Industry News

The author is chairman of the WorldDAB Automotive Working Group and head of Development Entertainment & Car Functions at Volkswagen Car SW.Org Wolfsburg AG.

The EBU’s Digital Radio Summit took place online in February, featuring a wide range of speakers and presentations outlining radio’s multiplatform future.

Radio’s place in the car was high on the agenda throughout the day and I got the opportunity to share — in my capacity as chair of the WorldDAB Automotive Work Group (AWG) — some insights into the uptake of DAB+ digital radio in the car and highlight some of WorldDAB’s recent initiatives in this space.

Strong growth for in-car DAB+ across Europe

The European Electronics Communication Code (EECC) came into force at the end of 2020, meaning new passenger cars sold throughout the EU are now required to include digital radio capabilities.

As expected, this has led to a surge in the number of new cars factory-fitted with DAB+ in Europe since the start of the year, and this growth is set to continue as more countries introduce national regulation reflecting the EECC.

Italy —which introduced national regulation mandating digital radio in the car at the start of 2020, well ahead of its European counterparts — is leading the way in this respect, with 90% of new cars sold now including DAB+ as standard.

Creating a great user experience

Getting DAB+ into cars is merely the first step of the process — in order to guarantee radio’s place at the heart of the connected dashboard, we ought to provide drivers with a great user experience.

Through WorldDAB and the WorldDAB AWG network, we bring together radio broadcasters and auto makers and facilitate cross-industry collaboration with the aim of continuously improving the in-car multimedia experience.

The importance of metadata

Metadata plays a key role in providing a positive user experience in the car, as it enables the visual information, text and graphics (such as station name and logo, presenter, song title and album artwork) to be displayed on the dashboard while a specific station is playing.

The WorldDAB AWG recently launched a campaign underlining the important role visual information now plays in providing a positive digital radio experience for drivers — and offering guidance to broadcasters on how to use information they already have in the form of metadata to provide a richer experience for the driver.

UX guidelines

Having a common understanding of the user interface in the car is essential, which is why the WorldDAB UX Group — a subgroup within the WorldDAB AWG — published the user experience (UX) guidelines.

Aimed at broadcasters and manufacturers, the guidelines are updated regularly to reflect the changing dashboard and radio’s place in it as well as creating this positive user experience for drivers.

Keeping up with new technologies

Voice control and speech recognition are now essential features in the car dashboard, enabling drivers to search and change stations seamlessly while keeping their eyes on the road.

With that in mind, this year WorldDAB and its members — both vehicle manufacturers and broadcasters — will develop within the UX guidelines guides to using voice control along with providing further clarity to broadcasters on phonemes and their importance.

As well as voice control, the extended guidelines will include new information on hybrid radio and how hybrid, with DAB+ at the heart of it, provides a great digital radio user experience in the car.

Other key areas of focus for the AWG are Android Automotive — and specifically, determining how these new technologies and operating systems will integrate hybrid radio — as well as radio’s place in electric vehicles.

DAB+ at the heart of hybrid

On Wednesday 10 March, WorldDAB and the European Broadcasting Union will co-host a two-hour session where experts will share their insights on how broadcasters can keep radio strong in the car, with DAB+ at the heart of the hybrid radio experience. Register here to attend the virtual event.

The post Steps to a Greater Digital Experience in Cars appeared first on Radio World.

Nexstar Media Group President of Broadcasting Tim Busch, a potential nominee for RBR+TVBR’s Broadcast Television’s Best Leaders of 2021, will retire on June 1, the company has announced.

It will conclude a 36-year career in the broadcast industry, with the last 20 years spent within Nexstar.

Busch joined Nexstar in 2000 as GM for the CBS affiliate serving Rochester, N.Y., WROC-8. Before that, Busch served as General Sales Manager and held various other sales positions
at NBC affiliate WGRZ-2 in Buffalo, his professional home from 1989 to 2000.

Earlier in his career, Busch worked in radio broadcasting, holding various sales and management positions at WGR-AM & FM (today WGRF) in Buffalo under Taft Broadcasting ownership.

