The ANA 2022 Media Conference is scheduled for March 2-4 in Orlando, and it is presented by A+E Network.
With in-person and virtual sessions on the agenda, the leading advertising and marketing industry advocacy group is this year partnering with the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters to give the diversity discussion an added boost.
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Next Wednesday, the two biggest audio content creation and distribution companies in the U.S. will each release their fourth quarter fiscal results.
For leader iHeartMedia, a pre-market call will be scheduled — a potentially good move for a company that in the past used a Thursday after-market time slot to evade press coverage of a blemish-filled report.
At 10am on February 23, Audacy Inc. will take the spotlight. For the former Entercom, the fiscal report card comes with its stock at a far lower price than it was a year ago.
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The Federal Communications Commission has issued a monetary forfeiture to a Texas LPFM licensee for failing to file a license renewal application on time.
The $1,500 fine is to Holy Spirit Oil Filled Ministry, licensee of low-power FM station KERC(LP) in Kermit, Texas.
FCC rules require stations to file for renewal application at least four months before their license expiration date, which for Holy Spirit was April 1, 2021. The Media Bureau said an application was not filed until May 13 and the licensee hasn’t explained why.
Soon after the bureau sent a notice of apparent liability for forfeiture and gave Holy Spirit 30 days to pay or reply. To date, the bureau said, the licensee has done neither.
The bureau has now determined that Holy Spirit willfully violated the rules and it confirmed the $1,500 forfeiture.
The post Texas LPFM Issued Forfeiture for Late-filed Application appeared first on Radio World.
iHeartMedia has announced a partnership with Sounder, an audio intelligence platform.
The media company said it will use Sounder’s Audio Data Cloud to provide podcast creators with AI and machine learning tools “to help them gain critical, real-time insights to accelerate growth and improve monetization.”
It also is making a financial investment in Sounder, as the lead investor in the company’s Series A round. Sounder was founded in 2019 by former executives of Google and Spotify.
iHeart said approximately 750 of its original podcasts use Sounder technology. An important aspect of the announcement is what is called “brand safety” — a means for advertisers to spend on the iHeartPodcast Network’s content confidently.
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“The brand safety solution enables iHeartMedia’s marketing partners to buy across a wide array of creators with the assurance that the content adheres to industry safety standards,” iHeart stated. “The technology will quickly expand to also allow advertisers to customize their brand safety guidelines, unlocking new and more diverse publishers to provide even more effective ad placements.”
Chief Data Officer Brian Kaminsky was quoted saying, “It’s critical that we learn from the challenges advertisers have had with video and social media to deliver safety tools and controls that allow brands to customize their campaigns and ensure that their ads will be delivered at scale in a brand-safe environment.”
He said the partnership also provides “brand suitability tools” that align brands with relevant content and creator sentiments.
Sounder explained these tools on the company’s blog: “Through our brand safety and suitability solution, we can analyze a publisher’s audio content and identify any segments that might not meet the industry safety guidelines. … Knowing a publisher’s audio content is safe and suitable increases the rate a publisher can charge. Brands, too, are eager to share their messages on audio so long as they know their brand identity isn’t at risk.”
The announcement was made by Joe Robinson, iHeartMedia’s president of corporate development and ventures, and Kal Amin, CEO and co-founder of Sounder.
Kal Amin said, “While podcast advertising is growing fast, it’s still a nascent business when compared to traditional radio advertising.”
Submit business announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.
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The percentage of women serving as radio general managers in the largest U.S. media markets shows “strong growth year over year,” according to the organization Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio.
In the top 100 markets, the percentage continues to run higher than the national average. In 2021, about 24% of stations in these larger markets were managed by women, up from about 22% the year before.
Overall, MIW finds that about 21% of stations in 2021 had women in the general manager position. “This is an increase of almost a full percentage point from 2020 … Notably, this number continues to show consistent growth from 2004, when the percentage of female general managers was only 14.9%.”
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The study is based on data about roughly 11,000 AM and FM radio stations in the United States, as accounted for by PrecisionTrak.
“Overall, the best management opportunities for women in radio continue to be in sales management,” MIW said. About 34% of stations had a female sales manager, basically flat from 2020.
“The greatest challenge for women in radio management continues to be in the area of program directors/brand managers.” Women currently program about 12% of stations, again basically flat.
The organization does not report the number of women in technical management positions.
MIW Board President Ruth Presslaff was quoted saying, “If the glass is half full, we should celebrate any upward movement, even if it’s incremental, as jobs continue to be eliminated in the continuing pandemic. However, it’s disappointing that the glass isn’t filling faster for those in programming and MIW is paying close attention to this issue.”
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Dick Pickens is being remembered as a consulting engineer, ABIP inspector and DJ.
His passing at age 85 was noted by the Texas Association of Broadcasters.
