Industry News

In October 2020, RBR+TVBR reported on the sale of a booming 22kw Class B with a tower atop a peak in the Shenandoah Mountains to Educational Media Foundation. 

It was a bargain for the facility, which reaches the western half of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and had been Hot Adult Contemporary WINC-FM, licensed to Winchester, Va.

While EMF bought the station, the intellectual property stayed with seller Centennial Broadcasting II. Now the company led by industry veteran Allen Shaw is selling the two stations “WINC” moved to last autumn.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has had both adverse and positive effects on the Technology, Media & Telecommunications industry, S&P Global Market Intelligence reports.

“With a global economic slowdown, sports cancellations and more, traditional TV advertising experienced steep declines in 2020,” it says. That said, the pandemic accelerated other trends such as digital transformation, OTT video usage, and even new telehealth applications.

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Artificial Intelligence-as-a-sales aid pioneer Veritone is now offering support for a new AWS initiative that is designed to enhance Veritone’s AI-enabled applications to provide new ways for business and content creators to find, share and monetize their content.

AWS for Media & Entertainment is an initiative featuring new and existing services and solutions from AWS and AWS Partners, built for content creators, rights holders, producers, broadcasters, and distributors.

AWS adds the newly announced Amazon Nimble Studio to a portfolio of “purpose-built media and entertainment industry services.”

AWS for Media & Entertainment also aligns AWS and AWS Partner capabilities against five solution areas: Content Production; Media Supply Chain & Archive; Broadcast; Direct-to-Consumer & Streaming; and Data Science & Analytics for Media.

Veritone’s AI-powered Digital Media Hub, combined with the power of the underlying AWS infrastructure, “leverages cutting-edge technology to safely and more efficiently facilitate the distributing, archiving and storing, as well as licensing and monetizing, their content securely in the cloud,” the company says.

Veritone Digital Media Hub is a cloud-native, AI-powered media management platform hosted on AWS that is specifically designed for content owners in sports, film, TV, news and media enterprises. The platform is built on Veritone’s aiWARE operating system.

Across all Veritone platforms, AWS cloud storage and compute services correlate 16 million unstructured data objects per month, process 1 million hours of audio and TV media per month and perform 2.5 million AI cognition tasks, including transcription, translation, and face recognition, per day.

“Our collaboration with AWS strengthens our ability to help media and entertainment companies solve some of the biggest challenges they face in digitally transforming how they manage and ultimately monetize their content,” Veritone President Ryan Steelberg said. “Combining the power of AWS with our AI-enabled Digital Media Hub, we ensure companies’ valuable media assets are secured in the cloud, accessible anywhere, and placed a few keystrokes away for distribution and monetization.”

FOX News Channel (FNC) has named four executives to its New York and Washington leadership teams, a move its President and Executive Editor believes will “advance our robust news operation and commitment to showcasing diverse perspectives across the network.”

Greg Headen, who currently runs FNC’s foreign desk in New York, is taking the role of Vice President of News Coverage.

Headen will transition to the role “later this spring,” overseeing both the domestic and international assignment desks’ operations.

He will manage planning and logistics for news coverage around the world, providing material to all FOX News Media platforms.

At the same time, Megan Albano and Jerry Andrews will join the network’s New York weekend programming leadership team, with Albano promoted to Vice President overseeing weekend opinion programming.

Andrews, who rises to Senior Executive Producer, will oversee weekend daytime news.

Albano will continue to manage The Five, the 5pm weekday roundtable talk and political chat program.

In Washington, Doug Rohrbeck will now serve as SVP of D.C. News, and will manage the network’s editorial coverage emanating out of the Nation’s Capital. He’ll continue overseeing programs including Special Report w/ Bret Baier and Fox News Sunday w/ Chris Wallace. Additionally, Kerri Kupec has been named Washington Editor, and starts in the role on May 10.

“I am pleased that these dedicated individuals will join FOX News’ leadership team at our headquarters in New York and our largest bureau in Washington,” FOX News Media President/Executive Editor Jay Wallace said. “They will continue to advance our robust news operation and commitment to showcasing diverse perspectives across the network.”

A joint venture of Sinclair Broadcast Group and South Korea’s SK Telecom designed to spur the growth and adoption of ATSC 3.0 by broadcast television in the U.S. is poised to introduce “breakthrough, next-generation broadcasting technology” both stateside and in South Korea by the end of 2021.

The companies’ CAST.ERA is moving forward with the rollout of “OTT broadcast technology,” which just saw successful trials on South Korea’s Jeju Island.

The new technology will enable SK and Sinclair to broadcast ultra-HD (UHD) video with low-to-zero latency to next-generation TVs and mobile devices.

CAST.ERA’s technology is a convergence of telecom’s 5G standard and ATSC 3.0, the new standard set by the Advanced Television Systems Committee for UHD broadcasting.

CAST.ERA, based in Arlington, Va., will provide broadcast solutions to U.S. and Korea distribution companies, including Sinclair’s “major” U.S. television stations as well as Korea media entities Kai Media, ATBiS, DigiCAP and Hasigancom.

