With the main ballroom at capacity, Radio Ink and RBR+TVBR President and Publisher Deborah Parenti navigated three key broadcast CFOs through a variety of hot topics to begin day two of the 2025 Media Financial Management Conference in Arlington, VA.
As expected, pending deregulation was the opening session’s focal point, but unexpected topics included cybersecurity concerns, Artificial Intelligence and its benefits and challenges, leadership, and talent acquisition, discussed among Saga Communications EVP/Treasurer/CFO Sam Bush, Hearst Television SVP/CFO John Drain, and Sinclair Inc. EVP/CFO Lucy Rutishauser.
Parenti kicked off the questions by asking the CFOs about their views on what the next five years will bring for broadcasters and for their respective organizations.
Sam Bush remains “very optimistic,” but admits there is still a lot of uncertainty. “It is challenging to see what the next five years are going to bring and it is going to be disruptive.”
Yet, for Bush, the disruptive part is what is going to bring radio the biggest opportunity. “In a disruptive environment, we have the ability to do things differently,” he said. “If we change how we do things, it will put ourselves in position to continue to serve our communities, which is what TV does very well and radio does extremely well.”
From the television point of view TV, Rutishauser is bullish on live sports and the two big political cycles on the horizon.
The 2026 midterms will likely see Democrats having to spend a lot of money to woo voters to take back control of either the US House of Representatives or the Senate. At the same time, Republicans will be spending heavily to prevent this from happening, followed by the 2028 presidential election, with no incumbent in the race.
From a technology standpoint, radio broadcasters aren’t just terrestrial broadcasters. While Saga is late to the game on digital monetization of its assets, Bush made it clear that Saga wants to be wherever the audience is, regardless of platform. “There’s a great opportunity out there for us as we go through and address all of the challenges,” he said.
Automation, whether it is fueled by artificial intelligence or other means, will also help broadcasters in scaling, “be agile,” and add profitability to the bottom line. “For the TV broadcast industry, we’re very optimistic,” Rutishauser said. “I’ve not seen this landscape look so positive in a long time.”
Drain couldn’t agree more with Rutishauser, while broaching the subject of ownership caps. “I’m really optimistic. There’s no doubt that there is challenges but deregulation will help us. We can’t rely 100% on that, though. From a programming standpoint and from where people are getting their news, we need to be more innovative about how we’re connecting with the younger generation. My three kids consume media very differently than I do. We need, as broadcasters, to work on our innovation and connect with that group,” he said.
Parenti then asked Bush to comment on how deregulation and expected mergers and acquisitions could impact Saga and its radio industry peers. He replied, “It’s very hard to look at that with any certainty yet. But as I talk to people in the industry and even outside the industry, I think it’s going to be a big opportunity.”
Bush also offered a fresh perspective on what led Saga to exit broadcast television station ownership in September 2017 with the $66.6 million sale of KOAM-TV in Joplin, MO, and most of its Victoria Television Group, to Morgan Murphy Media. “When we [owned TV], one of the things that drove me nuts was that the FCC would allow us to enter Shared Services Agreements but it cost us lots of money to have those partners. If we could have owned those stations ourselves we could have put that money back into the business as opposed to spending it on partnerships,” he stated
With that perspective, Bush is a believer that deregulation and the ability to own more stations in a single market will allow an operator to become more important to the local community.
Will there be a lot of deals done? Bush believes yes, but it will be like a major league sport trade, where three teams are involved in a multi-player deal. “Out of it all, you have a much stronger community in the local markets to develop and offer radio and television services.”
Find more exclusive coverage from MFM 2025 in Radio + Television Business Report.
