Radio+Television Business Report

On Sunday, it became known to viewers across the U.S. that Sinclair Broadcast Group had suffered a cyberattack, crippling newsrooms across several markets. This ransomware incident follows similar incidents at Cox Media Group, Audacy, Urban One and Max Media.

How could this happen? What should a media company consider to prevent it from happening in their organization — or is a cyberattack inevitable?

In this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM, Lisa Plaggemier, the interim Executive Director with the Washington, D.C.,-based National Cybersecurity Alliance, offers important insight and intelligence on the subject in an exclusive interview with Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: National Cybersecurity Alliance” on Spreaker.

Cyber Threats and How to Protect Your Organization Cyber threats are coming fast and furious nowadays. Every day we hear of another ransomware attack or data breach, and it seems that the cyber adversaries are taking over companies unopposed. Cyber security expert Steve Morgan, founder of Cybersecurity Ventures and Editor-in-Chief at Cybercrime Magazine, sits down with Juliet Huddy for a provocative interview that will cover, in non-technobabble, how the cyber adversaries are doing it,  why people and companies are in the dark when it comes to cybercrime, and what they can and should do to protect their organization.

 

Attend this session in person ONLY at Forecast 2022!
For more information and to register, please click here.

Radio imaging, voiceover, programming, podcasting and jingles company Benztown has promoted its Custom Imaging Manager to Director of Custom Imaging.

Concurrently, Benztown has filled the Custom Imaging Manager spot with a 13-year veteran of Audacy’s Rhythmic Top 40 known as “Power 93.5” in Wichita.

Royce Stevenson, formerly of KDGS-FM in Wichita, is stepping into the role previously held by Thomas Green.

That’s the individual who in 2019 joined Benztown after serving as Audio Producer for the popular Australian morning radio show “Fifi, Fev & Byron.” Green was also Audio Producer for “Carrie & Tommy” and for multiple Hit Network programs across Australia.

Green is currently based in Brooklyn, NY.

During his 13-year tenure with KDGS, Stevenson was the Production Director for the station cluster and did station imaging for KDGS-FM and KEYN-FM, a Classic Hits station. He was most recently Assistant Brand Manager/Music Director for KDGS-FM, and hosted afternoon drive on the station.

Resource management software company Xytech has scheduled a four-day webinar series designed to showcase new features associated with its MediaPulse 10 product.

Each day of the series, scheduled from from Oct. 26–29, will focus on a different feature of the system.

From Oct. 26–27, a MediaPulse Overview is planned. On Oct. 27­­–28, time will be spent showcasing MediaPulse Personnel; on Oct. 28–29 company executives will highlight MediaPulse Transmission.

“Until we can once again meet in person, these webinar series are essential communication tools to the community,” said Xytech COO Greg Dolan. “With the version 10 update, MediaPulse provides every user with exactly the functionality they need, when they need it, on the device of their choosing, creating a reliable solution able to operate anywhere. Something the pandemic has made crucial.”

MediaPulse Overview
On Oct. 26, Xytech will host a webinar at 1pm ET/10am PT.

During this first webinar, attendees will learn how MediaPulse 10 simplifies scheduling, automation, asset management, billing and cost recovery for broadcasters, media services companies and transmission facilities in a scalable platform-independent solution.

MediaPulse Personnel
To be held on Oct. 27 at 1pm ET/10am PT, this webinar will showcase the upgrades to the MediaPulse 10’s Personnel Management features.

MediaPulse Transmission
The final webinar in the series will be held Oct. 28 at 1pm ET/10am PT.

To register for any of the MediaPulse 10 Webinar Series, please visit: https://www.xytechsystems.com/webinar/

To some, he’s the heir apparent to the late Rush Limbaugh. A New York Police Department officer from 1995-1999 and a Secret Service agent for the following 12 years, Dan Bongino took a career pivot and found success as a conservative Talk Radio host at Cumulus Media‘s WMAL in Washington.

Following Limbaugh’s passing, several radio broadcasting companies scrambled to fill the void. For Cumulus and its Westwood One national radio arm, a full court press to get stations across the country to embrace The Dan Bongino Show was put into motion. On May 24, Bongino officially went national, taking the Noon-3pm Eastern slot and gaining affiliates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Today, Bongino’s future with Cumulus and Westwood One is in question. He has practically given his employer an ultimatum. It’s all about the company’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy. Bongino isn’t budging … and he’s vaccinated.

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With automotive chip shortages plaguing the industry, could Sirius XM see a negative impact on Wall Street?