When paired with next-generation TVs and mobile devices, the CAST.ERA technology will make it possible for viewers to receive high-quality video, datacasting through OTA (over-to-air), and live TV broadcasts via OTT (over-the-top) platforms at home or on the go with minimal lag in transmission times.

The technology will also enable broadcasters to dynamically insert personalized advertisements during commercial breaks for each viewer via the OTT broadcast service.

The new 5G-ATSC 3.0 technologies being launched include:

• AI Upscaler – a technology designed to create high-quality broadcast video in real-time by converting and upgrading the broadcast resolution, frame frequency, color gamut, and format through the use of an artificial intelligence learning engine’s operational management.
• Virtualized Broadcasting Platform – a new technology utilizing cloud and mobile edge computing that successfully operates and remotely controls the transmission system of broadcast stations from a centralized location. Currently, broadcast companies must build dedicated transmission equipment that is manually operated at each local station. This new platform will provide more efficient and economical operations.
• Zero-Latency OTT – a technology that reduces the delay time for OTT video streaming to a television or mobile device from nine seconds to zero. It can also dynamically insert personalized advertisements for each OTT user during commercial breaks.
• Datacasting – the introduction of ATSC 3.0 and its robust propagation characteristics will provide this capability, making it possible to distribute large amounts of data via TV broadcast signals.

“We plan to introduce the cloud-based, AI-driven next-generation TV broadcasting solutions into the U.S. market this year,” said CAST.ERA Chief Operating Officer Kevin Gage. “These solutions will help accelerate U.S. broadcasters’ deployment of next-generation TV broadcasting services into the market.”

Launched in early 2020, CAST.ERA combines SK Telecom’s telecommunication technologies with Sinclair’s broadcasting infrastructure and engineering expertise to bring to market all the new capabilities that ATSC 3.0 provides. SK Telecom is Korea’s largest mobile telecommunications provider and launched the world’s first 5G smartphone service. Sinclair is a leading proponent of ATSC 3.0

Sinclair Chief Technology Officer Del Parks commented, “Bringing together the technologies and expertise that these two companies possess will help unlock the huge potential that ATSC 3.0 has for delivering IP content efficiently over large geographic areas covered by our TV signal. These technologies are a game changer. Our new abilities to provide improved viewer experience and access to new business models, like data delivery as a service (Ddaas), is one of the most exciting things to happen to our business since HDTV.”

The companies established a 5G-ATSC 3.0 testbed at Jeju Technopark in South Korea, where the trials were successfully conducted to prove that advanced high-quality broadcasting services were possible. The demonstration began with a transmission from Las Vegas to Jeju Island, where CAST.ERA successfully completed the trials with the Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea Communications Commission (KCC), Korea Radio Promotion Association (RAPA), Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Korean broadcasters, and select partner companies.

Another significant event was the demonstration by CAST.ERA with Doosan and MBC of a highly accurate location service that carries GPS position correction data (MBC RTK) on the ATSC 3.0 broadcast frequency and transmits it to a Doosan hydrogen fuel cell drone. The distance recognition of a drone based on today’s GPS location data has an error range of 1 to 2 meters. But through the data correction, it can be reduced to 10 centimeters. This location augmentation technology offers high accuracy and availability in the Korean and U.S. markets, where major ICT industries such as unmanned delivery and smart agriculture are emerging.

“5G and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies bring significant change and opportunity for the future of the global media industry,” said Yoon Kim, Chief Technology Officer at SK Telecom. “The joining of SK Telecom’s telecommunications technology and Sinclair’s service leadership will continue to position CAST.ERA as a leader in the global media technology market.”

— RBR+TVBR Washington Bureau

It’s official.

The association representing the interests of broadcast media translator stations will be holding a live, in-person convention next month in Salt Lake City.

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New Media Optimism in the Traditional Video Landscape

That’s the theme for this year’s Kagan Media Summit, which participants will again be enjoying “from the comfort of your home,” due to the continuing concerns tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indeed, the Kagan Media Summit will again be a virtual affair. Still, it intends to deliver at its fullest the latest industry trends, research and data from Kagan, industry overviews, and executive Q&As and panel discussions are already in the planning stages.

For the second consecutive year, registered Kagan Media Summit participants will also receive a PDF copy of the Summer 2021 RBR+TVBR Special Report — the exclusive home to the Broadcast’s Best Financial Leaders rankings for 2021.

What can attendees expect?

Spotlight on the U.S. Broadcast Station Industry

Despite record 2020 political ad revenue, the broadcast station industry faces a transitional year ahead. Gain important insights as we discuss major issues looking ahead.

• While core ad revenues are improving in 2021 coinciding with local businesses reopening’s and the vaccine rollout, it is not the snapback many had hoped for coming out of the pandemic. Retransmission fee revenue growth has slowed over the past year from traditional subscriber churn, however, renewal rate increases and virtual subscriber growth have mitigated a contraction in distribution fee revenue.
• But there are opportunities for broadcasters to boost revenues and relevance from increased scale through M&A, Next Gen TV, new diginets, broadcast over-the-top launches for TV and digital streaming to go along new advertising categories including sports betting.

