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Grants waiver of Auction 109 long-form filing deadline; proposes $3,000 forfeiture for late filing

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Grants waiver of Auction 99 long-form filing deadline; proposes $1,000 forfeiture for late filing

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The NBC affiliate serving the Panama City Beach, Fla., area of the Sunshine State has become the latest television station to receive a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture for failing to timely file its quarterly TV issues/programs lists.

How much is Gray Television paying to the FCC as a result of the transgression?

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The media company known for its conservative Talk radio programming and its non-secular media assets serving Christians will see its C-Suite leadership present at the upcoming Singular Research “Best of the Uncovered” Investor Conference.

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The town of Port Jervis, N.Y., lies at the heart of the “other” Tri-State Area within the vast New York City DMA — New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

It is situated along the bucolic Delaware River, a popular spot for canoeing and camping enthusiasts, and its proximity to fast-growing Sussex County, N.J., is likely why a low-powered TV station licensed to this municipality has just sold for nearly $2 million.

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From our interview this week with the part-owner, GM and News Director of a 1,000-watt AM serving Plattsburgh, N.Y., to exclusive conversations with SBS President/COO Albert Rodriguez, groupM’s Brian Wieser, AURN’s Chesley Maddox-Dorsey and musicFIRST’s Joe Crowley, the RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM, offers more insight on the key topics of interest to broadcast media’s C-Suite leadership. As 2021 soon comes to a close, take a moment and enjoy one of nearly 170 audio reports hosted by Radio + Television Business Report Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson.  

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The FCC experienced a technical glitch just prior to Thanksgiving that knocked out hyperlinks to its Online Public Inspection File system on some radio station websites.

Service was fully restored by the afternoon of Dec. 1, according to the FCC.

What happened, exactly?

The OPIF is a way for listeners to view their favorite station’s licensing information and community involvement paperwork. Radio broadcasters are required to post a link to their online Public Inspection File on their own websites.

But a computer update to the OPIF portal apparently took the public file hyperlink offline for an unknown number of stations, according to the FCC.

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Users were getting “temporary bad gateway” errors because the online hyperlinks were not working. But public file materials were still available during the outage through the FCC’s website via the online public inspection search page. There were no compliance issues caused by the computer hiccup, the FCC said.

The commission regularly performs updates to its OPIF online database, and the most recent system update created the issue. “The public file information remained online at all times,” the FCC said, “with only the links at some radio stations’ websites unavailable.”

(Some quick thinking by several state broadcast associations, including the Alabama Broadcasters Association, resulted in some stations updating their URLs using all capital letters to remedy the situation. But radio stations need to make no further updates and all links to the FCC’s OPIF should be fully functional, according to the commission.)

Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post FCC Computer Update Disrupted Public File Links appeared first on Radio World.

The President/CEO and the COO of Hearst Television’s Litton Entertainment arm have announced that they will each retire from their roles at the end of the year.

This puts Frank Biancuzzo, president of the recently created Hearst Media Production Group, in a position to directly oversee Litton.

Litton Entertainment is one of broadcast television’s top content providers, both in the U.S. and in the international marketplace. NATPE Miami is one of the big marketplaces for Litton, and come January its founder and chief executive, Dave Morgan, and Chief Operating Officer Pete Sniderman will no longer be involved in the operation.

Commenting on their retirement, Biancuzzo said, “Over the course of three decades, Dave has built a tremendous organization, recognized by the industry for unique programming that entertains, educates and inspires. Together with Pete Sniderman, they’ve positioned the company for an exciting and innovative period of growth.”

Commenting on his departure on December 31, Morgan said, “I’m most proud of our Litton partnerships and my Litton colleagues who helped me define the gold standard in quality, educational television in America. I leave the television industry better than I found it. We created a great company, and we’re pleased that Hearst Media Production Group will bring the resources to help grow Litton to the next level.”

Sniderman added, “I’m so gratified to have had the opportunity to make a contribution to programming that educated generations of young people. And I’m excited for the future of the enterprise — the people and the projects.”

Moving forward, Litton Entertainment’s management and creative teams, under the direction of Biancuzzo and the Hearst Media Production Group, will continue to expand original programming across linear and streaming platforms for domestic and international distribution.

Hearst acquired a majority interest in Litton Entertainment in 2017, and the balance in 2021, perhaps explaining the timing on the retirement of its founder/CEO and its COO.

Morgan created Litton Entertainment in 1989; he resides in Charleston, S.C.

