Mr. Robert S. Prather Jr., CEO, has extensive experience in the media, entertainment and sports industry. He is the former CEO of Gray Television, which focused on acquiring No. 1-ranked TV stations in college towns and state capitals. Following his tenure at Gray, Mr. Prather formed Heartland Media LLC in 2013. He partnered with MSouth Equity Partners to help grow the business. Under Mr. Prather’s leadership, Heartland Media acquired its first television station in 2013, and from 2014 to 2017, it acquired 10 additional television stations for total consideration of $220 million. Mr. Prather led the sale of 11 television stations by Heartland Media in February 2020 for $305 million cash.
(Note: Heartland Media Acquisition Corp. priced its downsized SPAC IPO on Jan. 20, 2022, in line with the terms in its amended prospectus: 17.5 million units at $10 each to raise $175 million. Heartland Media Acquisition had cut its SPAC IPO’s size to 17.5 million units, down from 20 million units initially, in an S-1/A filing dated Jan. 18, 2022. The deal’s size was cut by about 13 percent.)