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The author of this commentary is communication lecturer and faculty director at WGSU(FM)  at SUNY Geneseo, Rochester, N.Y.

Many years ago, more than I care to remember, I heard a radio interview with a major rock artist of the time. I think it was the late Tom Petty. As I recall, the interviewer asked about his politics. His response was something along the lines of, “Man, I’m for everybody.”

It was an astute reply by a savvy public figure recognizing: a.) He was a music artist, not a politician or expert on all things; b.) He had fans of, undoubtedly, many political stripes; and c.) He didn’t want to alienate any of those fans, which was smart — if in a purely financial sense.

Four decades later, celebrities, corporations and, yes, even radio stations big and small seem to glom onto the latest social fad, fancy or frenzy by posting symbols such as colorful flags or raised fists.

Is it wise for radio stations?

Signaling virtue?

The marketers might say so. After all, what’s more important than connecting with the “youth audience” no matter the cause, wrongly viewing “youth” as a monolithic group.

I think they’re wrong — and that Tom Petty was right.

Customizing social-media logos, for instance, to conform with the latest cultural or social fad often represents, at best, virtue signaling — potentially alienating up to half a station’s listeners or more, if many — including those supporting a particular cause — view it as disingenuous corporate pandering, which, let’s be honest, it frequently is.

Consider the reactions to some of the most inane virtue-signaling social-media posts by big corporations. When followers asked Oreo, for instance, “But what does this have to do with cookies?!” … it’s a really good question. And how many radio stations shared rainbow-flag images in June but were too afraid to post the U.S. flag on Memorial Day, Flag Day and Independence Day, even though most of their listeners are Americans … living in America?

This isn’t to suggest that radio stations should avoid ever taking a stand on anything, which would be rather bland — especially for formats, such as talk, with consistent political slants.

But, for others, especially music-formatted stations, first know your audience, and ask yourself beforehand: Is it worth it? Do I really want to potentially alienate up to half — or more — of my listeners? Then think about your own motivation: Is it genuine? Or could it be seen as “jumping on the bandwagon” and pandering, if, deep down, there’s a good chance it is?

For many consumers, virtue signaling (“woke smoke” from “woke capitalism”) is growing wearying and off-putting, with a strong chance of backlash. So whether selling Oreo cookies or trying to reach radio audiences in especially challenging times for legacy media, why make the effort even harder by potentially alienating half your customer base? Instead, consider adhering to the venerable business-school advice: “Stick to the knitting“ — with what you know.

Tom Petty had it right: Just be “for everybody.”

Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor“ in the subject field.

The post Radio, Stick to Your Knitting appeared first on Radio World.

Joe Schifano

This is one in a series of interviews with companies planning to exhibit at the 2021 NAB Show in October.

Joe Schifano is senior director of business development at NPR Distribution.

Radio World: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends that radio professionals should be watching for at the show?

Joe Schifano: The convergence of broadcast radio and IP delivery of audio. Automobile dashboards are becoming an entertainment center, and broadcast radio will need to remain a player in the automobile.

RW: What will be your most important news or message for attendees?

Schifano: The move of our Hub product from a standalone service to sharing the same platform as our flagship public radio product ContentDepot. The move to the ContentDepot platform will greatly improve the user interface. It will also enable us to share features of ContentDepot such as MetaPub, permissioning of programming, receiver monitoring as well as spot insertion.

RW: What specifically will be new? And how is it different from what’s on the market?

Schifano: We are in the final stage of upgrading our Hub product. What we are finding are that networks that have been supporting their own content distribution — satellite and/or terrestrial — do not want to be in the uplink business anymore. They want someone else to manage their distribution system so that they can concentrate on other parts of their business — like creating revenue.

The great thing about the Hub is that the content creator maintains control of the content, and who it’s delivered to, without the headache of managing an uplink operation.

No more cap-ex discussions or maintenance of an aging infrastructure. No more calls in the middle of the night because of an uplink problem that needs to be taken care of immediately. No more paying for never-ending support contracts on the system you purchased or worrying about software upgrades.

Promotional image for NPR Distribution Hub.

The only piece of equipment needed at the content provider’s location is an audio codec. Everything else is located at our facilities in Washington, D.C. Additionally, we are fully redundant with a manned location in St. Paul, Minn. Our new interface simplifies the process of scheduling programs, spots, cues and more. Localization of programming and spots becomes much easier, which in turn enables more revenue opportunities.

RW: Affiliates of the public radio satellite system have been in the process of completing a major receiver switchover. What’s the status of that?    

