Contact | Follow Us

BIA/Kelsey Leadership


		Tom Buono Founder and CEO Tom Buono is the founder of BIA Financial Network and chief executive officer of BIA/Kelsey. Since founding BIA Financial Network in 1983, Buono has overseen its acquisitions and growth into a diversified strategic and financial consulting and information firm and has been involved in the creation and management of BIA Capital Strategies, LLC, a communications industry investment bank; BIA Digital Partners LP, a mezzanine investment fund; and, most recently, BIA/Kelsey, to offer data, research and services that provide an expanded and comprehensive view of the local media and advertising sector. He is viewed as one of the leading authorities on communications industry business values, investments and strategies. Over the course of his career, Buono has been involved in the valuation of billions of dollars worth of communications properties, has spoken on panels for virtually all the major communications industry trade associations and has testified as a valuation expert in many communications disputes and before Congress. He has also been a principal in a venture capital firm, the president of a paging and SMR business, and the partial owner of a number of radio stations. He is often quoted in trade publications, business magazines and national newspapers. Buono graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. degree in applied mathematics from Clarkson College of Technology. Upon graduation, he enrolled in General Electric’s Financial Management Program and graduated in the top 10 percent of this prestigious national program. He received his M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in 1981. Buono is also NASD certified as a broker-dealer representative.

		Rick Ducey Managing Director Rick Ducey is the managing director for BIA/Kelsey, supervising our corporate strategy, research, consulting practices and our Continuous Advisory Service programs. Bringing over 30 years of management experience and expertise to this role, Ducey is an expert in digital media innovations, competitive strategies, new product development and new business models, including digital ecosystem collaboration strategies. Ducey is a sought-out expert for his coverage and analysis of how disruptive technologies; emerging competition; shifting consumer demographics and media usage trends are driving changes in the media ecosystem and what C-level executives must do to be successful. As a media strategist and technologist, Ducey has consulted with major media and Fortune 500 companies including Google, Microsoft, Dell, Time Warner, NBCU/Comcast, Gannett and Yahoo. Ducey also serves as the program director for BIA/Kelsey’s Video Local Media advisory service, which focuses on the business and technology strategies in local video networks, devices and content market segments. A frequent speaker on the transforming media ecosystem, he assists clients with their business planning and revenue models, strategic research, market assessment, and designing and implementing strategies for leveraging video media assets and inventory in local markets. Prior to joining BIA/Kelsey in 2000, Ducey was senior vice president of NAB's Research and Information Group. In this position, he was in charge of the association's new technology assessment, audience and policy research, strategic planning and information systems, including all Internet operations. He also managed the development of publications and seminars. Ducey was recognized in academia as the 2011 Shapiro Fellow at George Washington University, where he teaches entrepreneurship in new media. He has also designed and taught innovative courses while on the faculties of Michigan State University, George Mason University, George Washington University and the University of Maryland. He has published over sixty referred scholarly and industry articles and papers and serves on editorial boards of leading academic journals in the telecommunications and media fields. Ducey received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University, M.S. from Syracuse University and B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

		Mark Giannini COO and Senior Vice President Mark Giannini is chief operating officer and senior vice president for BIA/Kelsey and is responsible for growth strategy and operations. He is an established expert in corporate management, senior sales management and strategic planning. Prior to joining the company, Giannini was vice president of sales and operations for Progressive Communications Technologies, a privately held telecommunications engineering and consulting firm. He was a principal with Amerinet and led its expansion from a regional communications reseller to a facilities-based international carrier. He also served as regional vice president for Emery Air Freight where he was recognized as a top producing sales executive for the U.S. Giannini holds a B.A. in political science and economics from Providence College and a master’s degree in international management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona.

		Matt Booth Chief Strategy Officer Matt provides a leadership role for our consulting practices and conferences. Well-respected in the local media community for his expertise, Matt creates strategic initiatives that advise clients on how to be successful in the ever changing media landscape. Matt also runs our highly successful Interactive Local Media (ILM) advisory service program. Matt Booth came to BIA/Kelsey from Perform Local, a local lead generation start-up funded by two prominent venture capital groups. He was a cofounder and chief operating officer. Before that, starting in 1996, he held several senior positions at Citysearch, a subsidiary of IAC/InterActiveCorp, including vice president, strategy and planning; vice president, product; and vice president, media partnerships. Booth participated in numerous activities at Citysearch, including the creation of media partnerships with television and radio stations, the launch of city guides with leading newspapers like the Los Angeles Times, the design and implementation of a national local search product, the creation of the prototype of Citysearch’s performance-based sales model, and acquisitions such as that of Entertainment Publications. Booth graduated summa cum laude from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor of Science in finance.

