Radio+Television Business Report

The NAB’s Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to “a broadcaster who has made a significant and lasting contribution to the American broadcasting industry.”

The 2022 recipient of the DSA: the man who led the NAB until his retirement at the end of 2021.

Former President/CEO and retired Senator Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) will join the ranks of Jim Henson, Alan Alda, Robin Roberts, Bob Schieffer, Michael J. Fox, Mary Tyler Moore, Ronald Reagan, Edward R. Murrow, Bob Hope, Walter Cronkite and Oprah Winfrey by receiving the honor from the organization he successfully ran for 12 years.

It is the NAB’s highest honor, and he’ll receive it during the 2022 NAB Show welcome session scheduled for April 25, in Las Vegas.

During his tenure, NAB played a pivotal role on a number of significant issues affecting broadcasters. This explains the decision to award Smith with the DSA. Under his tenure, the FCC’s broadcast television spectrum incentive auction transpired, along with the preservation and modernization of the music licensing and copyright system, the ongoing transition to the NEXTGEN TV transmission standard, reviews of media ownership rules and the increased dominance of tech platforms in the advertising marketplace.

“As the head of NAB for more than a decade, Gordon was instrumental in advancing our agenda to help radio and television stations thrive,” NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt said. “Gordon’s leadership, dedication and political acumen have enabled broadcasters to continue serving their local communities in ways no other medium can. It is an honor to present him with the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of the immense impact he has left on broadcasting in our country and around the world.”

With the release of its fourth-quarter 2021 financial results, Beasley Media Group is on a strong path toward returning to its 2019 growth initiatives. Growth across its Top Four advertising categories was strong, with significant year-over-year growth.

But, how was Automotive? Despite car and truck supply chain concerns, the dollars are up — with trends pointing to a robust third quarter.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

The first of the broadcast media industry quarterly earnings reports has arrived. And, for those in the radio business, C-Suite leaders may not be so pleased to see the Q4 2021 fiscal health report for Beasley Media Group.

While net revenue increased by 3.2%, a 66.8% decline in operating income was registered by the owner of radio stations and an Overwatch League eSports franchise. As such, Beasley’s net income declined by two cents per share from Q4 2020.

Why? Unfair comps that require a look to two years ago are in order.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

He’s the creator of the world’s first stereophone. Now, audiophiles and broadcasting industry professionals are paying tribute to the musician, inventor and entrepreneur who in 1953 launched an electronics company originally designed as a TV rental business for hospitals.

John C. Koss, the founder and Chairman of Koss Corporation, died on December 21, 2021. He was 91 years old. News of death first became widely known last week.

Five years after launching his business, Koss, at the age of 28, teamed with business partner Martin Lange Jr., by introducing personal listening to the world.

How so? They developed the world’s first high fidelity “Stereophone.” This product, the SP/3 Stereophone, sparked the creation of the global stereo headphone industry. 

Today, Koss remains a family-run operation, with Michael J. Koss serving as Chairman/CEO. “Dad loved music and the experience of a live performance,” he said. “Like many legendary entrepreneurs, our founder channeled his passion to create a revolutionary product. Today, it’s clear that his innovation changed the way the world listens to music.” 

After introducing the SP/3 Stereophone, Koss developed the Pro/4 Series, which became a recording industry standard — and the official headphones of Air Force One. He went on to help standardize the plug and headphone jack we take for granted today.

By the 1980s, an era when the SONY Walkman dominated personal listening, John Koss pushed his company to develop “portable” headphones for on-the-go listening. The result was the Koss Porta Pro, a collapsible headphone that remains available today.

Outside of Koss Corporation, John Koss was important to Radio. In the 1970s, he purchased the original Classical WFMR-FM 96.5 in Milwaukee, saving the format in the market.  He owned the facility until 1983; today it is WKLH. The sale prompted WFMR’s call sign and format relocation to 98.3 MHz.

Citing increased advertiser demand and its desire to achieve more growth as “a streaming-first, data-driven media company,” VIZIO has added two individuals charged with key roles tied to the expansion of its direct-to-device advertising business.

Now serving as VP of Product Management is Oscar “Oz” Lang. He formerly served as the head of product for Adobe’s Advertising Cloud TV business.

Also new to VIZIO is VP of Product Engineering Ben Sullins, most recently SVP of Engineering with SpotX.

Concurrent with their arrival, VIZIO has opened a “Tech Innovation center” in Denver. It is home to 140 of VIZIO’s engineering and tech specialists focused on the innovation of VIZIO’s software, ad products, and entertainment ecosystem.