Sniderman has been with Litton since 1995.

The E.W. Scripps Co.‘s digital multicast network super-serving African Americans has a new leader, effective today.

Taking the spot within the Scripps Networks arm is an individual who has held various roles at the network since it was launched in 2011 as the first offering from Katz Networks.

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Chris Evans (right) broadcast his morning show from aboard his yacht Sun Star.

From our Who’s Buying What page: AEQ shares an interesting application note about a user of one of its Forum IP consoles.

“Popular British presenter Chris Evans’ special relation with boats is well known, including the spectacular The Snapper and Sun Star yachts that he owns,” the equipment manufacturer related.

According to Motor Boat & Yachting magazine, early during the coronavirus Chris Evans hosted his Virgin Radio UK morning show from the Sun Star. For the broadcast, Evans traveled part of the River Thames near his home in Marlon, England; he characterized the broadcast as a trial to future-proof his show against Covid-related travel restrictions.

“Inside, all the technical equipment necessary to carry out a professional radio program was deployed, with the AEQ Forum IP console being the heart of the installation,” the company stated.

Send news of notable equipment uses to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Chris Evans Puts AEQ Forum in the Water appeared first on Radio World.

SANTA CLARITA, CALIF. — From Fresno to Bakersfield, she was widely known as “a first-class executive who is efficient, effective, and engaged.” One former co-worker took to LinkedIn to take note of her understanding of the media business, calling it “exceptional, earning her deep respect by those who work with her.”

Now, media and marketing leaders from across the San Joaquin Valley are paying tribute to Mary Lou Gunn, who died on November 24 after a brief illness.

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On November 24, three men were convicted of murder Wednesday in the February 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man on a leisurely run through a residential community near Brunswick, Ga. The trio of strangers, all of whom are Caucasian, trapped Arbery on a quiet street and, subsequently, used a shotgun to kill him.

The case drew national attention and condemnation for its racial overtones. Locally, a radio element surfaced that Media Services Group Managing Director Eddie Esserman — himself a licensee in the Brunswick area — believes is overlooked.

It involves a Talk radio station owned by iHeartMedia.

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The author is director of digital for Pattison Media.

At Pattison Media, we operate 48 radio stations across western Canada. Streaming is important to our group

Our programming team actively listens to our streams and promotes the use of smart speakers and mobile apps to our listeners. Our technical teams treat streaming with the same degree of importance as we do with our broadcast signals — if there is a problem, it requires urgent attention. This attention to detail has led to significant growth in our streaming cume and average time spent listening.

For the last 12 months, our radio stations have been using the Modulation Index StreamS encoder to encode our online streams.

We selected the StreamS encoder because of its support for modern audio codecs (HE-AACv2 and xHEAAC), native HTTP Live Streaming support, and metadata injection directly into ID3 tags.

The combination of these features makes it possible to address timing imprecisions that can often plague digital ad insertion. Encoding directly into HLS rather than converting to the format at the server-side has helped us align timing markers by being able to listen to HLS segments as they come out of the encoder and measure metadata offsets to the millisecond level.

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The injection of metadata into ID3 tags allows a consistent granularity of 42 milliseconds, which is a big improvement over traditional ICY metadata that can have significant variations in timing.

We have used the StreamS encoder in markets of all sizes, with some running just a single stream and others running up to six separate streams simultaneously. The configuration within StreamS allows for different settings on different streams and gives technicians the ability to customize encoding values for each stream.

We have also been happy to see the product continue to evolve with support for new codecs such as FLAC and new formats such as fragmented MP4. This evolution is important, as we continue to strive to deliver the best listening experience possible.

We’re happy with the StreamS product. Modulation Index helped support a fast rollout across our group and has been responsive to all of our questions. The encoder has been running reliably and continues to deliver quality audio to our listeners each and every day.

Info: Contact John Schaab at StreamIndex at 1-940-206-7702 or www.streamingindex.com.

Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.

The post User Report: Modulation Index StreamS Works Pattison Media appeared first on Radio World.

The future of a 630-watt FM radio station atop Mt. Hunsack, serving Somerset County, Pa., is now a bit clearer, thanks to a two-page Termination Order released Wednesday (12/1) by the FCC‘s Administrative Law Judge.

The station’s owner, convicted of a felony and multiple misdemeanors under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code and charged with voyeurism and soliciting men to establish rape of a female, can no longer control the facility.

In fact, the owner’s inaction made the decision easy for Jane Halprin.

