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It was once a construction permit owned by notable radio industry figure Randy Michaels. Since its February 2010 sign-on, its been owned and operated by the Seneca Nation of Indians.

Now, eleven years and two months after its debut, this Class B1 FM with a signal stretching as far north as the Buffalo Bills’ home stadium and into the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York is set to sign off the air.

There’s no buyer, or format change in the works. Rather, the station is going dark.

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Luken Communications no longer exists. The purveyor of digital multicast networks targeting niche audiences is now known as Get After It Media, and it seeks a bigger outlet for its offerings than on a DT signal a cord-cutter would tune to.

Get After It is jumping into the over-the-top space.

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iHeartMedia has named Jeanna Berge to be market president for Eau Claire, Wis., and Rochester, Minn., as Rick Hencley retires effective April 1.

Her position oversees FM stations KMFX, KRCH, WATQ, WBIZ, WMEQ and WQRB, as well as AM stations KFAN, WBIZ and WMEQ.

Berge also continues as SVP of sales for Eau Claire. She will report to Division President Shosh Abromovich.

“As market president, Berge will work closely with the programming, business and sales teams for all station brands in Eau Claire and Rochester and will oversee the stations’ on-air and digital programming as well as create new revenue opportunities,” a press release states.

Berge joined the cluster in 2011 as an account executive and has worked her way up in sales management.

She described Rick Hencley as a mentor. “I am determined to share that same motivation, positivity and creativity to help these ambitious teams excel.”

Hencley has also worked at Laird Broadcasting, Great Duluth Broadcasting, Phillips Broadcasting, Cumulus and Clear Channel.

Send People News announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com. Management and engineering position announcements are particularly sought.

The post Berge Takes the Reins in Eau Claire for IHM appeared first on Radio World.

Better sound and audio quality. Data capabilities designed to bring new revenue streams to broadcast TV. Those are the principal promises of ATSC 3.0 and the arrival of NEXTGEN TV in a local marketplace.

Buffalo recently ushered in the NEXTGEN TV era. Now, a DMA two hours to the east along the ol’ Erie Canal has made the move into TV’s future.

Now offering ATSC 3.0-powered broadcast signals are Nexstar Media Group-owned ABC affiliate WSYR-9; WTVH-5, the CBS affiliate operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group that is the legacy of the defunct Granite Broadcasting; and Sinclair-licensed WSTM-3, the NBC affiliate in Syracuse.

Interestingly, Cox Media Group-owned WSYT-68 is not participating in this rollout.

As was the case in other market rollouts, BitPath led the planning process and coordinated efforts across the three television stations.

— RBR+TVBR, in Hurley, N.Y.

Futuri Media has named Jason Sosa as its chief technology officer.

The company offers audience engagement and sales intelligence technology for media. It cited Sosa’s experience in artificial intelligence as an important part of his background.

It said he has worked in emerging technologies including computer vision, mobile analytics, wearables, IoT and cloud. He was CEO and founder of Blackbox AI and has participated in TEDx several times as well as the MIT Enterprise Forum, Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley and other prominent platforms.

The announcement was made by Futuri CEO Daniel Anstandig. Sosa is the company’s first CTO.

Clint Marsh, its SVP/Product, recently departed the company.

Send information for our People News coverage to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Futuri Names Sosa as CTO appeared first on Radio World.

Organizers of next week’s Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit reported strong advance registration for the free event. And Radio World has announced a number of new panelist participants.

Here is a summary of the expanded radio track, still subject to final additions. It now includes:

Welcoming Remarks: Editors’ Roundtable — The editors of Mix, Pro Sound News and Radio World will discuss recent trends and emerging technologies in pro audio and radio including virtualization, remote workflows, podcasting, digital technologies and more to open the day’s agenda.

Trends in AoIP — Edwin Bukont of E2 Technical Services, Michael LeClair of WBUR Boston and Chris Crump of Comrex explore current issues and “what’s next” now that AoIP has become well accepted in the industry.

Radio Keynote: Hybrid Radio & Android Automotive — David Layer of NAB PILOT takes attendees behind the wheel of a new Audi A4 to show what Audi’s hybrid radio platform looks like, and his colleague John Clark explains why radio managers need to know what’s going on with the Android Automotive OS, which is expected to create more powerful, modern infotainment systems.

