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Issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $20,000 to Prism Broadcasting Network, Inc. for public file violations for Station WANN-CD, Atlanta, GA

Having a little fun at the microphone a few years ago, during a guest appearance with the Crosley Radio Players in Terre Haute, Ind.

With our latest issue, I’m taking a moment to note my 25th anniversary of joining Radio World and to appreciate the circle of friends and colleagues who create the memories and stories we’ve shared and continue to make. 

The year 1996, in addition to being a landmark one for U.S. radio regulation, was also when I came on board here, having cut my teeth in radio newsrooms and then learning about radio technology as a sales and marketing executive on the manufacturing and dealer side of our business.

This crazy industry has changed so much since. The challenges that have faced broadcast radio stations, radio executives and radio engineers over those 25 years have been remarkable.

But so is radio’s capability for reinvention.

It has been exhilarating to guide Radio World’s content through a similar process, in partnership with the leadership of IMAS, NewBay Media and now Future, our most dynamic parent company yet.

I’m grateful to today’s business leaders who have put their trust in me, including Carmel King, Rick Stamberger, John Casey and Zillah Byng-Thorne, and to our many advertisers. I’m also privileged to work with a remarkable cadre of contributors, including a “brain trust” of engineers who have become my dear friends.

But none of it happens without you, the industry professional who reads our stories, saves our ebooks, watches our webcasts.

Whether your title is chief engineer, station owner, department head, manufacturing employee, regulator or one of any number of other key radio roles, my hope is that Radio World’s content continues to help you in your job as well as your career, keeping you informed while also entertaining you and stimulating new thinking.  

So thank you for the trust and loyalty you’ve shown to me and to Radio World in those 25 years — and here’s to many more years together.

The post 25 Years and Counting appeared first on Radio World.

Spotify’s Megaphone is launching an audience insights tool for podcasters which will be powered by Nielsen. The new reporting tool will offer publishers a real-time look at their listeners’ demographics, interests, and behaviors.

Through the dashboard, publishers will see insights about which audiences are listening and compare trends year-over-year across their entire podcast network or on an individual show-by-show basis.

Matt Turck, Head of Megaphone Publisher Solutions, will be discussing the new dashboard live at Podcast Movement today.

More details on the new product can be found HERE

The nation’s No. 1 owner of broadcast radio station late Thursday released Q2 earnings that reflect strong year-over-year improvement as it continues to dig itself out of a multi-billion financial hole.

Things are progressing. The net loss narrowed year-over-year. But, perhaps the existence of any net loss worries Wall Street. Shares of iHeartMedia stock tumbled significantly in Friday’s trading.

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RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION

The FCC’s “Auction 109,” which saw active bidding for a host of new radio stations, is over.

As expected, iHeartMedia and Radio Brands Inc., an entity tied to the CEO of Ampex Brands were the big winners. Other winning bidders include a Hispanic media entrepreneur in the Savannah, Ga., market; and a Maria Guel’s Mekaddesh Group Corporation, devoted to evangelical programming en español.

Yet the biggest takeaway from Auction 109 is the fate of four defunct AM radio stations in Market No. 24.

Zero bids came for these facilities. Even with the prospect of HD Radio on AM, not one bidder for the AMs emerged.

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Audacy CFO Rich Schmaeling and CEO David Field had much to offer beyond what was stated in the company’s second quarter earnings release early Friday.

Chatting with a variety of financial analysts, Schmaeling said Local is narrowing the gap in Q3 for Audacy. He also offered an update on net leverage goals, while adding that the depth of active advertisers is significantly higher than in recent months.

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The FCC Enforcement Bureau has issued a $20,000 fine against ESPN for “willfully violating the commission’s rules that prohibit the transmission of false or deceptive emergency alert system” tones during a program.

The FCC said the violation occurred during the airing of the program “30 for 30: Roll Tide/War Eagle” on Oct. 20, 2020. After receiving a complaint about the broadcast of the tones on Oct. 27, 2020, the FCC started an investigation and notified ESPN.

In a March 21 response, ESPN admitted that the tones had been broadcast but said they were part of the depiction of April 27, 2011 tornadoes “for storytelling purposes” during the documentary.

[Read: Entercom Faces Penalty for Misuse of EAS Tones in 2018]

ESPN also admitted that the transmission was not part of any actual emergency or EAS test.

The network argued, however, that the broadcast EAS tones could “not have triggered any automated relay equipment” because the portion transmitted “did not include audio frequency-shift (AFSK) tones” and that the tones appeared very briefly in the program for only 1.83 seconds.

The FCC rejected those arguments and proposed a higher fine than the $8,000 base forfeiture for section 11.45 of the commission’s rules covering violations of emergency alerts.

