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HOW COVID-19, AND TECHNOLOGY, CHANGED TVThe future of broadcasting takes the fast track to adapting to consumer trends while preparing to embrace new revenue streams

NEW! THE TOP LOCAL TV LEADERS

BROADCAST TV EMBRACES ITS DIGITAL TOOLS

A GLIMPSE OF TVB ALT FORWARD’S TOP TOPICS

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HOW COVID-19 CHANGED TVThe pandemic has been a time of unprecedented challenge and change for broadcasters. What do these changes mean for the future of broadcasting?

TEAMWORK, THROUGH TECHLocal TV stations have had many of the tools needed to operate the station from outside the station. They simply needed a bit of guid-ance in understanding what was already available.

THE TOP LOCAL TV LEADERSRBR+TVBR readers salute the leaders overseeing stations on a market-by-market level in this first-ever ranked list.

OVER THE AIR, RIGHT ON TARGETTVB President/CEO Steve Lanzano offers a glimpse of just some of the topics up for discussion at TVB ALT FORWARD on October 1.

HOW AUDIO LIFTS A VISUAL MEDIUM’S AUDIENCEAt Westwood One, illustrating the power of audio to drive television au-dience is one passion point of its Chief Insights Officer, Pierre Bouvard.

BROADCAST INTERNET: THE NEXT-GEN REVENUE GENERATORDid you know that the next-generation broadcast TV standard includes a big money-making opportunity for over-the-air television stations that has little to do with “spots and dots” and everything to do with iOT? If not, this article is for you.

Radio + Television Business ReportSTREAMLINE PUBLISHING Chairman: Eric RhoadsPublisher: Deborah ParentiEditor-in-Chief: Adam R JacobsonDirector of Operations: April McLynn

331 SE Mizner Blvd. Boca Raton, FL, 33432Phone: 561-655-8778 www.rbr.comTwitter: @rbrtvbr

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Seven months. With the release of the Fall 2020 edition of the Radio + Television Business

Report magazine, it will be nearly 20 weeks since the COVID-19 pandemic forced broadcast

television companies to quickly react and adapt to the unprecedented changes and challenges

associated with keeping the lights on — and programming on the air.

From news production to the delivery of local and national content, the work environment

has been greatly impacted. Has it changed the way broadcast TV will operate forever? And, what

do the changes seen since mid-March mean for the future of an industry eagerly awaiting the

full rollout of NEXTGEN TV?

In short, the pre-coronavirus technology revolution was sent in many ways into overdrive

by COVID-19. And, in other ways, it put a halt to some projects that had been in the works. As

broadcast tech leaders and C-Suite executives at some of the nation’s key TV station ownership

groups see it, the virus that awaits a vaccine has propelled the world’s original visual media

industry into a new era — with new production techniques, and new delivery platforms, at the

heart of that rocket-fueled momentum.

TV TODAY AND TOMORROW, SHAPED BY TECH

COST PRESSURES, NEEDED TRANSITIONSFor monitoring, visualization and delivery analytics prod-uct provider Qligent, like many companies, the pre-COVID environment was squarely focused on a trajectory of mov-ing to the cloud. A set of disciplines and targets for the development of its products was in place. Then, COVID-19 arrived.

“What COVID did was act as a mag-nifying glass,” says Brick Eksten, the Ontario, Canada-based CEO of the Melbourne, Fla.-headquartered company.

“We then got calls from customers aware of our trajectory and asking us to move faster. It forced us to get really tight and succinct on how we can help our custom-ers the most.”

The biggest concern among Qligent’s media clients: cost pressures associated with gaining remote access to media and content streams. “We ended up spending a lot of time with customers with products already installed to allow them to access technology and work in a remote environment,” says Eksten, noting that the technology may have been there all along, but knowledge of its full use was lim-ited among some broadcast TV clients.

For those in need of new technology to bring remote work capabilities to life, Qligent’s team wrote new soft-ware. And, for companies that opted for a hybrid environ-ment, with a mix of pure-cloud and stationary systems, Qligent moved ahead.

What was Eksten’s biggest takeaway from the experi-ence? “There was a willingness to adapt that wasn’t really there before,” he says, adding that many clients had lengthy checklists to consider before they could even apply remote access to the tasks under review. Then there was the clients’ focus on operational efficiency, ensuring that the right people were in place to effectively communicate to all how to access what they needed while away from their stations.

Of course, shifting to the cloud isn’t free, and Eksten is well aware of the fiscal challenges effectively dampen-

ing the entire television industry. “It is impossible to talk about a marketplace without talking about a pause when a crisis happens,” he says. “Some customers wanted to press pause not because a move to the cloud wasn’t the right thing to do. It was about how to pay the bills, and getting flexible on contracts on allowing the customer to help

them move through the process.”In contrast, some Qligent clients wanted

technology advancement. Now. “There is a whole rack of customers that wanted to move ahead fast, and we had to evolve from the ambition they set out on,” Eksten says, noting that the eSports realm and its willingness to consider traditional broad-cast TV distribution in the wake of COVID-19 has propelled activity at Qligent.

“Our customers have realized that the operating patterns we are looking at today can be greater assisted with more machine learning and being able to con-trol the stream,” Eksten says. “There’s a lot of focus on technologies that were originally on an 18-month road map, and giving more value to customers today.”

NEXTGEN TV: THE NEXT BUDGETING FOCUSFrom its Maine headquarters, Dielectric has built and delivered antennas and RF systems for television and FM broadcast stations since 1942. Through the pandemic, Dielectric played an outsized role in the conclusion of the U.S. spectrum repack. Then it immediately transitioned to the rollout of ATSC 3.0 technology on the station level.

Did the COVID-19 pandemic squelch or sideline any of the timelines — or budgets — for any of the TV stations looking ahead to the riches NEXTGEN TV is poised to bring?

Speaking of Dielectric’s product portfolio, VP/GM Keith Pelletier says the company is likely building on the strength of its success with the repack. “Advancements that we made for the repack have been rolled right into NEXTGEN TV,” he says. “Without missing a beat, we’ve been able to develop, using our R&D teams, quite a few products.”

On NEXTGEN TV, Pelletier adds, “We’ve put a lot of time into it. We’ve done it with the help of the consulting community and

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developed a theoretical deployment in the San Francisco Bay Area for quite a few Single-Frequency Networks (SFNs) for NEXTGEN TV. In doing that, we’ve been able to design theoretical patterns based on actual sites that are on the outskirts of San Francisco, and take that and develop as-close-as-possible to those patterns, and develop software tools that our consultants can use to develop SFNs throughout the U.S.”

While that growth is energizing Dielectric, it has seen nonessential purchases outside the repack pro-cess “getting a lot more scrutiny” from its customer base. Pelletier says, “Based on COVID-19 we will see some delays in the remainder of this

year, but hopefully with the economy rebounding quickly as they say, we’ll be well-positioned in 2021 to support all of the NEXTGEN TV services that we need to on the product end.”

Market deployments of NEXTGEN TV have been a focus of late for LTN Global, which saw its video transport network services used for the first commercial deployment of ATSC 3.0 in the U.S., in Las Vegas. Chief Technology Officer and head of strategy Alan Young notes that groups of stations have come up with spectrum-sharing arrangements where one of the stations becomes, effectively,

“the ATSC 3.0 lighthouse.” The other sta-tions send their output to this facility, and then it gets multiplexed together. Keith Pelletier

Raymond & Lewiston, Maine

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Then the ATSC 1.0 signals are sent to the other stations to ensure they remain on the air.

“Of course, that has to happen before the rollout of receivers can happen,” Young says.

And with the exchange of all of these broadcast signals essential, LTN Global has gained a role as the facilitator of such station needs.

Feeding NEXTGEN TV will undoubt-edly rely on content, one thing that won’t change and will only increase as the years go by. But, thanks to COVID-19, getting quality content on the air may still involve a patchwork of tools quickly crafted to bring a swift short-term solution to a TV station. Now, many local TV leaders are taking a long-term approach to offsite content creation.

Enter CP Communications, which boasts a remote produc-tion — REMI (Remote Integration Model) — broadcast work-flow operation from a St. Petersburg, Fla., studio. CP also has facilities in New York and Toronto, and they are expressly designed to produce and deliver broadcast content.

Kurt Heitmann, CP’s CEO, notes the Tampa Bay facility is home to a 1,300-square-foot studio, adjacent to a control room. Until now, it has mainly been used by broadcasters and production companies on feeding stations. As acquisition and content control grow in focus, the delivery side of the equa-tion is being magnified as a concern, Heitman believes.

As he illustrates, TV station news departments each face the same dilemma: Content needs to get from the field into the control room and then be integrated into the stu-dio operations. Like Eksten, CP’s Heitmann opened clients’ eyes to what they already had at hand.