Pivotal Research Group analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak believes so.

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ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — Live event production services company CP Communications, the parent of the growing Red House Streaming (RHS) operation based in this Tampa Bay region city, has just given Lowell Beckner a promotion.

Becker is now VP of Red House Streaming and General Manager of CPSP.

“As an organization, we are continually pushing forward the boundaries of broadcast and live event production,” said CP’s Chief Executive Officer Kurt Heitmann. “We successfully launched our subsidiary, Red House Streaming, during the pandemic, and we are now positioned as the go-to for production in the Tampa Bay market. That success is made possible by our hard-working and dedicated staff. These promotions and new hires reflect that effort and the company’s continued growth.”

Beckner joined CP Communications in 2020, focusing on the introduction of the RHS brand and its subsequent growth over the past year. Beckner is credited with the launch of RHS studios in January 2021 and has been instrumental in the expansion of products and services in the RHS ecosystem. In his new position of Vice President of RHS and General Manager of CPSP, Beckner reports to Heitmann and is responsible for the day-to-day operations and business development of the RHS Production Center, including the control room, studios, and network operations center (NOC), as well as the overall management of the CPSP operations.

Beckner’s career began in the U.S. Air Force with tours at the Joint Special Operations Command and the White House Communications Agency. He spent the next 21 years as a Director of Engineering with TV stations in the southeast and with broadcast media network groups, taking on roles of increasing responsibility with Media General, Cox Media Group, and E.W. Scripps. In 2017, he shifted his focus toward wireless IP networking at Vislink, where he served as Product Manager, IP Systems for Integrated Microwave Technologies, and as Regional Sales Manager for Live Production. Beckner’s valuable hands-on experience across the entire broadcast ecosystem includes engineering creative solutions for newsroom, playout, transmission, and IP/bonded cellular systems.

Beckner said, “Media viewers today want to watch what they want to watch when they want to watch it. With the advances we’ve made at Red House Streaming since we launched in January, we are giving Tampa Bay and even the world more opportunities to view quality streaming 24/7!”

In concurrent company appointments, Jason Proskurin has been promoted to Technical Director for RHS and Sales Administrator for CP Communications.

New to the St. Petersburg operation are Beth Weber, hired as Senior Producer for RHS, and Tabitha Coleman, Controller for CP.

Furthermore, working from CP’s New York office, Aaron Segarra is now Vice President of Sales and Marketing, which includes oversight of all marketing and sales activities for CP and the RHS brand.

GatesAir has added native Livewire+ IP audio networking to its Intraplex Ascent cloud transport platform.

As such, Intraplex Ascent can now ingest and output multiple audio channels directly via IP without the need for conversion equipment, which adds a new layer of scale and efficiency for radio broadcasters managing many digital audio channels between studios.

Future support is planned for WheatNet-IP, further expanding Ascent adoption within professional broadcast studios.

GatesAir introduced Intraplex Ascent as a next-generation Audio over IP platform built to transport broadcast and media content at scale. The industry-first cloud transport platform was built with broadcast and IT convergence in mind, leveraging common off-the-shelf hardware to reduce the costs of multichannel contribution and distribution between many locations. GatesAir started shipping Intraplex Ascent in 2020 and has a number of systems in operation with broadcasters today, including one recent deployment with Livewire+ capability.

“GatesAir has successfully deployed Ascent with a national radio broadcaster that is sending 32 audio channels between two major studio locations,” said Keyur Parikh, Vice President of Engineering at GatesAir. “They are directly connecting to the Livewire studios, providing encoding and reliable transport across public IP networks. Our high-density platform ensures seamless integration into Livewire networks without the need for audio converters. Our customers benefit from simplified integration and capital cost reduction.”

As with all Intraplex transport applications, GatesAir’s Dynamic Stream Splicing (DSS) software supports reliable transport across redundant networks, and optimizes stream integrity through protection against jitter, packet losses and network failures. Within Ascent, DSS software also supports duplication of SRT streams with video and audio over separate network paths, leveraging a single stream-splicing buffer for hitless protection against errors and failures.

Parikh says that no matter how Ascent is used, broadcasters can trust its reliable cloud platform to manage high-bandwidth, high-volume and high-value media content for any transport application and over any system architecture. This showcases Ascent’s strengths as a software-defined system that drives the hardware scalability curve.

