LAKEWOOD RANCH, FLA. — In a blow to one of the nation’s biggest broadcast television companies, the FCC‘s Media Bureau on Wednesday (4/21) in a memorandum opinion and order denied a “Good Faith” complaint against Frontier Communications in response to the discontinued distribution of the ABC affiliate focused on Sarasota and Manatee Counties of Florida.
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Radio and TV C-Suiters are obsessed with millennials. They’ve been credited with upending entire industries, says an eMarketer analyst, and retail is hardly an exception.
He’s penned a piece on what retailers need to know about attracting and retaining consumers from this consumer group.
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Cumulus is planning to convert an AM talk radio station in the New York City suburbs to all-digital transmission next month.
WFAS(AM) in White Plains will use the slogan “Digital AM 1230 HD: New Talk for New York.”
The company filed an application with the FCC that it plans to flip on May 24. Its website carries a notice advising listeners that analog radios will no longer hear the station, but that listeners can find it using an HD receiver, online streaming, mobile app or smart speaker.
“Broadcasting in digital will eliminate annoying static and interference, improve the sound quality to equal FM radio and streaming, and extend the range for clear reception,” it told listeners.
WFAS will use the enhanced mode of digital HD Radio.
The decision by one of the country’s biggest broadcast chains to commit an AM frequency to all-digital is a notable one.
The Federal Communications Commission recently approved the option for stations to take this step. But as Radio World has reported, there are only a couple of other stations on the air in the country with all-digital AM, including the Hubbard station WWFD in Maryland that has been a kind of national test case.
Cumulus declined to comment on its plans for the station in response to a query from Radio World.
In Florida, broadcaster NIA Broadcasting, run by Neal Ardman, had flipped one station, WMGG, and told Radio World that as of today he is waiting on a transmitter with plans to flip WTMP, which is also in the Tampa area.
The post A Cumulus AM Near NYC Will Go All-Digital appeared first on Radio World.
The New York Festivals Radio Awards has named content creators and “global storytellers” Jennie Caltaldo, Helen Shaw, and Carole Zimmer to the Radio Awards Advisory Board.
The 13-member Advisory Council, formed in 2010, is comprised of content creators and thought-leaders within the radio industry. They provide NYF’s Radio Awards competition with ongoing knowledge of emerging trends and critical industry insights.
Cataldo is the VP of Programming and a radio and podcast producer for BMP Audio, owned by Ben Manilla.
Shaw is the Founder/Director of Ireland-based Athena Media. She ran RTE Radio for five years, launching RTE Lyric fm and leading RTE’s digital transformation before taking a sabbatical at Harvard University.
Zimmer is a freelance reporter for The New York Times and host of the Now What? podcast. Her resume includes stints at Bloomberg, NPR, and the CBS and NBC radio networks.
The Radio Awards receives entries from radio stations, networks, and independent producers from over 30 countries around the globe. The mission of the competition is to honor the achievements of the men and women who make up the global audio storytelling community.
This year is the eleventh year of NYF’s strategic partnership with NAB Show, the ultimate marketplace for people passionate about media, entertainment, and technology. All attendees will have access to the multi-day NAB event which is the world’s largest media entertainment marketplace taking place in October 2021.
The deadline to enter the 2021 Radio Awards competition is May 20. To enter please visit HERE
Across the Southeast’s biggest emerging Hispanic markets, perhaps no company has invested more in reaching this Spanish-language audio content consumer of late than Norsan Media.
Now, it is grabbing what will become its third radio brand in the largest city in the U.S. by square miles.
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Say goodbye to the Westwood One Podcast Network.
Starting May 6, it will have a new name — one that reflects WWO’s parent company.
Introducing the Cumulus Podcast Network.
According to the company led by Mary Berner, the move consolidates Cumulus’ national and local podcasts into one entity, “capturing the full breadth and diversity of the portfolio and providing advertisers with a comprehensive offering of podcasts, in addition to streaming, mobile, social and display.”
There will be no change in duties for Cumulus EVP/Corporate Marketing and Westwood One President Suzanne Grimes, who will continue to manage the company’s podcast sales network.