“The nature of EAS violations requires particularly serious consideration because, among other issues, such violations undermine the integrity of the EAS by desensitizing viewers to the potential importance of warning tones and therefore implicate substantial public safety concerns,” the FCC concluded. It also noted that ESPN had been fined in the past for violating these rules.

“Although only a single transmission was involved, given the totality of the circumstances, and consistent with the Forfeiture Policy Statement, we conclude that an $8,000 base forfeiture plus an upward adjustment in the amount of $12,000 is warranted,” the FCC concluded.

 

The post FCC Proposes a $20K Fine for ESPN appeared first on Radio World.

The Entertainment Sports Programming Network known as ESPN has received a proposed fine from the FCC for its use of an emergency alert system (EAS) code during a documentary it aired in October 2020 as part of its popular 30 for 30 series.

BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON TWITTER!

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DAYTON, OHIO — It’s no secret that Cox Media Group and its related Cox Enterprises maintains a dominant position in the Miami Valley, with its WHIO-7 perhaps the nation’s most-watched CBS affiliate, its WHIO radio operation a top ratings-getter, and the Dayton Daily News a near-monopoly among print publications.

Yet, Nexstar Media Group has a formidable presence, too. It owns the local NBC affiliate.

Soon, it will also own a second station in this market.

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Over the past year, ViacomCBS has “bravely jumped into the streaming deep end,” notes MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson.

With its relaunch of CBS All Access as Paramount+, accelerating investment and revenue growth at Pluto and promoting Showtime OTT to help offset linear declines, Nathanson says ViacomCBS harbors a heightened focus on becoming “a scaled global competitor” in the business of streaming.

There’s just one question about ViacomCBS’s goals that’s vexing to him.

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Florence Deusi, right, was a child bride at age 16. She talks with a Mudzi Wathu Radio youth reporter.

The U.S.-based NGO Developing Radio Partners is playing a crucial role in socioeconomic development in several African countries by using local radio to address their communities’ greatest needs.

In Malawi, DRP is closing the knowledge and information gap on sexual reproductive health with a project that helps young people know their health rights. The project, supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, has trained more than 400 young people ages 14 to 19 to produce weekly radio programs on diverse topics related to reproductive health.

The project is aimed at making sure boys and girls understand their health rights and are aware of the reproductive health services that are available to them. DRP’s project includes partnerships with nine community-based radio stations that are focusing their weekly radio programs and public service announcements (PSAs) on topics aimed at ending child marriage and reducing rates of teen pregnancy, HIV infections and COVID-19.

The programs also encourage girls and boys to stay in school and complete their education.

In Burkina Faso, DRP trained community health workers and radio reporters to produce a weekly program that was broadcast by a community-based radio station. They believed that if local health workers delivered messages about COVID-19, the communities would pay attention and take preventive measures.

Charles Rice, DRP president and chief executive officer, says radio is how most people in Malawi and Burkina Faso get their news and information.

Internet is often nonexistent or very limited in rural areas, and television can be expensive and require electricity. Radio, on the other hand, is relatively inexpensive, and a radio set can be powered by batteries or by solar.

“We have found radio to be the best option to reach a lot of people all at once. In Malawi, for instance, our potential listening audience among the nine radio stations we work with is about 6.5 million people,” Rice said.

“We work with community radio stations because they are part of the community; they are operated by the community. They are often trusted, and the stations we work with often focus on stories that affect the community – whether it’s related to farming, public health or the environment.”

Chanco Radio RLC member Micah Mwalala reads the COVID 19 Bulletin.

Chiko Moyo, DRP’s coordinator and trainer in Malawi, works directly with the mentors, the youth reporters and the radio listening clubs at the nine partner radio stations.

“Just as an example, the youth are taught how to hold public officers accountable and they see the fruits that come out of such actions; public funds for SRH (sexual and reproductive health) are put to good use, youth arise to monitor how officers are conducting youth friendly health services, and many other things that help communities to be served better,” Moyo explains.

DRP conducts trainings on a monthly basis and sends weekly tip sheets to help youth reporters focus on specific topics for their weekly programs and PSAs. The Weekly Bulletin is researched, written, and fact-checked in Malawi; it provides background on specific issues as well as questions for the reporters to use in their programs and contact details for people to interview.

“Station partners have told us that they rely on these bulletins because they are accurate and timely — and we believe this is why their weekly radio programs are popular. Listeners know that the information they are hearing is accurate” said Mercy Malikwa, who writes the Weekly Bulletin.

DRP has been producing the Weekly Bulletin on sexual reproductive health since May 2017. It started a special weekly bulletin on COVID-19 in March 2020 and it is still being produced.

Changing behavior

The radio programs, both in Malawi and Burkina Faso, have proven to be popular with listeners as well as health officials.

“The project has tremendously improved youth reproductive health awareness and rights in the sense that we have better information dissemination through radio, and that has improved the lives of youth and changed their behavior,” said Jossein Chazala, the Youth Friendly Health Services Coordinator in Malawi’s Nkhotakota District.

