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Denies Gray's complaint against Frontier, which alleged violations of the good faith negotiation and customer notice requirements.

The Commission adopts a Public Notice to impose a limit of ten applications filed by any party in the 2021 filing window for new noncommercial educational FM stations.

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One of the newly installed satellite downlinks for the Alabama Emergency Alert system.

The author is the director of engineering services for the Alabama Broadcasters Association and chairman of the Alabama SECC. He can be reached at lwilkins@al-ba.com.

The Alabama State Emergency Communications Committee (SECC) is expanding the state’s EAS satellite network from 31 to 48 downlinks. These are strategically located at stations around the state to provide the widest distribution of alerts. There is no cost to the stations in the network.

The system, designed by Global Security Systems (GSS Net) and funded by the Alabama Broadcasters Association, was installed in 2011 to improve redundancy and reduce the amount of “daisy-chain” relay points in the state. The cost of the expansion is being shared by the ABA and the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.

[Read: Stakeholders Comment on Amendments to EAS]

“When an impending hazard is an immediate threat to Alabamians, a reliable alert and warning system is a critical component of state preparedness and mitigation,” said Alabama Emergency Management Agency Director Brian Hastings. “Each opportunity we have to improve warning time and reliability is an opportunity to save lives and property.”

Satellite receivers located at the 48 stations communicate with EAS units via a multicast protocol. Stations are still required to monitor two separate legacy sources. Those with a downlink have four sources to receive tests and alerts: the two legacy monitor sources, GSS Net and IPAWS. The chance of all four being down at the same time is unlikely. Maintenance of the satellite network is managed by the SECC and funded by the ABA. All the stations with downlinks are listed as LP-1.

The network is fully CAP-enabled and includes a secure portal for alert origination by approved agencies. It also is interfaced with the IPAWS network and WEA, which increases redundancy. When a state agency issues an alert, it goes to all downlinks within five seconds. Other features of the origination protocol include sending a test or alert to the entire state or to select counties. This is important for local area alerts and counties around the state’s two nuclear power plants. Recorded audio files can be attached to the alert, eliminating text to speech conversion. The receivers also include audio ports which were utilized during the last National Periodic Test (NPT), relaying the audio from a Sirius/XM receiver feeding the satellite audio channel.

The functionality of the network is constantly evaluated by the SECC which monitors over 150 EAS units around state. While the SECC’s monitoring of receivers does not take the place of the FCC requirements concerning station logs and chief operators, the SECC chairman works with local engineers when an error is observed in their EAS equipment.

ABA President Sharon Tinsley addressed the association’s role in the EAS distribution network, “We view this as one of the most important services we provide stations. In this way, we help equip them to provide alerts to their communities while remaining in compliance with FCC rules. By maintaining and monitoring the distribution network, we can assure operators that alerts will get to their stations.”

 

The post Alabama Expands EAS Satellite Network appeared first on Radio World.

Congress is pushing the FCC for better emergency alerting in the United States and a review of public comments on the latest proposed improvements shows most stakeholders are focused on the ability of the system to repeat national alerts from the president or FEMA if necessary.

Changes are coming to EAS after the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (READI) Act passed Congress earlier this year and mandated emergency alerting reforms in this country.

[Read: Changes Coming in National Alerting]

Several EAS equipment manufacturers support the commission’s efforts to simplify how national level emergency messages are repeated if necessary. The FCC has acknowledged requiring each EAS participant’s EAS equipment to repeat an alert automatically could present technical complications. Such an upgrade would require firmware or software updates to EAS decoders, EAS experts say.

Sage Alerting Systems agrees with the FCC’s approach in the proposal to repeating alerts: “Reminding originators that they can repeat or update any alert they issue by simply reissuing it, and not making changes to the existing EAS implementation. This greatly reduces the cost to all stakeholders that changes of this level to EAS would cause, and leaves control of repeating information in the hands of originators.”

The EAS equipment maker wrote in its comments that even if protocols are modified and new implementations are pushed into the field, any “automatic system of repetitions could make the overall system more fragile.” Sage continued: “If an errant repeating alert is issued, and the originator can’t issue a cancel, what is the method for removing such an alert, especially if issued via legacy EAS?”