“Since our IPO last year, we have been heavily investing in engineering and software to scale our Platform+ operations and build out our in-house ad tech team,” said David Rudnick, Senior Vice President of Product Engineering at VIZIO. “This investment will not only provide unique opportunities and measurable outcomes for advertisers, but it also helps us drive better consumer experiences.”

He continued, “Consumers are rapidly shifting to the Smart TV experience, and because we own the hardware, software, and data, we are able to innovate in ways that others can’t. With continued momentum on the Platform+ side of our business, which is a function of better personalization and engagement on SmartCast, we are driving interest with brands, advertisers and content partners to work with VIZIO.”

VIZIO Ads’ direct-to-device offering has doubled the number of participating unique brands and tripled its average revenue per advertiser in the last year. Additionally, VIZIO Ads’ 2022 upfront commitments exceeded $100 million, a fourfold increase over 2021, including enterprise-level buys from six major agency holding companies and encompassing a number of top advertising categories in traditional TV such as automotive, insurance and retail.

LED video processing products manufacturer Brompton Technology has moved forward with the beta release of its Tessera v3.3 software features, a move designed to optimize the performance of LED panels to further streamline professional workflows.

New features include Operating Modes, and Per-Batch PureTone.

Additionally, the Tessera SX40 and S8 now have a preset to support the ACES AP1 color space, as used by ACEScg.

Lastly, in collaboration with Mo-Sys, Brompton has added support for the company’s StarTracker camera tracking system when using panels fitted with the Tessera R2 or Brompton’s new Tessera R2+ and an SX40 or S8 processor with Frame Remapping.

The new Tessera R2+ receiver card has the same SO-DIMM form-factor as the R2. R2+ is backwards-compatible with all existing R2-based panel designs, but brings additional data pins and capability to support new LED drivers.

Operating Modes enables a single panel type to have multiple Operating Modes, each with a slightly different configuration for the panel. Different Operating Modes can therefore prioritize different aspects of visual performance, such as maximum frame rate, low brightness performance, bit depth or effective refresh rate, among others.

Additional Operating Modes can be created by Brompton engineers working closely with the panel manufacturers. Once activated, users can switch panels between Operating Modes via the processor, depending on the requirement of each event or project.

In the new Tessera v3.3 software PureTone has been extended to allow each individual batch of panels to be measured separately to generate a PureTone profile specific to that batch. To create a profile, a PureTone profiling kit is required, which incorporates a sensitive colorimeter. A single LED panel is measured within a dark room to generate the profile, which can then be used with all the panels in that particular batch.

Meanwhile, the Tessera SX40 and S8 now have a preset to support the ACES AP1 primaries, used by the ACEScg color space that is increasingly the choice of CG artists. This avoids the need for a color space conversion in the source device.

ACES AP1 will be automatically recognized by the processor when received over HDMI 2.0, or alternatively, may be manually selected on the processor. The user can also reference the ACES AP1 color gamut within Brompton’s dynamic calibration tools.

WorldCast Systems, the supplier of advanced broadcast products, is pleased to announce “the further evolution” of its APTmpX product, a “non-destructive” MPX/composite compression algorithm.

Despite the advent of the internet and digital broadcasting standards, FM remains the world’s most popular transmission format and a central technology in radio broadcasters’ efforts to maximize their reach and audience. As a result, new technologies have had to be created to enable an FM-centric workflow to also work for internet delivery.

The initial version of APTmpX, launched in October 2020, offered FM broadcasters access to high quality signal compression for the resulting centralized FM MPX/Composite transmission, solving the difficulty of maintaining both a high quality and a cost-effective transmission.

This provided a solution in the <900kbps region. The latest release of APTmpX takes this even further. Following optimization by Worldcast engineers, three new versions are available that offer new levels of compression at 600, 400 or 300kbps network bandwidth. This means the composite signal can now directly be transported with non-destructive compression from 600kbps down to 300kbps.

The use of APTmpX confers several advantages. Since the majority of composite equipment at transmitter sites is eliminated with a centrally generated MPX/composite signal, besides the obvious network savings, several broadcasters have already managed to save hardware costs with APTmpX. Furthermore, the company says, APTmpX combines signal fidelity with the best latency performance and makes it easier than ever to guarantee a consistent sonic signature across the transmitter network.