“Intraplex Ascent is built to work natively with IP protocol, and IP-based transport is becoming ubiquitous within studio and STL connections,” Parikh said. “Whether sending content over cable, DSL, fiber or microwave, everything converges to IP, and Ascent’s software-based solution then provides the engine for moving large volumes of media content for ATSC 1.0/3.0 television and FM radio networks. We are bringing the scalability of the cloud to move content between multiple sites at the same time.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Presentations originally planned for the 75th annual Broadcast Engineering & Information Technology (BEIT) Conference will premiere as video-on-demand (VOD) content in early November 2021.

And, they’ll be available for purchase at NABAmplify.com.

Along with access to the majority of presentations originally planned for the 2021 NAB Show via VOD, viewers will receive access to the full set of papers compiled in the Proceedings of the 75th BEIT Conference.

The program, designed for broadcast engineers and technicians and media technology managers, offers technical presentations on the most relevant issues facing the media industry.

The BEIT conference program is established by the NAB Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology Conference Program Committee, a rotating group of senior technologists from NAB member organizations and other technical experts, along with representatives from the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE), the Broadcast Technology Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE-BTS), the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA), and the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE).

The 2021 conference’s forward-looking focus emphasizes the use of next-generation systems throughout the media-delivery ecosystem, with technical presentations covering topics such as the ongoing transition to IT- and IP-based systems and incorporation of artificial intelligence and machine learning in broadcast technology.

Other topics include the following:

• All-Digital Radio
• Cloud Technologies for Broadcast
• Hybrid Radio
• Mitigating Facility Risks (Physical and Cyber)
• Next Gen TV Technologies
• OTT TV Technologies
• Radio Broadcasting Technologies
• SMPTE ST 2110 / IP-based Facilities
• TV Enhancements
• Using Drones for Broadcast Engineering

When P&O Cruises’ new vessel Iona set sail from Southampton, England on its maiden voyage in August 2021, it became the latest ship to feature the bespoke “Cruise Radio” service powered by the DAD radio automation platform from ENCO.

Operated and managed by specialist audio and technology service provider The Useful Media Company, Cruise Radio offers vacationers an entertaining and informative mix of music and essential ship information.

The largest cruise ship ever built for the UK market, Iona is also the most environmentally friendly and innovative ship to date for P&O Cruises, a brand of Carnival Corporation plc.

Cruise Radio is the only “as-live” radio service at sea, and is unique to each of the P&O Cruises ships. Played over video from the bow camera and streamed to every cabin on each ship, Cruise Radio combines music with radio elements including imaging, jingles, and bespoke commercial packages advertising on-board services, shows, and activities. The fully-featured radio service also provides interesting content including documentary music programming, historical retrospectives, and essential information about what is happening on and off the ship.

The Useful Media Company provided the on-ship equipment for the Cruise Radio service and is responsible for programming the service’s content and supporting its operation.

”We’re very proud to be part of Iona’s adventure as the latest ship to host the Cruise Radio service,” said Grant Francis, Managing Director of The Useful Media Company. “The service is enjoyed by thousands of passengers and crew every week. In the challenging environment of a cruise ship, we needed to ensure rock-solid, uninterrupted, reliable delivery when the ships are at sea or away from their home port in Southampton. This made ENCO DAD the ideal and only viable technology platform for Cruise Radio. It provides all of the tools we need to carry out the project, from supporting multiple libraries of music and clips to built-in audio file conversion.”

Music scheduling for Cruise Radio is handled through ENCO DAD’s integrated Ensemble music scheduling system, while other elements such as on-ship promotions use rotating cuts to ensure that relevant content is delivered while continually sounding fresh. “ENCO DAD enables Cruise Radio to be much more engaging and informative than the traditional approach of simply playing songs from a CD or MP3 player in randomized order,” Grant said. “The output sounds smoother too, as it would on a land-based radio station.”

The ENCO DAD system provides full automation of Cruise Radio, minimizing the effort required by onboard staff. Even updates to the music library, advertisements, and software configuration can be performed with the press of a single button, with ENCO’s DCL (DAD Command Language) executing all required steps.

“DCL is invaluable in enabling us to control the system from many thousands of miles away,” explained Grant. “We don’t have ongoing remote connectivity to the system, so instead we send onboard operators a disc once a month that they put into the system. They simply run one file, and the DCL commands initiate all of the updates from the DVD. After the update, the system gets on with things on its own.”

Most importantly, the ENCO DAD system has delivered the flawless reliability that Cruise Radio demands. “It continually performs, and it works perfectly every time,” said Grant. “Cruise Radio simply would not work without the ENCO DAD platform.”

