Radio+Television Business Report

IT’S NOT TOO LATE … BUT THE CLOCK IS TICKING!
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Forecast LIVE is this year’s virtual version of Radio Ink’s annual Forecast conference, the radio industry’s premier financial summit, gathering the smartest minds in media and advertising to forecast revenue and analyze projections and trends for the coming year.

Don’t take it from us – here’s what attendees are saying: Caroline Beasley “From incredible speakers to real and relevant insights, Radio Ink’s annual Forecast gathering is an absolute ‘must attend’ event for forward thinking leaders, decision makers, and influencers working within and outside of the media industry! And this year’s virtual event was no exception.” – Caroline Beasley, Beasley Media Group

 

Pierre Bouvard “Radio Ink’s Forecast 2021 was spectacular: It felt like two days of knowledge and insights were compressed into a few hours. Very actionable! As Ghandi said, ‘Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.’”
-Pierre Bouvard, Cumulus Media/Westwood One

 

 

“Thank you for not letting this just not happen this year. I enjoyed it very much. Your team did an amazing job executing this event virtually. All of the sessions were very informative and helpful.”
-Ron Stone, Adams Radio Group

 

“The best online event I have attended. Just enough time, great content, well produced. Great work!”
– Jinny Laderer, vCreative

 

“Great Sessions! Eye Opening and Thought Provoking… Each session provided an honest view of where our industry is today, where it’s headed, and how we need to pivot to meet the needs of tomorrow.” – Danny Tankersley, Wide Orbit “The team did an outstanding job. I think that the program was great and went off technically well.” – Andrew Rosen, Miller Kaplan “The speaker lineup, production pieces and hosts stepped up big time in a virtual time of need for the industry. It was lively and informative while giving lots for the attendees to think about in contemplating 2021 and beyond.” – David Pearlman, Pearlman Advisors “Forecast is one-stop shopping for an overview of where the industry is and where it is going. I gain information and knowledge that I use throughout the year and find myself quoting panelists and keynotes such as Matt Britton. This year’s virtual event was spectacular.” – Heather Cohen, The Weiss Agency “Thank you for a wonderful, informative conference. Excellent!!!!”
– Jeanne-Marie Condo, Skyview Networks “This was absolutely fantastic. The education was strong, and the platform was ideal.” – Becky Brooks, Alliance for Women in Media

Broadcasting companies publicly traded on Wall Street were largely up at the Closing Bell on Tuesday. One company, however, sticks out for another dip in value.

That would be Entercom.

Shares dipped 2.2% to $2.28 in heavier-than-average trading of 2.41 million. Average trading for Entercom is 1.93 million shares.

In contrast, Cumulus Media enjoyed a 3.3% gain as shared reached $9.14, and iHeartMedia gained 5 cents, to $12.45.

On the TV side, it was another banner session for Nexstar Media Group, with gains also seen by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In 1979, The Media Institute was established as a nonprofit foundation specializing in communications policy issues of concern to all Americans, including the promotion of Freedom of Speech and encouraging a competitive media environment.

On Tuesday, the soon-to-depart Chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, addressed the organization in a virtual luncheon that saw him quip about a Commission predecessor before offering “some thoughts on where the federal government should go” once he departs on January 20, 2021.

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The November 2020 Nielsen Audio ratings for Colorado Springs have just been released, and guess what — the top 5 stations, 12+, are all owned by Cumulus Media.

Yes, stations owned by Bahakel and a News Press and Gazette-owned Talk station, do not appear publicly in the ratings. Nevertheless, this group of radio stations’ success is very noteworthy. What’s the No. 1 reason for this cluster-wide strength?

Scott Jones, Vice President and Market Manager for Cumulus Media’s Colorado Springs operations, shares the answer and more in this fresh RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast!

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Scott Jones, Cumulus Media” on Spreaker.

TORONTO — The President of Cogeco Media, a takeover target of Rogers Sports & Media, has exited the Montréal-based owner of 23 radio stations across the Canadian province of Québec.

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If the Radio Zindagi brand sounds familiar to you, it should. On October 2, RBR+TVBR reported on the sale of an AM radio station in Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y., with 10kw during daylight hours and 220 watts at night, using a directional two-pattern signal with 2 towers.O

The station aired the network, providing South Asians with music and entertainment tied to Indian, Sri Lankan and Pakistani culture. A format change was anticipated.

That happened. Now, Radio Zindagi is set to return, thanks to a fresh spin of the station by the entity that just bought it.

