Radio+Television Business Report

Thanks to better-than-anticipated interest, Jacobs Media Strategies is adding a second tour of the Consumer Electronics Show for broadcasters this January in Las Vegas.

“Since CES was cancelled last year due to the pandemic we didn’t know what to expect, but broadcasters from commercial, public radio, and Christian radio have all expressed interest,” the consultancy notes.

In a communique to its clients, Jacobs Media adds, “Attending CES the past dozen years has been a game-changer for us. We’ve gotten outside of the “radio bubble” and gained important insight into the technology and trends that have – and will – impact our business in the coming years. And our tours have provided us with the ability to talk to leaders from companies like Google, Amazon Alexa Auto, Ford, LG, and other companies to gain even more insight into their thinking.”

Recent announcements about changes in car entertainment systems that will impact radio have drawn the attention of many industry leaders. CES is the place to learn about them first-hand. There will be over 185 automotive and auto-tech companies showcasing their offerings including OEMs (GM, Daimler, and Hyundai), the designers of the future of the dashboard (Qualcomm and Bosch), numerous autonomous offerings, and new-product introductions like the Chevrolet Silverado EV, featuring GM’s CEO Mary Barra in a keynote presentation.

IF YOU’D CARE TO JOIN THE JACOBS MEDIA TOUR AT CES 2022, PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR MORE!

WorldCast Systems, the supplier of advanced broadcast products, is bringing to market a new version of its Ecreso FM 5/10kW transmitter.

The Ecreso 5/10kW is a fully digital transmitter for analog FM which combines performance and high efficiency of up to 76%. The Ecreso 5/10kW is designed for cost efficiency, high audio quality, and user experience. The transmitter hosts a multitude of onboard features including an integrated digital modulator, 5-band sound processor, RDS encoder, MPX over AES compatibility, and SmartFM technology.

The Ecreso FM 5/10kW allows remote control by Web server with its advanced measurement interface in addition to SNMP management, RS232 or GPIOs.

“With the 2.3.0 version, users benefit from advanced features and improvements for additional reliability, efficiency, and control,” the company says.

These include:
SmartFM [V2] – This algorithm enables broadcasters to reduce their energy
consumption by up to 40%.
Automation – The company claims Ecreso FM is the only transmitter to automate a configuration change or send GPIO commands in case of specific alarms. Complementary to the scheduler features, the automation is part of the Communication Pack license.
RDS improvements – management of the UTF8 is now available.
Reinforced security from remote FTP through new access restrictions

 

Looking for that special holiday gift amid a supply chain slowdown that could make finding that item a bit difficult?

Second-hand presents may be the answer, and eBay has stepped up its efforts to make that point known by investing in a Spot Radio effort.

According to the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report, eBay is now the third-largest full paying advertiser on the stations tracked by the iHeartMedia-owned service. RBR+TVBR negates any iHeart-associated activity as it does not reflect fully paid advertising across all radio stations.

The latest report also shows a surge in activity from Indeed, while audio advertisements for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine rank No. 5.

 

Until now, opposition to President Biden’s choice to take the fifth seat on the Federal Communications Commission, Gigi Sohn, was expected to get vocal opposition from Republican members of the U.S. Senate.

Now, one key GOP leader in the upper body of Congress has voiced his opposition to the nomination of the acting Chairwoman to serve a new five-year term, setting the stage for a potentially unthinkable scenario — a 2-1 Republican majority at the FCC during a Democratic presidential term.

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A Class B FM once known for its rock ‘n’ roll programming and today offering South Asians an audio home as “Bolly 92.3” has become the first radio station in the U.S. to broadcast geo-targeted advertising.

It’s perhaps the first step in convincing marketers that broad-casting isn’t so broad, after all, and can bring addressable advertising to the FM radio dial, in addition to streaming audio.

RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION: There’s a song that’s more than 40 years old called “Video Killed The Radio Star.” How about an update called “Marketers Killed The Radio Business.” Why? Broadcasters offer a broad array of consumers, putting one single message in the ears of thousands of potential buyers. Is that not worth anything in 2021?

 

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Is the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 a worry Wall Street need not push to much focus on? On Monday, that answer appeared to be a “yes,” as financial markets were up broadly.

Media stocks rode the wave upward. But, 3 notable decliners were seen.

Nexstar Media Group shares slipped by 1% on Monday, to $152.42, while Entravision shares declined by 2.6%, to $7.01. Also down: Cumulus Media, dipping by 1.4% to $11.83.

How did other stocks fare on Monday? Please visit the RBR.com homepage to view our Wall Street Report.