Evolution of Television

Traditional and new media companies are battling to find their place in the video market, as consumers move toward non-traditional services and online viewing. Hear how the progression is impacting video strategies, competition, content distribution, and business models to help shape your own decision making.

From now through 4 June 2021, an Early Bird registration rate of $99 is available. To register, please click here to visit S&P Global Market Intelligence.

RBR+TVBR is a proud media partner of the Kagan Media Summit.

SHASTA LAKE, CALIF. — Travel down U.S. Highway 299 from the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, east of Humboldt County, and you just may spot a broadcast tower on a peak overlooking the Redding, Calif., region.

It’s home to the transmitter of a Class A Classic Country station that’s just been sold.

Cal Hunter, the head of Independence Rock Media in Roseville, Calif., is agreeing to purchase KYCT-FM 92.7, licensed to Shasta Lake.

IRM is getting the station from the Estate of Richard S. Comras.

The transaction is valued at $60,000, and makes KYCT a forthcoming cousin to KRAC-AM & KBLF-FM, serving Red Bluff, due south of Redding along Interstate 5. That’s because Pennco Investment Group, which holds 51% interest in IRM, holds 49% equity interest in the licensee of the Red Bluff combo, Huth-Penney Broadcasting. And, that will soon change, with IRM gaining full control of those stations.

Furthermore, two other assignment of license applications are in the works, which will give IRM the following properties:

All are commercially licensed stations serving a portion of Northern California stretching from Williams, one hour north of Sacramento, to Lassen County, due east of Red Bluff.

— Reporting by Ethan Hunt

RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION

It’s a time-honored tradition. At 5pm Eastern, the 12+ “glamour numbers” reflecting the latest overall ratings — “meaningless data no one sells,” one esteemed radio programming consultant has uttered for years — can be published by the radio industry trade publications rushing to send out eBlasts with the data.

On April 19, with the release of the first batch of Nielsen Audio March 2021 reports, something was peculiar. Two huge stations were missing.

It wasn’t an anomaly. Thursday’s release of March 2021 data from one of the biggest non-PPM markets, Buffalo, immediately put the RBR+TVBR I-Team into overdrive. Several stations were missing from the report. They were subscribers.

What’s the problem?

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency has built a collection of online materials to help alert originators design successful emergency messaging procedures, which it hopes will ultimately increase the consistency and accuracy of alerting in the United States.

The IPAWS Programming Planning Toolkit currently contains five documents, including a recently completed Process Map Playbook. The playbook illustrates the interconnected processes at federal, state and local levels and is intended to streamline knowledge for the IPAWS alerting community, including broadcasters, according to FEMA.

[Read: SBE Issues Guidance About RWT Failure]

IPAWS, which stands for Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, is a network of systems used by alerting authorities to create geographically-targeted emergency messages that can be sent through the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts and other unique alerting systems, including internet services.

FEMA says the toolkit’s materials were produced based on “recent innovative changes to technology” and “were derived from the collection of successful practices and lessons learned from hundreds of data points.”

“The toolkit will assist public safety agencies to minimize alerting delays; plan for future alerts, warnings and notifications enhancements; facilitate interoperability across different technologies; and improve information sharing among emergency management and public safety officials,” FEMA says on its website.

The IPAWS Process Map Playbook includes diagrams depicting the IPAWS alerting tree and process for alerting authorities to secure the needed IPAWS equipment and training to disseminate alerts. It further details the process for sending EAS and WEA alerts.

In addition, standardized checklists are included in the playbook to insure those messages align with national and international standards used by IPAWS.

While the documents are mostly intended for alerting originators like emergency managers and public information officers, FEMA says all IPAWS stakeholders will benefit from “review of the materials to demonstrate the importance of preparation, training, resource-sharing, communication and relationship development.”

One of those interested in IPAWS developments is Ed Czarnecki, senior director of strategy and government affairs for technology manufacturer Digital Alerting Systems.

“The IPAWS Toolkit is an excellent starting point to orient authorities on the process of becoming an IPAWS alert originator, and it also gives a solid primer on the message flows in both EAS versus WEA and who is supposed to being doing what and where,” he told Radio World. “Hopefully, the toolkit will help start to provide alert originators needed context on how EAS and WEA operate differently.”

For broadcasters, the “toolkit can also serve as a good background on the ecosystem behind WEA and EAS, and also give some background on the process that alert originators need to go through to become an IPAWS Alerting Authority,” he said.

Other entries in the IPAWS Programming Planning Toolkit include a guide for constructing EAS and WEA messages, a training capsule, the IPAWS Lab fact sheet and FAQs.

Download the IPAWS Programming Planning Toolkit here.

The post FEMA Dials up IPAWS Playbook appeared first on Radio World.