It’s a Class A FM covering a rural portion of Arkansas, just south of the Ozarks resort town of Branson, Mo. Until now, it’s been a part of the “Here’s Help Network,” tied to stations offering the religious-themed programming to towns in Missouri.
That’s about to change thanks to the second-largest licensee of FM radio stations in the U.S.
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At the start of 2021, it became known that Iliana Communications had agreed to divest its stations in one Illinois town.
Now, Iliana has agreed to sell an AM, along with its FM translator, in another municipality in the Land of Lincoln.
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There’s a flurry of activity going on at both the FCC and on Capitol Hill that directly impacts broadcast media leaders. From a new bill that could force a New Jersey TV station to devote specific hours of the day to “local” programming to concerns that President Biden will not nominate a FCC Chair, there’s much to discuss.
Forecast 2022 participants will get to hear all about it during a session moderated by Frank Montero, the notable attorney at Fletcher Heald & Hildreth with a pulse on what’s happening Inside the Beltway.
In this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM, Montero shares his thoughts on a notion once thought to be preposterous — a possible Republican FCC majority during a Democratic presidency.
He also tackles a question that perhaps no one wants to answer. Is a Democratic majority at the FCC doom for deregulation? “By and large, Democrats at the FCC have really not focused that much on broadcasting,” Montero says, noting that broadband, wireless, infrastructure and other topics have been their forte.
But, when Democrats do discuss broadcasting, they have perhaps unfairly put their collective lenses on consolidation, and whether or not it has harmed consumers.
At Forecast 2022, Montero will moderate a session that sees Beasley Media Group CEO Caroline Beasley take the stage as a panelist. Joining her: BIA Advisory Services Chief Economist Dr. Mark Fratrik.
This podcast offers a great preview of what’s to come on November 16 at Forecast 2022. Listen now, and then be sure to save your seat at Forecast 2022 in New York. It’s easy — just click here!
Listen to “Frank Montero, Fletcher Heald & Hildreth” on Spreaker.
One month ago, a seemingly final plan of action was put in place for RBR+TVBR as it reviewed the full agenda of 2021 NAB Show sessions, selecting which ones to cover for its readers. Among the topics on tap for today: New Perspectives for Local Radio Audience Measurement, Reception of All-digital AM Radio in Electric Vehicles and The TV Industry’s New Normal.
Alas, there would be no discussion of the “new normal” come October 12 — aside from the decision by several Cumulus Media air personalities to leave their respective jobs rather than be forced to vaccinate against COVID-19, the very reason the NAB scrapped their event with less than a month to go.
Yet, there are several radio industry professionals who have just wrapped up a two-day event full of discussions and insight on the future of radio, and of audio.
With an in-person and virtual option, Radiodays Europe concluded its postponed event five months after its originally scheduled date on Monday in Lisbon, Portugal.
Where will the top broadcast media industry leaders be this autumn? The only time this year you’ll get to see them — and perhaps the final time you’ll get to see soon-to-retire NAB head Gordon Smith — is at Forecast 2022 on November 16. Learn more, and register today, by visiting the official event website.
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In late September, the analytics and advertising division of AT&T that operates the Community digital advertising online platform released its annual “Relevance Report” findings.”
This year’s report focuses on the state of convergence and advanced TV, and there’s certainly something to glean for over-the-air broadcast television station operators from the findings.
AT&T ad tech company Xandr examined the data and automation that are bringing video into the future of advertising. Xandr spoke with 357 advertising decision-makers across five global regions — the U.S., the U.K., Australia, France and Germany — to get a holistic picture of the state of convergence.
The full report, available here, found that much of the world is experiencing a “golden age” of premium video content for viewers, it is also the height of complexity for advertisers.
Among the key findings from Xandr:
The first point is perhaps the most intriguing one. How is that helping broadcast television?
“In short, Data Driven Linear is a more precise approach to buying linear TV, without compromising scale,” a Xandr spokesperson tells Weekly Tech Roundup.
Literature shared by Xandr elaborates that “data-driven linear leverages advanced data and automation to further define and target audiences across national linear TV.”
Why? Traditional TV advertising, in its view, is broad. “From a marketing perspective, women 25-54 can be very different,” Xandr shares.
With Data Driven Linear opportunities, a marketer can gain access to targeted audiences, “optimized plans across high-indexing networks and dayparts on the largest national TV networks to deliver on KPIs,” drive efficiencies with streamlined RFPs and negotiation, and “advanced measurement.”
