Industry News

(PODCAST BUSINESS JOURNAL) — Some 125 members working in the iHeartPodcast Network division say they “have been encouraged to embrace the dynamism of start-up culture without any of the associated benefits.”

They have signed union cards to organize with the Writers Guild of America.

Specifically, The Writers Guild of America, East has called on management to voluntarily recognize the union. iHeartMedia corporate had no comment on the matter. Podcast Business Journal asked the Writers Guild for specific names behind the letter (below); the co-owned publication to Radio + Television Business Report was told to attribute it to “the iHeartPodcast Union.”

CEO Bob Pittman has said during iHeartMedia earnings calls that the podcast division is profitable for the company. The company reported $156 million in podcast revenue through the first nine months of 2021.

The approximately 125-member iHeartPodcast Network Bargaining Committee includes producers, editors, researchers, writers, and hosts based in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York City.

The iHeartPodcast Network includes shows such as “Stuff You Should Know,” “Fake Doctors, Real Friends,” “The Ron Burgundy Podcast,” and “Disgraceland.”

Here’s the letter the iHeartPodcast Union wrote to management: We, the podcast producers, editors, researchers, writers, and hosts of iHeartMedia, are thrilled to announce that we are unionizing with the Writers Guild of America, East. Months of discussion with our colleagues have clarified some things: First, we love the community we have created at iHeart. We work shoulder to shoulder with some of the most creative minds in the business, who have come to feel more like family. We are devoted and passionate storytellers who take pride in our ability to provide our listeners with entertaining, thought-provoking audio content and, most importantly, companionship. However, during difficult times, we are reminded that while the iHeart Digital Audio Group prides itself on its relative autonomy and ability to adapt to the shifting needs of the marketplace—much like a start-up—we work under the capacity constraints of a legacy broadcast conglomerate. Essentially, we have been encouraged to embrace the dynamism of start-up culture without any of the associated benefits.  Throughout the unprecedented challenges of the last two years, we managed to seamlessly transition to remote work; our adaptability helped the company not just sustain, but thrive during a period of economic uncertainty and social unrest. During team calls, town halls, and official email communications from leadership, we are frequently reminded of the financial gains that we helped make possible. Bob Pittman, CEO and Chairman of iHeartMedia, reported during last month’s quarterly earnings call that Digital Audio revenue increased by 77 percent compared to 2020. Our division’s significant growth was “driven primarily by continuing increases in demand for digital advertising and the continued growth of podcasting,” where revenue is up 184 percent compared to 2020.  Unfortunately, those gains have not reached the creators working round-the-clock to keep our audience of more than 30 million monthly listeners actively engaged. With hundreds of shows across all categories and genres, many of us are doing the work of multiple employees, and the huge volume of content we are responsible for is not met with equitable compensation. Furthermore, we lack transparency in workplace decision making, meaningful initiatives toward diversity and inclusion, fairness in managerial relationships, and clarity in divisions of labor. While we are proud to be an essential part of iHeartMedia’s success over the past few years, we are keenly aware of significant internal pay disparities between similarly positioned individuals within the company. And across the board, iHeartMedia’s overall compensation and benefits standards are wholly insufficient when compared to the greater podcast and scripted audio market.  Due to these working conditions, the creators of iHeart’s podcasts have banded together in order to help determine the best path forward so that iHeart can remain competitive, retain existing talent, and attract new voices to the network, all while creating a more equitable, transparent, and democratic workplace. Key elements of these goals include, but are not limited to:  Appropriate compensation and benefits
Accountability mechanisms regarding diversity and inclusion efforts
Manageable workloads and appropriate staffing for shows
Clear paths for advancement and standardized job descriptions
Job security  We ask that iHeart leadership voluntarily recognize our union, and we look forward to working with our company’s leadership throughout the bargaining process to reach these objectives. In doing so, we can ensure that iHeart’s growth remains sustainable and that we retain our position as an industry leader.  

 

Lowell Peterson, Executive Director of the Writers Guild of America, East, added, “We are pleased to welcome the storytellers at the iHeartPodcast Network to the Guild. A union is vital to  ensuring podcast workers are able to build sustainable careers in an industry where their contributions have been essential to the sector’s continued rapid growth.”