Building the Virtual Air Chain — Radio World returns to the topic of a very popular recent ebook with a discussion about the meaning and the implications of a “virtual airchain” and what it will mean for radio. Roz Clark of Cox Media Group, Philippe Generali of RCS, Alan Jurison of iHeartMedia and Greg Shay of Telos Alliance share their expertise.

Critical Trends in Transmission — Geoff Mendenhall of Mendenhall Engineering and John Kean of Cavell Mertz & Associates talk with RW Editor in Chief Paul McLane about the impact of the DTV spectrum repack in radio, the opening of all-digital as an option on the AM band, audio streams on ATSC 3.0, the transport of FM composite baseband via IP networks, growing interest in single-frequency networks and the possible impact of hybrid radio.

Get the Most Out of Your Station’s Streams — Attendees will hear from veteran engineer and streaming expert David Bialik about loudness and upcoming AES guidelines, as well as the use of metadata and the importance of audio processing. Then John Passmore of New York Public Radio, which recently embarked on a journey to upgrade its digital streaming architecture to create more efficient, cost-effective and better-sounding streaming audio. John will talk about lessons learned and key considerations when building a streaming architecture for public radio.

Additional content is on the agenda including a radio track presentation by Wheatstone and pro audio track sessions on podcasting, house of worship projects, networking for music studios and other topics.

Registration for the summit is free. The event will take place April 1 and be available to registrants on demand for 30 days following.

The post Summit’s Radio Track Expands appeared first on Radio World.

The National Association of Broadcasters wants speaker proposals for the upcoming NAB Show, which this year will be held in October.

“NAB Show seeks submissions regarding expert-led discussions from prospective presenters with fresh ideas and unique perspectives on key trends and technologies driving the future of media and entertainment,” it announced.

For the Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference it hopes for proposals on technology trends including IT- and IP-based systems and the incorporation of artificial intelligence and machine learning, “as well as on next-generation systems throughout the media-delivery ecosystem.”

The deadline for speaking proposals is April 30.

The post NAB Issues a Call for Speakers appeared first on Radio World.

Investors appear a tad nervous about the full reopening of the U.S. economy from the year-long COVID-19 pandemic.

And, if any setback occurs, companies with the most fragile profit plans are the most vulnerable. Is Entercom Communications among that group of companies? Tuesday’s Wall Street performance suggests the answer is yes.

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Following Monday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, ViacomCBS shares topped $100 a share — an incredible feat for a company whose stock bears a 52-week low of just $11.85.

Now, the powers that be at Spongebob’s employer are responding to the incredible growth of ViacomCBS stock by initiating a mammoth $3 billion equity offering.

Specifically, ViacomCBS commenced concurrent offerings of $2 billion of its Class B common stock and $1 billion of its Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock.

Furthermore, ViacomCBS granted the underwriters separate 30-day options to purchase up to an additional $300 million of Class B common stock and up to an additional $15 million of Series A stock. In the latter, such a transaction would occur solely to cover over-allotments, if any.

ViacomCBS says it intends to use the combined net proceeds from the offerings for general corporate purposes, including investments in streaming.

Each share of Series A stock will have a liquidation preference of $100.00 per share.

And, unless earlier converted, each share of this Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock will automatically convert into a variable number of shares of Class B common stock on April 1, 2024 — subject to postponement for certain market disruptions or other events.

The conversion terms, dividend rate and other terms of the Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock will be determined at the time of pricing of the Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock offering.

ViacomCBS intends to apply to list the Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “VIACP.”

Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan are acting as joint book-running managers for the offerings.

The announcement cooled off ViacomCBS’s hot growth on the Nasdaq market, with shares in VIAC off 5.7% at 2:50pm Eastern, to just below $95 a share.

Still, it was February 26 when shares were trading at $61.35. Across September and October 2020, VIAC was mired in the $28 range.

Then came the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, and slow, steady improvement. When VIAC really began to rocket ahead was at the start of 2021.

Viacom’s shares are up 154% year-to-date, should today’s closing price remain in the $94.50 range.

Thus, The Motley Fool‘s reporting that ViacomCBS shares “crashed again today” is simply false, when one looks at the full trajectory of the company’s performance since Viacom and CBS Corporation reunified.

He’s been the VP/GM of the NBC affiliate serving Colorado Springs and Pueblo for the last decade.

Starting April 12, he’ll be overseeing a co-owned FOX affiliate in the fastest-growing portion of the Sunshine State, a place where he’s spent much time across his 30-year career.

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You’ve seen it. Your morning show hosts have likely discussed it.

