Industry News

The owner of television stations in the Twin Tiers of New York and Pennsylvania and in the company’s home market of Erie, Pa., has just signed a fresh multi-year agreement for local TV measurement with Nielsen.

The deal signed by Lilly Broadcasting includes Nielsen Scarborough, and incorporates not only the Erie and Elmira-Corning, N.Y. stations Lilly owns but also “WSEE-CBS,” the satellite-delivered CBS affiliate serving Puerto Rico.

“In this new agreement, Nielsen’s data will support Lilly Broadcasting’s ability to identify growth opportunities for audiences and revenue in their local markets,” Nielsen says, noting that its data helps companies like Lilly to “optimize their news, programming, and promotion efforts to serve their communities and exceed advertiser expectations.”

Catherine Herkovic, EVP/Managing Director at Nielsen Local TV, commented, “Lilly is a valued client, and we are thrilled that they have chosen us to be their audience data and insights provider. We are looking forward to empowering Lilly to showcase their value to advertisers, as they inspire and inform the communities that they serve.”

Why did Lilly choose Nielsen as the provider of local research over Comscore or another audience measurement and data analytics company? COO John Christianson cites Nielsen’s “ability to account for the entire marketplace.”

With Nielsen under Media Rating Council review following the suspension of its accreditations on September 1, that’s a strong endorsement.

As part of MRC’s “commitment to provide enhanced visibility into the state of various ongoing audit processes,” the group led by George Ivie on Monday (12/14) updated the current Council status of Nielsen’s Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) service. DAR, which had been in an accreditation hiatus period from September 2020 to September 2021, is currently undergoing a new MRC audit.

At this time, the official MRC status of DAR is “Not Accredited, In Process.”

Prior to its hiatus from accreditation, DAR was accredited by MRC for its measurement of desktop display and video Total Gross Rating Points, and for age/sex demographic breakouts for audiences age 13+. The current audit of DAR is being conducted in phases, and will include auditing not only of DAR’s previously accredited measurement of desktop activity, but also its measurement of activity from mobile devices and connected TVs (CTV).

The first of the new audit’s reports, focused on Nielsen’s “Snapshot” Identity graph solution, which is now integrated into the DAR product, was delivered in November for
the MRC’s DAR audit committee’s consideration. Reports for additional phases of the DAR audit are scheduled to be delivered throughout the first half of 2022 (and likely into Fall 2022, for certain of the DAR CTV integrations).

Nielsen initially requested a hiatus period for DAR because of changes it planned to make to DAR’s measurement methodology in late 2020 and into 2021. This request was granted by MRC. Accreditation hiatus is a formal MRC status designation in which a service is allowed to temporarily step away from audits for up to 12 months to permit certain actions or service improvements to be implemented outside the normal audit and accreditation process.

MRC plans to issue updates on the statuses of other significant in-process audits in which we are engaged over the coming weeks and months, and additional updates on Nielsen DAR as events warrant.

Allen Media Broadcasting has signed a purchase agreement that will see the company led by Byron Allen acquire the FOX affiliate serving Montgomery, Alabama.

In an announcement released late Tuesday, AMG confirmed that it intends to buy WCOV-20, which uses UHF digital channel 22, from David Woods and his Woods Communications Corporation.

AMG will pay $28.5 million in cash for the station. This acquisition is expected to close in 2022.

Upon closing, Allen’s acquisition of WCOV will increase the number of broadcast television stations owned and/or operated by his Allen Media Broadcasting to 36 stations across 21 U.S. broadcast television markets.

The WCOV-TV digital signal is multiplexed, with channel 20.2 designated as Antenna TV, and channel 20.3 designated as THIS TV—the digital multicast network acquired by Allen Media Group from MGM in October 2020.

Allen Media Broadcasting’s purchase agreement for WCOV-TV also includes these additional television station assets and their respective digital subchannel affiliates:

• Troy, Alabama-licensed Cozi TV affiliate WIYC/channel 48 (48.1: Cozi TV, 48.2:MyNetworkTV, 48.3: Heroes & Icons, 48.4: Court TV/Mystery, 48.5: TBD, 48.6: Comet, and 48.7: Charge!)
• Montgomery, Alabama-licensed WALE/channel 17 (17.1: True Crime Network, 17.2: Laff, 17.3: Court TV, 17.4: Jewelry Television, 17.5: Movies!, 17.6: Heroes & Icons, and 17.7: Comet)

The Montgomery deal follows AMG’s acquisition of Honolulu-based KIKU-TV in September.

In August, Allen Media Broadcasting completed its $380 million cash acquisition of 10 local television stations in seven markets divested from the Gray Television transaction with Quincy Media. In a separate deal in July, 2021, Allen purchased Flint, Michigan’s ABC affiliate —WJRT-12—from Gray Television for $70 million.

