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The continuing saga of the man known for his quixotic quest to annul an Entercom Communications transaction consummated a quarter-century ago, an individual who is losing ownership of all but one of his radio stations, has reached its zenith, thanks to a judge presiding in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Ed Stolz on Thursday afternoon was ordered to surrender to U.S. Marshals in Riverside on Groundhog Day, at exactly Noon Pacific.

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The order from Judge Jesus Bernal signaled what many who have been observing the case, WB Music Corp., et al v. Royce Intl. Broadcasting Corp., et al: Bernal has lost patience with Stolz.

Importantly, the order to surrender comes after Stolz was held in contempt of court for failing to respect Bernal’s prior orders and a January 12 petition submitted to the court by attorneys Fred Heather and Rory Miller at Glaser Weil Fink Howard Avchen & Shapiro on behalf of the court-appointed receiver of Stolz’s three FMs.

That would be Larry Patrick, Managing Partner of Patrick Communications and the operator of radio stations in Wyoming. Patrick was appointed the receiver of Class A KRCK-FM 97.7 in Palm Springs, Calif.; Class A KREV-FM 92.7 in Alameda, Calif., with coverage of the city of San Francisco and Oakland; and Class C KFRH-FM 104.3 in North Las Vegas, Nev. by Bernal in July 2020.

The naming of Patrick and assignment of the stations’ license to him came after the stations failed to pay ASCAP license fees “over several years” and continued to broadcast songs written and published by the group’s members without permission.

Faced with the loss of ownership of the three stations, Stolz engaged in a series of actions that obstructed Patrick from gaining full control, and moving forward with their sale.

VCY America Inc., the Wisconsin-based non-profit religious broadcaster that gains a considerable foothold in California and in Sin City with its Christian Talk & Teaching programming, is set to become the FMs new owner. It is agreeing to pay $6 million for the properties — per agreement signed not by Stolz but by Patrick.

VCY is all but ready to assume control. It immediately paid $5.4 million in cash, with the remaining $600,000 considered as an escrow payment.

However, Stolz is engaged in “ongoing disobedience,” Patrick’s legal counsel argued. Bernal agrees.

Most recently, Patrick’s attorneys said, Stolz instructed James Palomares — the sole remaining full-time employee of the three stations — to publish a number of post-filing announcements required by the FCC as part of the broadcast license transfer process to VCY. But, Stolz intervened, the attorneys claim. He demanded that Palomares not do so. The act is necessary in order to make the license transfer happen.

“Enough is enough,” the attorneys wrote. “The court is well familiar with Mr. Stolz’ antics, and has already been forced to hold him in contempt and order him jailed in order to secure his compliance with the receiver’s efforts.”

Now, it appears Stolz has run out of further opportunities to concoct a scheme that, somehow, would allow him to retain control of the trio of FMs; a spoken-word AM owned by Royce International serving Las Vegas is not included in the lawsuit.

And, it seems Stolz is now without legal counsel. On January 6, Dariush G. Adli filed a motion to withdraw as counsel of record for Royce Broadcasting.

He will need a new lawyer by February 4.

That said, he will most likely be in the custody of U.S. Marshals on that date.

A new free ebook explores what will happen next, now that the Federal Communications Commission has given the OK for U.S. AM radio stations to turn off their analog signals and switch on all-digital HD Radio if they wish.

Which broadcasters might implement the technology? What would your station need to do to convert? How can you estimate costs; what guidance can your transmitter manufacturer provide? 

The ebook, co-sponsored by Xperi, includes interviews by Radio World’s editorial team with several broadcasters who have firsthand experience of airing the MA3 mode of HD Radio, plus experts at NAB, Cavell Mertz, Nautel and several other radio companies.

Read it here.

The post AM All-Digital: Ready to Go appeared first on Radio World.

The author is a partner at Inrush Broadcast Services.

