2020 has the distinction of being an election year with campaigns being waged at the city, state and national levels, heightening the stakes for all media companies. According to Cross Screen Media, political ad spending has grown an average of 27% per year since 2012. This is in part driven by the landmark Citizen United ruling and the increase in spending of super PACs. Michael O’Brien, vice president of distribution for The E.W. Scripps Company, will offer an analysis of current presidential cycle spending, competitive races, rule changes and an up-close look at other issues shaping the local media business landscape in the lead-up to Election Day. This will be a must attend session during Media Financial Management Association’s (MFM’s) 2020 CFO Summit. The Summit is scheduled for March 5-6 at the Pelican Grand Beach Resort, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
“We are excited to have Michael join us to explore a topic that is sure to be of interest to all the CFO Summit attendees,” said Mary M.Collins, president and CEO of MFM and its BCCA subsidiary, which serves as the media industry’s credit association. “While political advertising can represent significant additional advertising dollars for media companies, they must also be aware of the responsibilities related to that revenue, among which are FCC reporting requirements and planning for the needs of clients whose messages can be squeezed out by those for competitive political races.”
O’Brien works to secure strategic partnerships for Scripps brands across its Local Media and National Media divisions. He also oversees political sales at the Scripps Washington Bureau, including MarketPredict, a tool that offers live, predictive modeling to help campaigns and agencies direct their ad spending. Before his current role at Scripps, he served as senior vice president, regional sales, for Petry Media Corporation, and was vice president of regional sales at Blair Television.
Now in its 14 year, MFM’s annual CFO Summit provides an exclusive forum with real solutions to the challenges that media CFOs and other senior financial professionals face on a daily basis. Additional topics for the Summit include cybersecurity concerns for media companies; media’s future; local advertising; digital audio and podcasting opportunities; t; leadership issues; and a CFO roundtable.
Co-chairing this year’s Summit are Doug Lyons, senior vice president, controller and treasurer of The E.W. Scripps Company; Kent Nate, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Bonneville International Corporation; and MFM Board member Marie Tedesco, chief financial officer of Beasley Media Group, Inc.
MFM is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. Eligible attendees can earn up to 11 CPE credits over the two-day summit.
Additional information about the CFO Summit and an online registration form may be found on MFM’s website, at https://www.mediafinance.org/cfo-summit.
About MFM and BCCA:
Media Financial Management Association (MFM) is the premiere resource for financial professionals for media industry education, networking, and information sharing throughout the U.S. and Canada. More information about MFM is available on its Web site: https://www.mediafinance.org and via its updates on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Its BCCA subsidiary serves as the media industry’s credit association. BCCA’s revenue management services encompass a variety of credit reports on national and local media advertisers and agencies, including Media Whys, a credit report for media businesses that offers a credit score based on industry-specific aging combined with trade data from Experian or D+B. More information about BCCA is available at https://www.bccacredit.com as well as its updates on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