Schifano: The project is complete. Our headend was completely replaced, as well as all the receivers at nearly 400 public radio stations. We are now fully redundant at our primary location and backup location.

RW: Will your booth or customer interactions change because of the pandemic?

Schifano: Although we will have a team on the floor in the Central Hall, it probably will not be our complete team. At least for the October show, we will be making use of remote meeting technology to answer any questions that may come up.

After a long 18 months of the pandemic, our team is anxious to see both our existing customers as well as prospects in person. Although we have survived in the virtual world, we really are looking forward to things getting back to normal.

Readers looking for more information on NPR Distribution’s Hub service can visit https://www.nprds.org/hub.

The post NPR Distribution Improves Its Hub appeared first on Radio World.

In early July, it became known that a special group of low-power television station permits were available, placed on the market by a licensee that didn’t wish to build them by their rather unique deadline.

What makes these LPTVs so special is that they don’t need to be built until 2023. And, that’s proven to be of interest to The E.W. Scripps Co., which is agreeing to purchase a LPTV construction permit in the Southernmost City in the U.S. and another in California’s Coachella Valley.

It is now known that two more of these LPTVs have been sold.

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ACA Connects Chairman Patricia Jo Boyers and ACA Connects Vice Chairman Mike Bowker on Friday announced the results of recent ACAC Board of Directors elections, in addition to Board replacements and appointments to the six-person ACAC Executive Committee.

The six people elected to the ACAC Board of Directors won their seats based on balloting by the ACAC Membership. The ACAC Board replacements occurred pursuant to existing ACAC bylaws, and the ACAC Executive Committee selections to serve one-year terms were based on a vote by the ACAC Board.

“To associate with all the many talented people who serve on the ACA Connects Board of Directors means a lot to me personally because I know our members are in good hands and can trust ACAC’s leadership to act with utmost integrity, intelligence and diligence,”  Boyers said.

Boyers, who is President of BOYCOM Vision in Poplar Bluff, Mo., was elected ACAC’s Chairman in 2019, following a five-year stint as ACAC Vice Chairman. ACAC Vice Chairman Bowker, who is Chief Operating Officer of Cable One in Phoenix, joined the ACAC Board in January 2018.

Bowker said, “Patty and I greatly appreciate the hard work and effort that ACAC Board members bring to the task. Their passion for ACAC as an organization and for the success of independent broadband, phone and video providers is inspiring because it never flags. I see a very bright future for our industry.”

The following individuals were elected to three-year terms (2021-24) on the ACAC Board of Directors:

• Marie Censoplano: Gen.Counsel & SVP, Content Acquisition, Vyve Broadband
• Matt Dosch: EVP & Chief Operating Officer, Comporium
• John Gdovin: EVP & Chief Administrative Officer, RCN/Grande/Wave
• Jim Gleason: President & CEO, Vexus Fiber
• Dave Hymas: Deputy General Counsel, GCI
• Kristin Johnson: Co-Founder & CEO, Hotwire Communications

ACAC Board Replacements for 2021: Leaving is Diana Block, Executive Vice President, Block Communications. She will be replaced by Geoff Shook, President & General Manager, Buckeye Broadband (effective at ACAC’s third quarter 2021 Board of Directors meeting). Leaving is former Shentel Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Heimbach (who became President and Chief Operating Officer of MetroNet on July 5, 2021.) He will be replaced by Shentel Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Edward H. McKay (effective at ACAC’s fourth quarter 2021 Board of Directors meeting). ACAC Executive Committee Election for 2021:

• Tom Larsen: Senior Vice President, Government & Public Relations, Mediacom
• Drew Petersen: Senior Vice President-Corporate Affairs, TDS

Larsen and Petersen were elected to serve one-year terms with ACAC Chairman Boyers and ACAC Vice Chairman Bowker. The Executive Committee also includes ACAC Treasurer Robert Wieand (Controller, Service Electric Cablevision) and Immediate Past Chairman Robert Gessner (President, Retired, MCTV).

Ben Palmer, right, succeeds his late father Mike as president of Arrakis Systems.

Benjamin Palmer has been named the president of Arrakis Systems, following the death of his father, founder Michael Palmer.

The firm’s ownership remains in the Palmer family. Siblings Aaron Palmer and Melissa Freeman also work at the company, in software development and automation respectively.

[Read: Mike Palmer, Founder of Arrakis, Dies at 69]

Ben Palmer joined the company in 2008 after graduating from Brigham Young University with a degree in manufacturing engineering. His roles have included worldwide sales manager, webmaster, sales engineer and vice president.