During his tenure at Nexstar, Busch worked closely with company founder, chairman and CEO Perry Sook as Nexstar expanded its local television station group, digital offerings and
national market presence.

Sook commented, “Tim and I have worked collaboratively for over 20 years and I’m grateful for his leadership, expertise and friendship. Tim has been instrumental in building the foundation for what Nexstar has become and the values that we have established in terms of our commitment to our team members and the local communities where we operate. On behalf of Tom Carter, Elizabeth Ryder, our Board, shareholders and the entire Nexstar team, we thank him for his many contributions to our long-term success.’

He added that Busch leaves Nexstar “well positioned” to continue Nexstar’s growth as, Sook said, “we have a deep bench of experienced broadcast and digital executives and we are immediately commencing a search for Tim’s successor. We will miss Tim and wish him all the best as he enters the next phase of his life.”

Busch added, “Throughout my years at Nexstar, I have been fortunate to work directly with Perry Sook and Nexstar’s talented team which has re-shaped the industry, delivered great service to the viewers and users of our content and delivered compelling marketing solutions for companies of all sizes. I have had the honor of working with the executive leadership team that consistently drives strong growth and operating results reflecting the talents of our General Managers and team members across the Nexstar Nation. In addition
to building America’s largest local media company, I am proud of our countless accomplishments over the past two decades.

“With a dynamic executive team in place, I am highly confident that the next generation of leaders at Nexstar will extend the Company’s exemplary long-term record of success and the continued creation of shareholder value. I wish everyone in the Nexstar Nation the very
best as they execute on their plans for continued growth.”

Thursday evening’s big headline across business media was AT&T‘s revelation that it will sell a 30% stake in its satellite and terrestrial video services provider business, inclusive of DirecTV. The entity grabbing the stake: TPG Capital.

For Moody’s Investors Service, this is a credit positive move for AT&T.

The deal includes AT&T’s DirecTV, U-Verse, and all of AT&T’s virtual MVPD business, AT&T TV.

The transaction values DirecTV at about $16 billion, which is down considerably from the $67 billion that AT&T paid (including debt assumption) to acquire DirecTV in 2015.

TPG will pay $1.8 billion for its stake, which will include TPG receiving senior preferred equity yielding 10%. AT&T will have junior preferred equity in DirecTV that will PIK.

The new company will incur about $6 billion of new debt, with the proceeds expected to be distributed to AT&T at the close of the transaction.

As the DirecTV valuation is low, the transaction, Moody’s says, “is moderately credit positive for AT&T only because we expect that it will provide AT&T with about $7.8 billion of proceeds, which we expect will be used to help offset the company’s C-band auction cost obligation, which as a result, should quicken AT&T’s leverage reduction.”

The deal also includes AT&T funding about $2.5 billion of net losses from the NFL Sunday Ticket contract for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

“The significant decline in DirecTV’s valuation is largely driven by the secular pressure hitting the linear pay-tv industry as consumers switch to over-the-top (OTT) MVPDs, subscription video on-demand (SVOD) and advertising video on-demand platforms, such as Netflix, Inc., Disney+, Amazon Prime, CBS All Access, HBOMAX and others,” Moody’s notes. “These secular headwinds as well as competition for resources within AT&T and failure to manage competitively have caused the company’s DirecTV business to be one of the hardest hit in the industry, as the company has lost over 7 million video connections over the past two years.”

Moody’s believes that DirecTV has been “a drag” on the company’s overall equity valuation.

Thus, it says, “it is logical that management would sell a part of this declining business and structure the sale such that it is deconsolidated from AT&T.”

Due to the pandemic, the company has shifted its strategic priorities and is now focusing on four things:

• investing in fiber/5G
• investing in streaming
• restoring the balance sheet to historical strength levels
• supporting the dividend

As a result, AT&T has divested multiple non-core assets over the past year.

In December 2020, the company announced the sale of its anime streaming service, Crunchyroll, to Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation, for $1.175 billion.

In October 2020, the company also closed on about $3 billion in proceeds from the sales of Central European Media and real estate, and the sale of its Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands wireless business.