“Placing our podcasts under the Cumulus umbrella allows us to offer our advertising partners easy access to the company’s full arsenal of digital products,” Grimes said. “This exciting expansion takes our fast-growing podcast network to the next level, as well as simplifies the buying process for agencies and brands, allowing our partners to seamlessly tap into the full power of our premium on-demand audio content.”
Nielsen Audio reports “significant gains in radio listening” across the aggregate of its PPM rated markets in the United States.
While still not quite reaching the highest numbers of the pandemic period, which came last fall, both AQH and weekly reach were up in March compared to a month earlier.
Nielsen said its March PPM survey showed an 8% increase month-over-month in total average quarter-hour audience. “This marks the largest single-month increase in average audience since June of last year,” the company stated.
“These gains were driven by increases in both weekly reach (adding nearly 4 million consumers in March, a 3% increase versus February) as well as time spent listening (gaining by over 20 minutes on average, a 5% increase compared with last month).
It released these two charts.
The company said that in terms of weekly reach, the radio audience in March 2021 is 96% of what it was a year ago as the pandemic was taking hold in the United States, and the AQH number is 93%.
“This uptick in radio usage mirrors the positive changes in consumer sentiment and habits observed during Nielsen’s latest radio consumer study conducted during the March survey,” it said.
Nielsen cited other encouraging data for radio. It said six in 10 Americans feel life is becoming more normal in their communities, and that the number of people working outside the home have increased about 70% since a year ago. The number of consumers spending more than an hour daily in their cars more than doubled in that time.
[Related: “In 2020, Radio Hit a Proverbial Iceberg”]
The post Nielsen Reports “Big Gains” for Radio Listening appeared first on Radio World.
Hearst Television has promoted its Director of Human Resources to VP of the department.
It’s an individual celebrating five years with the company.
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iHeart announced a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
It said the mentoring organization was selected as part of its grant program to advance social justice, which would be highlighted on its 850 radio stations.
“The goal of the program is to provide a platform for organizations to inspire, educate and empower listeners to take a stand against systemic racism and promote social justice,” the media company announced.
[Read: NFL, iHeartMedia Launch NFL’s Podcast Network]
A series of PSAs features voices of young people airing on the company’s stations and the iHeartRadio app. “The spots are focused on the need for Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors, and most especially Black men,” it stated.
The announcement was made by Tony Coles, president of iHeartMedia’s Black Information Network (BIN) and division president of Metro Markets at iHeartMedia, along with Artis Stevens, president/CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Stevens also has joined the BIN Advisory Board.
iHeartMedia will participate in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America 2021 Virtual National Conference that takes place in late June.
The post iHeart Partners With Big Brothers Big Sisters appeared first on Radio World.
America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) and PBS on Tuesday shared their thoughts with the FCC in response to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on changes to the Emergency Alert System.
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IBC 2021 is set to go ahead as planned in September, with organizers saying they are focused on delivering “a fantastic event” at the RAI in Amsterdam.
However, the fall back dates for December are still in place, and an announcement on that is expected to be made in June. Organizers are asking the industry to keep their options open for both possible sets of dates.
The current dates for the show are Sept. 10–13 with the fall-back option of Dec.3–6.
IBC CEO Michael Crimp said organizers realize this year’s show might be the first large scale event many people have attended in a long time, and the team is putting lots of planning into that. They are working closely with the city of Amsterdam and the RAI, monitoring changes as they evolve.
“The industry is telling us that people are keen to come together again after being apart for a long time. In the coming months, a number of factors will help us decide when the event can happen and in what format. From macro trends such as vaccine roll out and testing, to the willingness of our attendees to travel, we will take all things into consideration as we make those important decisions,” he added.
IBC said it is budgeting for exhibition space to be about 30% less than in 2019, with the two pavilions not being used in 2021.
This year’s event will have more of a festival feel, said Crimp, with a perimeter to the site that will enable them to move around more freely. Attendees will have their temperatures checked before entering the perimeter, and will need to declare that they have recently passed a COVID test.
There will be no onsite registration for people who have not preregistered.
Inside, the halls will have extra wide aisles and one-way for ease of access. IBC intends to use cameras to monitor capacity in each hall. Each exhibitor will be told of their stand capacity, with attendees being scanned-in and out to monitor numbers.