 

Nielsen’s Gracenote has unveiled Audience Predict, a new content analytics tool that forecasts the potential future performance of entertainment programming.

Audience Predict draws on Gracenote content metadata, Nielsen audience measurement data and advanced machine learning technology to provide content distributors and owners with predictive insights to help maximize their return on programming investments, the company said.

Audience Predict joins Inclusion Analytics in Gracenote’s new Content Analytics suite of offerings designed to help companies better understand what to produce, whom to cast and where to place programming to maximize audience reach and return on investment, Gracenote said.

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

“The media ecosystem primarily associates Gracenote with advanced search and content discovery enabling TV providers to connect viewers to programming, but our industry-leading entertainment metadata and IDs have equally strong applications powering new analytics which inform smarter business decisions,” said Simon Adams, Gracenote chief product officer.

“By helping the content community see into the future around program performance today, we’re helping them solve one of the most vexing issues they face — distribution complexity. This expands our larger Content Analytics offerings which help the entire media industry make more informed decisions,” Adams said.

Audience Predict analyzes relationships between streaming service or network distribution outlets and the anticipated potential program performance utilizing years of proprietary Nielsen viewership data, the company said.

The solution forecasts potential audience size, composition, reach, and viewing minutes under different distribution scenarios by considering program genre and drop patterns for streaming content or airdate, airtime and lead-in for linear content. Using machine learning, the model will iteratively improve and can be trained to output new program performance metrics based on customer needs.

In addition, Gracenote said Audience Predict can help content creators and owners identify the most potentially advantageous streaming platforms or networks for their content and develop compelling program packages for target buyers. The solution enables data-driven decision-making on program acquisitions, renewals or cancellations for streaming and linear content distributors, forecasting which shows have the potential to draw the largest overall audience or best target segments.

Submit business announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

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NEW YORK — Hearst Television‘s Senior Director of Finance, based at the company’s New York City headquarters, has been promoted to Vice President.

Earning the new role: a 31-year finance veteran at Hearst Television.

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(Flag-map courtesy Wikicommons)

Under a motion approved Dec. 7 by the Council of States, the upper house of the Swiss bicameral legislature, FM stations would be allowed to operate in the country until at least 90 percent of all radio listening in the country happens digitally via DAB+ or webcasting. The proposal must still be approved by the National Council before it is considered by the Swiss executive branch.

Currently, all FM licenses in the European nation are scheduled to expire at the end of 2024 by which time stations are expected to have completed the transition to DAB+. Between now and then, FM stations can voluntarily shutter their analog operations.

In August, Swiss media regulator BAKOM set Dec. 31, 2024, as the FM shutoff date for the country. The regulator had targeted an earlier date for the complete switchover to DAB+, but stations in the French-speaking portion of the country were not as far along with the transition as their counterparts in the German- and Italian-speaking cantons.

[Previously: “Swiss FM Shutdown Reverts to Original 2024 Date”]

According to a report in the German-language Klein Report, the motion was proposed by Ruedi Noser, an FDP.The Liberals party councilor from Zürich. Noser has long been skeptical of the push to move broadcasters from FM to DAB.

The report notes that even if the 90-percent threshold is approved by the National Council (the Swiss lower house) and the Federal Council, it may not mean much of a reprieve for FM radio in Switzerland. The latest consumer survey by researcher Gfk Switzerland found that about 88 percent of Swiss radio listening happens via digital platforms.

In making the proposal, Noser also asked the Federal Council, the executive branch of the Swiss government, to investigate whether or not DAB+ was an “outdated” standard, comparing to internet radio and mobile streaming services.

“I don’t know whether you have already noticed that practically everything that comes to market today is attached to the Internet. The DAB standard is not an internet standard,” said Noser. “The DAB standard is a separate technical standard for radio — nothing else. Maybe at some point we will have to discuss switching off DAB.”

Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

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When it comes to hot topics in the video entertainment world, SVOD is perhaps tops.

For 2022, Deloitte predicts that with U.S. and global streaming services continuing to expand, the amplified competition “is creating abundant consumer choice and accelerating churn.” As a result, Deloitte predicts that in 2022 at least 150 million SVOD paid subscriptions will be canceled worldwide, with churn rates of up to 30% per market. Is this an opportunity for over-the-air TV?

