Firm once focused on tech now scoring with sports
Dittoe Public Relations’ growth rate—which had been 10 percent annually on average over the last seven years—jumped to 25 percent this year.
Media & Marketing
Articles
Political talk show Indiana Week in Review gets new host
Indiana Public Broadcasting’s political reporter, Brandon Smith, will take over the show in December.
Smulyan’s attempt to take Emmis private fails—again
Smulyan's offer, which valued the radio station company at about $50 million, failed to win over the independent directors who evaluated it—attorney Susan Bayh and former CBS Television CEO Peter Lund.
Emmis announces sale of Texas Monthly as part of effort to go private
The announcement comes on the eve of the latest deadline that CEO Jeff Smulyan set for shareholders to accept his offer to buy back the company’s stock and one day after Emmis said it would sell four Terre Haute radio stations.
Nielsen rival set to roil TV ratings
A tsunami of change is headed toward the decades-old, largely unchanged system for calculating television ratings
Emmis to sell four Terre Haute radio stations
The announcement comes as Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan continues to try to gain board approval for his $4.10-per-share offer to take the media company private. He has extended his offer three times, and it's now set to expire Friday.
Smulyan extends his Emmis buyout offer yet again
The additional extension might be a sign Smulyan and the board are at odds over price. In a letter to directors evaluating the deal, Smulyan offered no details, stating, “Our entire team looks forward to further discussions … to complete a mutually acceptable transaction.”
Motorsports reporter Cavin leaves Star to work for race series he covered
Curt Cavin is leaving The Indianapolis Star after three decades with the newspaper to become vice president of communications for the IndyCar Series.
Emmis Communications reports results from ‘difficult quarter’
The Indianapolis-based media company said it saw a lower profit on declining radio and publishing revenue.
TV ratings for vice presidential debate lowest since 2000
It was the smallest audience for a vice presidential debate since 2000, when 29 million people watched Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman square off.
Former employee files sexual harassment suit against Emmis
The plaintiff, a former digital content manager at WFNI-AM 1070 “The Fan,” said Emmis didn’t do enough to respond to her complaints after she alleged two of the station’s producers were harassing her.
Gannett, Tronc could be nearing $673 million merger
Gannett Inc., publisher of The Indianapolis Star, has been actively pursuing an acquisition of the Chicago-based newspaper chain formerly known as Tribune Publishing, but has thus far been rebuffed.
iHeart replaces country format with hip-hop at FM 98.3
Fifteen months after buying the former Disney radio station at 98.3 FM and changing it to country, iHeart Radio is pulling the plug on the boot-stomping format. It couldn’t match the ratings of the market’s two country stalwarts.
Smulyan extends deadline for Emmis buyout offer again
In a letter to a special committee of the board of directors, Smulyan said he looks forward “to further discussions with the committee and its financial advisor and legal counsel to complete a mutually acceptable transaction.”
NCAA shakes up ad strategy
The NCAA for the first time this year debuted an ad campaign in the fall rather than during the Final Four basketball tourney. The NCAA has also turned to celebrity endorsers.
Fox59 morning anchor to depart, planning to start family
After years of maintaining a long-distance relationship with her husband, Kristin Kane has decided to leave the Indy market.
Veteran TV reporter Jim Shella to retire from WISH, ‘Indiana Week in Review’
Shella will cap his 40-year career with coverage of the 2016 election, saying it is a “really good time to sign off.”
The Interview Issue: Jim Shella
WISH-TV political reporter Jim Shella has spent 40 years in the news business—most of it at the Indiana Statehouse—and 25 years as host of “Indiana Week in Review” on WFYI.
The Interview Issue: Terri Cope-Walton
In 2013, Terri Cope-Walton—a broadcast journalist almost by accident—became Indianapolis’ first black television news director. She compares a news show to a picnic: It’s only good if there are a variety of options to consume.
Smulyan extends offer to take Emmis private
CEO Jeff Smulyan, who had given the board until Friday to decide whether to accept his $4.10-per-share offer to take the company private, has extended the offer to Sept. 30.