Industry News

Nexstar Media Group and ViacomCBS have reached comprehensive multi-year agreements to renew the existing CBS Television Network affiliations in 39 markets across the country.

That’s not prevented an affiliation switch from transpiring in the biggest city in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, to the benefit of Lilly Broadcasting.

Effective Friday (1/21), WJMN “Local 3” in Marquette, Mich., became an independent news station serving the city and nearby Escanaba, which comprise DMA No. 182. It is now a MyNetwork TV affiliate, and “will continue to provide the news, weather, sports and entertainment that we have for over 50 years across the Upper Peninsula,” WJMN noted on its website.

The new CBS affiliate for Marquette is WZMQ-19, DT2. It is owned by Lilly, which will retain its MeTV affiliation on Channel 19.1, at least for right now. The station is available on Charter’s Spectrum lineup as Channel 3, on DISH on Channel 5, and on DirecTV as Channel 20. A new logo is already in place.

“All of your favorite CBS programming and shows will continue with no disruption, along with CBS Sports coverage of the NFL and NCAA College Basketball including March Madness,” WZMQ said.

Lilly Broadcasting has CBS affiliates in Erie, Pa.; Elmira-Corning, N.Y.; the U.S. Virgin Island and Puerto Rico. It agreed to purchase WZMQ in October 2017 for $103,475.

A Nexstar spokesperson contacted by RBR+TVBR declined to comment on why a new affiliation deal with CBS in Marquette did not come to fruition. All of the other CBS agreements were renewed.

The affiliation switch comes as Nexstar secured a fourth and final agreement that the company says completes “all of ViacomCBS and Nexstar’s affiliation renewals.” Some 39 markets retained their CBS affiliation, and this deal follows three affiliation deals renewed in early 2021.

The new Nexstar/ViacomCBS agreement gives the latter permission to place Nexstar’s CBS affiliates on Paramount+ and on vMVPD platforms.

ViacomCBS President of U.S. Networks Distribution Ray Hopkins commented, “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Nexstar that includes several early renewals of our CBS network affiliations. This deal demonstrates the power of our collective partnership and our commitment to maintaining strong relationships in order to best serve audiences across the country with leading content.”

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The agreement includes renewals for the following CBS affiliates:

• KTAB in Abilene, Tex.
• KRQE in Albuquerque
• WIAT in Birmingham
• WVNS in Bluefield-Beckley, W. Va.
• WIVB in Buffalo
• WCIA in Champaign, Ill.
• WRBL in Columbus, Ga.
• KGPE in Fresno
• WANE in Ft. Wayne, Ind.
• KREX in Grand Junction, Colo.
• WFRV in Green Bay, Wisc.
• WNCT in Greenville-New Bern, N.C.
• WSPA in Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.
• KVEO in Harlingen, Tex.
• WHLT in Hattiesburg, Miss.
• WHNT in Huntsville, Ala.
• WTTV in Indianapolis
• WJTV in Jackson, Miss.
• WTAJ in Johnstown, Pa.
• KLFY in Lafayette, La.
• WLNS in Lansing, Mich.
• KLAS in Las Vegas
• KLBK in Lubbock, Tex.
• WREG in Memphis
• KXMC in Minot, N.D.
• WKRG in Mobile
• WBTW in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
• WMBD in Peoria, Ill.
• KOIN in Portland, Ore.
• WPRI in Providence, R.I.
• WNCN in Raleigh
• KCLO in Rapid City, S.D.
• WROC in Rochester, N.Y.
• KLST in San Angelo, Tex.
• KELO in Sioux Falls, S.D.
• WJHL in Johnson City-Bristol-Kingsport
• WKBN in Youngstown, Ohio

The deal also includes two stations owned by Mission Broadcasting, Nexstar’s close shared services partner: KOLR in Springfield, Mo., and WYOU in Wilkes Barre-Scranton.

The warning signs were there, with influential Wall Street observer Michael Nathanson one week ago cutting his price target as increased OTT competition and slowing growth made Netflix a little less rosy of an investment.

It turns out Nathanson was right on the money with respect to Netflix’s overall health. Disappointing earnings and subscriber forecast misses were seen by the visual entertainment giant, leading to a Friday sell-off that saw NFLX down by more than 21% in the 1pm Eastern hour.

Yet, there’s dissent among just how poorly Netflix is performing. According to one industry observer, “Netflix’s performance is superb when you consider the crushing competition encroaching on what used to be a fast growing, greenfield market.”