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A “deluge’ of ads from expanded legalized sports betting and the return of midterm political ad spending in 2022 are expected to aid U.S. broadcasters’ rebound from the pandemic.

That’s the key conclusion from S&P Global Market Intelligence Senior Research Analyst Justin Nielson, who works in the Kagan arm.

Just how rich will spending in the 2022 midterm elections be? And, is legalized sports betting truly the dollar magnet companies such as Audacy perceive it to be?

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Roz Clark

In the Dec. 8 issue of Radio World we salute one of the industry’s top engineers, Roz Clark. (Read our full story about him and his accomplishments.)

It’s hard for me to believe, but Radio World has now been recognizing outstanding radio engineers for 18 years. Some awards tend to be given to recipients at the end of their career and understandably so. But when our publisher John Casey and I created the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award, we wanted not only to honor technologists but to focus on those who are doing good work right now in the industry.

I hope we’ve lived up to that. 

Making my annual phone call to notify a recipient is one of the best parts of my job. I’m also proud of our circle of recipients. They include some of engineering’s leading names, chosen at the peak of their careers, as well as some who were “on the way up.” And I appreciate the camaraderie that I’ve seen grow between our past honorees. 

This time of year can be a little bittersweet, because I remember making those calls to friends who have since passed away, namely John Lyons and Barry Thomas. 

But if John were here, I know exactly what he would do now. He would bust on me for being “follicly challenged,” just like himself; he would compliment me on our choice this year; and then he would call or email Roz Clark and tell him: “Congratulations to Number 18 from Number 3! Welcome to the family!”

If you have someone in mind who deserves to be considered in the future, I welcome your suggestion. Email me at radioworld@futurenet.com.

Happy holiday season!

The post In Search of Excellence appeared first on Radio World.

Radio World is taking an in-depth look at “The Infinite Dial UK 2021” report this week.

On December 2, 2021, Edison Research unveiled “The Infinite Dial UK 2021,” detailing U.K. consumer views on radio and media. In this fourth part of a five-part Radio World series, Edison Research President Larry Rosen discusses the survey’s findings on in-car media and online audio brand awareness.

The report is based on 1,000 telephone interviews with U.K. residents 16 and older, during the fourth quarter of 2021.

In-car media

Larry Rosen started this section by looking at “Audio Sources Currently Ever Used in the Car.” In the U.K., “overwhelmingly the leader, as you would expect, is AM/FM/DAB radio. 72 percent of people who say they’ve been in the car in the last month, say that they’ve used the radio,” he said.

[Read more of our coverage of the “Infinite Dial” report]

In-car CD players came a distant second at 37 percent, owned digital music at 29 percent, online audio at 26 percent and podcasts at 15 percent

Rosen then compared in-car media usage in the U.K. vs. the U.S., employing slightly different categories: AM/FM Radio (U.K. 72 percent vs. U.S. 75 percent), CD player (U.K. 37 percent vs. U.S. 35 percent), online audio (U.K. 26 percent vs. U.S. 33 percent) and podcasts (U.K. 15 percent vs. U.S. 30 percent).

The fact that the U.K. has half the in-car podcast listenership of the U.S. (based on percentages) caught Rosen’s attention. “I would have to guess as to why that is,” he said.

A Comparison of U.K. vs. U.S. Usage of In-Car Media (Courtesy Edison Research)

Maybe it’s easier to do it [listen to podcasts] given the state of technology in the cars in the United States,” he said. “It could be just further development of podcasts” in the United Kingdom.

Moving forward, Rosen said that 18 percent of U.K. consumers 18+ (no reason was given for this changed age metric) reported using in-dash entertainment systems in their cars. This broke down to 20 percent for the 18–34 age group, 18 percent for 35–54, and 18 percent for 55+.

In contrast, in-dash entertainment system usage by US 18+ consumers was 20 percent in the U.S., compared to the U.K.’s 18 percent. “Maybe that couple of points difference would explain a little bit of that podcast differential,” he said.

Online listening in-car using a mobile phone was also documented during the webinar. The 16+ U.K. usage percentage was 38 percent (compared to the US 16+ rate of 49 percent). The breakdown by U.K. age group was 41 percent for 16–45, 40 percent for 35–54, and 34 percent for 55+.