Digital Alert Systems is another manufacturer that supports the manual message repeat approach suggested by the FCC: “Wherein an alert originator may choose to repeat an alert by interactively creating a new alert message is likely the simplest course of action to meet the objectives of the legislation. No modification to existing rules would be necessary.”

However, the EAS equipment manufacturer believes the FCC’s recommended approach would still “require substantial orientation and training among alert originators, and potentially commercial alert origination system providers, so that they may fully understand the features and limitations of each dissemination system.”

A screenshot of a cell phone shows actual emergency messages on Jan. 13, 2018 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The background is a composite. (Screen image: Eugene Tanner AFP via Getty Images)

The only comments submitted by the National Association of Broadcasters are specifically aimed at the proposed mandate from Congress to allow repetition of EAS alerts for national security events.

“NAB appreciates the simplicity of [the FCC’s] approach. We recognize that the FCC could have proposed any number of more complex, prescriptive methods for implementing. However, the FCC has wisely struck upon an efficient proposal that fits within the existing regulatory scheme, leverages the current architecture of EAS, and is not expected to require costly upgrades to broadcasters’ existing EAS equipment and system,” the NAB wrote.

Another key facet of the NPRM is holding states more accountable for managing alerting infrastructure and how State Emergency Communications Committees (SECC) are structured. And whether those requirements should be adopted as part of the commission Part 11, EAS Rules. There are no current rules covering SECCs.

The Washington State SECC wrote on that topic: “It is true that the structure of SECCs is not uniform nationwide. It would be most helpful if this issue could be corrected. It also would be helpful if the commission’s rules clarified its scope of authority regarding enforcement of critical aspects of the state EAS Plans.”

In addition to more state oversight on emergency alerting, SECC committees would be required to meet at least once a year and submit an updated EAS plan annually, which would be accepted or rejected by the FCC. State plans, currently posted on the FCC website, would not be available to the public except for names and contact information for SECC chairs.

The FCC also invited comment on whether it should replace the WEA [Wireless Emergency Alert] system’s “Presidential Alert” with a “National Alert,” which is an alert mobile users cannot turn off.

REC Networks, a low-power FM advocate, pointed to the political divide in the United States as a good reason for the alert name change. “REC does support the name change of Presidential Alerts to National Alerts, as such a change would better represent the purpose of the alert as opposed to the originator of the alert,” the group wrote.

REC Networks continue: “Because we are now in a blue vs. red and us vs. them culture, the use of the term presidential can be seen as continuing to divide this nation, where the term national would remove any perceived political party influence out of the objective of such alerts, which is to inform and unite the nation. In this case, perception is important.”

Another proposed change would require jurisdictions to report false EAS or WEA alerts to the FCC Operations Center when they occur in order to help prevent future false alerts. One commenter expressed concern about potential backlash for doing so: “The FCC considers requiring FEMA administrators or state, tribal, local, or territorial entities report a false EAS activation or WEA alert when they become aware of such a message, whether or not they originated the message. However, there is no definition of what constitutes a false EAS activation or WEA alert,” wrote Adrienne Abbott, Nevada SECC chair.

Abbott cited several recent examples of false EAS activations in her state and concluded: “The FCC must also consider the impact of requiring an EAS participant to report a false activation to their regulatory agency and possibly running the risk of being fined for an action over which they have no control.”

 

The post Stakeholders Comment on Amendments to EAS appeared first on Radio World.

Despite a late-session rally, Audacy shares declined for the second-straight session, putting new scrutiny on a glowing seal of approval on the company formerly known as Entercom from a key Wall Street investor blog.

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On average volume, AUD finished Wednesday (4/21) at $4.63, down 5.1% from Monday, a day when shares also saw a significant dip in value.

The decline puts AUD at a place it’s not seen yet — technically.

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LAKEWOOD RANCH, FLA. — In a blow to one of the nation’s biggest broadcast television companies, the FCC‘s Media Bureau on Wednesday (4/21) in a memorandum opinion and order denied a “Good Faith” complaint against Frontier Communications in response to the discontinued distribution of the ABC affiliate focused on Sarasota and Manatee Counties of Florida.