Pickens owned technical consulting company Microcom Systems Inc. One of its specialties, according to its website, was measuring, building, servicing and signal measuring AM and AM directional radio stations.
As one of the first four inspectors in Texas under the the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program in Texas, Pickens helped hundreds of broadcast stations with FCC rule compliance.
Before he started his company in the 1980s, he had already been a top-rated deejay, program manager, production person, AV producer, radio chief engineer and teacher of broadcasting at the University of Texas College of Communication.
The TAB writes that Pickens began in broadcasting at the age of 10. He and nine-year-old Ben Laurie launched the “Keebie Kids” Saturday morning live children’s radio program on KEBE(AM) Jacksonville in 1946.
He met his future wife Nancy when she performed a piano piece on the program. The couple celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary last year, TAB noted.
Pickens began his DJ career in the 1950s with the air name Dick Laine, eventually joining the Gordon McLendon group of stations. He interviewed rock ’n’ rollers on-air and became a PD and DJ for the original KOKE(AM) in Austin. He later moved to top 40 station KNOW(AM) Austin. The Texas Radio Hall of Fame inducted him as Dick Laine in 2012.
“Throughout his on-air years, he expanded his knowledge of the engineering side of broadcasting, eventually earning his Amateur Radio license and in 1964 his FCC First Class commercial radio operator license,” according to the TAB. “He worked up to an Amateur Radio Extra Class License in 1975 with the call sign K5UD.”
In the 1970s he created, built and managed a radio common carrier business for which he had to learn to create computer programs; he designed and installed a number of radio studios and transmitter sites, according to the MSI website.
He later earned bachelor and master of divinity degrees from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. “He was a man of great Christian faith who also would use his broadcast experience to assist several Texas religious broadcasters over the years,” TAB wrote.
“In 1997, he became one of the four original TAB ABIP inspectors. For the next 25 years, Dick and Nancy traveled throughout Texas, inspecting hundreds of radio and television stations throughout the state, helping stations achieve compliance with FCC regulations,” TAB wrote. “Nancy served as the team’s Public Inspection File specialist.”
A memorial service is planned for March 5 in Spicewood, Texas.
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Colorado community station KAFM has joined the VuHaus Group’s “NPR Live Sessions” project. The Grand Junction, Colo.-based station will have a page on the project site featuring unquie, local music video content.
The non-profit Grand Valley Public Radio Co. Inc. owns the volunteer-run KAFM, which is heard on 88.1 MHz in Grand Junction and 96.9 MHz in Palisade, Colo.
“We are thrilled to be joining so many well-respected radio stations across the country and NPR Music’s ‘Live Sessions’ that support musicians and their craft,” stated Cyrene Jagger, KAFM executive director.
VuHaus is a non-profit organization focused on connecting public radio’s music discovery stations with artists and audiences across the country. It manages the NRP Music “Live Sessions” website, curating music from 21 public radio stations across the county, including WFUV in New York City, KCRW in Los Angeles, WMOT and WNXP in Nashville, and Mountain State in West Virginia.
The post VuHaus Recruits KAFM for ‘NPR Live Sessions’ appeared first on Radio World.
With bravado and confidence that it will fulfill its mission and “only focus” of creating the world’s biggest Spanish-language OTT platforms, the recently created TelevisaUnivision on Wednesday (2/16) unveiled to marketers and television industry press the name of its forthcoming dual AVOD and SVOD video streaming service.
To those closely following the evolution of Univision under CEO Wade Davis, it is hardly a surprise. It’s the name of the company Univision acquired in February 2021, and it’s a video on demand entity with a pre-existing footprint stretching from the U.S. through Latin America.
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In July 2021, he departed as President/General Manager of KCBS-2 and KCAL-9 in Los Angeles under a turbulent period at parent company ViacomCBS, now Paramount, centered on an investigation into accusations of workplace misconduct.
Now, he’s getting an opportunity to move on from that chapter by building on his rich experience as the new VP/GM of the CBS affiliate serving Southern Nevada, owned by Nexstar Media Group.
Taking the top position for KLAS-8, branded as “8NewsNow” across the Las Vegas market, is Jay Howell.
Howell is already at the helm of one of the traditional ratings leaders in DMA No. 40, competing against Sinclair Broadcast Group’s NBC-affiliated KSNV-3, Gray Television’s recently acquired FOX-affiliated KVVU-5, and The E.W. Scripps Co.’s ABC affiliate, KTNV-13.
Howell reports to Nexstar Media SVP/Regional Manager Matthew Rosenfeld.
Howell’s career in broadcasting dates back more than three decades, and his first executive-level position came in 2001, when he was appointed VP/GM of FOX affiliate WNAC-TV and CBS-affiliated sibling WPRI-TV in Providence, R.I., under LIN Television ownership.