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Chances are that if you live in a multi-unit residential tower or community with a homeowners’ association or spend time in an office building, your choices for broadband services are, well, none — there’s one provider, thanks to contractual arrangements and legacy wiring and provider limitations that in many cases are a thing of the past.

The Chairwoman of the FCC wants to do something about that, and on Friday shared with her colleagues a Report and Order and Declaratory Ruling that she argues would promote competition and increase choice for broadband services for people living and working in multiple tenant environments (MTEs).

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Addressable Advertising. It’s a desire of practically every marketer and advertiser, with media buyers and planners seeking out every form of communication to deliver what the client wants — personalized messaging.

That puts radio in an odd position. Yes, it has audio streaming opportunities. But, radio broadcasting’s broad reach — long its selling point and biggest positive for an advertiser — is now a detriment. What’s an owner of a FM radio station to do?

GeoBroadcast Solutions has an answer, and in autumn 2021 successfully tested technology that literally localizes an FM signal, offering advertisers more options by geo-targeting audiences. It’s asked the FCC to amend its booster rules to allow for program origination — key to the voluntary use of “ZoneCasting” by FM station owners.

The FCC obliged in November 2020 by adopting a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, now under consideration.

Obstacles could prevent “ZoneCasting” from proliferation across the U.S., however. And, GeoBroadcast Solutions says in a letter submitted this week with the FCC, iHeartMedia is the biggest obstructer to making “ZoneCasting” happen.

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Broadcast Partners has added 2wcom’s multi-channel cloud capability to SmartRadio, its cloud radio production service. It announced integration of MoIN software in SmartRadio.

“MoIN will enhance SmartRadio’s ‘audio playout as-a-service’ capabilities with encoding and streaming multiple audio channels simultaneously,” the company stated.

The announcement was made by Broadcast Partners CEO Robert-Jan van der Hoeven and 2wcom Systems CTO Leif Cipriani. The companies noted that they have been working together for some 15 years.

MoIN takes its name from “Multimedia over IP Network software.”

Radio World invites both users and suppliers to tell us about recently installed new or notable equipment. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Broadcast Partners Adds 2wcom MoIN to SmartRadio appeared first on Radio World.

Mackie introduced a portable streaming mixer that targets social streamers, gamers and podcasters.

The M•Caster Live Portable Live Streaming Mixer is pitched as a simple way to connect with a streaming platform. It retails for $259.

The mixer connects to the user’s smartphone headphone jack, or via USB to a computer running OBS or similar software. It can be powered with an external battery.

Features include preset-based ContourFX to shape the voice with a knob. The StreamFX voice changer lets the creator disguise their voice or do characters.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

M•Caster Live comes with a software bundle from Accusonus, including a perpetual license of the ERA Voice Leveler and De-Esser plugins, and a three-month All Access Suite subscription that adds audio repair tools such as Noise Remover, Voice Deepener, Mouth De-Clicker and Reverb Remover.

“Users can explore the Voice Changer plugin, adding fun effects to their projects, or search the music libraries of SFX and Music Cellar for high-quality, royalty-free sound effects and background music.”

Radio World invites both users and suppliers to tell us about recently installed new or notable equipment. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Mackie Rolls Out Portable Streaming Mixer appeared first on Radio World.

Member stations of the National Association of Broadcasters got a chance to hear from its new president/CEO on Thursday, Jan. 20, when Curtis LeGeyt spoke in a virtual “town hall.”

He identified three areas he’ll focus on, according to a meeting summary: winning policy fights to help broadcast businesses thrive; engaging in “business-oriented initiatives prioritized by the organization’s membership;” and “restoring NAB Show’s preeminent stature as a destination for the entire broadcast community.”

LeGeyt praised broadcasters for their work during the pandemic and promised to champion tools and resources they need to serve communities.

[Read More Articles about the NAB]

He spoke about his work on the Hill during his decade at NAB and the importance of stations being engaged with legislators and regulators. “You have the compelling story to tell about your stations work in their communities. And it is incumbent on all of us to ensure policymakers recognize the importance of our investigative reporting, emergency alerts and philanthropic efforts that local stations provide to their constituents,” he said.

Executive Vice President of Government Affairs Shawn Donilon talked about NAB’s legislative priorities including support for a law that would help broadcasters and other media in negotiating with “Big Tech” companies about how their content is shared. He also mentioned the Local Radio Freedom Act opposing a performance royalty on broadcast radio stations.