That horribly embarrassing Zoom gone wrong has become the stuff of lore, likely to represent an indelible look at COVID-19 times in the decades to come.

How can you and your colleagues prevent a repeat of these Zoom fails? Veteran public relations executive Rosemary Ravinal has some great advise to share on preventing you — or perhaps your more well-known team members — from becoming the latest social media humor vehicle.

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The Audio Engineering Society will conduct a series of webinars explaining how its audio standards process works.

The series is hosted by its Standards Committee. It promises to “illuminate the inner workings of the often complex, yet necessary, set of rules by which engineers and equipment manufacturers abide and the increasingly important role of the AES and its work to establish audio standards and practices that ensure interoperability worldwide.”

[Read: AES’ Prez Wyner Starts Term]

AES members can register for live interaction with the presenters, while non-members can watch a live stream of the event on the AES YouTube channel.

“The webinar will also provide opportunities for individuals to become involved in the ongoing proposal and establishment of working audio protocols,” AES stated.

The announcement was made by AES Standards Committee Chair Bruce Olson, who said the series should help demystify the standards development process.

A webinar on March 29 will discuss the current development of a procedure for loudspeaker test and measurement using a music simulation test signal called M-Noise.

On May 17, Nicolas Sturmel will discuss using AES67 over wide-area networks, the focus of the SC-02-12-M Task Group.

On July 26 Bill Whitlock will discuss ongoing initiatives on analog system interconnection standards in the SC-05-05 Working Group.

In the fourth webinar on Sept.20, Anthony Kuzub will discuss the new AES72 standard from SC-05-02 for transporting either analog or digital audio over quad twisted pair cable, including documentation of RJ45 connector pin-outs.

The post AES Webinars to “Demystify” Standards Process appeared first on Radio World.

The company founded by Daniel Anstandig devoted to AI-driven audience engagement and sales intelligence tech platforms for media, has selected a new Chief Technology Officer.

Now in the CTO slot at Futuri is Jason J. Sosa.

This puts Sosa in a leadership position in which he will oversee Futuri’s product team and work cross-functionally to develop new features, technologies, and products.

Sosa is the founder and, most recently, CEO of Blackbox AI, an innovation advisory for platform development, remote work, and strategy. Sosa is also a recognized speaker, having participated in TEDx (4 times), MIT Enterprise Forum, and Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Buried within an asset purchase agreement filed Tuesday (3/23) with the FCC is the usual information reflecting the legal counsel representing both buyer and seller. For the buyer, the lawyer’s name is a very familiar one. However, there was one major eye-popping difference from prior filings featuring this attorney’s name — she’s at a new law firm.

So is a former colleague, as both communications law experts have set up shop at BakerHostetler.

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Its mission is simple: To re-purpose 600 MHz and other spectrum and rapidly deploy a world-class 5G network in the United States.

This could explain why the individual behind Landover Wireless, a 30-year veteran of the global wireless telecommunications industry, has decided to part ways with 20 unbuilt LPTV construction permits.

The buyer? An individual with a presence stretching from the Grand Strand through Georgia’s Coastal Empire.

Laurence Zimmerman and his Landover 2 LLC have struck a deal to send the unbuilt LPTVs to Jeff Winemiller, and his Lowcountry 34 Media.

The stations trading hands are as follows:

Winemiller, who is based in Beaufort, S.C., near Hilton Head Island, is paying $850,000 for the CPs; a $150,000 deposit has been made by the buyer.

The broker involved in this transaction: Greg Guy of Patrick Communications.

The legal counsel in this deal has its own bit of newsworthiness: While veteran Aaron Shainis of Shainis & Peltzman represented Landover 2, Davina Sashkin served as Winemiller’s attorney at her new firm — Baker Hostetler. She had been with Fletcher Heald & Hildreth as recently as January 2021.

The sale of the LPTV CPs for Zimmerman concludes a spectrum license play for Landover Wireless; Zimmerman acquired and developed national and regional footprints of 38 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 2.6 GHz and 1600 MHz/MMDS licenses across the last three decades and developed strategic relationships creating additional value in the spectrum assets.
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Zimmerman is also known for founding Advanced Radio Telecom Corp., which became Fiber Tower and was ultimately sold to AT&T; and National Wireless Holdings Inc. He was also an early seed investor and one-time largest individual shareholder of Winstar Communications, which became StraightPath and was ultimately sold to Verizon.