Radio+Television Business Report

It’s been the “voice of Franklin County” since 1957, serving an area to the south of Roanoke, Virginia, with classic Country music and a mix of news and community-focused programming including an on-air Swap Shop.

Now, this Virginia Class B AM is trading hands, as is the FM translator assigned to this heritage facility.

But, no changes are expected, keeping WYTI in the family following the November 2020 passing of its longtime owner, Bill Jefferson.

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He’s a 30-year radio broadcasting veteran who joined Cumulus Media in 2018.

Now, this longtime programming and operations leader is transferring from the company’s “Texas Country” FM serving the Beaumont-Port Arthur area of the Lone Star State to the center of Georgia’s Coastal Empire: Savannah.

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One was the Chairman of the FCC when its cross-ownership rules were enact.

Another was the FCC’s Chairman that successfully, thanks to the Supreme Court’s input, erased many of those rules through “modernization” efforts allowing for common ownership of TV and radio, or newspaper and radio, assets in a given market.

They’ll be joined by the agency’s chairman during the second term of Bill Clinton as President, and by an interim FCC leader who, in taking the role, became the first female Chair of the Commission.

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In May 2018, a station swap was consummated that saw Salem Media Group trade a Class B AM serving the Seattle-Tacoma market to a company based in San Jose, Calif.

The agreement handed Salem the keys of an AM in Portland, Ore., it had been operating via an LMA with the station’s new owner, Intelli LLC.

Now, Intelli is selling that Seattle property to Salem.

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By Rosemary Ravinal

Public speaking is the foundation of leadership. Whether you are facilitating an online meeting, delivering a new business pitch, representing your company on an industry panel, doing a podcast interview, or speaking at a condo board meeting, how well you communicate will set you apart.

Public speaking mastery is hard work and requires tons of practice and great coaching.  But if you take your delivery alone and the mental blocks that hold you back from greatness, there are a few things you can do improve right away.

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For the fifth year in a row, representation of people of color in local TV news improved overall and, for the fourth year in a row, a record high percentage of the local TV news workforce are people of color.

That’s according to the final installment of the 2021 RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey.

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Actor and comedian Jim Gaffigan — a five-time Grammy-nominated comedian, actor, writer and producer and contributor to CBS Sunday Morning — will entertain NAB Show attendees with a special Sunday afternoon performance.

Gaffigan will play a key role in the formal opening of the 2021 NAB Show, the first convention and expo from the National Association of Broadcasters since April 2019. He will offer a live comedy performance at the NAB Show Sunday Kick Off scheduled for 4:15pm Pacific on October 10.

“After a difficult year and unfortunate hiatus for NAB Show, we look forward to celebrating the opening of the show floor with the ever talented and hilarious Jim Gaffigan,” said NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith, who will preside over his final NAB Show in his role, as he is retiring at year’s end. “His notoriously fun and entertaining performance is ideal for this momentous occasion as we reunite and reengage in Las Vegas.”

Gaffigan’s performance will be exclusively open to attendees of NAB Show and co-located events.

With a deadline fast approaching, the State of Alaska was pressed with an urgent situation. More than a dozen TV translator stations needed to drop their analog transmissions. But, that wouldn’t be possible, putting the licenses and viewers at risk.

The FCC listened, and agreed with the state.

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Your favorite radio stations without commercial interruptions.

That’s the brand promise of Auddia, the developer of a proprietary AI platform for audio and innovative technologies for podcasts that is now reinventing how consumers engage with audio.

It’s the subject of the latest InFOCUS Podcast, distributed ahead of a major announcement from the Boulder, Colo.-based technology company. Auddia, not to be confused with Audacy (formerly Entercom), says it’s achieved “a major advancement” in its proprietary technology at the core of its Artificial Intelligence engine.

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Last week, the FCC adopted an Order of Reconsideration that rejected a pair of petitions seeking reconsideration of the Commission’s Low Power FM (LPFM) Technical Rules Order.

The Order adopted rule changes designed to “improve the LPFM service and provide LPFM stations with greater flexibility,” the Commission notes. Importantly, the Order rejected a proposal to increase maximum Effective Radiated Power to 250 watts.

It appears a new petition for rulemaking seeking a LPFM power increase has surfaced. And, the NAB has already voiced its opposition to the request.

FOR MEMBERS ONLY: We’ve got a RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION to share on this subject. The NAB should be pleased with what we believe … sort of.

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Global media ad sales platform maker Matrix has named a new Chief Operations Officer.

The Pittsburgh-based company says she will be “instrumental in helping execute the company’s global growth strategy, expanding their solutions portfolio into existing and new market verticals.”

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As RBR+TVBR first reported on Tuesday (6/22) a deal has been struck that will send two of its FM radio properties serving the Delmarva region to the owner of the local CBS, NBC, Telemundo and FOX affiliates, giving it a total of 7 radio stations across the area.

Now, RBR+TVBR has confirmed that Adams Media Group, led by Ron Stone, will be exiting the Eastern Shore of Maryland and southern Delaware altogether.