Donilon also gave an update on the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, which would provide news media with a tax credit for hiring and retaining local journalists, and on legislation to reestablish a diversity tax certificate program.

Presentations were also made by Rick Kaplan, NAB’s chief legal officer and EVP of legal and regulatory affairs, and Michelle Duke, chief diversity officer and president of the NAB Leadership Foundation. Duke highlighted a planned Broadcast and Community Organization Summit intended to strengthen relationships between broadcasters and community organizations that target diverse and underrepresented populations, as well as help broadcasters with diversity recruitment.

Comment on this or any article. Write to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post LeGeyt Lays Out General Priorities appeared first on Radio World.

In the fall of 2021 Comrex announced a new service that will deliver conferenced audio from multiple contributors to the company’s hardware codecs in high quality. We asked Chris Crump, senior director of sales and marketing, for details. This story is part of our latest Buyer’s Guide on telco and phone system products for radio.

Radio World: What is Gagl and what is its main application?

Chris Crump: Gagl is a new cloud-based remote contribution service from Comrex. For those familiar with Opal, it works in a similar manner using a common web browser for remote guests to connect. However, it connects to a Comrex ACCESS or BRIC-Link codec in the studio instead of dedicated Opal hardware.

We created Gagl for morning shows, reporters and guest interview situations where high-quality, low-delay audio is required and interaction between up to five participants is needed.

Wherever there is election coverage round-robin reporting, a Friday Night Football live scoreboard roundup, a highly interactive afternoon drive sports show with remote hosts, a charity telethon with presenters at multiple remote locations, podcasts or just simple one-on-one guest interviews, Gagl is a great solution.

To connect, the guest/contributor just needs a computer or smartphone with one of the commonly available web browsers, a decent quality headset and a good Internet connection.

RW: What sets this apart from services someone might currently use for this application?

Crump: There are several free services and some paid that broadcasters and podcasters are using but one thing that stuck out to us was that audio quality tends to be an afterthought with apps like Zoom and Skype where video is the primary focus. As a result, audio tends to suffer. Automatic gain control and echo cancellation make the audio quality even worse.

So we decided to really focus on clean, low-delay, high quality audio. It is something that we’ve been doing for over 60 years now and where we think Gagl will excel.

Customers that already use our ACCESS and BRIC-Link codecs are very familiar with the dependability and superior audio quality these provide. Gagl combines a very simple-to-use guest contributor interface with the broadcast reliable hardware that our customers depend on every day.

RW: Is it available now? What does it cost?

Crump: Gagl will be available about the time this article goes to press. People will be able to sign up for a trial period prior to purchasing a monthly or yearly subscription. Current details on Gagl and a link to the subscription site can be found at https://mailchi.mp/49b8b94b6a97/gagl-updates.

After a free 14-day trial period, Gagl customers will be billed at an introductory rate of $35 USD per month or $350 per year.

RW: Amazon Web Services had some technical issues that may be fresh in people’s minds. Is the cloud-based Gagl safe from problems like that?

Crump: A cloud service is basically an application running on someone else’s computer that uses the public internet. Given the litany of “blackhat” attacks, connectivity issues and power outages suffered by major service providers that we constantly read about, it is clear that no cloud service is immune from service interruptions.

We will certainly do our best to ensure the best results for our customers within the scope of what we can control. We’ve had very good results with our SwitchBoard Traversal Server over the years. As long as the power companies and ISPs hold up their end, we should be in good shape.

RW: What else should we know?

Crump: Comrex customers have overwhelmingly given our support team rave reviews. Technical support is free of charge and available in both English and Spanish. Gagl customers will enjoy access to our world-class support team to help them with hardware and platform-related issues.

More Info: www.comrex.com or +1 (978) 784-1776

The post Comrex Gagl Is a New Remote Contribution Solution appeared first on Radio World.

RBR+TVBR EXCLUSIVE

There was Aereo. More recently and perhaps more infamously, there was Locast.

Each of the now-defunct services provided broadcast TV channels via an IPTV service, and each were criticized by the nation’s “Big Four” networks and the NAB for skirting retransmission consent accords.

Now comes a new “virtual Over the Air” streaming service offering a “local broadcast bundle” based on one’s location. And, the company offering the service, says, it is the first and only legal platform seen yet in the United States.

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The division of Comcast Cable that provides media and entertainment technology to content providers, operators, and advertisers has launched a software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering designed to help companies understand and analyze video (live and on-demand), audio, and closed captions to create actionable metadata around content assets, generate and manage new content, improve advertising efficiency, and streamline operations.

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