 

On the evening of Thursday, Feb. 18, Ed Stolz was placed in jail. U.S. Marshals arrested him, as he was a fugitive, unwilling to surrender control of his three FM radio stations to a court-appointed receiver in lieu of unpaid music royalty payments.

Stolz was released from jail one day later. Since then, U.S. District Court of the Central District of California’s Eastern Division, which is presided by Judge Jesus Bernal, continues to hear from the receiver, Larry Patrick, about Stolz’s interference.

Stolz, meanwhile, has filed an appeal of Bernal’s ruling in yet another attempt to thwart the loss of his FMs.

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iHeartMedia is realigning its business operations by creating two new segments. The media company says it is making the adjustments to better reflect its increased focus on digital and improve visibility into the underlying performances of each segment.

The Mutliplatform Group will include the company’s 860 broadcast radio stations, Premiere Networks and its virtual and live events business. This group accounts for 75 percent of iHeartMedia’s revenue. Greg Ashlock will be its CEO.

The new Digital Audio Group includes podcasting and the company’s digital sites, digital services and digital advertising technology companies, including its pending acquisition Triton Digital. Conal Byrne becomes this group’s CEO.

“The company expects the Digital Audio Group will continue to grow as an increasing proportion of its business in the future,” it stated in its announcement, though it said the Multiplatform Group “remains the foundation business that has been at the heart of the company’s success, playing an important role in building its successful digital and podcasting businesses.

[Related: “For Radio, Audio Is the New Now”]

The divisions will report their financials separately and be run by different management groups, according to an iHeartMedia press release. Both segments will report to Bob Pittman, iHeartMedia chairman and CEO.

A separate Audio & Media Services segment includes Katz Media Group and software provider RCS.

Continued shift

“iHeartMedia is positioned to benefit in the continued shift of the broadcast and digital advertising marketplaces to data infused electronic platforms,” Pittman said during an earnings call Thursday.

The company reported fourth quarter 2020 revenue of $936 million on Thursday, a decline of 8.8% from a year earlier. It says it quarterly revenue deficits are narrowing as skittish advertisers return and the COVID-19 pandemic eases in parts of the United States. iHeartMedia previously reported a drop of 22% in revenue for Q3 2020 year-to-year.

iHeartMedia’s broadcast specific revenue was down 19% in Q4 2020 and down 26% excluding political, according to the financial report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company reported significant political advertising, totaling $168 million for the year, its best year on record. Digital continues to standout for iHeartMedia, according to Pittman. Growth in digital the final quarter of 2020 was 53% year over year, according to the company’s filing with the report.

For the year, the pandemic caused a significant decline in revenue of nearly 20% compared to 2019. Total revenue was $2.9 billion in 2020 compared to nearly $3.7 billion in annual results the year prior.

Pittman said the company hopes to return to 2019 revenue levels by the end of this year but a lot depends on the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines and the return of more advertisers.

Corporate expenses decreased 23.8% in 2020 compared to the year prior, according to the iHeartMedia SEC filing, resulting from cost reduction initiatives that resulted in lower employee compensation. In addition, the company’s modernization efforts delivered $50 million of in-year savings in 2020.

“The total operating expense savings resulting from our modernization initiatives and the operating cost savings initiatives that were developed in response to the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic generated approximately $250 million of cost reductions in 2020,” according to the financial statement.

COVID-19 takes its share

Pittman on Thursday’s earnings call said: “Like every ad supported business we were hit by the pandemic. We responded quickly to the downturn and used this to speed up our adoption of new technologies and best practices while making lasting changes to our company’s operating structure.”

The company said it will continue to centralize resources into what it calls Centers of Excellence.

The company’s capital expenditures for the year 2020 were $85.2 million compared to $112.2 million in 2019. Those capital expenditures last year consisted primarily of investments in its programmatic platforms and IT software and infrastructure, according to the company’s SEC filing.