Howell rose to a Regional Vice President role within LIN in 2012, gaining oversight of 13 television stations across 7 markets, including Dayton, Ohio; Norfolk; and New Haven, Conn. A year later, he was promoted to VP/Television for LIN, gaining oversight of all 46 TV stations licensed to the company.
LIN’s former assets are today within the Nexstar family, thanks to its merger with Media General, which absorbed LIN in 2015. That deal gave Howell the role of VP/Broadcast Markets for Media General.
Howell exited Media General in 2017 with its sale to Nexstar, joining CBS’s Sacramento operations as VP/GM in August of that year. In July 2018, Howell transferred to Pittsburgh, taking on similar duties for CBS’s television stations in Western Pennsylvania. With the retirement of Steve Maudlin in May 2019, Howell moved to Los Angeles to succeed him at the helm of KCBS-2 and KCAL-9. It was a move made by Peter Dunn, the former President of CBS Television Stations, who also departed in 2021 as part of ViacomCBS’s misconduct probe.
Now, Howell has an opportunity for a fresh start within an organization he’s likely highly familiar with. “Jay is an ideal choice to lead Nexstar’s Las Vegas media businesses,” Rosenfeld said. “He is a proven leader with an unmatched depth of experience who understands the expectations of viewers, advertisers and marketers. He’s thoughtful, innovative, and will be dedicated to delivering outstanding local content and service to the greater Las Vegas area. His ability to deliver exceptional ratings and sales results
through unique local partnerships and superior customer service will serve him and the team at KLAS-TV very well. I am looking forward to working with Jay as he assumes his new duties and expect much success in the future.”
Commenting on his appointment at KLAS, Howell added, “I am deeply grateful to Nexstar for giving me the unique opportunity to lead the company’s Las Vegas broadcast and digital operations. As the legacy news brand in the market and an important broadcast partner of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, KLAS-TV has a strong foundation on which to build future growth. In addition, when you combine Nexstar’s commitment to hyper-local content and the unique and innovative cross-platform advertising solutions offered to its viewers and clients, the result gives us a distinct advantage over our competitors. I am excited by what
lies ahead, and I am looking forward to deepening the presence of KLAS-TV and 8Newsnow.com in the communities we serve in Las Vegas and southern Nevada.”
Pooja Nair of Xperi Corp. shares test results about the performance of MA3 HD Radio in electric vehicles. David Bialik explains some common streaming terms.
A top consumer electronics official talks about audio industry trends. Workbench explores the Pin 1 Problem.
And Buyer’s Guide looks at tools for remotes and sports coverage, including solutions from AEQ, Comrex, In:Quality, Henry, MaxxKonnect, TASCAM, Telos Alliance and Tieline.
The post Inside the Feb. 16, 2022 Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.
In somewhat of a surprise announcement made during a splashy self-promotion of its content offerings, ViacomCBS President/CEO Bob Bakish and the company’s majority shareholder, National Amusements Inc. President and ViacomCBS Chairman Shari Redstone, ushered in a new era for a company she single-handedly create with the December 5, 2019, reunification of Viacom and CBS.
ViacomCBS is no more, and will now be known as Paramount.
Investors may be nonplussed by the move, which in some ways puts the entire company’s future on the present-day push for the Paramount+ OTT platform and a movie studio that in the not-so-distant past has seen its fair share of financial struggles.
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The NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television serving Jackson, Miss., has been selected to take a key role in the creation of a media training program designed to prepare students for “today’s unique operating environment.”
At the same time, Gray seeks to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in media with its creation.
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I have read many of Cris Alexander’s articles over time, but as a practitioner of broadcast engineering arts for 40 years, mostly in the large markets and networks, his article on air chains was an enjoyable must-read, a memory train ride.
I’ve been building stations since the days of deregulation and divestiture in analog, through AES, T-1 and ISDN, then cellular as a viable technology, to where we are with Livewire and the birth of AES67.
For me, AM was already in the past by the early 1970s. We listened to it for school closings and some country music, but by 1973, FM was king, and New York’s WPLJ was where I learned about rock ’n’ roll.
Cris drove us along a multi-lane highway, through tech corridors that divided, converged, intersected, over/underpassed and cloverleafed, via on-ramps and off-ramps of various construction and at various speeds.
Having never been happy to be Yesterday’s Man, I’ve tried to push the envelope on development and use of technology, pursuing what Steve Church referred to as the “artful application of science.”
Which brings me to the closing comment Cris made about sending 40 kW down twisted pairs. Why not? Maybe we are already there? The Holy Grail of digital broadcasting has always been pattern replication with audio improvement.
We have at least two technologies that push MPX over twisted pairs or UDP paths on wired and wireless networks. Those cabling standards work at 350 MHz or higher.
In the AV world, twisted pair to coax baluns are already being used for wireless mic, intercom and IFB, usually in fixed installations.
