Headlines

(By Ronald Robinson) They are still at it. They can’t help themselves, and they just won’t stop. Recently, I have been paying closer attention to the pontifications of a number of radio programmers – people who really should know better. They are to the point where much of their rhetoric could be classified as “wishful muttering.” They continue to insist they are putting (alleged) facts to (alleged) truths.

Debtwire senior credit analyst Seth Crystall tells MySA.com the reason for the early look at the revenue numbers is to help convince lenders and bondholders to agree to a debt-exchange offer iHeart has been working on. The debt-exchange offer expires today for lenders and April 28 for bondholders. There have already been two extensions. The good news is the radio side of the business was up. Here's what iHeart reported.

The SEC filing by iHeart Thursday points out that a substantial amount of the company's cash goes toward debt service obligations. The company says it will continue to incur net losses and generate negative cash flow from operating activities given its debt and interest expenses. All of this has lead to "substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern for a period of 12 months following the date the first quarter 2017 financial statements are issued."

FM translators are now blanketing the country. There are thousands either rebroadcasting an AM signal, an HD signal, or (despite the FCC's rules not to) airing original content. With all those translators comes the possibility, and probability, that some will interfere with existing full-power FM radio stations. The NAB wants to help resolve those interference problems and has filed comments with the FCC to do so. Here are the details...

On May 1, WWXT-FM in Washington, D.C., will become part of the Radio One family, and in Richmond WXGI AM ESPN 950 will also become part of the Radio One family. Red Zebra is selling the two stations to Radio One and CEO Alfred Liggins is quite happy about the purchases.

CBS Radio has signed an agreement with live traffic video company TrafficLand for use of its video management technology. The service provides access to real-time video from over 20,000 state and local D.O.T. traffic cameras across the U.S. CBS radio stations can now monitor rush-hour patterns, traffic bottlenecks, and how incidents affect traffic conditions.

The Mentoring & Inspiring Women in Radio group has selected four mentees that will participate in the 2017 Mildred Carter Mentoring Program. The program matches up-and-coming women in the radio industry with female professionals recognized as leaders in radio. So far the program has mentored 39 woman. Here is the 2017 class...

The Federal Communications Commission has voted to relax its third-party fundraising restrictions to permit noncommercial stations to air limited fundraisers for the benefit of other non-profit organizations. Until now they could only conduct on-air fundraising for third parties if they received an FCC waiver or the fundraising activity did not alter or suspend regular programming.

Univision San Antonio has flipped its AC Rhythmic format playing Hip Hop on KMYO-FM to a new Latino Mix. It's an English-language station designed for Latino San Antonians, featuring a blend of Top 40 and Latin Rhythmic hits. The playlist includes Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, and The Chainsmokers to J Balvin, Nicky Jam, Enrique Iglesias, and Daddy Yankee.

SBS's much-delayed Q4 2016 earnings were released late last night and the company reported consolidated net revenue of $42.1 million compared to $40.3 million a year earlier. That's an increase of $1.8 million or 5%. SBS's radio division net revenues increased $1.1 million or 3%, due to increases in national, local, and digital sales. Local sales increased in Chicago, Miami New York and Puerto Rico.