“Thanks to its low complexity and easy integration, APTmpX has already proven itself as the ultimate solution to enable a 100% digital transmission chain, bridging the transition from digital studios to digital transmitters,” said Gregory Mercier, Director of Product Marketing at WorldCast Systems. “With these new versions, we bring its power to a whole new section of the market, allowing broadcasters in areas of poor bandwidth penetration to deliver stunning audio quality to their audiences no matter what they are listening on.”

It’s known worldwide as a cloud-based multi-tenant platform provider.

At the end of this month, it will demonstrate how, in its view, “easy it is” to implement feature-rich OTT content delivery using the MwareTV platform to mobile operators, telcos and ISPs.

MwareTV will be getting a spotlight at Mobile World Congress, which begins February 28 in Barcelona and concludes March 3.

Mware TV can be found in Hall 5, stand 5J66. “Showcasing the platforms versatility, each visitor will be able to leave with a fully branded proof of concept service,” the company says.

“As an established, cloud-based content platform, MwareTV is able to add services very quickly, anywhere in the world. Users are presented with powerful functionality from content acquisition through delivery to white label Android and Apple apps, all simply customised and branded. Highly tailored and fully branded services can typically be online within four weeks.”

New at MWC2022 will be the latest version of the mobile apps, designed to provide a more enriched user-experience. “MwareTV handles all aspects of delivery, meaning ISPs and telcos do not need to delve into the technology of streaming: simply set quality of service expectations. In many markets, MwareTV can also supply licensed content for multiple channels and services, speeding still further the time to revenue.”

The cloud hosted MwareTV service is based on a “pay as you grow” concept, which means there are no high up-front costs. “As part of the proof of concept, MwareTV will supply a full costing calculator that provides a comprehensive forecast of the launch and running costs of any new service, leading to full investment transparency and profitability predictions. For telcos and ISPs, the ease of operation, ready to launch apps and financial transparency removes the significant barriers to entry and makes new services instantly competitive.”

The fourth-quarter earnings calendar for broadcast media companies is coalescing, and the latest company to confirm when it is sharing its results is The E.W. Scripps Co.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Some 20 miles to the northwest of downtown Atlanta is town of Powder Springs, Ga. It is home to an AM radio station that spent much of January off the air, and has been owned by a Vietnamese-American media and entertainment figure for nearly 8 years.

He’s now opting to sell the facility, and at a fraction of the price he paid for it.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Connected TV advertising and measurement platform Innovid has struck a deal to acquire television measurement company TVSquared.

The acquisition creates what Innovid calls “an end-to-end, independent TV measurement alternative that brings together streaming and linear television.”

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Until its merger with Meredith Corporation, Atlanta-headquartered Gray Television didn’t own a broadcast TV station in its home market.

With the FCC‘s blessing, it will be adding a third over-the-air station to its collection in The A.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

It is designed “to elevate the visibility of diverse-owned media companies with advertisers and agencies.”

Introducing the Diverse Media Equity program, courtesy of the nation’s dominant audience measurement and consumer psychographics data provider.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

MIAMI — Just days after the closing of a transaction that effectively melds Televisa’s media content and production assets with those of Univision, the combined company now known as TelevisaUnivision Inc. has appointed a pair of sales leaders who are each taking Senior Vice President roles under EVP/Multimedia Sales John Kozack.

Joining the company are Rob McGovern, as SVP of Multimedia Sales, and Richard Bertodatti, as SVP of Multimedia and Audience Sales.

McGovern will be based in Los Angeles and will lead the West Coast National Sales efforts. McGovern was previously SVP/National Sales & Client Partnerships at Outfront Media, where he led West Coast national ad sales and the development of revenue growth strategies to drive new OOH business. McGovern has also served as SVP of Sales & Client Partnerships at WarnerMedia and spent nine years at Discovery Networks as VP/National Sales Manager.

Bertodatti will lead the company’s business with Publicis, IPG, Havas, the Boston territory, and at other agencies and work with Univision’s multimedia sales teams “to help optimize and accelerate the advanced advertising sales capabilities.”

Bertodatti joins TelevisaUnivision from Facebook, where he was Director of Global Investment Programs, focused on video and sponsorship opportunities. He previously spent six years at ViacomCBS, where he was active in the data advertising sales and strategy team.

Bertodatti started his career at Telemundo parent NBCU, where he held various sales roles during his 12-year tenure, across various network, digital and cable properties.

In the Public Relations trade, it has become standard practice to release headline-making breaking business news late in the day on a Friday. By doing so, the impact will be lessened, while consumers affected by the now-resolved dispute are happy and going on with their lives.