“Integrating the tools into their studio was a situation where we really saw they had some of the tools necessary, and never really used them,” Heitmann says. “Now we need them to dust the tools off, and our job is to get the stations to fig-ure out how to use them.”

With more remotes from home seen from market to market, REMI needs have risen to the forefront of a broad-cast TV station’s priorities. “Now, we are doing remotes

from home,” Heitmann notes.What’s the bottom line for broadcast-

ers? “If COVID is in control room and studio — there was an instance of that at CBS in New York, where the broadcast center was closed — a solution is needed. Some are renting a studio just to get content on the air because of a delivery problem, and that is aided by a changing infrastructure. Zoom is great. It is just not a broadcast-quality product, and you see the struggles of trying to incorporate a conference call platform into a broadcast product.”

“Zoom is great. It is just not a broadcast-quality product, and you see the struggles of trying to incorporate a conference call platform into a broadcast product.”

— Kurt Heitmann, CP Communications

With remote content acquisition now in focus at broad-cast TV, CP’s “CamStream” is one tool that’s helping the transition. Heitmann says, “What we’ve found over the last three months is that the stations have the tools. A broad-caster gets a camera, and he may have an encoder. With a camera and a light kit, he’s got to get that to his talent off site. They may be using LAN at home or bonded cellular on the road. How now do we deal with audio over a cell phone or over a computer with an earphone in?”

The result is a sync problem. “We brought that all into one package,” Heitmann notes. “It makes the process more streamlined and routing to remote studio is accom-plished. They have the tools internally to do it. They just don’t have the tools externally to do it. And on-air talent just aren’t meant to be technical.”

That’s why the IQOYA CONNECT, a cloud-based service and

Alan Young

platform of need for radio and TV broadcasters from Digigram, believes its ONE IP audio tool is a good solution for broadcast journalists working from a remote environment. The IQOYA CONNECT features a unified web platform where the user’s custom profiles and audio settings are saved, offering autonomy and flexibility in live situations regardless of the device used.

VIEW-FUELED CONTENT MOVEMENTA different type of tech advancement has been seen since the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.

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Thanks to Pennsylvania-based Strategic Solutions Research, viewer-fueled suggestions on how to improve a local station’s newscast, potentially resulting in higher ratings and revenue, is a key offering many TV stations are eager to learn more about.

SSR President and Founder Kevin Cassidy explains, “The whole basis of what our company is centered around is strat-egy, and we like to think of ourselves as a strategic marketing company. The differ-ence between marketing and sales is that in marketing, you’re trying to find what people want, and then you adjust your product or your service so you can give it to them. And the marketing is tied in with that because when you’re giving them the product, you need to let them know one of the hot buttons that will make it register and resonate with the consumer.”

This, Cassidy argues, will increase the chances that a viewer will “vote” for the brand — and, in turn, lead to increased ratings that, in theory, will lead to increased revenue.

Most of what SSR does in the broadcast TV space is centered around news-casts. “Looking at it from the 30,000-foot view, which television news has the image for credible news, hosts that [viewers] like, the weather, the sta-tion they tune to in case of emergency — all of those big things? But we can also get more specific on the types of news stories that they want.”

This paints the portrait of what a TV news depart-ment’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities are, Cassidy says.

Is this designed to have the viewer shape the news sto-ries? “It is all done in a strategic fashion, but whether we

should have a standup set or a sit-down or a two-person desk versus one person, those types of things, we can get at with more specific research on what they like and dislike,” he explains. “It’s content testing that we’re really getting at.”

SSR’s research participants are heavy viewers of one particular station in a market. As such, with no viewing of the competition in their routine, their responses are seen as having a higher degree of validity, Cassidy adds.

A similar technology is being pitched to those on the

MEET GATESAIR’S NEW ENGINEERING VP

After more than 15 years within the Intraplex business unit at GatesAir, Director and VP/GM Keyur Parikh is now VP/

Engineering. He assumes the role from Tony Kobrinetz, who has retired, concluding a career that included 35 years with Motorola. Parikh is the chief architect of GatesAir’s Intraplex IP networking products and led a global development team. His innovations include Intraplex NetXpress, an IP audio and data multiplexer; the IP Link family of codecs, GatesAir’s flagship product line for the Intraplex business today; and Intraplex Ascent, GatesAir’s first cloud-based transport platform, introduced last year. He also holds several patents for media transport and syn-chronization over wide-area IP networks.

Parikh’s promotion came as GatesAir broadened its range of Maxiva transmitters and next-generation software innovations for digital broadcasters, moving forward

with bringing to market the first Maxiva liquid-cooled transmitter line for VHF television.

Also moving forward are plans to bring to consumers “several ATSC 3.0 software innovations to address the unique IP network-ing architecture and security requirements of NEXTGEN TV.” That would be STL Security, a layer that encrypts the ATSC 3.0 content path. These features, along with a secure HTML5 web interface, are available in all Maxiva UHF and VHF transmitters.

Keyur Parikh

TV TECH Continued on 34

Kevin Cassidy

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Teamwork, Through Tech: What’s Empowering Local TV?A common refrain from broadcast technology company leaders across the most recent weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic has been that local TV stations have had many of the tools needed to operate the station from outside the station. They simply needed a bit of guidance in understanding what was already available for use.

Mike Fass, VP of Broadcast Operations at Gray Television, can relate. “We have been very fortunate and we have certainly learned a lot through the pandemic,” he says. “We had a lot of tools in place before the pandemic, but they weren’t really used in this fashion. Now, they are used to move production and master control to other areas of the building, and then from home.”

Credit the technical media producer who has been charged with putting production and master control into one system. “This has really allowed for a lot of remote flexibility,” Fass says.

Then there are platforms including Microsoft Teams, which has been “a big help” in replacing conference calls or in-office group meetings. From a newsroom perspective, Fass singles out Gray’s use of Unity Intercom — an IP-based system — for keeping the newsrooms connected with the talent in the field.

What should be handled remotely, and what shouldn’t? That was a key ques-tion posed to Nexstar Media Group in the early days of the pandemic. Chief Technology Officer Brett Jenkins says, “The reality is that on the production side, there are certain things not to do remotely and other things we opted to do completely remotely.” This prompted Nexstar to ask about the minimum crew size, from the standpoint of its produc-tion process, and making those spaces safe.

More than anything, Jenkins says the biggest plus for Nexstar has been its investments in remote field acquisition and file-sharing and exchanges — provid-ing an opportunity to seamlessly move both files and live video to the station from the field. “These are things that

we’ve been working on over the last several years as the digital technology became more engrained in the broad-cast production process. When COVID hit, having that ability in place was prob-ably the most impactful thing.”

For Meredith Local Media, that has been a reliance on bonded cellular solutions that could power smartphone apps to bring a feed from one’s home and to conduct live interviews. “We all scrambled really quickly and took kind of a toolbox approach and built up a box of techniques and procedures to go to at any time,” VP of Engineering and Technology Tom Casey says. “And, since each market has different resources — take, for instance, Springfield, Mass., compared to Atlanta — understanding what tech resources and equipment are available is essential.”

Then there’s ensuring that what gets from the field to the station efficiently can still happen. Anthony Plosz, VP and Chief Technology Officer for Graham Media Group, says, “The ‘old school’ way of doing things has seen feeds transmitted via microwave PTP, and this has been seen since the 1950s. Getting it in the cloud requires encoding and trans-port — but how do you do that? Cellular networks. They are much faster, but we are not exactly sending highly com-pressed video. This is broadcast-quality low-compression video. Because we want to put our best product on TV, we want to edit in the native format.”

CREATIVITY CONQUERS CHALLENGES

For TEGNA VP of I.T. and Station Operations Robert Lydick, how the com-pany’s local leaders and staff came up

with solutions is paramount to its COVID-era operational prowess.

“The creativity of our local teams in coming up with solutions in a compressed time frame was really impressive,” Lydick says. “The local teams drove innovation and developed creative solutions to get people safely out of our buildings and continue serving our communities with no disruptions of service. We made lasting improvements to our secure remote connection model, which enhanced performance across all stations and offices. We quickly added hundreds of laptops in the field to enable remote work, and fully utilized IP-based video distribution technologies to enable remote studios and workflows. We also accelerated our adoption of cloud- and virtualized-based systems.”

He also cites the newsroom workflow systems of the AP ENPS product, and Bitcentral has been performing well for TEGNA’s stations. “The ability to remotely edit scripts and send in video from the field has been a required skill at TEGNA for the last decade,” Lydick notes.