During his tenure, Ben Palmer developed software for the web-based Arrakis inventory control system, and was buyer and manager of purchasing for manufacturing. He developed software for employee time accounting, and created the Arrakis music libraries. He was the sole hardware design engineer for the DARC surface AOIP mixing console, ARC-5 analog console, Harmony Soundcard, Harmony Switcher and dual channel mic preamp; and completed the software design for the DARC Virtual AoIP console software product.

 

The post Ben Palmer Becomes President at Arrakis Systems appeared first on Radio World.

Liz Muller and C.E. Simon

During the global pandemic and under lockdown, theatrical stage director and performer Liz Muller had to find a fresh medium to express her creative vision. In starting this new chapter, she co-produced four immersive audio podcasts — “Three Ghosts” and the trilogy “AFTERWORDS.”

“Three Ghosts” is a musical based on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The cast included 46 people worldwide, and they all recorded independently during the height of the pandemic. It was released Dec. 20, 2020.

“AFTERWORDS” is described as “emotional, hilarious, scary, sad and totally vulgar stories.” Episode 1, The Mouse & The Cat, was released on May 31, 2021.

No stranger to immersive productions in a theatrical setting, it wasn’t a stretch for Muller to take the leap into audio storytelling. She already had the basis with Pipe Dream Theatre, the production company she co-founded with collaborator, partner and composer C. E. Simon.

Live theater, immersive audio

However, it was a distinct challenge to be able to take live theatrical productions and adapt them to immersive podcasts.

Theatrical productions often involve 40 to 50 actors speaking their lines, vocalists, musicians, as well as a composer and sound designer.

As Muller explained, it was no small feat to be able to corral all of that talent, remotely, let alone secure recordings.

“To jump into 3D sound and decide to create immersive podcasts of that nature was an undertaking for certain,” said Muller. “Everyone’s got GarageBand, but a lot of people have never touched it, or they don’t have a microphone, or they’re recording on their iPhones, which is wild.”

She added, “Nobody is ever in a studio with me. I record the entire show, all parts, all voices, everything. And then I chunk it up into phrases, and I send it out to all of the cast members. And then they record themselves independently. Then I receive massive amounts of dialogue, and then compile it.”

Harnessing ambience

Muller said that because studio sessions weren’t possible, all of the voiceover work is recorded by the talent on readily available USB microphones and other devices. Studio treatments are encouraged, and audio is cleaned up afterwards.

“Most of our cast use their own USB microphones, since they are all over the world,” said Muller. “Some people are on their iPhones, and I’ve got them hanging a blanket up in a corner just to dampen the sound. And then we use effects and plugins, and get rid of gurgles, crackles, and whatever else is going on.”

Muller explained that there are a lot of variables when talent record their parts remotely.

“We still get these files with this crazy ambient noise and we’re like, ‘Are you at the airport?’” said Muller. “And it’s just like cleaning and mending, so that we can create the best product possible.”

Muller said that there’s also a challenge when you have so many recordings supplied from talent, all with different ambiences to contend with.

“Dealing with 50 different room ambiences is bonkers, and then getting that to sound like it’s even remotely in the same place. Sometimes it’s just trickery,” said Muller.

Theater informs storytelling

Muller said that C. E. Simon is involved in all aspects of the production. This includes writing, score, podcast sound design, Foley and mixing.

“He is the composer, he writes the script, he does all of the final podcast sound design,” said Muller. “He does all the Foley work and it comes from either libraries or subscription-based stuff. Or literally it’s us with a digital Tascam DR40, running around making noises and slamming doors and going up stairs, recording all of that.”

Muller and Simon both approach immersive audio storytelling much like they would approach a theatrical stage production or a musical.

“As a stage director, whenever I see words or hear music, I inevitably see the pictures of what people are doing,” said Muller.

“As Simon and I are working on the audio telling of a story, we look at each scene as we might as stage directors. Such as when there are two people in a room. They’re sitting down at a table and then they have to get up. There has to be movement. And now we’re just doing it with sound instead of visual.”

She added: “What we’ve learned is that it’s very hard to put a sound right in front of you. If there’s a human being in real life, right in front of you, you don’t hear sound like this. You hear sound globally, like it’s around you. A lot of times it’s more effective to pan it to the side or put it behind you because it’s a surprise.”

Some nuts and bolts

In terms of recording her own voiceovers, Muller uses a Shure Beta 58A mic through a Focusrite Scarlett Solo interface. The primary audio work is done in Logic Pro X. All of the assets from the remote talent are merged into Logic Pro by Muller. Muller then performs the pre-mixes for each scene, which includes the “comping” of the takes from the talent.