MILWAUKEE — 88Nine Radio Milwaukee (WYMS/88.9 MHz) is a catalyst for creating a better, more inclusive and engaged Milwaukee through music and stories created for a culturally open-minded community. Their studio facility, built in 2013, is located in the Third Ward neighborhood. All of their programming, including their subchannel 414 Music exclusively devoted to local music, originates from those studios today.

When 88Nine moved into their new space, the studios were filled out with a combination of Telos Hx1 hybrids and an Nx12 talk show from the old building. In a call back to the 1970s, POTS service was dropped directly into the new building and distributed to studios via Cat-6 patch panels.

However, being forward-thinking in both programming and technical areas, Radio Milwaukee adopted the VX in early 2015.

To allow staff a chance to establish a comfort level with the new system, the VX first replaced the Nx12 in the main air studio while the scattered Hx1 hybrids remained. The staff found the transition to be seamless as the phone module of the Axia Element console displayed the lines identically. A VSet12 12-line phone was also deployed in the air studio for talent that was more comfortable with a more traditional phone instrument.

The improved audio quality and increased reliability of VoIP was immediately noticeable, all while operational telecom expenses were reduced dramatically.

When the VX was implemented in 2015, it connected to our VoIP provider Flowroute directly over the public internet, and has performed flawlessly ever since. In 2020, as we planned our migration to Flowroute’s more robust peering infrastructure, we chose to forgo this direct connection.

We instead made the VX an endpoint on the facility’s newly commissioned Asterisk-based VoIP PBX and trunked the PBX to Flowroute. This will allow the staff to make extension-to-extension calls (when they’re finally back in the building) and enables unified telecom administration.

The VX still performs flawlessly behind the VoIP PBX. Creating additional extensions has been a breeze and we’ve been able to quickly add phone numbers in Flowroute, map those numbers to extensions in the PBX, and add them to the VX.

Since 88Nine is a fully Axia-based facility, this can all be done remotely in a matter of minutes — one of many conveniences afforded by VoIP and AoIP during the pandemic.

In the main studio, the VX has been an integral part of “Let’s Hear It,” a weekly request show hosted by Marcus Doucette for many years. It also allows 88Nine to continue interacting with their local community on a more individual level through frequent contesting and listener contributions.

After the VX deployment in the main air studio, we began looking at expansion to the other studios. A backup control room also featured an Axia Element console with a phone module, so a VSet telephone was purchased and it was configured as a mirror of the main studio.

However, the staff found that they preferred to only use the Element phone module for control in that environment. With the versatility of the VX ecosystem we were able to use the VSet in a production studio that already featured an Axia iQ console. Creating the additional studio and show in the VX was just as simple as the main studio. It was far more time-consuming to remove the Hx1 and its wiring than configuring the new hybrid in the VX!

During the pandemic, the VX has been indispensable.

Pledge drives at the station normally featured a full phone bank of volunteers and multiple hosts on a stage, pitching for the station. This year, during two different pledge drives, access to the studio space was severely restricted. The VX served as a simple method for getting multiple hosts on the air, with one staff member in the studio and others into a dedicated VIP line. Other calls are handled on the additional hybrid channel and regular call-in group.

The Omnia audio processing built into VX makes these phone calls sound clean and full.

In the future, the remaining production rooms will have VSets installed so the VX can handle telephony for the entire studio facility. Retiring the remaining POTS hybrids won’t have the same cost savings as with the main studio since these last few lines are already running on ATAs [analog telephone adapters], but it will continue to simplify management and provide a consistent studio experience for the staff. We’re pleased with the VX’s ability to grow and change with the facility over the years and we rest easy given its flawless track record since it was installed.

For information, contact Cam Eicher at The Telos Alliance in Ohio at 1-216-241-7225 or visit telosalliance.com. For integration information, contact Brian Sapp at Inrush Broadcast Services in Chicago at (312) 872-8911 or visit inrush.net.