Steve Connolly, head of sales at IBC, said support from the industry continues to be strong, with 30,000-sq. foot of booth space booked so far.
IBC will also run a digital platform for exhibitors alongside the physical event to enable them to promote products and book digital meetings.
The post IBC Set to Go Ahead as Planned in September appeared first on Radio World.
One of the nation’s two direct broadcast satellite (DBS) TV services provider just took a further step toward becoming a much broader operator — a better competitor to the traditional MVPD.
And, it is thanks in part to the selection of an Amazon.com company to help get the job done.
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Until this morning, it was largely understood that a 16-year Nielsen veteran who had been a highly visible member of the company’s global audience measurement team would be transitioning to Roku.
It was a conclusion made by connecting the dots: Roku some seven weeks ago agreed to purchase Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising business, and that deal closed April 16.
However, it turns out this Nielsen pro isn’t going to Roku. Instead, she’s going to a Comcast arm.
Kelly Abcarian has just accepted the role of EVP/Measurement & Impact within NBCUniversal‘s Advertising and Partnerships division.
NBCU made the revelation early Wednesday (4/21), calling Abcarian an “industry-renowned advanced advertising leader.” In her new role, Abcarian will “spearhead the company’s rapidly accelerating cross-platform and full-funnel measurement capabilities, leading innovation from impressions to impact at a local, national and global level across NBCUniversal’s One Platform.”
Abcarian reports into Krishan Bhatia, NBCUniversal Advertising & Partnerships’ President & Chief Business Officer, and will collaborate closely with the division’s Sales, Planning, Strategy, Partnerships and Ad Platforms & Operations functions “to build on the company’s position as a leading media and technology company to set a new standard for the future of all-screen measurement, advanced advertising solutions, and data-driven insights.”
“Kelly’s addition to our team represents a step change for our company and the industry, when it comes to the future of cross-platform measurement and data innovation,” Bhatia said. “Consumers have established an all-screen future and we’re doubling down on our position to usher in the next era of measurement. Kelly has decades-long measurement and advanced advertising experience, along with deep connections within the media industry and a partnership track record across CTV/OTT platforms.”
Bhatia adds that Abcarian will play an important role in the growth and development of NBCUniversal’s data strategy, including efforts such as NBCU ID and the Audience Insights Hub, which NBCU believes “will drive greater transparency, interoperability and results for brands while maintaining privacy as a core tenant.”
“She will also be an essential voice in the marketplace, working to partner with many of the leading trade organizations, measurement and technology companies on solutions and industry-wide initiatives,” NBCU notes.
“If you look across the industry, the signals are clear: we must collectively decide to embrace the future that our audiences have created,” Abcarian commented. “NBCUniversal is on the cutting-edge of next-generation measurement and targeting. And I’m thrilled to join the expert team behind One Platform and work to provide marketers the resources and techniques they need to fully understand the impact of their investments.”
Abcarian most recently served as GM of Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising Group, where she led the company’s addressable initiatives including the strategic acquisitions of several key players within the space. Prior to that, Abcarian led Nielsen’s global audience measurement product portfolio where she was responsible for the creation of Nielsen’s Total Audience Product suite, along with the development of Digital Ad Ratings for CTV.
Before joining Nielsen in May 2005, Abcarian held leadership positions at Oracle, Siebel Systems and Arthur Andersen.
MPR News named Sarah Glover as its newsroom’s managing editor.
She is former manager of social media strategy at NBC Owned Television Stations. She has experience as a photographer for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, and was the first two-term president of the National Association of Black Journalists.
[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]
“During her tenure, she created the NABJ Black Male Media Project, which examines the portrayal of Black men in the media,” MPR stated in its announcement. “She also played a crucial role in the Associated Press Stylebook’s move to capitalize the ‘B’ in Black to describe people and communities.”
She will lead 40 reporters, photojournalists and editors and be responsible for editorial decisions and planning on MPR News platforms.
“As communities across America strive for equity, so does the news industry,” she was quoted in the announcement. “My goal is to build upon the diversity work at MPR and develop an anti-racist and inclusive newsroom that’s a model for the nation. Storytelling is truth-telling, and the role of journalism is vital.”
Mike Mulcahy has been acting as interim managing editor since Laura McCallum took another post.