She puts together a first pass for timing, for tempo, and to capture the rhythm of scenes. Then she hands it off to Simon for further mixing and scoring. Simon uses the Accusonus ERA Bundle Standard for most of the audio repair. Once in the closing stages, Muller and Simon dial in the final mix of the podcast.

Muller said that if someone is planning to do immersive audio podcasts, especially on this scale, it’s a good idea to have others to help.

“Anybody jumping into 3D audio podcasts, get yourself a team,” said Muller. “It is not easy, and it’s time-consuming. It’s definitely different from working in stereo sound. But it’s so worth it.”

Ian Cohen covers pro audio, immersive audio, storytelling and music creation. He’s producer/host at Malibu’s 99.1 FM KBUU.

The post Pipe Dream Theatre Produces Immersive Podcasts appeared first on Radio World.

Phil Valentine, the conservative Talk radio host who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and became seriously ill, has died.

Valentine, who initially spoke out against the use of vaccines to combat the coronavirus, was a key air personality at Cumulus Media-owned WWTN-FM 99.7 in Nashville. He hosted the 3pm-7pm CT program.

WWTN confirmed Valentine’s passing in the 6pm Central hour on Saturday (8/21). He was 61 years old.

“We are saddened to report that our host and friend Phil Valentine has passed away,” the station posted on Twitter. “Please keep the Valentine family in your thoughts and prayers.”

Valentine had been hospitalized for more than a month while battling COVID-19. His family in late July revealed that he was in “very serious” condition and suffering from “COVID pneumonia” along with other side effects. His condition had worsened and was “grave” as of last week.

Valentine’s brother, Mark, spoke with several WWTN hosts on Saturday, confirming Phil’s passing in the early afternoon hours.

Initially, Valentine believed that he had recovered from the virus. “I think I’m on the other side of it,” Valentine said of the virus, as he described coughing, congestion, and fatigue that “hurts like crap. I’m certainly moving forward, it appears, but not in a straight line… It’s just one of those things. I don’t want it to linger on.”

Prior to falling in, Valentine took to his show to not only express his concerns over the safety of the approved COVID-19 vaccines, but also with mask mandates.

Among those expressing their condolences is former House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman and current Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn). In a statement, she said, “Phil Valentine was a visionary for the conservative movement. He made an enormous impact on the lives of many Tennesseans as an esteemed radio host, actor, and author. It was a privilege to know Phil, and I know his legacy will endure. My deepest condolences and prayers are with Phil’s wife, Susan, and his family. May they be comforted and surrounded by love during this difficult time.”

If there was ever a statement that solidified Nexstar Media Group’s commitment to covering Capitol Hill, this is it.

The media company known for its ownership of broadcast TV stations and the struggling NewsNation has agreed to acquire one of the leading political news brands covering Congress and the Federal government in Washington.

For $130 million, Nexstar is buying The Hill.

“With more than 100 journalists who cover political news and events and provide a wide variety of engaging content to its users, The Hill’s business model is primarily advertising supported by direct, programmatic, and licensing revenue,” Nexstar said, noting that its “omni-channel approach to content distribution” will allow it to expand The Hill’s reach and revenue channels while creating synergistic opportunities with Nexstar’s NewsNation.

Commenting on the transaction, Nexstar President/COO Tom Carter said, “The accretive acquisition of The Hill’s independent, political digital media platform marks continued progress with Nexstar’s ‘content-first strategy’ and reflects our organization-wide commitment to deliver trusted, unbiased, fact-based journalism that engages and informs our audiences across all screens and devices. The Hill has a nationally recognized brand known for delivering balanced political reporting, as well as authentic opinions and perspectives, and is highly complementary to NewsNation.”

The Hill marks the second digital transaction under Nexstar’s “content first” strategy, following the December 2020 acquisition of BestReviews.

Bret Pearlman of HRS Management, the largest investor in The Hill, commented, “We are pleased to have been investors in The Hill and partners with [Chairman Bill] Finkelstein for the past five years as he and the company’s management team transformed the business into a digital media powerhouse. With a strong foundation in place and unique offering in the market, we are confident that the future of the company is extremely bright.”

It’s been a challenging six months on the NYSE for Audacy shares. At 2:15pm Eastern Thursday, the company’s stock dipped as low as $2.93, continuing a fresh downturn that began August 5 but, on a grander scale, dates to mid-March.

Friday’s trading was a bright one, however, with heavier than average volume fueling a 9.8% rise.

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