BELLEVUE, WASH. — A “real-time platform” for measuring the business and brand impact of cross-platform television advertising has agreed to purchase a real-time television ad measurement company that specializes in products for D2C and direct response TV advertisers.
The deal, which sees the acquisition of DRMetrix by iSpot.tv, widens iSpot’s measurement of emerging formats for addressable advertising.
And, the iSpot.tv says, it enhances its ability to track rotating calls-to-actions, including website URLs, SMS and toll-free numbers.
“This capability — coupled with iSpot’s ability to track distinct creatives at scale and correlate ad exposures to conversion events such as digital actions and in-store traffic — gives brands of all sizes the expanded ability to measure the business impact of complex and dynamic ad buys across platforms,” iSpot notes.
Sean Muller, founder and CEO of iSpot, elaborates, “DRMetrix has developed unique and real-time measurement capabilities around creative versioning and dynamic advertising that will become increasingly important as the TV ad market evolves.”
DRMetrix’s AdSphere developed a measurement system for monitoring all TV ad formats and executions including those delivered via digital program insertion (DPI) ad breaks. The DPI measurement capabilities allow precise identification of ad creatives that are sold by the cable networks as “cover-ups,” which MVPDs inconsistently overlay with their own inventories.
This inventory, which includes addressable and local advertising, creates a continuous blind spot for networks, agencies and brands. The cover-ups are a favorite means for DTC and DR advertisers to invest in and test television, as they often come at a heavy discount. But both the buy and sell side struggle to accurately quantify the performance and value of this inventory because, until the combination of DRMetrix and iSpot, they could not be measured precisely at scale.
“We developed a unique system for accurately measuring one of the most dynamic and difficult portions of TV advertising, and we amassed a client base that represents a growing and important part of the TV ecosystem,” says Joseph Gray, founder/CEO of DRMetrix. “In iSpot, we’ve found a home for our innovations to thrive and a vehicle to accelerate our shared goals of making all TV ad measurement more transparent, more actionable and easier.”
DRMetrix serves 120 brands, networks and agencies, growing iSpot’s customer footprint to more than 450 annual brand subscriptions representing 50%+ of brands in the Ad Age 100 and 95% of TV networks in North America. This is iSpot’s second acquisition of a real-time ad measurement company, as it acquired Ace Metrix in January 2021 to combine business and brand impact using Ace’s comprehensive qualitative approach to measurement and scoring of creative performance.
— Reporting by Melissa Hourigan
NEW YORK — Audio analytics company Veritonic has a new VP of Marketing.
The company has selected a 10-year Triton Digital veteran for the role, as she exits the company just months after its acquisition by iHeartMedia from The E.W. Scripps Co.
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Broadcast audio processing company Orban has brought to market its new OPTIMOD XPN-Enterprise ecosystem. The company describes the product as an “an easy-to-use, customizable Linux-based processing platform for multiple broadcast stations or streaming services, with centralized control.”
It provides Orban’s proprietary OptiCloud processing for up to 8 FM and 8 HD/DAB+/Streaming processing channels in a 1 RU package, using an enterprise-class SoftGear server and the appropriate OPTIMOD XPN-Enterprise Nodes, Orban notes.
The XPN-Enterprise server that’s now shipping provides 16 processing channels via AoIP and supports AES-67/SMPTE-2110 protocols.
Also shipping now: the XPN-Enterprise AES3 Input/Output Node.
Additional nodes to extend the available outputs and functionalities, e.g., DMPX, Kantar and Nielsen watermarking and Orban uMPX, will be released in the near future.
The XPN-Enterprise system has been extensively field-tested and approved by national broadcasters, Orban President David Day said.
Content to be OptiCloud processed is brought to one location, utilizing any of the most common methods of audio transport – AES3, AES-67, SMPTE-2110-30, Dante or Livewire+, and creates the necessary outputs (FM Composite, DMPX, uMPX, and DAB+HD) using the appropriate Orban XPN-Enterprise Nodes for distribution to each transmitter site.
Processed channels destined for streaming are also handled by the XPN-Enterprise server, which sends those outputs to the appropriate streaming devices.
Each signal coming into the OPTIMOD XPN-Enterprise server can be individually processed, with Orban’s OptiCloud providing precision tailoring of each station’s broadcast or stream to meet the requirements of the audience and delivery method. OptiCloud factory presets give users a quick start for each format; Orban’s exclusive “Less-More” controls simplify “dialing in” the desired sound by combining multiple OptiCloud processing parameters with a handful of controls.