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: Telos VX Builds Community in Milwaukee appeared first on Radio World.

When a Shure representative contacted us to promote their new MV7 podcast microphone, we were interested to learn that one of its users is New York Public Radio. So we pursued a Q&A with Jim Stagnitto, director of engineering for the organization, which is the home of WNYC and WQXR, to ask about the mic but also get an update on the station’s remote operations.

Radio World: We did a story a while back about how the pandemic had affected NYPR’s workflows. Can you update readers; to what extent is NYPR is getting back to normal?

Jim Stagnitto: NYPR has announced that we’ll remain in work-from-home mode until at least the end of our fiscal year in June, and make firm plans to return once the availability of a vaccine is confirmed.

This situation has revealed something to us that we would not have considered for normal operation — that is, having talent broadcast from home on a daily basis using the various codecs in our equipment storehouse.

Remember, it’s not just point-to-point audio of our on-air talent that’s needed for the creation of our shows; there are remotely located show directors, producers and screeners, and they all need computer access, intercom, telephone screening and call selection, and integration of remote interview guests.

We’re finding that it works; and it has been working reliably, thanks to all of the efforts of our broadcast and IT engineers.

RW: Shure tells us that the station is using one of its new models as part of the WFH strategy. What has been your experience with it?

Stagnitto: The first month of the COVID-19 lockdown, it was madness. We were making a lot of our solutions up on the fly.

Fortunately, we had enough codec kits and ancillary equipment to get us started quickly. I can’t say enough good things about all of our equipment suppliers; they were right there for us, ready to help with whatever we needed, and we were able to deploy more remote kits pretty quickly.

We’re now up to 25 kits in circulation using hardware-based codecs, along with mics, stands and other equipment. These traditional kits can be mighty expensive. Certainly, we did not budget for this type of expansion of our remote gear.

Now, with the work-from-home scenario going much longer than originally expected, we have increased need to deploy a lot more remote kits for both WNYC and classical WQXR. They would need to have high-quality connectivity and sound on a lower budget.

One way to do this is to utilize software-oriented codecs, and we’ve been looking into different ones we could deploy. A typical kit would be shipped to talent in a flight case and could possibly have a tablet type computer, a pair of headphones and a Shure MV7 Podcast Microphone with a desk stand. That’s pretty much all that would be needed.

For the record, in order to do this review, Shure kindly provided us with sample MV7 microphones, and once we saw what the mics could do for us, allowed us early access to purchase a number of units, so we could fabricate our remote kits as soon as possible.

In the studio, one of our standard in-house microphones is the Shure SM7B. For our kits, we were looking for something that would come close to the quality of the SM7B and had tested some of the current USB microphones on the market.

Some were very good, however we’ve found that the Shure MV7 performed best for our use case — it doesn’t sound exactly like an SM7B, but the Shure MOTIV software gives you the opportunity to tailor the sound of the microphone so you can get a sound similar to what we get in our studios.

An added benefit of the MV7 is the touch panel control on the microphone body that lets the user adjust the microphone’s gain, headphone volume and monitor mix. Should you want to operate the system utilizing the MOTIV software you would have an option to lock these settings, and more, as a preset.

Our plans are to configure the microphone settings in advance, lock them and ship the kit. All the recipient will have to do is plug the mic into the tablet’s USB port, follow the directions to connect back to our Master Control and begin speaking.

RW: How has the organization’s approach to content production and remote work in general evolved — what has been learned since the earlier days of the pandemic?

Stagnitto: The pandemic has changed how we’re handling production. You can have producers receiving remotely recorded sound files, editing them in their at-home system, and then electronically sending them back to our main studio to go into our on-air play-out system. With the proper attention to detail, it’s working amazingly well.