Meanwhile, Luddites likely won’t be found across TEGNA’s local stations, or at its corporate office in Northern Virginia. “If there was trepidation on moving services to the cloud, that is gone,” Lydick says. “I see us continuing to move more applications to the public cloud and virtualizing anything that must be local. We are testing a zero-trust network approach, cloud workspaces, and development, on top of communication tools. During COVID-19 we have seen an increase in phishing and malware attacks, and going forward we’ll continue to make security improvements to protect the investments we’ve made that allow for a remote workforce. With any technology change, there can be push-back and questions. COVID-19 forced the industry to cut through any excuses and execute. I hope this attitude and culture stays long after the pandemic is over.”

CONGRATULATIONS to our own

DebraOConnell

President and GMABC7/WABC-TV New York

Your innovation and leadership drive us forward and we proudly commend you on your selection as a

Top Local TV Leader.

© Disney

WA B C -T V N E W YO R K

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Introducing The Top Local TV Leaders You know the CEOs and the individuals charged with overseeing broadcast media companies from coast to coast. You’ve also met those in the top financial roles at these companies.

But what about the individuals charged with ensuring that a local station’s operations flow as smoothly as possible, while the sales team excels and the local news team shines in the tough-est of conditions?

Given the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the world, the timing couldn’t be better for the first Top Local TV Leaders list. It’s a ranking compiled by industry peers who selected 15 honorees for their dynamic local leadership and applause-worthy accomplishments. RBR+TVBR readers — people who know the broadcast television industry from the inside — along with research and editorial evaluation determined our final list.

From social justice protests to the latest on the novel coronavirus, the role of local broadcast television has perhaps never been more important — to owners, employees, investors and every-day viewers. With that, we salute every local TV leader for their dedication and commitment to excellence over these past few months, while honoring the following individuals for their stand-out performance.

1 DEBRA OCONNELLPresident/GM, WABC-7, New YorkABC Owned Television Stations

It boasts the No. 1-rated local newscasts in the U.S. Its “Eyewitness News” brand is emblazoned in the market’s collective consciousness. And it is home to the individual who received the highest level of recognition from peers in the broadcast media industry. WABC-7 in New York is a giant among local television stations, and Debra OConnell has shined as its leader, with RBR+TVBR readers putting her at No. 1 on our inaugural Local TV Leaders list.

OConnell has been with WABC-7 since March 2018, when she departed her corporate-level role as EVP of Sales and Marketing of Disney/ABC’s consolidated advertising sales group. And she’s steered Channel 7 through two big departures for its early morning newscast, as Lori Stokes exited (only to show up across town at WNYW-5) and Bill Evans departed to become the owner/operator of WLNG-FM in Sag Harbor, N.Y.

Her duties also involve oversight of Live with Kelly and Ryan, which originated as The Morning Show, starring the late Regis Philbin, in 1983 and is still produced by the station.

And it’s actually her second tenure at WABC-7; earlier in her career, she was its VP/Marketing.

“Thank you for selecting me as one of Radio + Television Business Report’s Top Local TV Leaders,” OConnell said to RBR+TVBR readers. “I am honored to be acknowledged for WABC’s achievements and overall contribution to the U.S. broadcast media business. Running a station during these unprecedented times makes me pause and reflect on the importance of local news coverage.

As a 25-year industry veteran, I’m proud to say I remain passionate about the work we do and how we show up for the communities we serve. WABC remains the most-watched station in the nation because of the team I lead and their countless hours of dedication.”

Debra OConnell

Dave Bestler

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S RENÉ LA SPINA

Vice President and General Manager, WSMV, News4 Nashville

2020 Radio + Television Business Report Top Local TV Leader

M O B I L E P E N S A C O L A

Mobile - Pensacola Springfi eld

St. Louis Hartford

EYEWITNESSEYEWITNESS

NEWSNEWSNashville

GreenvilleLas Vegas Flint - SaginawKansas City

Atlanta Phoenix PortlandPortland

Stamford

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C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S RENÉ LA SPINA

Vice President and General Manager, WSMV, News4 Nashville

2020 Radio + Television Business Report Top Local TV Leader

M O B I L E P E N S A C O L A

Mobile - Pensacola Springfi eld

St. Louis Hartford

EYEWITNESSEYEWITNESS

NEWSNEWSNashville

GreenvilleLas Vegas Flint - SaginawKansas City

Atlanta Phoenix PortlandPortland

Stamford

2 JERRY BREHMVP/GM, WTEN-10 and WXXA-23, Albany-Schenectady-TroyNexstar Broadcast Group

Travel back in time a decade, and you’d find Jerry Brehm in the role of General Sales Manager for KHTK-AM 1140, a CBS Radio Sports Talk station. It was a nine-month role, following an already lengthy career that saw Brehm open his own consultancy in 2007, following an 8 1/2-year run as Director of Sales for Hearst Television’s KCRA-3 in Sacramento and, from 1996-1999, a similar role at KMOV-4 in St. Louis under Belo ownership. For 13 years before that, the Siena College graduate was at WNYT-13 in Albany, N.Y.

As of early 2015, Brehm has been back where it all began: New York’s Capital District. Since August 2019, he’s

been VP/GM of WTEN-10 and WXXA-23, the ABC and FOX affiliates in the market, rising from Director of

Sales. It marks Brehm’s first role as a top leader.“I’m very honored to receive this nomination,”

Brehm told RBR+TVBR. “I’ve been very fortunate to have been surrounded with incredibly smart and passionate leaders throughout my 37 years in

the broadcasting business. All of them have greatly impacted my professional career. I’m so proud

of my team at WTEN and WXXA, who do such amazing work each and every day, and I’m

so thankful for the steadfast support of our corporate leadership at

Nexstar. They continue to set the standard in broadcasting and digital operations and create a distinct advantage for the viewers and advertisers in our area.”

3 ROB ROHRVP/GM, WHIO-7, DaytonCox Media Group

It has been an exceptional 18 months for the Gem City of Ohio. On Memorial Day Weekend 2019, devastating twisters tore through the north side of this gritty but determined metropolis, resulting in a rebuilding project that extended well into 2020. Then came the mass shooting in Dayton’s Oregon District in August 2019, on a Saturday night, just steps away from the iHeartMedia offices and studios.

For WHIO-7, Dayton’s dominant TV station, station staff and the news team coalesced in ways that also bridged Cox Media Group’s radio stations with the Dayton Daily News, now a Cox Enterprises property. This ability to deliver the news and strong audience shares became supercharged with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Miami Valley in mid-March, and continues to this day.

Leading WHIO-7 through all of this is Rob Rohr, who rose to Market VP/GM in July 2016 and shifted over from running the radio stations, a role he gained in December 2012. Rohr’s achievements won over many RBR+TVBR readers — including several colleagues at Cox Media Group’s Tulsa TV stations. He’s been with Cox since 2000.

“Thank you so much for this recognition,” Rohr says. “It is an honor to be listed among this group of talented and inspiring broadcasters. As we all know, broadcasting is a 365-days-a-year team sport, and I am incredibly proud of the team here at CMG Ohio. They have worked tirelessly and passionately to serve our community through some of the most devastating stories over the past year in an

effort to keep them safe, help them understand and, most importantly, help the community heal. I’m privileged to work side by side with them every day.”

Rob Rohr

Jerry Brehm

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4 MIKE McCLAINSVP/GM, WOFL-35, OrlandoFOX Television Stations

In mid-July 2019, the staff and man-agement at the Fox Television Stations’ Central Florida stations learned that their VP/GM since January 2013, Allyson Meyers, would be exiting.

One week later, her successor took to Twitter to quickly change his title. That’s how eager Mike McClain was to get settled at the two Fox stations serving Orlando — the market’s MyNetwork TV affiliate, WRBW-65, and WOFL-35, the FOX network O&O — as their new leader.

His role also includes oversight of the FOX affiliate in nearby Gainesville, WOGX-51. But it is his efforts at FOX 35 that attracted accolades from peers across the industry.

McClain is a fast-rising leader in the Southeast for FOX. Previously, he spent nearly two years at the helm of WJZY-

46 in Charlotte. Before that, he was VP/News for WAGA-TV in Atlanta. Furthermore, McClain has experience at a FOX-branded station in nearby Tampa-St. Petersburg, as he served as VP of News for WTVT-13 from July 2007 through October 2010.

McClain cut his teeth in broadcast television at the FOX affiliate serving Birmingham, WBRC-6.

At the time of his hiring, Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy lauded McClain. “[McClain] has proven himself to be a general manager and news director who knows how to build high-achieving

teams that deliver strong results,” he said.“I am truly happy to see Mike has reached a new high as

a broadcaster,” said one industry leader who thinks highly of McClain. “He was one of the pioneers of 24-hour news in Alabama and his dedication to the highest standards of news coverage is needed more intensely today than ever.”