Further simplifying the processing path, Orban offers “Last Mile” products including XPN-
Enterprise input and output nodes and low bandwidth (<500 kbps for FM & HD-1, HD-2 & HD-3) equipment for “virtually any requirement,” Day says.
He comments, “We make it possible to manage our processing remotely and feed that signal to a site on lines as slow as 500 kbps, and many nodes are ‘Power over Ethernet’ (PoE) capable, further simplifying installation.”
For more information, visit https://www.orban.com.
Today, digital media and technology have permeated businesses at every level. Yet, they continue to create fundamentally new challenges in the crisis and risk management field.
Perhaps Edelman’s just released 2021 Connected Crisis Study can help. It sheds new light on how significant this shift has become, and how far companies still have to go, to adapt.
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Harker Bos Group recently fielded a study documenting the consumption habits and voting trends of Hispanic Radio Listeners.
A cursory overview of some findings was shared at the Hispanic Radio Conference in late September. Now, an eight-page report with further details is available for public view.
How has revenue recovered from the onset of a pandemic that saw generally steep declines and where some categories continue to experience slower than hoped for rebounds? A Forecast 2022 panel of experts are preparing a provocative discussion about who is going to “show us the money” in the year to come. For more, click on the logo at left!
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While many broadcast media leaders lament how the “GAFAN” group of digital media Goliaths have grabbed dollar after dollar from their over-the-air stations, resulting in advertising challenges, it turns out that the top brand using Spot Television for the week ending October 10 is one of those “GAFAN” giants.
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A September 29 conversation with the four individuals at the helm of Salem Media Group with a key Wall Street media analyst is available now on Channelchek.
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“People earn cash back, businesses make more.”
That’s the basic premise behind a brand that has sought to grow its national profile by promoting its services via Spot Radio. And, the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report shows, this brand has emerged as one of the more exciting new users of AM and FM radio for its marketing efforts.
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The latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Cable report is out, and it shows brand stability across the rankings by play count.
The report also shows that two brands that have been active in the past at Spot Cable are now back in a big way, thanks to new campaigns.
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Swagger Institute and P1 Learning are teaming up for a third time to stage a virtual sales and management training summit.
The two-day affair is scheduled for January 26-27, 2022.
Featuring lessons from top industry professionals, Rising Above (risingabovesummit.com) is designed to help sellers and managers get ready to take on 2022.
P1 Learning’s Speed Marriott commented, “After last January’s summit, we really didn’t think we were going to do another Rising Above event. We figured our world would be on a path to normalcy, but wow, were we wrong! With feedback from sellers and managers along with industry surveys, we learned that the industry still needs motivation and
encouragement, so how could we not do this again?”
Registration for Rising Above will be offered for free through participating State Broadcasters Associations and their memberships.
An on-demand version will be available for those who register.
Derron Steenbergen, of the Swagger Institute, said, “Sales managers across the country keep saying their sellers need help. With this pandemic lingering, salespeople are not getting to travel to training opportunities like they once did. Rising Above was birthed initially to provide help to those in the trenches in our industry and it continues to fill that void today. Speed and I are extremely excited to bring the best trainers together again to give our sellers and managers the tools to go deliver more results for their clients. Finally, the goal for Rising Above 3 will be to provide lift to our industry and those working so hard to help the businesses in their communities.”
For more information about Rising Above: A Virtual Sales & Management Summit, visit
risingabovesummit.com
Seven months ago, RBR+TVBR reported that the fate of three FM radio stations formerly controlled by Ed Stolz through his Royce International Broadcasting Corp. was seeming sealed. Paperwork had been filed with the FCC signaling the properties’ transfer of control to religious broadcast ministry VCY America, from the court-appointed receiver of the stations.
While many believed Stolz would maneuver to thwart the loss of his FMs, the proposed $6 million has perhaps an unexpected obstacle blocking its ultimate fruition: the FCC’s Media Bureau.
As such, the parties involved in the transaction last week met by video conference with the Media Bureau Chief, and the two key leaders in the Audio Division, pleading the Commission to green-light the deal already. It’s a move the frustrated Federal judge overseeing the court-ordered station deal is urging, too.