The U.S.’s 49 percent vs. the U.K.’s 38 percent may be explained by the U.S. being “a bit more of a car culture,” said Rosen. “People [in the U.S.] are more likely to have longer commutes and spend more time in their cars.”

Online brand awareness

When it comes to recognizing online audio brand names, “the best-known brand in among these that we asked about is Spotify, with 71 percent of everyone in the U.K. saying that they are aware of that name,” said Rosen. “Spotify is followed somewhat closely by Amazon Music (65 percent), BBC Sounds (63 percent) and YouTube Music (62 percent).”

(Spotify, along with Bauer Media UK, was a sponsor of the survey.)

The 16+ respondents to the Infinite Dial UK 2021 survey also cited being aware of Apple Music (55 percent), Audible (37 percent), SoundCloud (34 percent), Deezer (26 percent), Radioplayer (21 percent), TuneIn Radio (19 percent) and Tidal (6 percent).

U.K. 16+ Awareness of Online Audio Brands (Courtesy Edison Research)

Next, “we asked everyone if they’ve used these brands in the last month,” said Rosen. “Spotify is the market leader at 30 percent, with everyone in the U.K. saying they’ve used Spotify, followed by BBC Sounds at 21 percent, YouTube Music at 14 percent, and on down the list.”

This list includes Amazon Music at 10 percent, SoundCloud and Apple Music at 7 percent each, TuneIn Radio at 4 percent and Radioplayer at 1 percent.

As for weekly usage? “Spotify is the clear market leader here: 28 percent of everyone in the U.K. saying they have used Spotify in the week before we called them,” said Rosen. “In second place is BBC Sounds at 16 percent, YouTube Music at 11 percent and single digit percentages for these other brands down the list” (Amazon Music and Apple Music each at 6 percent, SoundCloud at 5 percent, TuneIn Radio at 3 percent, and Radioplayer at 1 percent).

In Part Five of Radio World’s summary of “The Infinite Dial UK 2021,” we’ll look at podcast consumption in the U.K.

Part 1: “First-Ever ‘Infinite Dial UK’ Survey Provides Insights for U.K. Radio”
Part 2: “‘Infinite Dial UK’ Details U.K. Radio Listening, Ownership”
Part 3: “‘Infinite Dial UK’ Digs into U.K. Online Audio”
Part 4: “‘Infinite Dial UK’ Looks at In-Car Media”
Part 5: “U.K. Likes Podcasts Finds ‘Infinite Dial UK’”

The post ‘Infinite Dial UK’ Looks at In-Car Media appeared first on Radio World.

The FCC Media Bureau said today, Dec. 8, it will proceed with adopting new foreign-sponsorship identification rules despite pushback from the National Association of Broadcasters. Several other groups joined the NAB in claiming the new requirements would be especially burdensome for small broadcasters.

The FCC adopted amended foreign-sponsorship identification rules in April to specifically target situations where a station broadcasts material sponsored by a foreign governmental entity. The new rules require disclosure of leased programming sponsored by foreign governmental entities.

The FCC said its modified regulations further the critical goal of transparency and it applies them to foreign governments, political parties and their agents.

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The NAB, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) this summer asked the commission to stay the order while their petition for review was pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The groups’ lawsuit claims the FCC adopted “unnecessary and overly burdensome rules that violate the Communications Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and the First Amendment.”

Today’s FCC Order Denying Stay Petition officially ends the quest by NAB, MMTC and NABOB to delay implementation of the updated sponsorship identification regulations: “We find that the Petitioners have failed to make the required four-part showing to support such extraordinary equitable relief. Accordingly, we deny the request to stay the effectiveness of these rules,” the FCC wrote in the most recent order.

“Petitioners have failed to establish that broadcast licensees will suffer irreparable harm” in implementing the FCC Report and Order on foreign-sponsorship identification, according to today’s FCC filing. “We also find that the costs of compliance to broadcast licensees are not severe enough to be cognizable as irreparable harm.”

The commission, which believes the petitioners’ pending lawsuit is unlikely to succeed on merits, will now move forward with modified regulations “which seek to eliminate any potential ambiguity to the viewer or listener regarding the source of programming provided from foreign governmental entities.”