Mike McClain

“He has proven himself to be a general manager and news director who knows how to build high-achieving teams that deliver strong results” — Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy, on

Mike McClain

Congratulations to

Tom Ehlmann on being selected as a

2020 Radio+Television Business ReportTop Local TV Leaders

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Congratulations to

Tom Ehlmann on being selected as a

2020 Radio+Television Business ReportTop Local TV Leaders

5 TOM EHLMANNPRESIDENT/GM, KXAS-5 & KXTX-39, DallasNBCUniversal Owned Television

Stations

What do Tom Ehlmann, Mike Bibby, Luke Walton and Damon Stoudamire have in common?

All are former members of the University of Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball team. Ehlmann was on the 1976 squad, but none of the others can say they went on to lead one of the biggest local TV operations in the U.S.

Ehlmann has been at the helm of NBC O&O KXAS-5 since 2008, and added similar duties for Telemundo sibling KXTX-39 in more recent years. He arrived in Dallas after serving as VP/GM of then-Tribune Broadcasting flagship WGN-9 in Chicago from 2004-2008.

And there’s a good chance he can talk up a great hoops conversation with nationally recog-nized KXAS-5 Sports Director Newy Scruggs.

Of course, there’s a whole other dynamic to Ehlmann’s success at KXAS and KXTX, which hasn’t been easy against such market power-houses as WFAA-8, the TEGNA-owned ABC affil-iate; FOX O&O KDFW-4; and CBS O&O KTVT-11. Then there’s Telemundo 39, which has become a strong Hispanic media hub for North Texas against Univision and Estrella Media.

“It’s truly humbling to be honored by broad-cast peers … I’m very grateful,” Ehlmann says. “I believe the recognition truly speaks to the talented team of NBC 5 and Telemundo 39, professionals working on many fronts each day to bring North Texans relevant and accurate news and information. I’ve been privileged to lead several incredibly motivated and dedicated station teams through the years, and I’m proud to be part of an industry committed to serving local communities.”

Tom Ehlmann

Your leadership, vision and dedication are invaluable to all of us at TEGNA.

Rob Mennie

TEGNA

salutes our own

Congratulations on being selected as one of the Top Local TV Leaders in the media industry.

President and General Manager, General Manager, General Manager, General Manager, First Coast News First Coast News First Coast News First Coast News

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6 ROB MENNIEGM, WTLV-12 & WJXX-25, JacksonvilleTEGNA

In North Florida, the biggest market has always been unique. Today, Channel 4 is a local independent, while “First Coast News” is the unifying brand for WTLV-12 and WJXX-25, the NBC and ABC affiliates serving Jacksonville. It competes against “Action News JAX,” a combined operation of the CBS and FOX affiliates.

But make no mistake — First Coast News was the operation singled out by RBR+TVBR readers, with six-year GM Rob Mennie a standout selection for at least one industry peer.

“Rob is a TV veteran and, hands down, the best GM I’ve ever worked for,” said one reader. “Rob genuinely cares about not only his employees, but the viewers and the com-munity. He’s shown his care through the COVID-19 crisis by putting the health of employees first and having frequent

staff meetings to update everyone. We’re asked to have our cameras on during these Zoom staff meetings because ‘he misses seeing us.’”

In fact, prior to the pandemic, Mennie would cook for all attending staff meetings, and he’s been seen cleaning spots off the carpet.

“His door is actually open to anyone who works there,” said one colleague. “Most managers say that ... Rob’s really is. He writes thank you notes or places calls to clients. He’s just the best person I’ve ever worked for and he’s the best manager in the country.”

Commenting on his honor, Mennie says, “This recognition is a testament to our strong team in Jacksonville. They bring their best every day to serve the greater good of the First Coast community through impactful investigations, innovative news and solutions to meet our clients’ needs. I couldn’t be prouder of all we’ve accomplished and continue to accomplish together.”

Rob Mennie

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7 RICHARD REINGOLDVP/GM, WHEC-10, Rochester, N.Y.Hubbard Broadcasting

In July 2018, Richard Reingold took the reins at the NBC affiliate in this gritty Western New York metropolis that touches the northern portion of the picturesque Finger Lakes region.

It wasn’t easy. In early 2019, Reingold took to the air-waves to apologize for a racial slur in reference to Martin Luther King Jr. Park by its meteorologist during an evening newscast. Reingold moved quickly to defuse the situation, even as the meteorologist was fired and subsequently sued the station over his dismissal.

Then came COVID-19, and social justice protests. And then, in the wee hours of Aug. 16, 2020, a gunfight outside the station’s studios shattered windows. Employees were inside the News10HEC operations center and dropped to the ground when they heard the shots. No one was injured.

Through it all, and in the face of a competitor eager to report on WHEC’s challenges, Reingold and his team have taken the high road — and have come out winners. It started in 2018, as Brett Davidsen and Jen Mobilia took WHEC to the No. 1 slot in adults 25-54 at 11pm. That strength led many RBR+TVBR readers to salute Reingold for strong leadership through difficult times, and for steadfastly stewarding WHEC to continued success.

Reingold was previously VP/GM of WCTI-TV in New Bern, N.C.

“I really appreciate it,” Reingold says. “Thank you very much for this recognition. I am honored to lead one of the Hubbard Broadcasting TV stations.”

Richard Reingold

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8 LLOYD BUCHERVP/GM, WPTV-5, West Palm BeachThe E.W. Scripps Co.

Lloyd Bucher could say he’s on Easy Street. But in an ever-changing competitive landscape that spans two distinct regions — and Mar-a-Lago, making President Trump a local viewer — long-dominant WPTV-5 can’t rest on its laurels.

As such, WPTV is a standout Scripps property, thanks in part to such trusted veteran news anchors as Kelley Dunn and Michael Williams.

But it comes with strong leadership against Sinclair Broadcast Group and Hearst Television stations that are equally impressive in their own right. For the readers of RBR+TVBR, Bucher is singled out for his tenure at WPTV, which dates to January 2007, when he joined as Director of Sales. Bucher rose to VP/GM in April 2015, and has been in Florida since July 2005, when he took the role of GSM for WPLG-10 in Miami.

Bucher’s career in TV began as LSM

of KYW-3 in Philadelphia, in January 1995.“WPTV has long partnered with the community for news,

but also community-driven initiatives,” he says. “I am proud of our employees, grateful for our viewers and optimistic for our community.”

Lloyd Bucher

“WPTV has long partnered with the community for news, but also community-driven initiatives. I am proud of our employees, grateful for our viewers and optimistic for our community.” — Lloyd Bucher

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9 PAM FORSYTHGM, WICU-12 & WSEE-35, Erie, Pa.Lilly Broadcasting

When it comes to Erie, Pa., there are few in the media industry who quite know this burgh some two hours north of Pittsburgh like Pam Forsyth.

Forsyth is a graduate of Fort Le Boeuf High School in Waterford, Pa., a suburb of Erie. She began her broadcast media career in Erie, at the old WSEG “Red Hot 102” in 1980, under Ronnie Gee as acting GM and Sales Manager.

After five years, Forsyth moved on — to teaching. She co-founded the Great Lakes Broadcast School and from 1985-1987 was a teacher there. Then, seemingly, Forsyth had enough of the media world. She became a sales director for Howard Johnson/Prime Management — yes, the famed hotel and ice cream parlor brand.

By 1988, Forsyth was back in broadcast media — this time as a senior sales and marketing executive for “SJL of Pa.,” otherwise known as Lilly Broadcasting’s Erie, Pa., properties. She’s been there ever since and in May celebrated 32 years at the company. Today, she’s the GM of WSEE-35, the CBS affiliate; NBC affiliate WICU-12; and the CW Network found on WSEE’s DT2 signal.

To say that Forsyth is admired by her peers and those across the Keystone State is an understatement. RBR+TVBR received a plethora of votes from colleagues and industry leaders far and wide — all of whom saluted Forsyth for her ability to bring “Erie News Now” to great heights. That goes for the sales efforts at the three stations, too, as Forsyth also serves as GSM for the three network affiliates.

“Pam works tirelessly to be an integral part of the community,” said one senior-level staff member at the stations. “Because of her leadership we are always first to respond to our community’s needs.”

Another employee saluted the rarity of having a woman lead a group of stations for more than three decades. “It’s not often that you see women in a role of this stature,” the Lilly colleague said. “She does an amazing job at keeping everything running smoothly at the station. If you are from Erie, I guarantee that if you don’t know her yourself, you know somebody that does! She is integrated very well into the local community and genuinely cares about keeping it local.”

Reached for comment by RBR+TVBR, Forsyth was quite humble in discussing her honor. “I am so grateful for my job, and for our staff and our community,” she says. “If you are not making a difference and trying to help your community, you are not living up to your responsibilities as a member of it. I try to make a difference. There is always a way to help others and to learn from them. I feel blessed every day for the people I work with and the community we serve. I am so appreciative to be nominated for this RBR+TVBR Local TV Leader honor … thank you!”