The company is more optimistic about spending as it projects cap ex of $165 million to $185 million in 2021.

iHeartMedia’s fourth quarter results fell in line with most of the mega radio group owners in this country. Entercom reported earlier this week its 2020 revenues in the quarter fell 23 percent year-to-year. Cumulus Media fared a bit better reporting fourth quarter revenues in 2020 declined 13.1 percent compared to a year earlier.

iHeartMedia President/COO/CFO Rich Bressler said during Thursday earnings call the company projects “its first quarter 2021 revenue will be down 11 to 13 percent when compared to the year prior.”

The biggest commercial radio operator in the United States — which has been acquiring audio technology companies in the past couple of years and just announced the planned purchase of audio measurement company Triton Digital for $230 million in February — failed to make a significant dent in its overall debt in the quarter, according to the SEC filing.

As of Dec. 31, 2020, the company had just over $6 billion in total debt, virtually unchanged from the end of September.

Honeycomb investment

Also in February, Honeycomb Investments Ltd., an investment vehicle funded by Global Radio investor Michael Tabor, announced it had taken an 8.8% share in iHeartMedia, according to SEC filings. Honeycomb’s investors own Global, the largest radio and outdoor advertising company in the UK.

The investment totaled $117.6 million, according to several reports. Just last year the FCC gave approval to iHeartMedia’s petition to increase its foreign ownership beyond the 25% limit.

In its 10K annual report to the SEC filed Thursday, iHeartMedia said: “Honeycomb filed a Schedule 13D with the SEC reporting ownership of more than 5% of our voting stock and equity. Honeycomb acquired its interest without our knowledge or control, and we are fulfilling our obligations under the Declaratory Ruling and the FCC rules with respect to Honeycomb’s interest.”

 

 

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United States recorded music revenues grew 9.2% in 2020 to $12.2 billion at estimated retail value.

It marks the fifth consecutive year of growth for the industry, as paid subscription services continued to be the primary driver of revenue increases, and reached a record number of subscriptions.

Streaming music’s share of total revenues grew to 83%.

Covid-19 affected the industry significantly through tour cancellations, retail store closures, and other disruptions.

Revenues from recorded music measured at wholesale value grew 8.9% to $8.0 billion.

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The latest report from Nielsen offers new insights into podcast listening trends — particularly when it comes to tune-in trends and category ad spending among diverse audiences.

Study after study has found that after a decade of audience growth, podcasts have become an appealing and reliable advertising platform. With more than 1.7 million podcast titles available for listeners to choose from as of the beginning of 2021, podcasts are boasting a track record of strong listener engagement — offering advertisers a means of more personalized connection, the Nielsen report said.

[Read: Reports Offer Insights on the Podcast Listener]

Specifically, the February 2021 Nielsen report found that podcast advertising — and notably, those podcast ads delivered by the podcast host — were driving stronger brand recall punch than more traditional forms of advertisements. A series of podcast effectiveness studies by Nielsen has found that host-read ads drive a brand recall rate of 71%, a scenario that subsequently creates high levels of consumer interest, purchase intent and recommendation intent.

The result is an estimated ad spend that is expected to eclipse $1 billion this year, the report said.

The growth seen from podcasts is good news to everyone — consumers, content creators and advertisers, Nielsen said — but as the podcast landscape broadens, “content creators and advertisers will be increasingly tasked with ensuring that their programs and messages align with who’s listening,” the Nielsen report said. “And when we look at audience trends, creators and advertisers should be focused on where the growth is.”

Specifically, the report notes that Hispanic and Black listeners are leaders in podcast consumption. Black consumers are more likely to take action such as visiting a retail location for more information as a result of listening to a podcast, the report said, compared to 8% of all podcast listeners. Hispanic listeners, on the other hand, have gravitated to podcasts more than any other, as the reach among this group increased from 1.1 million in 2010 to 6.8 million in 2019. That represents a growth rate of more than six times.

In addition, the report details that podcasting is also managing to withstand the effects of COVID-19. While the pandemic has altered traditional audio listening habits, when U.S. consumers were forced into lockdown, commuting to work decreased and audio consumption dropped. As the year progressed however, audio use — including podcasts — rebounded as consumers modified their media habits in the wake of life changes brought on by COVID-19.

