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The FCC announced the largest civil penalty involving a broadcaster in the agency's 86-year history. Sinclair Broadcasting agreed to pay a $48 million civil penalty and abide by a strict compliance plan in order to close three open investigations

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The Telos Alliance will stream a series of four webinars this month, in lieu of the spring NAB Show.

The first focuses on what’s new with Omnia, including putting processing in the cloud with Omnia.9 PTN, as well as products including Volt and Omnia.11.

Subsequent webinars will cover Telos Infinity IP Intercom; an exploration of the new Axia Quasar flagship console; and tools for Next Gen TV, where the company’s Linear Acoustic and Minnetonka Audio products have application.

The four-day series starts May 18. Find information here.

 

The post Telos Highlights Virtual Showcase appeared first on Radio World.

Kim Guthrie will leave Cox Media Group, the company announced.

Guthrie is president and CEO and has been with Cox for 22 years, but it was only in December that she was named president and CEO of this new iteration of Cox, so her tenure in this role was short.

[Read: Cox Assesses Radio Listening]

Late last year Cox Enterprises completed the sale of its radio and TV stations, along with other assets, to the new media company Cox Media Group, majority owned by private equity funds, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The decision to leave was hers, according to today’s announcement.

Executive Chairman Steve Pruett, who came aboard in December, becomes interim CEO until a permanent leader is appointed. The company said “Guthrie will work with Pruett on an orderly transition.”

Cox owns 54 radio stations in 10 markets, among its other media holdings.

 

The post Kim Guthrie Departs Cox Media Group appeared first on Radio World.

The NAB Show may have gone virtual this year, but the flesh-and-blood chairman of the Federal Communications Commission will still participate online.

The National Association of Broadcasters announced that Chairman Ajit Pai will take part in a “keynote conversation” with NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith on Wednesday, May 13 during the NAB Show Express Welcome event.

[Read: “Welton Is More Than Just Tips n Tricks,” interview with award recipient Jeff Welton]

“The industry’s top regulator and the head of NAB will discuss communications policy issues before the FCC, including spectrum policy and media ownership,” NAB announced.

The opening session will be streamed on nabshowexpress.com at noon Eastern on May 13 and available on-demand following its conclusion.

Smith will also deliver his annual “State of the Broadcast Industry” address and present several awards including the Engineering Achievement Awards and Crystal Radio Awards.

 

The post FCC Chairman Will Participate in NAB Show Express appeared first on Radio World.

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Filingof Petition for Declaratory Ruling by Univision Holdings, Inc.

Dismisses modification application filed by Blackbelt Broadcasting, Inc

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FM translators would be allowed to originate some programming content for the first time, if two dozen radio companies get their way.

The group of licensees, under the joint name “Broadcasters for Limited Program Origination,” told the FCC in a filing that “to serve the public interest with increased program diversity,” both FM boosters and translators should be allowed to originate programming for up to 80 hours a week.

Translators and boosters currently rebroadcast only the primary station’s programming. Boosters, which operate on the frequency of their primary station, have been in the news because they are the subject of a separate proposal from GeoBroadcast Solutions. It wants the FCC to allow limited unique programming on synchronized boosters to allow a new geo-targeted or “zoned” capability. The FCC has been taking comments on that.

But the filing by the group of 24 licenses takes the idea much farther.

Allowing FM translators to originate any local programming at all would be a big change, particularly now that so many stations have them in the wake of the AM revitalization effort. AM stations with FM translators would be included under the proposal.

[Read: Let’s Investigate Geo-Targeting, NAB Tells FCC]

“The Broadcasters for Limited Program Origination seek a uniform FCC rule change for both FM boosters and FM translators to allow each to originate programming content provided that the primary station is retransmitted for no fewer than 40 hours in any calendar week,” they wrote.

“Further, rather than restrict new uses of FM booster stations to the GeoBroadcast Solutions content-specific programming, an FM booster or translator should be able to split off programming whenever such split programming content serves its listening audience, provided the primary station continues to be rebroadcast on the FM booster no fewer than 40 hours in any calendar week.”

The proposal was filed by attorney John Garziglia of Womble Bond Dickinson. The 24 licensees own 108 full-service stations and 85 FM translators.

The stations believe the FCC should not concern itself with restricting which kinds of content should be allowed.

“As with FM booster stations, the FCC should not restrict FM translator licensees in their programming content decisions,” they wrote. “Some radio stations may choose to broadcast different localized advertisements. Others may broadcast localized city council meetings for two or more communities in their coverage areas. The broadcast of multiple localized high school sports games may be what serves a particular station’s listeners. Another station may broadcast two different kinds of ethnic entertainment programming at certain times of the day.”

While this filing was made in response to the GBS proposal, it is a much different beast.

Indeed, the group of licensees said they “take no position as to whether the GeoBroadcast Solutions technical proposal … is wise as a radio listener reception matter. Such concurrent broadcasting of different content on the same frequency within the same service area may be an interference disaster.” Rather, they wrote, their goal is “to provide diverse programming over FM translator and booster radio facilities without the FCC’s heavy thumb restricting their choice of content.”

If the GBS concept of originating limited separate programming on same-channel booster stations is acceptable “as a regulatory matter,” then so should be the origination of limited separate programming on FM translators.