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Radio and TV C-Suiters are obsessed with millennials. They’ve been credited with upending entire industries, says an eMarketer analyst, and retail is hardly an exception.

He’s penned a piece on what retailers need to know about attracting and retaining consumers from this consumer group.

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Cumulus is planning to convert an AM talk radio station in the New York City suburbs to all-digital transmission next month.

WFAS(AM) in White Plains will use the slogan “Digital AM 1230 HD: New Talk for New York.”

The company filed an application with the FCC that it plans to flip on May 24. Its website carries a notice advising listeners that analog radios will no longer hear the station, but that listeners can find it using an HD receiver, online streaming, mobile app or smart speaker.

“Broadcasting in digital will eliminate annoying static and interference, improve the sound quality to equal FM radio and streaming, and extend the range for clear reception,” it told listeners.

WFAS will use the enhanced mode of digital HD Radio.

The decision by one of the country’s biggest broadcast chains to commit an AM frequency to all-digital is a notable one.

The Federal Communications Commission recently approved the option for stations to take this step. But as Radio World has reported, there are only a couple of other stations on the air in the country with all-digital AM, including the Hubbard station WWFD in Maryland that has been a kind of national test case.

Cumulus declined to comment on its plans for the station in response to a query from Radio World.

In Florida, broadcaster NIA Broadcasting, run by Neal Ardman, had flipped one station, WMGG, and told Radio World that as of today he is waiting on a transmitter with plans to flip WTMP, which is also in the Tampa area.

The post A Cumulus AM Near NYC Will Go All-Digital appeared first on Radio World.

The New York Festivals Radio Awards has named content creators and “global storytellers” Jennie Caltaldo, Helen Shaw, and Carole Zimmer to the Radio Awards Advisory Board.

The 13-member Advisory Council, formed in 2010, is comprised of content creators and thought-leaders within the radio industry. They provide NYF’s Radio Awards competition with ongoing knowledge of emerging trends and critical industry insights.

Cataldo is the VP of Programming and a radio and podcast producer for BMP Audio, owned by Ben Manilla.

Shaw is the Founder/Director of Ireland-based Athena Media. She ran RTE Radio for five years, launching RTE Lyric fm and leading RTE’s digital transformation before taking a sabbatical at Harvard University.

Zimmer is a freelance reporter for The New York Times and host of the Now What? podcast. Her resume includes stints at Bloomberg, NPR, and the CBS and NBC radio networks.

The Radio Awards receives entries from radio stations, networks, and independent producers from over 30 countries around the globe. The mission of the competition is to honor the achievements of the men and women who make up the global audio storytelling community.

This year is the eleventh year of NYF’s strategic partnership with NAB Show, the ultimate marketplace for people passionate about media, entertainment, and technology. All attendees will have access to the multi-day NAB event which is the world’s largest media entertainment marketplace taking place in October 2021.

The deadline to enter the 2021 Radio Awards competition is May 20. To enter please visit HERE

Across the Southeast’s biggest emerging Hispanic markets, perhaps no company has invested more in reaching this Spanish-language audio content consumer of late than Norsan Media.

Now, it is grabbing what will become its third radio brand in the largest city in the U.S. by square miles.

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Say goodbye to the Westwood One Podcast Network.

Starting May 6, it will have a new name — one that reflects WWO’s parent company.

Introducing the Cumulus Podcast Network.

According to the company led by Mary Berner, the move consolidates Cumulus’ national and local podcasts into one entity, “capturing the full breadth and diversity of the portfolio and providing advertisers with a comprehensive offering of podcasts, in addition to streaming, mobile, social and display.”

There will be no change in duties for Cumulus EVP/Corporate Marketing and Westwood One President Suzanne Grimes, who will continue to manage the company’s podcast sales network. 

“Placing our podcasts under the Cumulus umbrella allows us to offer our advertising partners easy access to the company’s full arsenal of digital products,” Grimes said. “This exciting expansion takes our fast-growing podcast network to the next level, as well as simplifies the buying process for agencies and brands, allowing our partners to seamlessly tap into the full power of our premium on-demand audio content.”

Nielsen Audio reports “significant gains in radio listening” across the aggregate of its PPM rated markets in the United States.