This is what occurred just before 6pm Eastern on February 4 between DISH and TEGNA. A new carriage agreement was reached — with its timing expressly tied to the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

But, is the second reason for an end to a particularly bitter battle tied to the institutional investment firm led by Soohyung Kim, which is reportedly close to a per-share buyout of the company he unsuccessfully sought to lead via two failed shareholder proposals?

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

It was expected, yet some remained concerned that the necessary percentage of Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) members needed to approve an agreement was still out of reach.

Those worries can now be swept away. A settlement between the RMLC, a group representing several smaller and independently-owned radio stations, and the Irving Azoff-controlled Global Music Rights (GMR) has been reached.

News of the agreement, which RBR+TVBR learned on Friday was imminent, was first shared by Streamline Publishing’s co-owned Radio Ink early Monday.

The deal puts a settlement of long-running litigation between GMR and the RMLC over the royalties that the radio stations which are members of the Committee, led by Executive Director Bill Velez, will pay for the public performance of music written by composers aligned with GMR.

One condition of the settlement, an important one, called for a sufficient percentage of radio stations to opt into the deal by signing the form license agreement that
RMLC and GMR negotiated. The negotiated form license agreement, with member
stations’ annual license fees, was sent directly by GMR via e-mail. That sufficient percentage of signatures was met.

The new GMR licenses that radio stations represented by the RMLC signed will begin on April 1. An interim license previously agreed upon by the parties expires on March 31.

In a statement, Azoff said, “Global Music Rights stands for songwriters and the value of their music. I am proud of the GMR team for the hard work on behalf of songwriters in achieving this settlement. It is wonderful that GMR and thousands of radio stations coast to coast are partnered to bring great music to fans for many years.”

Speaking for the RMLC is its Chairman, Ed Atsinger III, the Executive Chairman and former CEO of Salem Media Group. Atsinger commented, “This settlement puts an end to more than five years of litigation and represents a shared desire by both sides to find a way for radio stations and GMR to work together on a long-term basis without repeatedly resorting to litigation.”

Litigation was perhaps an unfortunate hallmark of GMR’s battles with RMLC, as the settlement resolves antitrust litigation that dates to late 2016.  The battle was bruising, with RMLC striking first in November 2016. A month later, GMR countersued, assailing the RMLC as “an illegal cartel.”

With the deal, radio stations now have rights and royalty accords with GMR, SESAC, BMI and ASCAP. Despite these payments paid by radio, groups including musicFIRST, led by former New York Congressman Joe Crowley, are aggressively seeking Congressional approval of the American Music Fairness Act. While the AMFA was in the spotlight last week on Capitol Hill, it has far less support than the Local Radio Freedom Act, a resolution that serves as a pledge to vote against any legislation placing new fees on broadcast radio with respect to airplay of recorded music.

Forty-three years ago, he began his career at a Class A FM at 92.7 MHz serving Nassau County, N.Y., and parts of New York City with a mix of rock and punk music that would eventually coalesce under leadership that built a radio station that “Dared to Be Different.”

He later made waves as the man who preceded Howard Stern in overnights at a station that previously featured Jay Thomas in mornings that just couldn’t shake its association with Disco.

For the last 18 years, he’s been running a Class A Adult Alternative FM based in Maryland’s state capital.

Now, Bob Waugh is ready to say farewell.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Could department store retailers be ramping up their spot TV efforts because of the Olympic Games? Or, are other forces at work?

Whatever the case, Target and Macy’s are highly active users of Spot TV, according to the latest Media Monitors report.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

How many active advertisers are there at Spot Radio these days?

Once one deletes iHeartRadio promotional spots and podcast teasers from the mix, the answer is, sadly, not that many.

On the bright side, Macy’s is back with a new effort. This puts the retailer at No. 10 with some 35,145 spot plays.

By comparison, the top paid advertiser, Indeed, comes in with 62,554 spot plays for the week ending February 6.

At No. 4 thanks to a renewed campaign push is DuckDuckGo, “the Internet privacy company that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal information online, without any tradeoffs.”

Meanwhile, ZipRecruiter is present to challenge Indeed in the job search category.

Lastly, the QSR category is represented by Wendy’s.

It’s a company “dedicated to providing Great Local Radio and is committed to being an active and integral part of the communities it serves.”

As of today, meeting that goal is now a bigger part of the role Jim Smith will play at the radio broadcasting company led by Mary Quass.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)