In addition to the entire P&O Cruises fleet of ships, Cunard Radio – also operated by The Useful Media Company – can be found on Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, all part of the iconic Cunard Line, famous for their black hulls, striking red funnels, and opulent luxury.

— Brian Galante

Who were the top healthcare and pharmacy retailer advertisers in September?

A new analysis by Media Monitors provides a clear answer.

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He’s served as the President/GM of the Hearst Television-owned ABC affiliate in Jackson, Miss., and took that role five years ago. Now, he has been chosen to succeed Joel Vilmenay at its NBC affiliate serving New Orleans.

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There’s a change in leadership for the NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group in Terre Haute, Indiana.

And, this individual will also oversee the company’s operational agreements with close partner Mission Broadcasting tied to the market’s ABC affiliate.

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Gray Television has promoted an individual who first joined its NBC affiliate serving Alexandria, Va., to the top leadership role at the station.

At the same time, it has selected a station veteran to replace the retiring Matt Eldridge as the head of ABC affiliate in Reno, Nev.

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One of the two leading Democratic voices on the influential House Energy & Commerce Committee — the individual who oversees the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology — has announced he will not seek re-election.

As such, he will be saying goodbye to Capitol Hill in January 2023.

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Updated at 12:25pm Eastern

On the evening of October 6, the latest fight over retransmission consent fees commenced. At 9pm Eastern, TEGNA-owned stations were no longer accessible to Dish customers, as the companies’ accord had expired without a new deal put into place.

TEGNA and Dish exchanged words, each blaming each other for the “blackout,” by law, of TEGNA stations to Dish’s paying clientele.

On Monday (10/18), Dish took things up a notch by reaching out to the FCC.

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By Jackson Weaver, with additional reporting by Adam R Jacobson

kIRKLAND, WASH. — On September 10, Lotus Communications, the privately held media company run by the Kalmenson family from Los Angeles, officially closed on its acquisition of the lone radio stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Today, those stations’ continued link to Sinclair has led to widespread challenges for the three audio brands, as a crippling cybersecurity incident at the stations’ former owner has led to severe disruption for Lotus in Seattle-Tacoma.

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Its shares are presently trading at a year-to-date low. Industry groups including the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) aren’t pleased with its TV audience measurement services. The Media Ratings Council is working on accreditation issues.

Nielsen has had a bruising 2021. Now, it believes a new brand campaign, including a “new identity” will help in sharing the story of the company’s “transformation of its culture” and “a redefined strategy focused solely on the global future of media.”

Nielsen’s new look and feel, it says, “represents a commitment to innovation and the company’s role and purpose of powering a better media future for all people.”

Following the sale of its Global Connect business in March 2021, Nielsen reiterated that it is now focused on delivering “digital-first and global-first media solutions” in the “measurement, audience outcomes and content services” arenas.

This includes the previously announced integration of its measurement products into Nielsen One.

The company says, “With an unmatched foundation of cross platform measurement, Nielsen offers a full suite of planning and outcomes solutions for marketers and agencies to enhance their return on investments. Nielsen also continues to enhance its Gracenote content services business, delivering leading metadata and analytics for On Demand content globally.”

“While our business has transformed dramatically over the past few years, it became clear that perceptions of the company have not evolved at the same pace,” said Jamie Moldafsky, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. “The rebranding marks a new Nielsen both inside the company and out, with a strategy hyper-focused on the global audience and the changing media environment. Nielsen’s core values of inclusion, courage and growth, along with its clear strategy, will power the company’s transformation as we partner with the industry and our clients to help them better understand how evolving audiences consume media and find content.”

The new brand identity will be unveiled at Advertising Week New York, which will be held October 18 – 21. Signage showcasing the elements of the rebranding will be prominently displayed on the fifth and sixth floors of Hudson Yards. Nielsen will also host a daily breakfast at its lounge, which will feature the new logo, images and colors, in line with the company’s new brand identity.

Initial elements of Nielsen’s brand evolution include:

New Logo: As a prominent representation of the company, people and brand, the new logo is playful, optimistic and smart. Inspired by the universal play button as well as ratings, the forms come together subtly to create an ‘N’ letterform in the negative space, signifying insights revealed by Nielsen’s data and the constant momentum in media.