The new Nielsen report also suggests that podcasting is ideal for brands looking to engage the right consumers with a well-tailored message as opposed to simply casting a big net and hoping for the best. “As the base of podcast listeners rapidly expands, those well-tailored messages depend on having a full understanding of who’s listening and to what,” the report said.

The report also tracks listening by age group, listening location, time of day, median age, median household income and gender breakdown.

 

The post New Report Reveals Podcast Trends Among Diverse Audiences appeared first on Radio World.

Bauer Media Audio said it plans to acquire Communicorp Group, pending regulatory approval.

“Through this transaction Bauer Media Audio enters the Republic of Ireland and extends its audio business to eight countries, further developing its position as Europe’s leading commercial radio operator with more than 55 million weekly listeners,” the organization stated in the announcement.

It said Communicorp is Ireland’s largest commercial radio group with a weekly audience of 1.75 million.

“The group comprises of Ireland’s only two national commercial radio stations Today FM and Newstalk, alongside local stations Spin 1038 and 98FM in Dublin, and Spin Southwest in Limerick, as well as leading digital radio sport station Off The Ball, digital audio exchange audioXI and aggregated listening platform GoLoud.”

The announcement was made by Paul Keenan, president of Bauer Media Audio, and Communicorp Chairperson Lucy Gaffney.

The Irish Times reports the sale is “understood to be for more than 100 million Euros.” It quoted Communicorp’s billionaire owner Denis O’Brien saying his decision was influenced by changing listening habits of consumers.

But in the announcement, Paul Keenan cited radio’s popularity in Ireland and said. Communicorp’s radio stations “are reaching record listening highs.”

Bauer Media Audio has broadcast radio, online services and podcasts also serving the UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Poland and Slovakia. Its brands include KISS, Mix Megapol, Absolute Radio, Radio Norge, Radio Expres, Radio Nova, Radio 100 and RMF.

 

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Of the major publicly traded audio media companies operating in the U.S., Entercom Communications, iHeartMedia and Beasley Media Group have each reported their fourth quarter earnings. Saga Communications will offer its results on March 12.

Where is Townsquare Media? The results, which are expected to be positive, are still forthcoming and due the week of March 15.

While the company’s top executives will be participating in upcoming investor conferences, a top Wall Street blog believes the company’s shares are nearly half of their intrinsic value estimates.

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The Federal Communications Commission has issued a reminder that anyone involved in the change of ownership of a wireless communication tower must follow a certain notification process.

“This reminder is necessary because of inconsistent compliance with this process, and it reflects the importance of maintaining accurate records in the FCC’s Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) System, which functions to protect aircraft navigation safety,” it stated.

In February of 2019 the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau put out a notice announcing that the FCC was revising its ASR System with a new process for reporting changes in ownership of towers and other structures registered in the system. It made changes to FCC Form 854, Antenna Structure Registration, and the commission’s ASR website at that time.

“The ownership change application procedure is a two-step process that requires both the assignor (current owner of record) and the assignee (new owner of record) to take several steps,” the FCC now reminds us.

Those steps are to log into ASR, complete their respective portions of the application, and provide the signature of an authorized person.

“In the time since these changes were enacted, there have been a number of instances where ownership changes were not properly completed because one of the parties failed to complete the process. These failures made it difficult to identify the owner responsible for compliance with our Part 17 rules, led to complications in subsequent transfers, and resulted in other administrative inefficiencies.”

Part 17 of the rules covers construction, marking, and lighting of antenna structures.

The commission is reminding all parties to transfers of ownership of registered towers that they must comply with the process in the Ownership Change Public Notice. 

“Further, we recommend that parties complete the change of ownership in ASR as part of the sales transaction, rather than leaving the ASR ownership change to be completed at a later date. If the ownership change application process is not properly completed by both parties, the ASR system will identify the wrong entity as the owner, which may result in the wrong entity being held responsible for a tower it no longer holds and may slow down future transfers of ownership for current owners. It could also impact aviation safety by preventing or delaying lighting outage reports from reaching tower owners and thus delay subsequent FAA notification and repairs.”

It noted that its Licensing Support Hotline is available on weekday business hours to help with the online application process at (877) 480-3201 option 2; TTY (717) 338-2824.

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