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One is a heritage Class B FM Rocker that gained national notoriety in the early 1990s thanks to the “Don and Mike” program and today serves as the Delmarva region’s home of the Cox Media Group-syndicated offering The Billy Madison Show in morning drive.

The other station is a Class B1 FM Classic Rocker, with the Townsquare Media-syndicated Free Beer and Hot Wings morning program as its anchor.

Both stations are being sold by the Ron Stone-led Adams Radio Group. Who’s the buyer of these rockin’ radio properties?

Look no further than the CBS television affiliate serving Salisbury and Ocean City, Md., which is taking advantage of “modernized” FCC media cross-ownership rules.

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Its stock price continues to surge. Hundreds of Talk stations have now transitioned from Rush Limbaugh to a new offering from the company’s Premiere Networks. Its music stations continue to dominate key markets across the U.S.

Things have never appeared to be better at iHeartMedia. With momentum fueling the nation’s biggest licensee of radio stations, a voluntary prepayment of term loan facilities and a repricing of an incremental term loan have come.

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Tom Birch is the President of North Carolina-based Lakes Media LLC and an industry veteran who come July 5 will beta test an innovative subscription app that is being hyped up as a potential game-changer for the radio industry.

It allows for commercial-free subscription based listening of broadcast radio stations.

Who would pay for what is available for free, even if the commercials are deleted? And, does that keep local radio local? Those are just some of the questions we asked Birch about Auddia in the latest RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM!

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Tom Birch” on Spreaker.

MESA, ARIZ. — The Single Frequency Network (SFN) capability of next-generation television can help TV broadcasters greatly enhance robust reception of broadcast TV signals.

That’s the conclusion of a report on the latest field trials of SFN technology recently completed as part of Phoenix Model Market testing.

“Since last summer, we’ve been testing out various configurations with another NEXTGEN TV transmission tower that can greatly enhance reception and make possible new services such as data sent to both cars and homes,” said Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV, which is coordinating the Phoenix Model Market project. “The results are very encouraging.”

The second Phoenix-area NEXTGEN TV station launched last summer from KASW-TV. That’s The CW Network affiliate in the Valley of the Sun. KASW used a Single Frequency Network to supplement existing signals in the nation’s 11th largest TV market.

KASW-TV is owned by The E.W. Scripps Company and hosts KSAZ-10, the FOX station serving the market.

“Starting in February, we began a series of tests of the Single Frequency Network broadcast from KASW on physical channel 27,” said Pearl TV Chief Technical Officer Dave Folsom. “With its primary transmitter about eight miles south of downtown Phoenix and a smaller transmitter on the same physical channel 27 about 18 miles away on Shaw Butte, we were able to determine the impact of how different power levels and polarizations affected reception at various locations around the Phoenix metro area. The robustness of the signal improved. Viewer reception in difficult areas was also improved. Technical coordination between the two transmitters was shown to dramatically enhance what a consumer would be expected to receive.”

Improved Signals Enhance Options

Folsom continued, “Our two testing transmission antenna patterns were designed to intentionally overlap each other. Their signals are timed (in frequency and time) such as to interfere with each other in a positive or additive fashion and thus improve viewer’s resultant signal level, service margin and receivability within their overlap area. This is the very basis of a Single Frequency Network’s design. The improvement in signal level and service margin translates into a marked improvement in the additive signal’s signal-to-noise component. That means we can either improve reception or increase carriage bandwidth for more data.”

The recent testing was devised to test 40 locations in an approximate grid within the system’s transmission overlap area. An omnidirectional test receiver antenna was purposely used in the testing to ensure the reception was taking full benefit of both transmission signals within the overlap area.

Large improvements in signal level and service margin were found in nearly all test locations when the Single Frequency Network nodes were both transmitting. Error-free reception was improved in approximately 80 percent of the sites, according to the test report compiled by broadcast engineering consultants Meintel, Sgrignoli & Wallace as part of the Phoenix Model Market testing program.

“We believe that broadcast TV has the potential to offer a new data delivery service, because of television’s new broadcast standard speaks the same language as the internet itself,” Schelle said. “A Single Frequency Network arrangement with multiple transmission towers can help broadcasters develop new markets and new opportunities.”

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. — Audio commercials have a particular trait that sets them apart from visual advertisements, and the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters is now on a quest to illustrate that positive differentiation point to marketers.

Emotional engagement rings true with audio ads. And, the PAB is partnering with a former longtime Philadelphia radio station owner, along with a consumer engagement specialist, to prove its point.

The PAB is working with Sensory Logic, a Minneapolis-based company, and former WBEB-FM in Philadelphia owner Jerry Lee, now associated with Spot Q Services.

The agreement will see Sensory Logic test audio campaigns to ensure commercials are emotionally engaging to consumers, the PAB says.

Sensory Logic will also provide “detailed, step-by-step, feedback to help copywriters, agencies and radio stations create advertising campaigns that generate a larger return-on-investment.”