Pam Forsyth

“I feel blessed every day for the people I work with and the community we serve. I am so appreciative to be nominated.” — Pam Forsyth

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10 ALAN CHATMANGM, WCJB-20, Gainesville, Fla.Gray Television

If there’s any individual among our Top Local TV Leaders who can scream “Go Gators!” before offering any words of thanks, it’s Alan Chatman. He’s a University of Florida graduate and has been at the ABC affiliate serving Gainesville, home to the university’s main campus, since joining as GSM in 1994. In May 2017, Chatman was pro-moted to VP/GM, while keeping GSM duties.

That elevation in rank came as Gray Television com-pleted its acquisition of WCJB-20 from Diversified Communications. It was part of an $85 million deal that also included a Bangor, Me., property.

WCJB-20 in Gainesville is known for being the first local station to have a news department. Today, it offers The CW+ and MeTV on digital multicast channels tied to WCJB-20.

“WOW!!” Chatman writes via e-mail to RBR+TVBR. “I am humbled, honored and thankful to have been selected by my peers as one of the Top Local TV Leaders by RBR+TVBR! I have never been one for personal accolades. For me it has always been about the success of my teammates/employees and the company I represent. I am blessed to have spent my entire 39-year career working in a profession I enjoy and love … broadcasting!”

Alan Chatman

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11 MARLA DRUTZVP/GM, WDIV-4, DetroitGraham Media Group

Of the former Post-Newsweek stations now housed within Chicago-based Graham Media Group, “LOCAL 4” — WDIV in Detroit — is perhaps a standout. Much of that success can be attributed to Marla Drutz.

Drutz has been at the helm of WDIV since July 2008. Under her leadership, LOCAL 4 has been dominant both on-air and online. Among the station’s achievements: LOCAL 4 has the top-rated and most-watched newscasts in the market, and is the No. 1 NBC affiliate in the top 20 media markets. Furthermore, WDIV-4 has been named Station of the Year five times by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.

Drutz’s leadership is aided by her longtime presence in the Motor City. Prior to joining WDIV, Drutz worked at the E.W. Scripps Co.’s ABC affiliate in Detroit, WXYZ-7, as Director of Programming. Earlier in her career, she was the Marketing Director at WJBK-2 in Detroit. Drutz started out as a research analyst at WJW-8 in Cleveland.

“Thank you for recognizing Marla — she’s one heck of a leader,” says LOCAL 4 Creative Services and Programming Director Jamie Kaye Walters.

When reached for comment by RBR+TVBR, Drutz paused … and thought of the late Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. “I always loved the Steve Jobs quote, ‘Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.’ To me, that’s the essence of our success here at WDIV-LOCAL 4 and ClickOnDetroit.com, because we have an incredible team and we elevate each other’s performance.”

Outside of WDIV, Drutz is actively involved in many local literacy campaigns. This includes “Bookstock,” Metro Detroit’s largest used-book sale, which supports and raises funds for local teachers and education projects.

Additionally, this Leadership Detroit graduate is currently the Chairwoman of the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau and is on the Board of Directors for the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation. Yes — that’s her on Page 2 of the Spring & Summer 2020 edition of Visit Detroit magazine.

In that magazine, Drutz said, “While I grew up in Louisville,

many of my family’s closest relatives lived in the Detroit area. I can vividly recall going to Belle Isle, the Detroit Zoo, and getting dressed up to shop and have lunch at Hudson’s department store with my aunts and cousins. I always felt like I left Detroit smarter, more refined, better cultured and definitely hipper.

“That’s why I jumped at the chance to work in Detroit 30-plus years ago. Not only was it the motor capital of the world and one of the top television markets in the country, but my memories of Detroit as a child had made a permanent impression. I wanted more Detroit. The city’s energy, resilience, innovative and creative spirit, and the sheer determination of its residents, resonated with me on a personal level.”

Now, with Detroit a metropolis in the midst of an incredible renaissance, Drutz is one of its biggest cheerleaders. “It’s about time that Detroit received the national R-E-S-P-E-C-T that it deserves,” she wrote. “But for me, I didn’t need a national magazine or newspaper to tell me what I already knew. Detroit is a place filled with optimism and appreciation of hard work, a place where you can be a part of a community that has a rich multicultural and multiracial makeup. Detroit is certainly a place where dreams can come true. I am so proud to say that Detroit is my hometown.”

Marla Drutz

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12 ARIEL ROBLINPresident/GM, KETV-7, OmahaHearst Television

On May 13, 2020, the successor to longtime KCRA-3 President/GM Elliott Troshinsky was revealed. Taking the job was the highly successful President/GM of KETV-7 in Omaha — one of the nation’s most successful ABC affiliates.

It seemed to be a perfect fit for Ariel Roblin, who graduated from the University of Miami in 1997 with a theater and film business degree and six years later found herself in Honolulu, taking a sales position at KGMB-TV.

At the end of 2005, Roblin returned to the mainland and became GSM of two stations just up the road from her current abode of Sacramento — ABC affiliate KRCR-7 in Redding, Calif., and semi-satellite KAEF-23 in Eureka-Arcata, Calif.

Based on her success in Northern California, Hearst Television appointed Roblin to the top role at KETV. It is her accomplishments in Omaha that merited a place among the Top Local TV Leaders for RBR+TVBR readers.

“Ariel truly embraces the important responsibility of a television station in a local community,” said Hearst Television President Jordan Wertlieb. “Her commitment to local journalism and tireless community engagement have helped KETV become one of the nation’s leading affiliates. Ariel’s proven success in leveraging a station’s legacy in a contemporary media landscape makes her uniquely qualified.”

In Nebraska, Roblin was a board member of Omaha Crime Stoppers, the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, the Bluebarn Theatre, and the Nebraska Broadcasters Association, for which she served as Chairperson from 2018-2019.

In this role, Roblin gained national attention for the “Think F1rst” campaign, launched in summer 2018 to

educate Americans about the five freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment. The original “Think F1rst” Nebraska campaign was created after Media of Nebraska members noted polls showing that many Americans lacked even a basic knowledge of the First Amendment, particularly in articulating the five freedoms that it guarantees. In a civics survey taken by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, nearly 4 in 10 students couldn’t name even one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. Media of Nebraska members worked together to outline a campaign to combat these statistics.

“The reality is, we aren’t really free if we don’t know what our freedoms are and don’t exercise them,” Roblin said in July 2019. “Freedom is a mission of national importance. We’re proud to expand the opportunity to join this campaign to every state in our union.”

Ariel Roblin

ARIEL ROBLINand all of the

KCRA/KQCA President and General Manager

Congratulations

2020 Radio + Television Business ReportTop Local TV Leaders

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ARIEL ROBLINand all of the

KCRA/KQCA President and General Manager

Congratulations

2020 Radio + Television Business ReportTop Local TV Leaders

13 TONY D’ANGELOVP/GM, WSYX-6, WTTE-28 and WWHO-53, Columbus, OhioSinclair Broadcast Group

Like many of our honorees, D’Angelo is a veteran of the trio of stations in Ohio’s state capital operated by Sinclair. ABC affiliate WSYX is an O&O, while D’Angelo maintains oversight of an LMA with Cunningham Broadcasting for WTTE, the FOX affiliate; and a shared services agreement with Manhan Media’s affiliate for The CW Network, WWHO-53.

D’Angelo has been at the stations since 1996, and before that was Sales Manager for then-Post-Newsweek CBS affiliate WFSB-3 in Hartford.

If the surname rings a bell, it is because Tony is the son of Columbus, Ohio, TV pioneer Gene D’Angelo, who died in 2018. Tony’s father was the Chairman and President of WBNS-TV and Radio in Columbus for 21 years.

“Having been involved in broadcasting for 40 years, it’s an honor to be a part of a great industry with a great company,” D’Angelo says. “There are many professionals I’ve worked with over the years whose values and Ideals I’ve tried to emulate. Thank you for the recognition.”

Tony D’Angelo

14 BOB KRUMMENACKERGM, WBNG-12, Binghamton, N.Y.Quincy Media

In May 1981, Bob Krummenacker became VP and Station Manager of a heritage VHF station serving the Southern Tier of New York — WBNG-12. It’s one of the biggest CBS affili-ates, and has a rich history.

Krummenacker has been a big part of those events, and his time at WBNG began under Gateway Communications ownership and through Lilly, Granite Broadcasting and, ultimately, Quincy Media, which obtained the station in November 2014.

More recently, Krummenacker in 2018 helped bring a “massive makeover” and upgrades to the WBNG newsroom. In 2019, top honors at the New York State Associated Press Association banquet went to the station. Investigative & Watchdog Reporting was a key category.