New Brand Colors: The multitude of fresh colors speaks to the diversity and richness in media representing or containing a piece of data, a piece of music, a show, a content creator, or a member of the audience, all working together to move media forward. The green and orange triangles represent movement upwards and downwards, an expression of ratings and the popularity of content across all platforms. The red triangle nods towards the content not seen or heard. Data and insights are just as much about what people don’t choose to consume, as what they do consume.

New Brand Purpose Statement: Powering a Better Media Future for All People.

Chalk up another carriage agreement between a television network owner and a MVPD that includes cable TV customer access to an “Over the Top,” or OTT, offering.

ViacomCBS and Altice USA on Monday revealed that they’ve reached a “comprehensive agreement” for the continued carriage of ViacomCBS’ networks for Altice USA’s Optimum and Suddenlink customers.

The pact also provides Altice USA with rights to ViacomCBS’ suite of streaming services, including Paramount+, SHOWTIME OTT, Pluto TV, BET+ and Noggin.

“We are pleased to have reached a new multi-year agreement with our partners at Altice USA that underscores the strength of ViacomCBS’ brands and streaming services,” Ray Hopkins, President of U.S. Networks Distribution at ViacomCBS commented. “Altice USA through its Optimum and Suddenlink brands is an important partner and we look forward to continuously serving subscribers with our outstanding collection of content.”

Yossi Benchetrit, Altice USA’s Chief Programming and Procurement Officer, added, “As Altice USA continues to focus on providing our Optimum and Suddenlink customers with a robust array of content to meet their evolving entertainment needs, we are pleased to reach a new agreement with ViacomCBS that ensures the continued delivery of their networks plus added rights to the ViacomCBS streaming services portfolio.”

ViacomCBS and Altice USA will continue to collaborate on addressable media and advanced advertising capabilities.

Other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Updated at 9:40am Eastern

“We are experiencing technical problems and are working to resolve them.”

That was the short but succinct Tweet sent in the 8pm Eastern hour on Sunday evening by a dual CBS/FOX affiliated property licensed to South Bend, Ind.

Six hours earlier, a nearly identical Tweet was posted by the ABC affiliate serving Portland, Ore.

Those “technical difficulties” were seen at sibling television stations across the U.S., including a pioneer in broadcast television that was perhaps the first TV station to broadcast in color — WRGB-6 in Schenectady, N.Y.

On Monday morning, the stations’ leadership still wasn’t commenting. But, it submitted the facts in a SEC filing. Indeed, Sinclair Broadcast Group has become the latest media company to suffer a severe ransomware attack.

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As Sunday, October 18, came to a close on the East Coast of the U.S., it became very clear that Sinclair Broadcast Group had apparently become the latest owner of radio and/or TV stations to become victim of a crippling ransomware attack.

With cybersecurity concerns bigger than ever for broadcast media, expert Steve Morgan‘s upcoming Forecast 2022 appearance couldn’t be more timely to tackle the subject.

From Sinclair to Cox Media Group, Audacy, Townsquare Media, Urban One and smaller broadcast media companies such as Max Media of Norfolk, Va., and Bicoastal Media, in the Pacific Northwest, cyber adversaries are wreaking havoc at some broadcast media companies, catching them off-guard and ill-prepared. Learning how the cyber adversaries do it and discovering why people and companies remain largely in the dark about cybercrimes could be one of the biggest opportunities of the year.

Morgan is the founder of Cybersecurity Ventures and Editor-in-Chief at Cybercrime Magazine. At Forecast 2022, he’ll chat with WABC-AM in New York talk show host Juliet Huddy for a provocative interview delivered free of technobabble.

Morgan has written more than 500 articles for Forbes, CSO, and others. He is co-author of the book “Women Know Cyber: 100 Fascinating Females Fighting Cybercrime” and named on numerous lists including LinkedIn’s 5 Security Influencers to Follow, Onalytica’s Who’s Who in Cybersecurity, and the Top 100 Cybersecurity Influencers at RSA Conference.

 

“The value of a business depends largely on how well it guards its data, the strength of its cybersecurity, and its level of cyber resilience,” Morgan says.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear what Morgan has to say. Make your plans to day for Forecast 2022, November 16 at the Harvard Club in midtown Manhattan.

Forecast 2022 explores the most critical challenge facing business and industry today — cyber security — with a session packed with information you need to know and answers to questions you have – or should have. Seating is limited. Register today for Forecast 2022 and take advantage of early bird pricing. Registration include admittance into the Broadcast Leadership Reception honoring the 2021 Top Radio and Television Leaders. Always a great networking event, this may be a one-of-a-kind opportunity this year!