Recently, Good Karma Brands promoted Sam Pines to a corporate-level role of SVP. This left the top leadership spot open in Cleveland, where it operates the market’s ESPN Radio affiliate.

Pines’ successor in the market has now been named.

Rising to the post is Amy Crossman. She was previously the Director of Sales & Marketing for the Sports Talk station.

Pines said, “Amy embodies Good Karm Brands’ core values and takes a marketing first approach for our fans, advertising partners and teammates. She directly impacted our growth during a difficult and unique two years. I am excited for the future of ESPN Cleveland and our continued growth with Amy as Market Manager.”

Crossman added, “I appreciate the trust Sam Pines and the Good Karma Brands’ leadership team has put in me to lead and continue to grow a legacy brand. ESPN Cleveland has a passionate fanbase, loyal advertising partners and a dedicated team that we will continue to build in 2021 and beyond.”

Crossman joined ESPN Radio in Cleveland in October 2019, and for 19 months prior to that was Director of Partnership at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. A 25-year veteran of marketing, Crossman has worked at Men’s Health, Time, The New York Times, Crain’s New York Business, PARADE Group, and as a director for Momentum Worldwide’s top B2B account, American Express OPEN.

On Wednesday, December 1, the legal counsel representing the trustee for two FM radio stations in Florida Cox Media Group is required to sell in order to comply with FCC local ownership rules spoke by phone with the head of the Media Bureau.

Why? Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey wants answers as to the necessary steps for the “CXR Radio Station Trust,” led by Houlihan Lokey broker Elliot Evers, to complete an “orderly process” of divesting the two radio stations.

Does this point to a capitulation with respect to Cox’s request that it get up to one year to sell the FMs, on the basis that the COVID-19 pandemic deflated their valuations and a rise in value could come in the next 12 months?

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Members of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) elected three experienced media executives to serve on the ATSC Board of Directors for three-year terms that begin in January 2022.

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ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — Some 75 public media stations have been selected to participate in the Digital Transformation Program, a virtual initiative developed by the Poynter Institute to educate, assist, and coach public media senior leaders and their staff on the best strategies and tactics to transform their organization’s digital operations and culture.

The training is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

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“The global economy has recovered in-line with expectations and, in most markets, so has marketing activity and advertising spending.”

That’s the key finding from the December 2021 MAGNA Advertising Forecasts report. It shows that growth was particularly strong wherever COVID vaccination was fast and deep.

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NEW YORK — Thirty-five years ago, if one were to tune 92.7 MHz in Queens and the western portion of Long Island, there’s a good chance the only thing “Mexican” they’d hear would be the Wall of Voodoo track “Mexican Radio.” At the time, it was the home of Modern Rock outpost WLIR-FM, licensed to Garden City.

Times change, and since 2004 the facility has aired Spanish-language programming under Univision Communications ownership. Another change is in the works, and this will see the station’s return to English-language programming, under a new owner.

The bigger takeaway, however, is the extreme valuation difference between Univision’s purchase price and that from this Class A FM’s pending sale that sees Kalil & Co. involved.

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** SPONSORED CONTENT ** A world first in audio advertising, the Adthos Ad-Server was released in June 2021 and has since been downloaded many thousands of times across the globe. And following hot on its heels, Adthos Creative Studio has made it possible to create broadcast-quality advertising audio using innovative text-to-speech and synthetic voice technology.  This first-of-a-kind browser-based multitrack editor allows broadcasters and advertisers to collaborate online, combining music, human and synthetic voice to produce real-time audio advertising.  With the kinds of features commonly found in Digital Audio Workstations including equalisers, compressors, limiters and even an option to use professional plugins.  And that’s not all. Adthos Creative Studio allows on-the-go spot creation and offers powerful targeting possibilities.  Delivering the largest radio ad campaign in history But the latest innovation for Adthos Creative Studio is set to change everything: Pre-produced, customizable audio adverts. This technology was recently put to the test through the creation of a pro-vaccination ad campaign, which can be downloaded and used for free. Using Adthos’ advanced text to speech and synthetic voice technology combined with geo-locations, it was possible to generate more than 13,000 adverts, covering over 6,500 cities, and in 70 languages, all within a matter of hours! The potential that this offers to advertisers and broadcasters for future large-scale, multi-lingual and cross-border campaigns is extremely exciting.   Hearing is believing Adthos Creative Studio has harnessed the power of AI to produce natural sounding and programmable audio that needs to be heard to be believed. Users can choose from up to 40 US – English voices, with Adthos’ exclusive voice talent library of broadcast professionals and Emmy-award winning talent offered within the Gold or Platinum voiceover packages respectively.  It’s also possible to add a specific voice or voices to the library as an additional service.  Once selected, voices can be brought to life with character and personality. Control intonation, speed and apply reading rules for certain types of content such as phone numbers or emails to deliver realistic and engaging audio.   And any voice talent who add their voices to the library have the opportunity to monetise their synthetic voices via a royalty system, track where and when their voice has been used, and choose to opt out of any advertising they don’t want to be associated with e.g., Alcohol or adult-themed content.    Advertising that’s always a step ahead Creative Studio can dynamically use any webservice to insert content based on different data sets to produce timely, relevant advertising. From web-based information such as weather pages, using geo-targeting for location-based advertising, or even Excel files in the case of information such as pricing catalogues for supermarket deals.  Astonishing possibilities. Unbelievable price. You’d expect all of this to come at a cost wouldn’t you? Think again. Adthos Creative Studio comes in at just $49.95/month for a standard subscription.  Still not convinced? Then sign up for a month’s free trial to experience it for yourself! Curious? Prepare to be amazed  ** SPONSORED CONTENT **