In February 2020, Allen closed the deal to acquire 11 broadcast television stations from USA Television Holdings and USA Television MidAmerica Holdings for $305 million.

Allen’s purchase of broadcast television assets began in July 2019 with his acquisition of Bayou City Broadcasting, which included 4 television stations in Evansville, Indiana and Lafayette, Louisiana for $165 million.

In March 2018, Allen acquired The Weather Channel, serving Americans for nearly four decades, and voted the most trusted news network for 11 consecutive years, and the fifth most-trusted brand overall. In addition to The Weather Channel, Allen also owns 11 additional television networks and the free-streaming services theGrio, Sports.TV, HBCUGo.TV, The Weather Channel en Español, and Local Now.

Allen Media Group was founded by Byron Allen in 1993.

“WCOV-TV is an excellent asset and has been extremely well-managed for decades by the Woods family, who I’ve known for over 35 years,” said Byron Allen. “Over the past two years, we’ve invested approximately $1 billion to acquire best-in-class, top-tier, Big 4 broadcast network affiliates and we plan to invest significantly more to acquire additional ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX television stations with the goal of being the largest broadcast television group in America. All of our media assets work in concert to amplify our free-streaming services theGrio.TV, Sports.TV, HBCUGo.TV, The Weather Channel en Español, and Local Now.”

Woods commented, “The acquisition by Allen Media Group will allow WCOV, WIYC and WALE to become even more competitive in the future and well-positioned for the advancing world of broadcast television.”

Woods added that he had known Byron Allen since 1980, when he was a co-host of the NBC program Real People. “We have followed Allen as he started a small production company and worked hard in order to build a massive, diversified global entertainment company involved with numerous divisions, all of which revolve around consuming content on various size screens,” Woods said. “Byron Allen has a reputation for hiring the best executives in each of the companies he owns. We have observed his growth for over 40 years and admire what he has achieved. Byron Allen is a true American entrepreneur. We feel blessed to become part of the Allen Media Group family.”

Allen Media Group will add its thirteenth network, THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPANOL in 2021.

Roughly eight years ago, an FM facility seeking to serve African American consumers in the Gainesville, Fla., market, downgraded from a Class C3 facility to a Class A FM licensed to Cross City, Fla.

It was part of a plan put together by a licensee that in October 2012 agreed to purchase the station for $325,000. But, something went awry and the new facility was never built. As such, in April 2016 the station’s license was cancelled — something then-Commissioner Mignon Clyburn concurred with, as “spectrum squatting” is a no-no, even in cases where diversity of voices is at stake.

The licensee didn’t give up. But, it faces a losing battle in getting its station back from the dead. And, that fight may be at an end, thanks to the Audio Division Chief at the FCC.

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The audio content creation and distribution company that owns podcast companies Cadence13 and Pineapple Street and the eponymous streaming app formerly known as Radio.com received a much welcomed upgrade from a Wall Street financial house on Tuesday.

The move from B Riley Financial helped Audacy Inc. shares climb by more than 5%, sending volume to more than double its daily average.

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On January 8, 2018, the FCC’s Media Bureau issued a Maine permittee a construction permit for an FM translator. The owner of the facility had three years to submit an application for a license. But, it didn’t make that deadline date.

The FCC is accepting the tardiness, but it will come at a price.

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The Georgia Association of Broadcasters (GAB) has named the 2022 year’s inductees into the association’s Hall of Fame.

The GAB Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have had a lasting impact on the state’s broadcasting industry. “Once again our Hall of Fame class has great representation from radio and television, small markets and large, management and on-air talent and with diversity that is truly representative of Georgia’s broadcasting industry,” said GAB President Bob Houghton. “We are so pleased to be able to honor these incredible individuals.”

The following individuals will be inducted into the Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Athens, Ga., on Jan. 26.

• Doug Weathers, WTOC-TV – television journalist and news director
• Ed Harbison, WQXI-AM/FM and WAGH(FM) – Georgia state senator
• Scott Miller, WCUG(FM) – radio broadcaster and play-by-play voice for Columbus State University Cougars
• Joe Willie Sousa, Golden Isles Broadcasting – general manager and on-air personality

From Left: Doug Weathers, Ed Harbison, Scott Miller and Joe Willie Sousa

Each winter the GAB hosts an annual luncheon to honor new Hall of Fame members and recognize recipients of the annual E. Lanier Finch Scholarship.

Since its inception, 93 broadcasters have been inducted into the GAB Hall of Fame. Past inductees include this year’s emcee — Monica Pearson with Georgia Public Broadcasting — and others, including Judy Woodruff, broadcast TV journalist; Skip Caray, former Atlanta Braves play-by-play announcer and son of Chicago broadcasting legend Harry Caray; Pete Van Wieren, American sportscaster; and Mike Roberts, Georgia radio station owner and morning host.