The companies also argue that, because the commission’s new translator interference rules “have redefined the coverage contours of FM stations,” the extended coverage contours out to the greater of the 45 dBμ contour or a 25-mile radius from the translator site should now apply to what is regarded as a fill-in station for the purposes of the FM translator rules.

And further marking this proposal as a potential big change, the group would like the commission to designate four-letter call signs with the suffix “-FX” for translators that originate limited programming content. “FM translators originating programming will be serving listening audiences just like any other broadcast station,” they wrote.

The broadcasters in the filing are Miller Communications/Kaskaskia Broadcasting; the Cromwell Group of Illinois and Hancock Communications; TBE LLC; SSR Communications; Port Broadcasting; the Fingerlakes Radio Group and Chadwick Bay Broadcasting; Blackbelt Broadcasting; Mazur LLC; The Original Company, Old Northwest Broadcasting and The Innovation Center; Virden Broadcasting; Lovcom Inc.; Genesee Media Corp.; Viper Communications; Mountain Top Media; Eastern Shore Radio; and MTN Broadcasting and Eldora Broadcasting.

Among familiar broadcaster names on the proposal are Randal Miller, Bud Walters, Terry Barber, Mark Lange, Matt Wesolowski and Cindy May Johnson.

 

The post Station Groups Push for Translators to Originate Content appeared first on Radio World.

Dennis Wharton

Dennis Wharton has been spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters longer than anyone in its history. But he’ll retire from that role come July.

Wharton, executive vice president of communications, has been with the association for 24 years. Ann Marie Cumming will become the association’s primary spokesperson, and Wharton will continue to serve as a senior advisor, according to President/CEO Gordon Smith.

In an email to the NAB Board of Directors, Wharton described his tenure at NAB as “the privilege of my professional life,” noting he had been “in the catbird seat for countless moments in broadcast history,” including the launch of HDTV, radio performance royalty fights, “wardrobe malfunctions, and media consolidation battles. According the NAB announcement, he’s is most proud of the unparalleled public service of local broadcast stations, on prominent display during the COVID-19 crisis.

[Read: NAB Campaign Targets Coronavirus Aid, Federal Ads for Local Stations]

Smith called Wharton “a fervent advocate for local broadcasting” and made special note of his enthusiasm and good humor. “We wish Dennis all the best and are fortunate to have him stay on as an adviser to NAB.”

In Wharton’s letter, he praised the NAB board, his co-workers, local broadcasters, state broadcast association executives and reporters who covered NAB through the years. He reserved special gratitude for colleagues on the NAB communications team, which he has overseen for more than two decades.

Wharton joined NAB in 1996 as vice president, Media Relations, and subsequently was promoted to senior vice president in 1997 and executive vice president in 2006. He has overseen NAB departments that include media relations, research and public service. Wharton joined NAB after a 16-year journalism career in Ohio and as Washington bureau chief for Variety, where he covered legislative and regulatory issues related to broadcasting, cable and Hollywood movie studios.

[Read: COVID-19 Response Toolkit Now Available From NAB]

Michelle Lehman

NAB also announced it will merge the association’s communications and marketing departments into a new Public Affairs department, led by NAB’s Michelle Lehman, executive vice president of marketing. In her new role, Lehman will be responsible for NAB’s media relations, public service and research divisions.
She also spearheads the “We Are Broadcasters” campaign and directs marketing campaigns to promote NAB events and activities, overseeing the association’s brand, messaging and digital strategy.

Lehman began her career in Washington, on Capitol Hill serving as press secretary for former Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and then for the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee, under the leadership of former Ranking Member Sen. Fred Thompson (Tenn). She also served as associate director of technology policy for a boutique public relations firm, as well as vice president of public affairs and chief spokesperson for the National Beer Wholesalers Association before joining NAB.

Lehman has tapped Ann Marie Cumming, senior vice president of communications, to serve as the primary spokesperson of the organization. In this role, she will be assisted by Zamir Ahmed, vice president of media relations, who has been with NAB since 2011. Cumming, who joined NAB in 1994, will oversee media relations and the research division led by Vice President of Research Dan McDonald.

The post NAB’s Dennis Wharton Retiring After 24 Years appeared first on Radio World.

The FCC has announced a partial waiver of an EEO rule to help facilitate the rehiring of people who lost jobs in the coronavirus crisis.

Its Media Bureau waived the “broad outreach” requirements of Equal Employment Opportunity recruitment rules in certain circumstances. The rules ordinarily require broadcast stations employing five or more full-time employees to engage in broad recruitment outreach for all full-time job vacancies.

[Read: FCC Eliminates Its Own Engineering Division]

“The Bureau finds good cause to waive this requirement to allow affected broadcast licensees … to return operations to full strength once circumstances permit the re-hiring of released employees,” it announced.

“Specifically, broadcast licensees and MVPDs may rehire full-time employees who were laid off due to circumstances related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic without first conducting broad recruitment outreach, if they rehire such employees within nine months after the date they were laid off.”

It emphasized that this partial waiver pertains only to employees who were released due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It cited the “challenging economic conditions directly resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, including significant layoffs and workforce reductions in the media industry.”

The FCC believes this waiver “will not have a material adverse impact on the commission’s goals of ensuring equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination.”

 

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