW: A Manager’s Guide to Managing and MaximizingDigital Platforms
And join us for the always inspiring Radio Wayne Awards presentation
Radio Wayne Awards