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Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Mix, but we’re sharing it because of the interest among radio people in the topic.

(Photo credit Rawpixelimages | Dreamstime.com)

A new survey commissioned by Dolby Labs finds that music listening behavior in the U.S. is changing among adults, particularly Gen Z. The study looked at how important audio quality is for the general public, the effect of the pandemic on listening habits, and the impact of Hollywood and social media on music discovery.

The U.S.-based survey, conducted by OnePoll in November 2021, polled 2,000 general population adults who regularly listen to music for at least one hour per day. The survey examined their listening behavior, purchase decisions, and habits formed from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A number of respondents noted that their music tastes weren’t necessarily typical for their age group. Six in 10 listeners feel like they were born in the wrong era because of their taste in music; this was highest among Gen Z (nearly 80 percent). For most, the era that most closely matches their taste in music was the 2000s.

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Almost half of those polled have recently discovered a song released over a decade ago, which was highest among Gen Z respondents (nearly 70 percent). Similarly, almost half stated they had rediscovered an iconic song or album within the past two years, particularly Gen Z (over two-thirds).

Most respondents — close to 70 percent — are embarrassed to share their music playlists with others, particularly their boss.

Unsurprisingly, social media and Hollywood entertainment heavily influence the discovery of new music; social media is the most significant influence shaping how people discover new music, while movies and TV shows play an equally important role.

A full 57 percent said social media is the top way they discover music; while YouTube is the most popular platform for discovering music, according to 79 percent surveyed, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok significantly influence how people find new songs. Almost a fourth of people who recently discovered a song released over a decade ago attributed this discovery to a viral video on social media. As for Hollywood’s impact, six in 10 have also discovered a new artist or song after watching a TV show or movie.

With the pandemic continuing to alter how people interact and entertain themselves, people in the U.S. are spending more time and money on music. In full, over two-thirds spend more time listening to music each day than before the start of 2020, with over half listening to music four hours per day or more. Meanwhile, 55 percent indicated that they spend more money on music purchases each month, such as streaming subscriptions, than at the start of 2020.

Many are prioritizing audio quality when enjoying music. When choosing a music streaming plan, music fans prioritize quality above all – especially Gen Z. This insight coincides with broader industry trends around the uptick among streaming services that offer subscribers enhanced audio through spatial audio experiences like Dolby Atmos or high resolution (HD) audio.

Among those who pay for a music streaming plan, nearly 90 percent agreed that enhanced audio quality is a “must-have” feature of their subscription, of which more than half strongly agreed. Of this group, 82 percent have upgraded, changed subscriptions, or explicitly paid for a service because it offered better audio quality. Nearly two-thirds who pay for a music streaming subscription indicated that better sound quality was more important than other features such as ad-free listening, exclusive content, or the ability to add multiple users to their account.

More than 70 percent of those surveyed were likely or very likely to purchase a new audio device within the next six months specifically to enhance their experience when listening to music; this stat was 86 percent among Gen Z.

What artists are in high rotation for you these days? Write to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Music Listening Behavior is Changing appeared first on Radio World.

Radio Guest Quest, a celebrity guest booking service for radio stations, is moving its affiliate and advertising sales operations to Gen Media Partners’ G Accelerate Networks.

The announcement was made by Jim Higgins, President and Chief Executive Officer of G Accelerate Networks; and Art Sears, Founder and Host of Radio Guest Quest, and a former morning show executive producer.

“Art and Radio Guest Quest are well known across the industry for securing and delivering interviews with marquee-status celebrities and delivering personalized services, including one-on-one communications with radio show producers,” Higgins said. “We’re excited that Radio Guest Quest is joining G Accelerate Networks, as we build out our portfolio of top-quality programs and services for radio stations.”

Sears added, “I have worked with Jim in the past and signing with him and G Accelerate Networks was an easy decision. Jim is a consummate network radio executive who knows how to build an exceptional team that understands what stations need and what advertisers want.

Sears also notes that, as he produced radio morning shows “for years and saw the need for someone to help book guests,” the business need was clear. “With meetings and early hours, it’s difficult for a producer to find the time to book guests,” he said. “I also find that publicists respond more readily to one email that can satisfy all their radio needs, rather than individual requests from stations across the country.”

Celebrity guests previously booked by Radio Guest Quest for radio station interviews include Ron Howard, Kevin Costner, Spike Lee, Chance the Rapper, Steve Martin, LeAnn Rimes, and Anderson Cooper.