Is scale still the winning strategy in media, or has the math changed? NAB Show New York puts that question to a three-decade Wall Street analyst, Jessica Reif Ehrlich of BofA Securities, on October 21 for “The Future of Media: Consolidation or Spin-Off?”
The session, running from 2:30 to 3:15p on the show floor, aims to examine where consolidation is headed, which companies are best positioned to emerge as winners, and which business models face the greatest pressure.
Leading the discussion is Reif Ehrlich, Managing Director and Senior Media and Entertainment Analyst at BofA Securities, Inc. Global Research, where her coverage spans media, entertainment, music, and cable companies. She joined the firm in 1994 as Managing Director after previously holding the same role at Oppenheimer & Co., and will bring three decades of watching media deals rise and fall to the panel’s central question.
Reif Ehrlich has been recognized in Institutional Investor polls for cable, entertainment, and broadcasting for more than 20 years, ranking number one in at least one category 14 times, and is a member of the Institutional Investor Hall of Fame. She sits on the Executive Committee of the UJA Federation and co-chairs its Entertainment, Media & Communications Division.
Discussion will also cover the role of private equity and strategic buyers, along with the regulatory hurdles shaping today’s biggest transactions.
That last point carries real weight for radio broadcasters right now. The FCC’s 2022 Quadrennial Review of broadcast ownership rules, which could loosen or eliminate the Local Radio Ownership Rule, still sits pending for years, but momentum has built under Chairman Brendan Carr, who will likely lead the Commission to loosen the national television ownership cap later this week.
The session lands at the Javits Center on the same day Radio Ink hosts its Radio Wayne Awards, which return to NAB Show New York for a second consecutive year.