While still not quite reaching the highest numbers of the pandemic period, which came last fall, both AQH and weekly reach were up in March compared to a month earlier.

Nielsen said its March PPM survey showed an 8% increase month-over-month in total average quarter-hour audience. “This marks the largest single-month increase in average audience since June of last year,” the company stated.

“These gains were driven by increases in both weekly reach (adding nearly 4 million consumers in March, a 3% increase versus February) as well as time spent listening (gaining by over 20 minutes on average, a 5% increase compared with last month).

It released these two charts.

 

The company said that in terms of weekly reach, the radio audience in March 2021 is 96% of what it was a year ago as the pandemic was taking hold in the United States, and the AQH number is 93%.

“This uptick in radio usage mirrors the positive changes in consumer sentiment and habits observed during Nielsen’s latest radio consumer study conducted during the March survey,” it said.

Nielsen cited other encouraging data for radio. It said six in 10 Americans feel life is becoming more normal in their communities, and that the number of people working outside the home have increased about 70% since a year ago. The number of consumers spending more than an hour daily in their cars more than doubled in that time.

[Related: “In 2020, Radio Hit a Proverbial Iceberg”]

The post Nielsen Reports “Big Gains” for Radio Listening appeared first on Radio World.

Hearst Television has promoted its Director of Human Resources to VP of the department.

It’s an individual celebrating five years with the company.

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iHeart announced a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

It said the mentoring organization was selected as part of its grant program to advance social justice, which would be highlighted on its 850 radio stations.

“The goal of the program is to provide a platform for organizations to inspire, educate and empower listeners to take a stand against systemic racism and promote social justice,” the media company announced.

[Read: NFL, iHeartMedia Launch NFL’s Podcast Network]

A series of PSAs features voices of young people airing on the company’s stations and the iHeartRadio app. “The spots are focused on the need for Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors, and most especially Black men,” it stated.

The announcement was made by Tony Coles, president of iHeartMedia’s Black Information Network (BIN) and division president of Metro Markets at iHeartMedia, along with Artis Stevens, president/CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Stevens also has joined the BIN Advisory Board.

iHeartMedia will participate in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America 2021 Virtual National Conference that takes place in late June.

 

The post iHeart Partners With Big Brothers Big Sisters appeared first on Radio World.

America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) and PBS on Tuesday shared their thoughts with the FCC in response to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on changes to the Emergency Alert System.

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IBC 2021 is set to go ahead as planned in September, with organizers saying they are focused on delivering “a fantastic event” at the RAI in Amsterdam.

However, the fall back dates for December are still in place, and an announcement on that is expected to be made in June. Organizers are asking the industry to keep their options open for both possible sets of dates.

The current dates for the show are Sept. 10–13 with the fall-back option of Dec.3–6.

IBC CEO Michael Crimp said organizers realize this year’s show might be the first large scale event many people have attended in a long time, and the team is putting lots of planning into that. They are working closely with the city of Amsterdam and the RAI, monitoring changes as they evolve.

“The industry is telling us that people are keen to come together again after being apart for a long time. In the coming months, a number of factors will help us decide when the event can happen and in what format. From macro trends such as vaccine roll out and testing, to the willingness of our attendees to travel, we will take all things into consideration as we make those important decisions,” he added.

IBC said it is budgeting for exhibition space to be about 30% less than in 2019, with the two pavilions not being used in 2021.

This year’s event will have more of a festival feel, said Crimp, with a perimeter to the site that will enable them to move around more freely. Attendees will have their temperatures checked before entering the perimeter, and will need to declare that they have recently passed a COVID test.

There will be no onsite registration for people who have not preregistered.

Inside, the halls will have extra wide aisles and one-way for ease of access. IBC intends to use cameras to monitor capacity in each hall. Each exhibitor will be told of their stand capacity, with attendees being scanned-in and out to monitor numbers.

Steve Connolly, head of sales at IBC, said support from the industry continues to be strong, with 30,000-sq. foot of booth space booked so far.

IBC will also run a digital platform for exhibitors alongside the physical event to enable them to promote products and book digital meetings.

The post IBC Set to Go Ahead as Planned in September appeared first on Radio World.