“Years of working in small-market television have shown me, time and again, that broadcasters have the ability to truly make a difference in our community,” Krummenacker said when reached by RBR+TVBR. “I am proud to work among a group of dedicated broadcasters who honor this opportunity through the ideas, storytelling and dedication they bring to our audience, locally owned businesses and community causes each day.”

Bob Krummenacker

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15 RENE LASPINAPVP/GM, WSMV-4, NashvilleMeredith Local Media

After six years overseeing the Nexstar Media Group-owned CBS affiliate in the market that is home to the Buffalo Bills NFL franchise, René LaSpina started 2019 by heading south to a new leadership role that could see her

eventually embrace a Bills rival — the Tennessee Titans.

The relocation saw LaSpina take on VP/GM duties for WSMV, a resurgent station in a highly competitive marketplace. “René has an impres-sive track record of increasing station revenue, as well as success driving share and ratings growth,” Meredith Local Media Group President Patrick McCreery said in January 2019. “She is a strategic leader and focuses on building win-ning teams.”

The readers of RBR+TVBR feel the same way, as LaSpina made the Top Local TV Leaders list with plenty of reader support. Much of that is likely tied to a team that includes Steve Watt, the Station Manager and Director of Sales who in July 2019 joined WSMV, reporting to LaSpina. There’s also News Director Mitch Jacob.

It’s been a heck of a year for the News4 team, and for Watt and LaSpina. Before COVID-19, tor-nadoes that tore through Nashville and Putman County in the early hours of Tuesday morning, March 3, brought devastation. Just 48 hours later, the Meredith Local Media’s NBC affiliate partnered with the American Red Cross and CMT in helping raise nearly $400,000 during a Rebuilding Tennessee Telethon.

That effort alone is cause for celebration by the readers of RBR+TVBR.

René LaSpina

(TIE)

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15 DUJUAN MCCOYOwner/GM, WISH-8 & WNDY-23, IndianapolisCircle City Broadcasting

“When you love what you do and do what you love ... and work with great people who feel the same, great things happen!”

Those are the inspiring words of DuJuan McCoy, the outspoken owner of Circle City Broadcasting in Indianapolis, home to the market’s affiliate for The CW Network and MyNetwork TV. “It is a real pleasure being a community servant. Thank you for the recognition,” he says.

McCoy has been very much a part of the news spotlight across 2020, from his participation in the widely acclaimed RBR+TVBR Black Media Symposium to his racial discrimination lawsuit against AT&T tied to a lengthy retransmission consent fee battle with DirecTV.

“Owning these stations, and what I am doing, is very rare,” McCoy said in an August 2020 interview. “It gives me the flexibility to positively reflect my community without corporate approval. And at WISH we now have 80 hours of news programming. This has increased since the loss of the CBS affiliation, which ended with Media General’s sale of its stations to Nexstar, before I acquired WISH. I’ve owned WISH since Sept. 19, 2019, and I added an additional five hours of news a week.

“I believe what we are doing, and the branding we have been able to establish since September as ‘the only locally owned and operated station,’ has seen the market taking kindly to us. People want to have a station they could call their own.”

And those efforts led RBR+TVBR readers to salute McCoy.McCoy today is focusing his efforts on his Indianapolis

holdings. But, three stations he previously owned are in the good hands of another pioneering African American TV sta-tion owner: Byron Allen.

In May 2019, McCoy’s former company, Bayou City Broadcasting, agreed to sell its assets in Evansville, Ind., and Lafayette, La., to Allen’s Allen Media Broadcasting.

The transaction sent to Allen dual CBS/FOX affiliate WEVV-44 in Evansville, Ind., and FOX affiliate KADN-15 and NBC affiliate KLAF-LD 46 (simulcast on KADN-15.2) in Lafayette, La. The stock sale transaction was valued at $165 million.

It was quite a payday for McCoy: He acquired the Lafayette stations three years ago for $40 million, and in January 2015 snagged the Evansville stations for $26.8 million. That represents a $98.2 million profit for McCoy, money he will invest into WISH-8 and WNDY-23.

McCoy is a member of the NAB’s Television Board of Directors, and has been on the board since June 2012. He has also been on NABOB’s Board of Directors since December 2013, serves on the Broadcasters Foundation of America board, and completed the NAB Broadcast Leadership Program in 2008.

(TIE)

DuJuan McCoy

ABOUT RBR+TVBR’s TOP LOCAL TV LEADERS: This inaugural Honor Roll is produced from RBR+TVBR reader nominations, which were gathered in August 2020. Rankings are based on nomination totals, in addition to research and analysis by the RBR+TVBR editorial department. © 2020 Streamline Publishing.

“I believe what we are doing, and the branding we have been able to establish since September as ‘the only locally owned and operated station’ has seen the market taking kindly to us. People want to have a station they could call their own.” — DuJuan McCoy

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On October 1, the TVB ALT FORWARD conference will be staged as an entirely digital event with the look and feel of peering in on a live in-person affair. TVB President/CEO Steve Lanzano offers a preview of what’s on tap for discussion — including NEXTGEN TV and its forthcoming revenue riches, and the current challenges facing TV station owners.

RBR+TVBR: It has certainly been an exceptional year for broadcast TV. From social justice protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, local over-the-air television has played an outsized

role in bringing consumers vital information while also protecting their staff from harm. How has this helped broadcast TV in making its case to advertisers and marketers?

STEVE LANZANO: Obviously, it has been an unprecedented year, something that’s difficult to plan for. But, clearly, local news growth shows people’s insatiable appetite. Nielsen just did a study based on what people really want, and it was local news from their local network affiliate — and there’s a reason for that.

One is trust. Trust has become a really big issue with advertisers now, and it is one of our “Five Pillars of Our Success” in the rebound stage of the

Over The Air, Right On Target

FA L L 2 0 2 0 ·· R B R .C O M ·· 33

pandemic; that is No. 2 for us.Second, the advertiser wants to

reach a mass audience, and we see the scale. But the question has never been about inventory. It has been about demand, and that’s what we have been working on from the beginning. “Who are the low-hanging fruit?” “Who may still be advertising?” Home improvement, landscaping, staycations, etc. Now, we’re seeing healthcare, real estate and financial rebound.

Third was something we didn’t see because of people working from home remotely, and that is the size of our viewership, and using that to pitch advertisers on how they can reach people in a premium, trusted environment.

Advertising locally, where flexibility is so important, put us in the sweet spot on all of that. A third of our business was lost — 33% in the second quarter. But, sequentially, there have been improvements across the third quarter.

RBR+TVBR: In the second quarter, revenues were down roughly one-third year-over-year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet local TV ratings experienced a tremendous spike. What can TV station GSMs and senior ad sales execs do to help bridge this gap?

STEVE LANZANO: The issue is supply and demand. We have plenty of supply. It’s creating demand, so we are helping in terms of new prospects — especially in real estate.

There is optimism by new construction companies, and we really see a gain. People are going back in terms of preventative health care, and that’s starting to come back. And there is education — people are trying to figure out what to buy.

Early in the pandemic we worked with stations in creating a day with local restaurants where people

could support businesses through a “Takeout Tuesday.” That helped.

We’ve gone through the pivot, when the pandemic happened. Now we are in the rebound phase. When we get beyond October 1, we expect the

“moving forward” period when we can really focus on 2021 to begin.

The difficulty in all of this is that we don’t know what will happen day by day. What’s going to happen with sports? We do have the Olympics, and moving the Olympics to next year was kind of a benefit to the stations. They already have a significant source of income in retransmission consent fees, which is helpful. This is an election year. This is going to be a record year. Without any rallies, we are the biggest megaphone that’s really out there right now.

RBR+TVBR: If we look at other media, particularly radio, the shift of a major revenue generator such as the Summer Olympic Games could have been particularly devastating. But, thanks to that retrans revenue and political dollars, furloughs have been seen at a far lesser extent than in radio. How has local TV been able to prevent staff reductions across the COVID-19 pandemic?

STEVE LANZANO: A lot of that has to do with the stations. Number one: There are great managers in this business in operational efficiencies, and [stations are] making themselves more efficient. And, with NEXTGEN down the road, there’s another revenue opportunity.

RBR+TVBR: Is the TVB working with local broadcasters to explain the whole revenue picture of ATSC 3.0?

STEVE LANZANO: We’ve had a lot of discussions with them about the data they will be receiving, and getting a better understanding of the consumer. Obviously, the holy grail is addressable TV and being able to do advertising to a specific device. NEXTGEN is OTT on steroids, and it is a big opportunity.

RBR+TVBR: TVB ALT Forward as of mid-August already had more than 1,000 registrations, which is highly impressive. What can those attending the event look forward to, with no need to deal with LaGuardia Airport construction or a costly hotel and taxi in Midtown Manhattan?