Minnesota Public Radio is a subsidiary of American Public Media Group.
Send your people news to radioworld@futurenet.com.
The post Glover Named to Editorial Post at MPR appeared first on Radio World.
A recent Radio World ebook explored trends in audio processing for radio broadcasters. Among the stories in that ebook was an interview with Ben Barber, president/CEO of Inovonics.
RW: Your take on the most important development in processors?
Ben Barber: Everything needs to be remote controllable and “monitorable.”
With fewer and fewer people actually being onsite, if there is an issue, broadcasters want to know about it right away. All of our newer audio processors are web-enabled, which means you can log into them and control them via their web page and not a proprietary app or program that may run on your PC but not on your smartphone.
With web-enabled products, everything can be controlled from any device with a web browser. You can also get emails, text messages and SNMP alerts as well as stream the audio back over the web.
RW: What should we know about differences in processing for analog and digital OTA, streaming and podcasts?
Barber: Today’s processors are all DSP-controlled and most can sound very good while at the same time controlling peak modulation as well as density. All that is great; but if you start with an MP3, especially at a lower bitrate, there is little you can do to make that source material sound great.
Always start with great audio, which will in the long run save you so many headaches down the road.
RW: What are the implications for managing processing, now that so many people have been working remotely?
Barber: I think what COVID has shown us is the resilience of both broadcast personalities as well as engineering to be able to do “everything” remotely. But just because it can be done begs the question, “Is it best for radio?”
Our medium is a very personal one, where the synergy between hosts is evident on nearly every show. Sure, programs can be done remotely; but in my opinion, if we think this is the new normal and we continue doing everything from scattered offices with little human interaction, then we are not giving our best.
As for processing, its primary purpose is to control peaks in order to protect your transmitter’s modulation, and also to keep you from splattering on your “neighbor.” Our industry should strive to give that processing air chain the best possible content that we can produce; to do that, I think in-person energy is what stimulates the mind, and the product shows it.
RW: What tools are available to mitigate issues involving synchronization of HD Radio and analog signals?
Barber: Back in the day when HD Radio was introduced, the system could be stable if everything was collocated and set up properly.
Unfortunately, the problem was exacerbated by splitting up the system and not keeping the importer and exporter at the same location, nor keeping them time-locked together via GPS. In addition you had latency and packet issues that would wreak havoc on the FM and HD1 alignment.
Though there are new processors and equipment on the market that should keep things in alignment, the majority or equipment still in service still has huge drift issues.
Here’s a picture of FM/HD1 drift over a 20-day period on a local FM/HD1 station.
FM/HD1 drift over a 20-day period on a California station.This is not a small market off in the corner of some small city or county. They either need to replace all their HD Radio equipment, or get a JUSTIN 808 Time Alignment Processor from Inovonics. Our box goes in-line with the HD1 audio and continuously monitors the alignment of the two audio signals. When the alignment drifts, samples are slowly added or subtracted from the air chain until the FM and HD1 audio is aligned. It’s really that simple to fix.
That picture shows a drift of 20,000 samples which is nearly 0.5 second!
RW: In 2014 when we visited processing in an ebook, we thought radio processors were so powerful and had such incredible algorithms, that it was hard to imagine where further dramatic improvements would come from. How do you answer that today?
Barber: I more or less agree. Today’s DSPs are so powerful that the issue no longer becomes processing power, but the intellectual property of making algorithms function in a way that makes things sound exceptional.
Inovonics’ goal in designing and manufacturing audio processing has been to design a quality product that is innovative and gives exceptional results at an affordable price.
I like to use the analogy of driving a car when comparing audio processors. It would be hard to argue that a McLaren 720S, Lamborghini Aventador or Ferrari 488 are not incredibly magnificent automobiles and take driving to a whole new level; but, for most of us, a solid Mercedes, BMW, Chevy, Ford or Toyota are probably quite sufficient to get the job done of a “daily driver.”
Again, taking nothing away from the supercars of today; but you will see a lot more “regular” cars on the road as we go about our daily tasks. The honest truth? That’s where I see Inovonics fitting into the processor market: a solid, dependable, reliable, innovative audio processor for the “regular” guy.
The post Solid, Innovative Processing for “Regular Guys” appeared first on Radio World.
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