Many of our hosts are recording and broadcasting live from typical New York City apartments, and this is another place where the performance of the MV7 microphone excels. It is a dynamic microphone, tuned for the voice — it’s not going to pick up a lot of subway rumble or street noise as you might with a condenser microphone. We don’t have to worry about putting up a lot of sound absorption materials in somebody’s apartment. The microphone has a very tight cardioid polar pattern, so off axis audio is very efficiently rejected.

We’re aware that we are in our talent’s homes, so if we can use the technology to help us get as close to a studio sound as we can without turning their living room into a studio, that’s a big plus.

RW: What else would your engineering colleagues be interested in knowing about that microphone or the broader workflows now at the station?

Stagnitto: With the MV7, Shure gives the user most of the tools they need to tailor and process the sound of the microphone; to be able to use the microphone in a less-than-optimum physical space.

It really is an “all in one” package. If you feel you need to use mic processing, you can do so, using Shure’s downloadable MOTIV software. Using this, you can access the MV7’s processing, including a built-in compressor, equalizer, and limiter. Once you get a sound you like, you can save your settings as a preset.

The software package also has a setup page for those who simply want to choose some preconfigured presets using all of the above mentioned audio tools. In addition, if you have the need to simultaneously feed a second audio device, the MV7 has a direct analog XLR output of the dynamic microphone.

In a traditional remote broadcast package, using a computer and a software-based codec or recording package, you would start with a good quality microphone, possibly followed by a mic processor, and a separate USB audio interface to connect to your computer to both send and receive audio. With the MV7 Podcast Microphone you’re giving the broadcaster or podcaster all of this. Everything that is needed to create a good quality product from home, built into one unit.

The post Shure MV7 Finds a Home at NYPR appeared first on Radio World.

Rob Babin has been named senior VP, radio, at Cox Media Group. He succeeds EVP of Radio Bill Hendrich, who retired.

The announcement was made by President/CEO Dan York, who called Babin “a collaborative and agile executive, with deep industry and CMG expertise and passion for everything he does.”

[Read: Daniel York Named Cox Media Group President and CEO]

Babin will oversee the company’s 65 radio stations in 11 markets. “He will focus heavily on achieving CMG’s Radio strategic growth objectives while maintaining CMG’s industry leading content, impactful community engagement, and growth-focused culture,” according to a statement. Cox Media Group also owns 35 TV stations plus various streaming and other digital platforms.

Babin’s past roles include regional VP for five Cox radio markets (Miami, Houston, Tampa, Fla., San Antonio and Long Island, N.Y.); VP/market manager for CMG Miami radio; director of sales and general sales manager for CMG Atlanta radio (WSB, WSB(FM), WALR, WSRV); and general sales manager for CMG Orlando radio (WWKA).

“In his most-recent role, Rob was VP/market manager for CMG Atlanta’s award-winning and market-leading radio brands: WSB, WSB(FM), WALR and WSRV; and CMG Athens radio: WRFC, WGAU, WGMG, WXKT, WPUP and WNGC.”

He is a board member of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters and the Radio Advertising Bureau.

The post Cox Names Rob Babin Head of Radio appeared first on Radio World.

Cox Media Group and Altice USA/Suddenlink have reached a new multi-year retransmission consent deal for the ongoing carriage of CMG stations on Suddenlink lineups in Tulsa; Memphis; Spokane; Eureka-Arcata, Calif.; Greenville-Greenwood, Ms.; and Alexandria, La.

The agreement means that Suddenlink customers will have access to CMG’s station content, including local news, weather, sports, traffic and entertainment.

“The parties wish to thank consumers for their patience during this negotiation,” they said.

More Friday from RBR.com 

It seems Townsquare Media shareholders are thrilled over the news that it is repurchasing at least 10 million of the 12.5 million shares of Class A and Class B common stock — and warrants — held by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P.

With Thursday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, TSQ finished at its best closing price in nearly one year.

On volume of 149,564 shares against an average of 26,296 shares, Townsquare shares surged by 6% to $9.33.

It was the week of Feb. 17, 2020, when TSQ was last at that level.