Join Larry Patrick, the noted broker who is the court-appointed receiver for the three FMs formerly controlled by Ed Stolz’s Royce International Broadcasting, as he moderates a Forecast 2022 panel discussion on how independent broadcasters are surviving and thriving as station owners. For more information, click on the Forecast 2022 logo today!
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As a former senior advisor at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Republican FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington is well
prepared to address the many items on the Commission docket that will impact broadcasters in the years ahead.
As he demonstrated at the recent Hispanic Radio Conference, Simington is eager to learn about the broadcast media industry’s input and concerns.
You can share your thoughts and desires with Simington in-person, with your registration to Forecast 2022 at the prestigious Harvard Club in New York.
You can never have too many allies — especially at the FCC. That’s why your attendance at Forecast 2022, November 16 in midtown Manhattan, is the perfect opportunity for you to use your voice where it counts. Broadcasters need decisionmakers who understand their challenges and will listen to their perspectives with an unbiased and well-informed mind.
Simington is that type of individual, and has demonstrated that he appreciates the unique value proposition broadcasters offer communities across the country and the media environment in which they operate.
This could be the only chance you get this year to express your views to someone who can impact and influence the fate of your business over the coming years.
Will you be there, or will you give up your spot to someone who may not see things your way?
Make your voice heard. Register for Forecast 2022 today.
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An outfit that describes itself as “an innovative podcast and audio entertainment production studio” has completed a $12 million fundraising round, and this particular effort saw the nation’s lone satellite radio content creator and distributor emerge as the biggest dollar injector.
Sirius XM Radio Inc. on Monday (10/11) confirmed that it led a Series B fundraising round for Audio Up.
Founded by CEO Jared Gutstadt, Audio Up was founded in 2020 by the creator of the Jingle Punks creative music agency, Podcast Business Journal reports.
With the investment, Sirius XM SVP/Business Affairs and Programming Operations Andrew Moss is joining Audio Up’s Board of Directors.
And, thanks to the dollar dose from Sirius XM, it’s moved forward with the creation of a creative programming and strategic agreement with Audio Up.
It’s a significant development, as it brings Sirius XM further into the on-demand audio space. Under the agreement, Audio Up is expected to create new original scripted podcasts for Sirius XM and its owned audio platforms – which include the SXM App, Pandora and Stitcher. Audio Up will also collaborate with Sirius XM to develop new audio entertainment concepts and forge new promotional and distribution synergies across Sirius XM properties, the companies say.
Specifically, the agreement gives Sirius XM an exclusive “first-look” co-production option for new Audio Up original podcast concepts, with accompanying options for exclusive distribution across Sirius XM properties, in addition to exclusive rights to manage and sell advertising inventory and sponsorship in connection with any podcast produced for Sirius XM through its SXM Media combined sales organization.
Audio Up’s slate of original scripted audio entertainment includes offerings from recording artists Machine Gun Kelly, 24kGoldn, Miranda Lambert and Nelly, and actors including Jason Alexander and Gary Busey.
Forthcoming new Audio Up original podcast series include The Playboy Interview, which presents teleplay-type reenactments “of some of the most iconic Playboy Interview conversations in history,” Audio Up says.
“Whether it’s inventing a new breed of boundary-breaking original podcasts or developing innovative audio concepts that let brands and creators connect with listeners in new ways, Jared and Audio Up have become the place where talent meets technology,” said Sirius XM President/Chief Creative Officer Scott Greenstein. “Audio Up is known for creating podcasts that combine music, entertainment, and rich storytelling to create bold new listening experiences, and we’re thrilled to welcome them to our extended SiriusXM family.”
The agreement follows SiriusXM’s acquisition of podcast platform Stitcher and the inking of a series of exclusive podcast content deals, including the acquisition of Roman Mars’ 99% Invisible podcast and the launch of Seth Rogen’s original podcast series, Storytime With Seth Rogen.
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND — One of the leading privately held radio and outdoor media companies in the Pacific Rim has licensed Veritone, Inc.‘s AI-driven application that brings real-time insights into data-driven advertising performance.
Be sure to follow RBR+TVBR on Twitter for the latest Breaking News first!
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In mid-August, RBR+TVBR first reported on the purchase of construction permits for low-power television stations located in the Southernmost City in the United States and in the heart of the Coachella Valley, respectively, by The E.W. Scripps Co.
That deal, brokered by Bob Heymann of the Chicago office of Media Services Group, has just closed.
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