HDBaseT carries A/V and internet and has an extrapolation to carry 100 watts similar to POE.
We stream media over wireless devices. We have a few brands of radiating cable.
I like to say that my imagination is limited only by my budget. While not as efficient as a 40 kW SCPC “broadcast” signal, the technology to broadcast down the wire rather than up a tower is there but stifled by the regulatory climate.
We can build modern networks that feed localized transmitters, powered on POE, that broadcast transmitter location and content identification to receivers that could be directed to what channels are “subscribed” to an “edge recipient” in a given market, and thus achieve pattern replication with improved audio quality and possibly a lower capital and operating cost, some of which could even be a shared burden.
I am not even thinking of SFN, per se. We can achieve 50 kW or more ERP in a managed wireless network just by making good technology decisions. We have video ingested on mesh networks where selected channels are then broadcast over the same mesh to connectionless receivers.
If we can do that citywide for video, it’s only vision and money that prevent the use of such for audio networks.
I suggest that Cris’s 40 kW goal is way closer than we think, and may already be happening. Let’s get that puppy in the dashboard first and work from there.
Ed Bukont, M.Sc., CTS, CSRE, founded E2 Technical Services & Solutions, and is a Radio World contributor.
The post 40 kW Down Twisted Pair? Why Not? appeared first on Radio World.
The author of this commentary is communications systems engineer with Xperi Corp.
As carmakers increase electric vehicle (EV) offerings throughout their lineups, the availability of AM radio to consumers is declining. This is because the effects of electromagnetic interference are more pronounced in EVs than in vehicles with internal-combustion engines (ICEs).
Although the character and severity of this interference can be difficult to model and predict, it is clearly more disruptive to AM radio reception, often causing annoying static and limiting coverage. As a result, some EV manufacturers have begun removing AM radios — but not FM — from their vehicles.
EMI can be suppressed in EVs using well-known mitigation techniques such as shielding cables and electric motors, installing filters and carefully locating electrical components within the vehicle. Within receivers, EMI can be limited by isolating and shielding antenna and RF sections, filtering connections and carefully grounding and placing receiver components.
EV manufacturers that have successfully controlled EMI using these methods continue to provide AM radio services in their vehicles.
Even when analog AM reception is degraded in an EV, it does not necessarily imply that AM HD Radio reception will be similarly affected.
AM HD Radio signals are naturally more resistant to EMI than their analog counterparts. Much of the noise induced on an analog AM signal accumulates over the channel and down the receive chain, passing directly onto the audio. But digital waveforms leverage bit regeneration to allow noiseless reproduction of the audio signal.
Fig. 1: MA3 digital audio coverage in an ICE vehicleFurthermore, advanced digital signal processing and digital communications techniques ensure that AM HD Radio signals are more robust than analog AM signals. In particular, the coverage of all-digital MA3 core signals significantly exceeds that of analog AM, and the coverage of MA3 enhanced signals is on par with that of analog AM.
Recent field tests supported by Hubbard Broadcasting — using AM HD Radio station WWFD in Frederick, Md. — and NAB PILOT allow comparison of AM analog and all-digital MA3 HD Radio reception performance in ICE vehicles and EVs.
Not surprisingly, signal coverage in ICE vehicles was consistently better than in EVs, presumably because the combustion engine in ICE vehicles emits lower levels of EMI.
Fig. 2: MA3 digital audio coverage in an EV with effective EMI controlFig. 1 shows MA3 coverage of an OEM ICE vehicle (ICE #2) with solid core digital audio coverage beyond the 0.5 mV/m contour.
However, some EVs also afforded extensive MA3 core digital audio coverage, approaching that of the ICE vehicles, as shown for EV #2 in Fig. 2. This performance can likely be attributed to the application of effective EMI mitigation techniques.
In all vehicles tested, whether ICE or EV, analog audio quality was significantly degraded at the core audio point of failure, corroborating analytical predictions of more robust MA3 core coverage.
When AM radio is included in an EV, its reception performance is highly dependent on the manufacturer’s dedication to EMI control.
Fig. 3: MA3 reception comparison for EVs with good (EV #4) and poor (EV #3) EMI controlFig. 3 illustrates the potentially wide range of MA3 reception performance among commercially available EVs, as EV #4 digital audio coverage exceeds that of EV #3 by several miles (the length of the pink route is about 25 miles). This difference is likely attributable to superior EMI mitigation techniques in EV #3. Fig. 3 serves as a graphic reminder that automakers who devote sufficient resources to mitigating EMI need not remove AM receivers from their EVs.
In summary, recent analysis and field testing of AM radio reception in EVs lead to the following conclusions:
Radio World invites industry-oriented commentaries and responses. Send to Radio World.
The post Control EMI, don’t dump AM receivers appeared first on Radio World.
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