And, it caps a big comeback for Townsquare, which saw its stock slump to just below $4 and remain in the $4 range through October. On November 2, TSQ finally climbed past $5. It’s been on the increase ever since.

TSQ bears a one-year target price of $13.33.

MIAMI — First, it was called ¡Levántate! – literally, Get Up! Then, it took on a new name and look under the name Un Nuevo Día, a change that brought a “new day” to Telemundo’s network morning program.

Now, NBC Universal Telemundo Enterprises is hitting the reboot button again as it struggles to gain audience against Univision’s long-running Despierta América.

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For years, broadcast media leaders have been taking swipes at digital media’s encroachment and poaching of local advertiser after local advertiser.

Even with negative press and continued questions regarding metrics, Facebook is the platform consumers and marketers simply can’t ignore.

That’s why a new report from Pivotal Research Group Senior Research Analyst of Internet and Media Michael Levine is so noteworthy. It’s not the Q4 2020 results Facebook shared that’s worth a gander.

Rather, it’s what Facebook’s first-half revenue projections for 2021 are that’s truly eye-opening.

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As noted Wall Street analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson sees it, “the really sexy growth stories right now are in streaming media.”

And, when it comes to Comcast‘s growth stories, the 33 million new Peacock subscribers seen since its launch six months ago is certainly worthy of all of the media’s attention.

What’s perhaps more noteworthy, yet rarely discussed, is the success Comcast is having with Flex.

What, exactly is Flex?

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) today announced the creation of an advisory committee to the NAB Board of Directors that will provide insights and suggestions on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues.

The committee will consist of senior-level broadcasters who are women and people of color, and may include current NAB and NAB Leadership Foundation (NABLF) board members who are committed to advancing DEI issues in broadcasting.

The DEI Advisory Committee will assess the broadcast radio and television industries’ diversity and inclusion efforts and advise NAB and NABLF boards on strategies, initiatives and partnerships to increase the effectiveness of these efforts. The committee will also support NAB staff advocacy efforts at the Federal Communications Commission and in Congress on diversity-related issues. In addition, the committee will identify a diverse group of industry experts on various topics for NAB conferences and speaking engagements.

“NAB is committed to ensuring diverse voices are represented in radio and television broadcasting and that every employee has the opportunity to excel in their career,” said NABLF President and NAB Chief Diversity Officer Michelle Duke. “This new committee will help NAB continue moving diversity and equity forward, and provide guidance for the broadcast community in creating a more inclusive workplace.”

In summer 2020, NABLF created the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Resource Center, a website dedicated to helping media companies and industry professionals create and sustain a diverse and inclusive workplace. NAB is also advocating for congressional passage of a tax certificate program that would provide a financial incentive to those who sell their majority interest in a broadcast station to minorities.

DEI Advisory Committee members will serve a two-year term with one opportunity to renew. They will participate in NAB’s board development training designed to enhance board leadership skills and prepare committee members to become successful directors.

The inaugural members of the DEI Advisory Committee are:

Sandy Breland
Senior Vice President, Local Media
Gray Television

Trila Bumstead
Owner
Ohana Media Group

Caroline Chambers
Senior Director, Diversity
Graham Media Group

Alysia Cox
VP and Associate General Counsel, Regulatory
Cox Media Group

Estevan Gonzales
General Manager/Owner
KSWV RadioCorey Hanson
General Manager
WALA – Mobile, AL
Meredith Local Media Group

Michele Laven – Chair
Chief Diversity Officer/Chief Human Resources Officer
iHeartMedia DuJuan McCoy
Owner, President & CEO
Circle City BroadcastingHeidi Raphael
Chief Communications Officer
Beasley Media Group

Oscar Rodriguez
President
Texas Association of Broadcasters

Sharon Tinsley
President
Alabama Association of Broadcasters

Grady Tripp
Chief Diversity Officer
Tegna

Joel Vilmenay
General Manager
WDSU – New Orleans, LA
Hearst Television

Graham Media Group, the television broadcasting company that owns such stations as WDIV-4 in Detroit and WKMG-6 in Orlando, has upped its Associate General Counsel to Deputy General Counsel.