Although foreign governments and their representatives are legally prohibited from holding a broadcast license directly, foreign governments have contracted with broadcast station licensees to air programming of the foreign government’s choosing or to lease the entire capacity of a radio or television station without adequately disclosing the true source of the programming, according to the FCC.

The on-air disclosure would be required at the time of a broadcast if a foreign governmental entity paid a radio or television station, directly or indirectly, to air material. The old rules did not specify when and how foreign government sponsorship should be publicly disclosed.

The NAB, MMTC and NABOB maintain they support the FCC’s goal of public disclosure of foreign government-sponsored programming, but argue the new regulations impose rules on broadcasters “which collectively have many thousands of contracts for the lease of time to air programming — onerous requirements to make specified inquiries of, and conduct independent research on, all the entities with whom broadcasters currently or will in the future have lease agreements.

“The broadcaster must determine (and then announce) whether the sponsor of the programming is a foreign governmental entity or its agent, even if the leased programming (such as an infomercial or local religious broadcast) poses no colorable risk of foreign sponsorship,” NAB said.

The organizations said at the time it filed its lawsuit in September the rules would do little to address the problem of foreign interference in elections.

The organizations argued in an updated brief filed Tuesday night with the court that the FCC lacks the authority to impose the investigatory requirements mandated by the order. In addition, the organizations argued with the FCC’s justification for its rules is lacking as the commission cited only a few examples of foreign governmental entities sponsoring undisclosed broadcast programming as the reasoning for requiring every broadcast station to conduct inquiries for every existing or new leased programming agreement.

“The order also fails to address the problems with undisclosed foreign governmental programming on cable systems and the Internet, which is where the issue primarily exists, the brief argued,” according to the NAB.

In a statement to the press today, the groups said: “NAB, MMTC and NABOB strongly urge the Court to overturn the FCC’s flawed decision requiring overly burdensome investigations by every broadcaster into every sponsored program. While we share the Commission’s goal of ensuring the public understands when listening or viewing programming supplied by foreign governmental entities, the FCC’s order fails to adequately, sensibly or fairly achieve this objective. We appreciate the Court’s consideration of this issue and believe it will agree that the Commission overstepped its bounds.”

Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post FCC Denies NAB Stay Petition on Foreign-Sponsorship ID Rules appeared first on Radio World.

Broadband iTV Inc., the Austin, Texas-based company that considers itself as one of the pioneers of video-on-demand, has filed a dismissal of its patent infringement lawsuit against DISH Network LLC relating to video-on-demand, set-top box and related technologies.

In a brief statement, BBiTV CEO Clifton Kagawa said, “We are pleased to have the litigation completed and are proud of BBiTV’s patented technologies. BBiTV developed and owns a portfolio of more than 70 issued U.S. patents, comprised entirely of technologies developed by BBiTV inventor and Chief Technology Officer Milton Diaz Perez (pictured, top left), based on his work over several decades. BBiTV developed the underlying technology that all of its patents were derived from, and BBiTV has not acquired any of its patents from third parties,” explained Kagawa.

BBiTV is represented by lead counsel Robert Kramer and his team at the law firm Feinberg Day Kramer Alberti Lim Tonkovich & Belloli LLP.

FROM THE RBR+TVBR ARCHIVES:

Pioneering VOD Firm Wins ‘Patent Constructions’ Lawsuit Adam Jacobson A company that considers itself to be one of the pioneers of video-on-demand technology has claimed a small victory in its fight against AT&T, DirecTV, Dish Network and Amazon for copyright infringement of four patents covering streaming media innovations specifically tied to VOD services using the set top box and mobile app technology. A VOD Pioneer Files Another Patent Infringement Suit RBR-TVBR A company that considers itself to be a VOD pioneer in December 2019 filed a patent infringement actions against AT&T, DirecTV and Dish Network — actions that involves four patents covering streaming media innovations specifically tied to VOD services using the set top box and mobile app technology. Now, this same company has sued Amazon. A VOD Pioneer Slaps AT&T With A Patent Infringement Suit Adam Jacobson A company that considers itself to be one of the pioneers of video-on-demand technology has filed a patent infringement action against AT&T — an action that involves four patents covering streaming media innovations specifically tied to VOD services using the set top box and mobile app technology.