One individual eager to see the results of the study is Jim Loftus, former WBEB CEO under Jerry Lee and now a key figure at Seven Mountains Media alongside Kristin Cantrell. “Engaging commercials delivered results unlike anything that I’d ever worked with before,” he says. “Better results provided clients with activated consumers and helped grow our business, making WBEB Philly’s No. 1 station for more than 20 years.”

Lee was instrumental in developing Sensory Logic’s system to test and give feedback for Audio Commercials.

The PAB’s plan: to jump start audio testing on behalf of its members. The professional organization will initially pay for testing and feedback for 5 advertisers group member per market.

The goal of the PAB, Sensory Logic, and Jerry Lee’s Spot Q Services is to increase revenue for more than 3,000 Pennsylvania radio advertisers who annually spend above $10,000.

Sencore has announced advancements to the audio, closed captions and video capture features of the VB440 – Uncompressed Video over IP Monitoring Appliance.

The VB440, the newest addition to its VideoBRIDGE IP monitoring suite, focuses on
monitoring the latest uncompressed video over IP technologies; SMPTE 2022-6/7 and SMPTE 2110.

Enabling both early deployment and long-term system monitoring and troubleshooting of video, audio and ancillary data payload, the VB440 includes new audio features that include support for SMPTE 2110-31 compressed audio, 5.1 and 7.1 multichannel configurations and room meter analytics.

In addition to these features, this release adds 608, 708 and OP-47 caption support, including overlaying on the live video, an engineering view for caption command data, and grid view for alignment.

Expanding on the existing functionality, the VB440 now includes a rolling capture feature which allows users to capture hard to catch issues or events.

As with all Sencore products, the VB440 and the entire VideoBRIDGE product line are backed by Sencore’s ProCare support engineers.

More information about Sencore can be found at www.sencore.com

The NAB has revealed the recipients of the Digital Leadership Award, NAB Engineering Achievement Awards for Radio and Television and the Service to Broadcast Engineering Award.

The winners were honored during “The Future of Media and NAB Technology Awards,” a special event hosted exclusively on NAB Amplify.

NAB Digital Leadership Award

Established in 2015, the Digital Leadership Award honors an individual at a broadcast station, group or network who has played a role in significantly transforming a traditional broadcast business to succeed in the digital sphere. The 2021 Digital Leadership Award was presented to Adam Wiener, executive vice president and general manager, CBS Local Digital Media.

Wiener is a member of NAB’s Digital Officers Committee and is an Affiliate Board Member of Digital Content Next.

NAB Engineering Achievement Awards

Established in 1959, the NAB Engineering Achievement Awards are given to individuals who are nominated by their peers for significant contributions to advancing broadcast engineering. Awards are given separately for radio and television.

David L. Hershberger is the recipient of the 2021 Engineering Achievement Award for Radio. Having retired as Continental Electronics’ senior scientist, Hershberger worked for Harris Broadcast, Grass Valley Group and Axcera, focusing primarily on exciters and modulators for transmitters, and low-level signal processing. Hershberger co-developed the world’s first digital FM exciter as an experimental prototype and holds 21 U.S. patents.

David A. Folsom is the recipient of the 2021 Engineering Achievement Award for Television. He is the technology lead for Pearl TV specializing in the advancement of Next Gen TV through operational and technical education. Formerly, he was the chief technology officer of Raycom Media Inc, now part of Gray Television. Folsom has worked in broadcast and engineering management for more than forty years and holds two television equipment design patents.

Service to Broadcast Engineering Award

The Service to Broadcast Engineering Award is presented periodically to individuals who have provided extraordinary service to the industry. This year’s recipient is Brady Dreasler, corporate director of engineering and technology at Quincy Media, Inc. Dreasler began his career almost 50 years ago with Quincy Media, Inc. at WGEM-TV. He held various positions, including operations manager, local television sales manager and account representative. Throughout his career, he has gained experience in virtually every department of a television and radio station. Dreasler also serves as vice chairman of the NAB TV Technology Committee.

It owns radio stations in Victor Valley, California and Yuma, Arizona.

Now, it has launched a unique mobile app platform for all of its radio station brands as a way to gain more ad dollars in challenging small Southwestern U.S. markets.

The company winning the account: RadioFX Inc.

That’s the selection from El Dorado Broadcasters. 

Led by EVP/GM Chris Fleming, he says “I have long been a proponent of radio station brands becoming platform agnostic. Mobile is of primary importance as it is ubiquitous. Of almost equal importance is having the interface with Android Auto and Apple Car Play, making our brands part of the in dash experience.”

Mark Mitchell, VP Programming for El Dorado Broadcasters, adds, “The primary benefit will be the streaming capabilities for the user, but our stations will be able to do in app, unique contesting, audience polling, and we will have a chat function with our on-air staff – giving or audience yet another unique experience.”

John Wanuzng is the CEO of RadioFX Inc. He says, “Local radio broadcasters are the heartbeat of the American audio experience, and the family of El Dorado Broadcasters stations shines a bright light on how radio delivers a meaningful, entertaining and impactful listener experience to its local communities.”