In Burkina Faso, the radio program led to the creation of a health association covering 16 villages in the listening area; it comprises community leaders and local health workers who work closely with villagers to ensure everyone gets regular health checks and observes COVID-19 preventive measures.

The Malawi stations often use peer-to-peer storytelling to change behavior, and that was dramatically illustrative for Florence Deusi, who was a child bride at 16 but says the weekly youth program on her local station (Mudzi Wathu Community Radio in Mchinji in central Malawi) helped her escape her illegal marriage to a much older man.

“Whenever I was alone I could tune in to the youth program and that’s where I gathered courage to get out of the mess that I was in.”

Now 19, Florence has told her story on the program, “and I encourage girls who are in situations like me to get out of such marriages and go back to school.”

The Malawi stations have other notable successes, including a yearlong campaign by youth reporters at Chirundu Community Radio in Nkhata Bay to have an abandoned hospital converted into a vocational school teaching such skills as bricklaying, welding, and plumbing.

Women in Vithenja village listenito Nkhotakota Radio Youth Health Program in Malawi.

Also, data tracked by DRP and the stations suggests that programs and PSAs at the Mchinji station from January to March 2021 led to an eight-fold increase in the number of young people seeking HIV testing and counseling services. The station manager launched the programs after noticing a huge drop in visits related to HIV testing between October and December 2020.

After Gaka FM in Nsanje in southern Malawi began partnering with DRP in January 2021, visits to the local youth health clinic climbed 81% between January and March compared to figures from July-December 2020.

Data from the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare also suggest that there is correlation between the reduction in child marriages and the radio programs and PSAs produced by DRP-partner stations.

“Based on the data, we believe the radio programs are having a significant impact by reducing child marriages in the districts where we work and increasing the number of COVID-19 vaccinations in those districts where DRP is operating” Rice said.

Raphael Obonyo is a public policy analyst. He has served as a consultant with the United Nations and the World Bank. Also, he’s a writer and widely published in Africa and beyond. An alumnus of Duke University, he has authored and coauthored numerous books, including Conversations about the Youth in Kenya. Obonyo is a TEDx fellow and has won numerous awards. Read more articles by this author.

The post Developing Radio Partners Makes a Difference in Africa appeared first on Radio World.

Add The E.W. Scripps Co. to the list of broadcast media companies offering stellar second quarter earnings reports to investors and Wall Street financial analysts.

The visual media company, which has sold off its audio content and distribution assets, beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8 cents per share.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Comscore, the company that seeks to greater compete against Nielsen in the television sector has successfully expanded and extended its relationship with Fox Corporation.

The multi-year agreement comes as a result of this media consumption analysis company’s expanded data rights, “driving increased measurement stability, as well as continued improvements to its television measurement products.”

The new agreement includes Comscore’s National TV measurement.

“It is a privilege to continue our longstanding relationship with Fox and have their vote of confidence in our TV measurement,” said Carol Hinnant, Chief Revenue Officer at Comscore. “As the industry accelerates its shift toward impressions-based buying, Comscore has strengthened its stable and reliable television footprint to ensure marketers have modern media measurement.”

Audrey Steele, Executive Vice President of Sales Research Insights & Strategy at Fox, commented, “The rapid evolution of consumer behavior makes it more important than ever to have stable, granular audience measurement, and Comscore has made significant progress in its measurement capabilities. We’re excited to work even more closely with the team to drive a multi-currency marketplace.”

— RBR+TVBR Washington Bureau

iHeartMedia says it is positioned to return to revenue levels last seen in 2019 by the end of this year as the company continues to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its second quarter 2021 earnings call on Thursday the country’s largest radio broadcast company reported a 77% year-over-year revenue increase to $862 million for the quarter ending June 30.

The company’s Multiplatform Group, which includes nearly 860 radio stations, continued to rebound from the pandemic amid the return of the commercial advertising market. The company says revenues in the segment were up nearly 70% compared to the same period in 2020 to $605.8 million. For comparison, iHeartMedia disclosed revenue from the second quarter 2021 was down 21% compared to Q2 in 2019.

[Read: iHeartMedia Continues in Recovery Mode]

Specifically, radio broadcast revenue was up nearly 85% in Q2 YoY on a reported basis while iHeartMedia’s network business, which includes Premiere Networks and the Total Traffic and Weather Network, grew 28.3% compared to Q2 in 2020.