		Woody Allen CFO BIA Financial Network (BIAfn) Woody Allen is the Chief Financial Officer of BIA Financial Network (BIAfn). In addition to overseeing the financial activities of the company, Allen is a business strategist, coach and mentor to companies in the US and Europe. He brings to his role of CFO more than 35 years experience as a C-level executive, including roles as President, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chairman of the Board for publicly traded companies. Allen has served on the Boards of Directors of numerous companies in businesses ranging from radio broadcasting to semiconductor equipment manufacturing. His current roles include Chairman of the Audit Committee for Precision Tune Auto Care, a global franchisor of auto care centers; chief strategist and Board member for CEO-CF, a Europe-based company specializing in facilitating collaboration among entrepreneurial CEOs; and President of Allen Management Services, a company which offers financial, leadership and executive training to mid and high level executives of small to medium-sized businesses. Allen was recently named to the Board of publicly traded GBS Enterprises, and will serve as Chairman of the Governance Committee. After earning his degree in Finance and Accounting, Woody has studied business, linguistics, biology and somatics with a variety of renowned teachers. He is a certified Master Somatic Coach with Strozzi Institute, a California-based educational organization, and has been published in an anthology entitled, “Being Human at Work.” He is also a colleague with Synthesis-LLC, a New York-based training and development organization that mobilizes leadership teams to create increased productivity, satisfaction and value.

		Mark Fratrik VP and Chief Economist Mark Fratrik is a vice president of BIA/Kelsey. He serves as the company’s chief economist and is responsible for forecasting across all local media segments. He also manages BIA/Kelsey’s numerous proprietary databases and conducts primary research on various trends as they affect the broadcasting and related communications industries. Additionally, Fratrik is heavily involved in the company’s strategic and financial consulting projects, conducting research and analysis for clients on matters related to the broadcasting, digital media and related communications industries. Throughout his career, Fratrik has researched and spoken at numerous conferences on the impact of the economy on the broadcasting industries, proposed and enacted regulatory changes, and new media technologies, including DTV datacasting. He is often quoted in the media and is a leading spokesperson concerning trends and forecasts for the media industry including analyzing competitiveness of media and related industries. He is the author BIA/Kelsey’s series of studies on the state of the radio and television industry. Fratrik received his B.A. in mathematics and economics from State University of New York at Binghamton and his master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. He served as an adjunct professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University for more than seven years.

		Steve Passwaiter VP Business Development Steve Passwaiter brings more than 20 years of experience to his role as vice president of business development for BIA/Kelsey. Since 1998 Passwaiter has led the firm’s business development efforts with a focus on quality client service that extends into BIA/Kelsey’s valuation, research and investment banking divisions. In addition, he takes an active role in the media strategic consulting practice by assisting broadcasters with strategic operational challenges. Prior to BIA/Kelsey, Passwaiter gained valuable sales and sales management experience in the broadcasting industry and therefore has firsthand knowledge of the many challenges broadcasters face day to day and long term. His media sales career began in the newspaper industry before migrating to radio. He started his broadcasting career as an on-air personality at WLYT-FM in Cleveland. From 1984 to 1988, he served as an account executive and regional sales manager for Malrite’s WMMS-FM/WHK-AM in Cleveland, Ohio. He then moved into television, leading the sales staffs for independent WUAB-TV in Cleveland, Ohio, and WDCA-TV, a UPN owned and operated station in Washington, D.C. While at both stations, he directed the sales teams in the achievement of revenues that far outpaced the growth of the marketplace. Passwaiter is a graduate of John Carroll University in Cleveland and holds bachelor’s degrees in communications and history.

		Geoff Price VP Valuations and Financial Consulting Vice President Geoff Price manages and operates BIA/Kelsey’s valuation consulting group. He has been with the company since 1988 and has appraised hundreds of media and telecommunications properties worth in aggregate in the tens of billions of dollars. Price is responsible for the preparation of asset appraisals, valuation studies, strategic consulting assignments, and litigation support for clients in the communications and broadcast industries. He has also been responsible for assisting many publicly traded and privately held broadcast companies with their valuation needs associated with FASB 141/142. In addition, Price is part of the business development team and is responsible for client relationships with many of the largest broadcast companies nationwide. His appraisal and valuation experience is diverse, including reports for firms in the cellular, paging, SMR, cable, print, tower and broadcast industries. Price earned a B.S. in finance from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, and received his M.B.A. from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

		MacKenzie Lovings VP Marketing MacKenzie Lovings is the vice president of marketing, responsible for the strategic development and tactical implementation of the company’s corporate positioning, product marketing and public relations. She leads a marketing and communications team that manages the company’s Website, marketing programs, company communications, advertising strategies and social media. Lovings also manages the marketing of BIA/Kelsey’s conferences, tradeshows, and sales lead generation. She is responsible for the full creative development, design, and production of all sales collateral and marketing brochures. Lovings has over 20 years of marketing and management experience, including strategic planning, business development, and market analysis. In marketing management positions at public and privately held companies, she handled marketing communications, partner marketing and press relations in the content management and software development industries. She was part of a management team that successfully built and sold two companies. Lovings has a Bachelor of Science in Technical Communications and a minor in Computer Science from the Florida Tech.