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French media regulator CSA announced this month that the national DAB+ broadcast authorization across France will become effective on July 15, essentially setting the earliest day by which national broadcasters in France can go on air.

According to a WorldDAB summary of the CSA announcement, the first stage of the national broadcasts is set to cover highways in mainland France (often referred to as “metropolitan France” in French), starting with highways between the country’s two largest cities, Paris and Marseille, crossing Lyon.

A total of two multiplexes are set to launch in France in the summer of 2021, hosting 12 and 13 stations respectively. The 25 broadcasters that have been selected to broadcast nationally on DAB+ have already been determined, and include the six Radio France national radio stations.

WorldDAB said the CSA’s DAB+ rollout plan, the nodes and arcs strategy, which also includes continued regional rollouts alongside the launch of national services, aims to bring population coverage in France up to 40% by the end of 2022.

The post France Edges Closer to National DAB+ Launch appeared first on Radio World.

With Bill Hendrich‘s retirement at the end of 2020, Cox Media Group needed to select a new leader to oversee its collection of AM and FM radio stations.

On Thursday, CMG, today majority-owned by Apollo Global Management, revealed just who will be assuming Hendrich’s former duties.

While Hendrich held the title of Executive VP of Radio, his day-to-day duties are being passed on to Rob Babin, who takes the title of SVP/Radio.

Babin rises from the role of VP/Market Manager for Cox Media Group’s Atlanta and Athens, Ga., stations.

“We are so excited that Rob accepted this role on the CMG leadership team,” said Dan York, who assumed President/CEO duties at CMG following the exit of Kim Guthrie in May 2020. “He is a proven leader with a true passion for the radio, CMG and his people. Rob is a collaborative and agile executive, with deep industry and CMG expertise and passion for everything he does – making him the ideal leader for CMG Radio.”

Specifically, Babin will be responsible for the profitability, strategic direction and operational execution of CMG’s radio platform, comprised of 65 radio stations in 11 markets including Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Miami-Fort Lauderdale in Florida; Tulsa; Dayton; and its home market of Atlanta.

CMG says Babin will also focus heavily “on achieving CMG’s Radio strategic growth objectives while maintaining CMG’s industry leading content, impactful community engagement, and growth-focused culture.”

Babin is a Cox Radio veteran, and has served as a regional VP overseeing Miami, Houston, Tampa-St. Petersburg, San Antonio and New York’s Long Island (Nassau-Suffolk).

He’s also served as GSM and Director of Sales for CMG’s Atlanta quartet, comprised of WSB-AM, WSB-FM, WALR and WSRV “97.1 The River.”

“Over the past 20 years, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside many exceptional individuals and teams across CMG,” said Babin. “I am thrilled to accept this position and honored to lead our CMG radio team. With our company’s incredible strength, brands, and people, we will continue to excel and grow our radio business to new heights.”

Babin is currently a board member of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters and the Radio Advertising Bureau.

KNXR-FM in Rochester, Minn. is the top-rated station in the market, ranked No. 217 by Nielsen Audio.

It’s a 100kw boomer, and the crown jewel in a 19-station operation focused on Southern Minnesota owned by Lynn Ketelsen and John Linder’s Blooming Prairie Farm & Radio.

How has this Classic Hits station branded as “Minnesota 97.5” managed to stay live and local from 6am-7pm, and keep both local and national advertising buys flowing some 11 1/2 months into the COVID-19 pandemic?

Station Operations Manager and morning co-host Lou Kastler shares the details in this fresh InFOCUS Podcast, presented by DOT.FM.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Lou Kastler, KNXR-FM” on Spreaker.