From April 2018 until July 2020, it had been in a simulcast with WLIR-FM and branded as “Real FM,” offering Classic Hits programming.

Soon, an FM translator with 10 watts of power covering such Long Island, N.Y., cities as Coram and Medford is set to be come a part of the WNET Public family.

The owner of NPR Member station WLIW-FM 88.3, which serves Suffolk County’s east end and is licensed to Hampton Bays, N.Y., is agreeing to purchase W245BA at 96.9 MHz, licensed to Manorville, N.Y.

The seller is Michael Aliffi, and he is earning $150,000 from the sale.

The deal negates a transaction consummated in November 2020 sale valued at just $10,000. It would have seen the translator become the property of former Big City Radio executive Michael Kakoyiannis.

With the translator, WLIW can expand its coverage westward into populous central Suffolk County.

WNET, known for its Thirteen PBS service, acquired WLIW-FM in October 2019, when it was known as WPPB-FM 88.3. It closed on the $944,834 acquisition in June 2020.

While the Dow Industrials and Nasdaq indices were both down on Friday, broadcast media stocks saw mixed activity.

Among the key gainers are Townsquare Media, TEGNA, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and iHeartMedia.

Decliners include Entravision, Nexstar Media Group, and Saga Communications.

For a look at all of today’s closing prices from the broadcast media sector, please visit the homepage of RBR.com. The Wall Street Report is updated in real time across each business day!

He’s been the General Sales Manager of Hearst Television’s ABC affiliate in Jackson, Miss., since 2017.

Now, he is the station’s President/GM. And, his successor as GSM has been named.

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New advertising spend forecasts for 100 markets worldwide show that the global ad market has largely weathered the impact of COVID-19, so far, and is on course to reach a value of $1 trillion in 2025.

Here’s the somber news for broadcasters: More than half of this money will be paid to just three companies: Alphabet, Meta and Amazon.

But, how are radio and TV poised to perform in the next five years? WARC, the international marketing intelligence service, has some new intelligence on the subject.

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In 2020, DuJuan McCoy-owned Circle City Broadcasting sued Dish Network on the grounds that it refused to offer fair-market compensation for airing WISH-8, Indianapolis’ home for The CW, and MyNetwork sibling WNDY-23. Central to McCoy’s argument is that Dish’s decision was racially motivated. In March 2021, a federal judge ruled the lawsuit could proceed, with a motion to dismiss the suit filed by Dish denied.

Now, an intriguing new twist in the case has emerged, and it sees Dish fail in its attempt to block supplemental expert testimony on behalf of Circle City from a key figure at BIA Advisory Services.

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In March 2019, iHeartMedia engaged in an experiment designed to expand the reach of several of its spoken-word podcasts by airing them as scheduled programming on a 5,000-watt AM radio station covering the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.

Among the shows: The Daily Dive podcast from Los Angeles with Oscar Ramirez, and How to Money, and podcast stars Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick.

After several ratings periods with a 0.1 share of the audience, ranking last in a market that consumes Philadelphia radio stations and even the occasional New York City AM, iHeart has abandoned the all-podcast programming at WSAN-AM 1470 in Allentown.

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WJR-AM in Detroit afternoon host Mitch Albom, the veteran journalist and author of the wildly popular “Tuesdays with Morrie,” is known for dispensing life wisdom that resonates with audiences worldwide. At his talk at the Miami Book Fair in November, Albom served up valuable lessons about great presentations that caught “Zoom expert” and public relations veteran Rosemary Ravinal‘s attention. In her view, what Albom said provides key learning lessons on how to perfect the great presentation.

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