STEVE LANZANO: The agenda is available at TVB.org, and it is expanded, compared to our normal one, with discussions on automotive to political forecasts to a discussion on how CMOs have shifted marketing dollars to local media. Automated TV and measurement are big discussion points, and the future of Connected TV — and how it will impact local TV — is a discussion topic.

And, if you can’t get to these sessions on the afternoon of October 1, you’ll be able to go on demand to see the event.

Importantly, it is not a Zoom conference: You will actually see me on stage, and we really wanted the feel of watching a conference as if it is on stage.

RBR+TVBR

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creative side of the local TV world. Realeyes, which calls itself an “emo-tion AI” television advertising research firm, uses front-facing cameras, given to opt-in panelists, to measure the attention and emotion of viewers to advertisements. Most recently, brands that offered commercials tied to the national social justice and “Black Lives Matter” movement from the Disney Channel, Nike, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble Co. and the National Football League were studied.

Another tech advancement the broadcast TV industry has seen over the last six months includes cloud-based media workflow offerings their radio industry brethren have long enjoyed, courtesy of vCreative. President/COO Susie Hedrick explains why such tools can be especially help-ful as broadcast TV stations gain insight on new revenue sources from the data side of ATSC 3.0, the new NEXTGEN TV broadcast standard.

Increased productivity is one benefit. And then there is the elimination of errors. At vCreative, the vPro for TV product is being marketed to achieve these goals.

“How do we make the lives of our users better and easier?” Hedrick says.

“It improves communication between departments, and in particular those who work on the creative elements of a campaign.”

When vCreative looked at the TV business, it found that some of the exact problems that exist in radio are also present in television.

In a similar vein, the use of artificial

intelligence (AI) by the TV industry and increased interest in it on the local station level is getting more attention at Veritone. In June, a report based on a survey of individuals represent-ing over 100 TV industry organizations found that while more than half of the industry is currently making conscious and strategic efforts to implement AI internally, the use of AI to track, ana-lyze and monetize content more effec-tively is still in its infancy.

“There is still enormous unrealized potential to fully leverage AI as a differentiator,” said Veritone President Ryan Steelberg. “Dominance in television and broadcast in the future will largely be driven by how well organizations take advantage of AI technology, especially now as the industry shifts to more remote work.”

Among the report’s key findings is that the opportunity for differentiation attracts television companies to AI solutions, with 73% of CEOs citing innovation and differentiation as drivers for AI adoption. The majority of CEOs are in the driver’s seat for adoption, with 63% saying that strategic efforts are being made to use AI for automation. Further, AI adoption is growing, with more than

half (54%) of respondents currently making efforts to implement AI.

Meanwhile, Veritone found that bud-getary restrictions and lack of knowl-edge around what AI is and how it can help TV organizations are the top factors preventing AI from achieving widespread usage, according to 50% of respondents.

THE SPACE BETWEENThe COVID-19 pandemic has also

created a new need for both radio and TV industry personnel: separation, to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. A distance-monitoring device that came to market in July from Riedel could be the perfect tool to ensure employee safety.

Worn around the neck or carried in a pocket, the company’s DisTag is an instrument that alerts its wearer via hap-tic, visual and acoustic signals whenever the mandatory minimum distance from other people is about to be breached.

“After weeks of quarantines and other limitations due to the coronavi-rus pandemic, our society is gradually returning to normal — but it’s a new type of normal,” said company founder and CEO Thomas Riedel. “Slowing the spread of the virus is still a num-ber one priority as key industries, organizations and institutions start to reopen and people begin returning to work. In recent months, we’ve learned as a community to adapt to new behavior patterns and situations, and a fundamental aspect is for employees, visitors and customers to maintain a safe distance between each other.”

RBR+TVBR

TV TECH Continued from 8

Susie Hedrick

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Multiple Nielsen case studies have demonstrated how AM/FM radio ad campaigns lift TV viewership. For Cumulus Media’s Westwood One national radio arm, illustrating the power of audio to drive television audience is something Pierre Bouvard is passionate about.

Bouvard is unabashedly one of the radio industry’s biggest cheerleaders, ceaselessly searching for any tidbits of research that make AM and FM radio advertising look better than any glam-orous Google-powered effort. And he’s done it again.

As Westwood One’s Chief Insights Officer, some of Bouvard’s more recent activities have included a client webi-nar to present an April 2020 analysis of Continuous Diary Measurement markets. In markets ranked No. 50 to No. 100, it was found that there was no audience impact to local radio from COVID-19. In June, Bouvard closely examined the results of a second review of U.S. consumer sentiment on COVID-19 recovery and purchase inten-tions that yielded a stark comparison of what Americans thought at the start of May versus their views at the end of May. By month’s end, a “seismic bump up” in terms of how positive consumers felt by June 1 was lauded by Bouvard.

In mid-September, Bouvard offered commentary based on his deep look at Nielsen’s “Promo Effect” study, which

uses an 80,000-strong PPM panel. It’s good news for radio — and for broad-cast and cable television.

How so? “The ability to measure AM/FM radio’s ability to drive viewership to TV premieres and events is now exceptionally accurate,” Bouvard says.

The Nielsen study reviewed the view-ership of television programs among those exposed to AM and FM advertise-ments encouraging TV tune-in, as well as those who did not hear the audio ads on a radio broadcast. The difference in TV audiences between those exposed and not exposed is the “lift” generated by the AM/FM radio ads.

With campaign weight considered for the maximum desired campaign effect, a determination was made: 150-175 GRPs is the recommended AM/FM radio campaign weight for TV tune-in campaigns.

Says Bouvard, “Buying a little bit of AM/FM radio on the day of a TV show’s premiere is ‘spray and pray,’ an insufficient investment yielding tiny amounts of reach. To make an impact, TV tune-in AM/FM radio campaigns

should generate at least a 45% reach via 150 GRPs.”

For example, a $625,000 investment in network radio was mapped out, with regard to ROI. Assuming a $5,000 cost per point, reach of 42% of adults 25-54 over the course of a week can be had, Bouvard says. Boost that investment to $875,000, and your GRP gets to 175 — representing a 47% allocation.

What’s “spray and pray” investment activity, as determined by Bouvard? Allocation of between 8% and 26%, or a GRP range of 10-50.

TV, PROMOTING BEYOND TVPromoting what’s coming up on a given TV channel is beneficial for reaching the heavy TV viewer.

For the medium to light TV viewer, AM/FM radio ads can drive awareness

How Audio Lifts A Visual Medium’s Audience

Pierre Bouvard

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and interest, Bouvard argues.“TV promos for shows on a network

do a great job of reaching heavy TV viewers and existing network viewers,” he says. “AM/FM radio ads excel at reaching light/medium TV viewers that miss promos and paid TV ads running on other networks and cable.”

It’s not exactly breaking news. A series of five incremental reach studies conducted by Nielsen concludes that AM/FM radio ads “excel” at impact-ing hard-to-reach medium and light TV viewers, Bouvard says. But the takeaway is certainly headline-worthy: Across the five campaigns, AM/FM radio ads generated a 78% lift in incre-mental reach among light TV viewers.

That also reinforces a widely held belief reinforced earlier this year on a global scale.

In late spring 2020, the Cannes Lions and marketing research firm WARC released “The Effectiveness Code,” a study from marketing effectiveness experts James Hurman and Peter Field. The report analyzed 4,863 effectiveness case studies from every major market in the world. One key finding: As the number of media channels increases, effectiveness grows. “Along with spend and campaign duration, there is a strong correlation between the number of media channels used and effectiveness,” Bouvard says.

This led to a Nielsen AM/FM radio and TV incremental reach study that saw Nielsen upload commercial advertising occurrence data for television campaigns (from Ad Intel) and for radio campaigns (from iHeartMedia’s Media Monitors). Advertising occurrence data was then matched to the 80,000 Nielsen PPM panel in the top 48 markets to determine commercial audience exposure.

This set the foundation for the “lift” story radio can bring to television.

Over the five studies, Nielsen found that some 63% of the incremental reach generated by AM/FM radio is from light TV viewers. “It’s virtually impossible to reach the light TV viewer with TV ads,” Bouvard says. According to Nielsen, 49% of persons 25-54 in America are light TV viewers who generate only 9% of total TV time spent. “AM/FM radio reaches 90% of America’s light TV viewers.”

Three TV tune-in case studies were measured in Nielsen’s “Promo Effect” review.

The first involves an eight-episode documentary mini-series. The AM/FM radio campaign lasted four weeks — the two weeks leading up to the launch and during the 10-day period of the mini-series. Westwood One retained Nielsen to measure TV audiences for each epi-sode from live viewing up to seven days of time-shifted exposure.