Submit news about your event to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Georgia Broadcasters Name 2022 Hall of Fame Inductees appeared first on Radio World.

When historians look back at advertising trends and the COVID-19 era, one thing will likely stand out: digital media’s advertiser attraction barely cooled off during the pandemic’s most crushing blows to ad dollar activity.

Now, data from Standard Media Index only cement the oft-repeated stories that converged TV and digital video are must-buys for CMOs and aren’t slowing down for the foreseeable future.

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It’s been a decade since digital radio launched in Germany, and it seems to be catching on with listeners. Digitalradio Büro Deutschland, the joint-initiative between broadcasters, receiver manufacturers, and network operators in Germany, declared the 2021 the “best year for DAB+ since 2011.”

According to the Büro, 2021 saw a 30 percent increase in number of digital radio receivers in German homes and cars over the prior year, and DAB+ signals are heard in about 27 percent of German households, some 11 million people. Around 20 percent of all radio listeners regularly tune to DAB+ programs.

On Dec. 21, 2020, regulations went into effect requiring radios with displays, as well as radios in cars, to be capable of receiving DAB+ signals. This resulted in the sale of about 1.83 million stationary DAB+ devices in 2021, a relative increase of 15.2 percent over the previous year.

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“The driving force behind the current DAB+ dynamism is the commitment of many private broadcasters, who are broadcasting new programs nationally and, increasingly, regionally via the digital terrestrial radio standard,” stated Digitalradio Büro Deutschland in a German-language announcement.

According to the Media-Analyse ma 2021 Audio media usage survey, the audience share for DAB+ is 20.4 percent among listeners 14+, and for the 30- to 59-year-old demographic that increases to 22.7 percent.

As of December 2021, about 300 DAB+ channels are offered nationwide, around 100 of which are digital only. The Büro also noted that DAB transmission infrastructure continues to grow in Germany with six more transmission sites going on air by April 2022 to close gaps in the transmission network.

In the first two weeks of December alone, public broadcaster NDR put into operation a new DAB+ transmitter in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania; private broadcaster Radio Arabella Bayern expanded its reach to cover all of Bavaria; and 37 private broadcasters in Saxony applied to join local, regional, and state-wide DAB+ networks.

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The post 2021: Best Year Yet for DAB+ in Germany appeared first on Radio World.

“Radio is outmanned, outgunned, out-funded and fragmented. The competition is not.”

That’s the message that Xperi Corp. has been taking to the global radio industry. The technology company believes its DTS AutoStage platform is the answer.

In a new ebook co-produced by Radio World and Xperi, we talk with experts about this proposition — how the connectivity environment is changing and how DTS AutoStage is designed to address that change.

For listeners, this new hybrid radio platform promises more content, better control, and new ways to engage and personalize audio content in the car.

For automakers it offers consistency in the driver experience, global coverage and field upgradeability.

For radio, it promises stations a visual presence that can be monetized and that looks as good as what SiriusXM, TuneIn or Spotify can offer, if not better.

Will it meet those objectives? Providing insights are Roger Lanctot of Strategy Analytics, Steve Shultis of New York Public Radio, John Clark of NAB PILOT, Steve Newberry of QUU and executives at Xperi led by Joe D’Angelo. You’ll also see what real radio station displays look like in DTS AutoStage on the dash of a Mercedes S-Class vehicle.

Read it here.

The post Radio’s Call to Action: DTS AutoStage appeared first on Radio World.

The nation’s No. 1 radio station owner, by count, and The CW have renewed their multi-year partnership.

What does this mean? The CW will remain the exclusive television broadcast and video streaming partner for both the iHeartRadio Music Festival and the annual holiday iHeartRadio Jingle Ball.

The CW and iHeartMedia have been partners on these events since 2012.

The timing is great for iHeartMedia, as the 2021 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball will air as a national television special on The CW Network this evening (12/15) at 8pm Eastern/Pacific. Performances from Ed Sheeran, BTS, Jonas Brothers, Doja Cat, Lil Nas X, Saweetie, and AJR are in the works, as is a special appearance from Jimmy Fallon.

“From the beginning, we have been attracted to The CW’s young audience reach, and this new agreement will extend our partnership with the Network into a second decade,” said John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises for iHeartMedia. “Each year, the iHeartRadio Music Festival and the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour attract the biggest superstars in music, and this partnership extends the reach of these iconic events into to the homes of millions of viewers around the country.”

Mark Pedowitz, Chairman and CEO of The CW Network, commented, “As we enter into a new decade of collaboration, The CW is looking forward to serving as the exclusive TV broadcast and video streaming partner of both of these can’t-miss events for years to come.”