Podcasting remains a strong focus of the company. iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman spent a large amount of time on Thursday’s earning’s call examining the Digital Audio Group, which includes all digital assets like podcasting. The group showed a 112% year-over-year increase in Q2 revenue to $197.9 million. Podcasting revenues were up even more at 152% compared to the same period in 2020.

iHeartMedia’s build out of its tech capabilities continues, Pittman said, but it’s not only podcasting catching the eye of advertisers. The company continues investment in the expansion of broadcast radio in digital devices, he said. “We have invested in broadcast radio to make it look like digital for the advertiser. When you look at the unique reach we have with broadcast radio and having the ability to make that digital, and put that into a digital buy, at a very efficient price,” Pittman said

The broadcaster’s Audio and Media Services segment, which includes Katz Media Group and software provider RCS, saw revenue grow by 55.9% in Q2 compared to the comparative period in prior year, as a result of the continued recovery from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the company’s financial report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Pittman said on Thursday’s earnings call iHeartMedia is still facing some uncertainties, but “based on what we are seeing we remain confident we will be back to 2019 adjusted EBITA levels by the end of 2021.”

The broadcaster, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2019, continues to centralize resources into its Center of Excellence; and its SEC filing on Thursday indicates the savings from the endeavor could be substantial.

iHeartMedia President/COO/CFO Rich Bressler said during Thursday’s earnings call capital expenditures will be elevated in 2021 primarily due to the proactive streamlining of the audio company’s real estate footprint. The company projects cap ex of $165 million to $185 million in 2021 and then a return to normal levels in 2022.

“The [real estate] program has made certain real estate assets redundant enabling the company to sell such assets to partially offset the initiative expenditures,” Bressler said. “The real estate program is a company wide effort to leverage new technology and adopt new best practices to make our office spaces more efficient.”

By the conclusion of the real estate project, the company experts to reduce occupied square footage and rent and related expenses by approximately 50%, Bressler said.

iHeartMedia continues to eye debt reduction, Bressler said on Thursday. The broadcaster announced in July it made a voluntary prepayment of $250 million of debt. The majority of the prepayment was used to prepay a portion of iHeartMedia’s $2.07 billion term loan, according to the iHeartMedia SEC filing. As of June 30, 2021, the company was carrying nearly $6 billion in total debt.

 

The post iHeartMedia Discloses Q2 Financial Results appeared first on Radio World.

From air talent consolidation across its Country and Top 40 stations to high-profile departures at its KROQ in Los Angeles, Audacy management has had its share of PR challenges in the last several months.

Now, the C-Suite has a potentially greater challenge on its hands. As its peers have reported highly positive Q2 results, the company formerly known as Entercom has released a second quarter fiscal health report reflecting a significant Earnings Per Share miss.

Investors immediately reacted in early trading on Friday (8/6).

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The Federal Communication Commission proposes to amend the rules applicable to broadcast radio stations to better reflect current requirements and eliminate redundant, outdated, or conflicting technical provisions.

The National Association of Broadcasters has endorsed legislation on Capitol Hill that would reestablish a Minority Tax Certificate Program.

Democratic lawmakers in both houses have introduced bills to provide a tax incentive to those who sell a majority interest in a radio or TV station to underrepresented broadcasters. NAB has long been on record as favoring such a move.

The original FCC program started in 1978 and was in place for about 17 years. “The program was highly effective in leveling the playing field for underrepresented broadcasters, increasing diverse ownership in broadcast stations by more than 550%,” NAB wrote in a policy statement. Congress repealed it in 1995.

“Reinstating the Tax Certificate Program at the FCC would encourage investment in broadcast station ownership for women and people of color and dramatically help underrepresented voices realize their dreams of radio and television station ownership,” NAB said.

It noted that supporters include the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB).

The backers of the bills are Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and Reps. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina and Steven Horsford of Nevada. The Senate bill is called the Broadcast VOICES Act; in the House it’s the Expanding Broadcast Opportunities Act of 2021.

President and CEO Gordon Smith released a statement: “NAB and its members are strongly committed to market-based initiatives that expand radio and television station ownership opportunities for women and people of color. A tax incentive program is a proven solution that significantly diversified the ranks of broadcast owners over its nearly two decades of existence.”

He urged swift passage of the legislation.

 

The post NAB Gives Thumbs Up to Minority Tax Bills appeared first on Radio World.

Until recently, Entravision Communications was largely viewed by the industry and by investors as a Hispanic-focused company with revenue equally derived from its digital, television and radio divisions.

That’s no longer the case. The company’s Q2 earnings results demonstrate that digital is, by a very wide margin, the revenue driver today.

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The nation’s largest audio media company by number of AM and FM radio stations and online streaming exposure, thanks to its freshly minted distribution partnership with TuneIn, is the latest company to beat its own Q2 earnings forecasts.

Just after the Closing Bell on Wall Street, with IHRT shares sitting at $26.49, iHeartMedia released its second quarter fiscal report card. The quick takeaway: iHeart beat its own revenue guidance with terrific results.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FCC on Thursday, as anticipated, moved forward with the creation of two new innovation zones.

This, the Commission says, will allow for advanced wireless communications and network innovation research.

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