The result? The AM/FM radio campaign generated a 52% lift in viewership to the series. And, for those questioning radio’s reach among Gen Z and millennials, chew on this: The younger the demographic, the greater the lift of TV tune-in.

“Exposure to the AM/FM radio campaign drove a 28% lift in TV audiences among 55+ viewers and an 86% increase among persons 25-54. Among millennials 18-34, there was a 119% lift,” Bouvard says.

The frequency sweet spot occurred among those exposed two or three times to the AM/FM radio tune-in campaign. Viewership among per-sons 18-54 was double among those exposed two or three times to the AM/FM radio campaign (15%) versus those who were not exposed to the AM/FM radio campaign (7.4%).

The second case study involves a returning season for a scripted drama on an undisclosed cable television network.

“Their media plan also included paid TV

and promos running on their network and co-owned networks,” Bouvard recalls.

How did AM/FM radio impact the marketing mix of TV promos and paid TV for this cable network?

“AM/FM radio accounted for a small percentage of the media budget but generated significant impressions and incremental reach,” Bouvard says.

“Although AM/FM radio only repre-sented 5% of paid media, it delivered 20% of total campaign impressions.”

The paid TV campaign reached 37.3 million Americans. AM/FM radio added an incremental audience of 15%, bringing 5.4 million new sets of eyes to watch the series. And, once again, compared to TV, AM/FM radio delivered a much younger audience: 70% of AM/FM radio impressions came from 18-54-year-olds.

The third case study involves a two-week historical mini-series airing on

“a major national television network.” Advertisements aired across the Westwood One network. Among per-sons 18+, those who were exposed to the AM/FM radio campaign were 44% more likely to tune in to the program than those who were not exposed. Among persons 25-54, there was a 27% viewing lift among those exposed.

“AM/FM radio successfully grew interest in the program and directly influenced tuning behavior,” Bouvard says. “For TV campaigns needing to drive viewership, AM/FM radio makes tune-in campaigns better.”

KEY TAKEAWAYS• To be effective, TV tune-in campaigns on AM/FM radio require a 45% weekly reach

and at least 150+ GRPs. Buying a handful of GRPs on premiere day is “spray and pray” ineffectiveness.

• While on-network promos and paid TV buys reach heavy TV viewers, AM/FM radio TV tune-in campaigns reach medium and light TV viewers.

• AM/FM radio campaigns generate outsized incremental reach and audiences among younger demographics. As such, the younger the demo, the greater the lift in TV tune-in viewing.

• An eight-part documentary series used AM/FM radio to generate a +52% lift in viewing and an even greater increase in multi-episode tuning.

• The returning season of a scripted cable drama ran an AM/FM radio campaign that represented only 5% of the media plan but generated 20% of the total campaign impressions. 70% of the AM/FM radio impressions were from persons 18-54, while half of the paid TV and TV promo impressions were from persons 55+.

• A historical mini-series’ AM/FM radio tune-in campaign generated a +44% increase in viewing. The vast majority of the viewers AM/FM radio delivered were new and light viewers of the network.

FA L L 2 0 2 0 ·· R B R .C O M ·· 37

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Everybody knows about 5G. But did you know that the next-generation broadcast TV standard includes a big money-making opportunity for over-the-air television stations that has little to do with “spots and dots” and everything to do with iOT?

If not, you’re one of the few. “Broadcast internet” via ATSC 3.0 is a topic that is gaining more relevance than ever. To be clear, it’s not something that will compete with broadband as a two-way internet apparatus. Rather, it’s a burgeoning one-way digital communications opportunity as more and more aspects of everyday life move to automation and the “cloud.”

As an esteemed group of TV technology experts sees it, broadcast

internet — in the words of ONEMedia 3.0 and Sinclair Broadcast Group PR representative Cora Leighter — is

“a one-to-many enhancement to the public internet that enables

specific new business cases for local broadcasters and entrepreneurs.”

The subject of broadcast internet was the focal point of a webinar from the ATSC 3.0 Monetization series presented in late summer 2020 by Sinclair.

Among the participants in the September 1 event, focused on how to make money with ATSC 3.0, was Sinclair VP/Spectrum Engineering & Policy Louis Libin.

Broadcast Internet: The Next-Gen Revenue Generator

38 ·· R B R .C O M ·· FA L L 2 0 2 0

“If you have spectrum and ATSC 3.0, you can have multiple unrelated ser-vices,” he says. “It’s not all video and audio any longer.”

At present, the nation’s wireless networks deliver individual signals to individual devices. This, as many know, causes dropped connections and delays. This will likely worsen, ARK Multicasting CEO Josh Weiss predicts.

It’s one reason Texas-based ARK Multicasting has invested in deploying broadcast internet across a portfolio of 283 low-power TV stations.

How clogged could the internet get? The early days of the COVID-19 pan-demic paint a bleak picture. In March, traffic on Verizon’s network clocked in at roughly 6.5 exabytes. On average, streaming video accounted for about 80% of that. By comparison, ARK’s ATSC 3.0-enabled Dallas LPTV station is capable of handling nearly seven times that amount of data within the North Texas market alone. As such, it makes the broadcast internet ideal for offloading video traffic. Offloading can also include such things as software updates and connected-car or distance-learning content. No return channel is necessary.

A BOOST FOR LIVE REMOTE PRODUCTIONFor TV stations, the advent of broad-cast internet can deliver benefits for the delivery of live productions.

Jerry Gepner, the Chief Technology Officer at CP Communications, notes that ATSC 3.0 allows for a series of services “that are completely unique to the broadcast community.” And, these services are especially relevant during these COVID-19 times, he said.

The key, Gepner believes, is to “lever-age technology to reduce the number of people on site and to make better use of remote-control things — robotic camera, drones and virtual cameras.” This means using more wireless tech-nology, but in a new way. As of today, Gepner builds out custom command-and-control infrastructures and juggles licensing, radiation and interference negotiations.

With broadcast internet, Gepner says, a low-power transmitter near a sports venue and connected to a

truck or a TV station could deliver a command-and-control fabric as well as multiple video and audio feeds in such a way that walls, licensing and inter-ference are not an issue.

“This is a way for broadcast stations to get back in the game very quickly,” he said. “Commercially, it’s a passive revenue stream for the broadcaster. It can help defray some of the costs of getting to ATSC 3.0.”

AN ‘AI’ ACTION PLANBroadcast internet also has a unique ability to support “edge-dependent technologies,” such as the voice-activated Xfinity recommendation engine employed by Comcast. It’s one reason computer graphics company NVIDIA is eager for broadcast internet’s development.

For Xfinity’s platform, the recommendations come from artificial intelligence residing on the edge — a server or node located closer to the end user than the origin server.

“The edge matters because you can’t wait on a response,” said Michael Kaplan, global leader for Media & Entertainment and Pro VR at NVIDIA.

“Speed is important. Latency is super important here.”

Enter ATSC 3.0, which has latency capabilities free from possible over-used network slogs.

There are other NVIDIA partner edge-enabled AI applications, including medical uses, real-time noise suppres-sion, audience “sentiment analysis” and a destination-and-prediction engine that Mercedes- Benz plans to roll out in 2024. Also getting a potential boost: the AnyVision smart camera system, which can detect 115 million individuals in 0.2 seconds — using an amount of computation highly impractical to have housed in the cameras.

The agriculture industry also has a winning proposition: NVIDIA and a John

Deere subsidiary are using edge AI to calculate crop herbicide and pesticide application.

The advent of broadcast internet is being heralded by some as aiding the

“fourth Industrial Revolution.”How so? As Leighter points out, “With

today’s wireless infrastructure choking on video, it’s not likely to fully accommo-date the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution,’ an era defined by smart technologies, connectivity and automation.”

It is an era “in which ATSC 3.0 is beautifully positioned to play a major part,” says Lynn Rowe, a principal at One World Technologies.

The FCC agrees. The Commission recently adopted a ruling allowing multiple broadcasters to offer ATSC 3.0 broadband services. For Libin, further modifications to the FCC’s rules would help make coverage more uniform and better able to support emerging indus-trial smart applications.

Hiren Surti, director of Production Development for communications infrastructure provider Crown Castle, described how to fortify the broadcast internet for this purpose. First, fiber-connected low-power towers would “densify” the network, laying the foundation for single-frequency networks, which can support hyper-localized data and content services. Much of the computer power and management of this network can then be virtualized and operated by AI in a cloud environment where new applications and services can be cherry-picked or customized without a huge commitment or investment.

For broadcasters, the opportunities fit in with a goal of ATSC 3.0 established at the very beginning of its development. As Libin notes, “It was to provide broadcasters with a new set of tools to allow them to construct their own business models, flexible and evolvable, and I think that is a big success.”

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