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Late Friday (12/11), the newly formed Independent Broadcasters Association (IBA) released its first Financial Benchmark Analysis, a review of the broadcast operations of non-corporate-owned AM and FM radio stations across the U.S.

IBA called on the services of media and sports specialty accounting and advisory firm dk east associates to produce the report, which is available to members only.

RBR+TVBR has an exclusive look at some of the topline results, and the performance could put publicly traded corporate entities back under Wall Street’s ever-scrutinizing magnifying glass.

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Townsquare Media on Tuesday (12/15) moved forward with initiating a $550 million bond offering — a move that prompted the local media company to pre-release its fourth quarter earnings well ahead of schedule.

What does the owner of radio stations in small and mid-sized markets, which has excelled in programmatic and local digital across its markets, have to report with two weeks remaining in 2020?

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The Nielsen Audio rankings for two top markets — one in Virginia and the other in the Lone Star state — will continue to display the stations for an entity operating under two different names in each of these locales.

A new agreement is in place that sees the dominant audience measurement company’s rankings for Norfolk and Austin now include Sinclair Telecable and Waterloo Media stations, respectively.

It’s a new multi-year for the Hampton Roads stations, comprised of News/Talk WNIS-AM, Sports Talk WTAR-AM and FM translator W243DJ, Adult Hits WNOB-FM “BOB FM,” Country WUSH-FM 106.1 and Alternative WROX-FM 96.1 “96X.”

And, it is a renewal in Austin for stations that Sinclair Telecable, which is not related to Sinclair Broadcast Group, had 49.9% controlling interest in before acquiring the remaining interest in the six station, two translator cluster from Emmis Communications for $39.3 million. That deal received FCC approval in September 2019.

The Austin radio cluster includes eight station brands: KLBJ-AM 590 (with an FM Translator at 99.7 MHz), Rock KLBJ-FM 93.7, No. 1-rated Adult Hits KBPA-FM 103.5 “Bob FM,” dominant Regional Mexican KLZT-FM 107.1 “La Zeta,” Hot Adult Contemporary KGSR-FM 93.3, Alternative KROX-FM 101.5 “101X,” “Austin City Limits Radio” on an FM translator at 97.1 MHz, and Spanish Contemporary “Latino 102.7” via a second FM translator.

Both Austin and Norfolk use the Portable People Meter (PPM) to create audience estimates based on one’s exposure to broadcast media via traditional radio and encoded audio streaming; Nielsen Audio’s PPM ratings do not measure one’s own listening, given the PPM technology and proximity to others’ listening habits, be it at a restaurant or retail establishment.

The new deal includes use of sales software provided by TAPSCAN.

Norfolk is also an Eastlan Ratings market, with surveys in the winter and spring offered through 2019 by the company.

Convergent TV advertising platform Beachfront has teamed up with a video delivery platform provider to help bring real-time, programmatic monetization of linear spot, over-the-top (OTT) and video-on-demand (VOD) ad inventory.

The deal is with SeaChange International, and the companies note the co-platform is already deployed in the U.S. — including with a global operator and regional cable company.

The partnership enables Beachfront’s demand partners to automate cable TV ad buying through SeaChange’s value-based Framework video delivery platform.

SeaChange recently signed agreements with Tier 1 TV providers. Effective immediately, agencies, brands and demand-side platforms (DSPs) who utilize Beachfront can automate their ad buying across the entire video ecosystem, including linear TV as provided by the SeaChange Framework.

These advertisers can then activate the “premium” linear TV ad inventory — along with VOD, connected TV (CTV), mobile and desktop inventory — through the use of real-time bidding (RTB).

“Linear TV inventory has long been excluded from programmatic marketplaces due to technical limitations and infrastructural challenges,” said SeaChange CEO Yossi Aloni. “In partnership with Beachfront, we’ve completed the difficult work of connecting modern, digital-oriented ad buyers to linear TV inventory.”

This partnership, the companies say, builds on Beachfront’s work developing solutions for multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) that address technical challenges surrounding set-top boxes — and solve major infrastructural problems inhibiting monetization of traditional TV viewing environments.

In 2019, Beachfront launched the first-ever set-top box VOD programmatic ad product, allowing MVPDs and media owners to expose VOD inventory to modern programmatic ad buyers and increase the average cost per thousands (CPMs) in the process. Now, Beachfront is bringing that same programmatic VOD solution to linear TV, effectively enabling demand partners to automate their ad buying across the entire video ecosystem.

Beachfront CEO Chris Maccaro commented, “When you look ahead at the next decade of TV
consumption, there will surely be a continued proliferation of cord cutting and Internet-based TV streaming, as well as a continued base of consumers who will get their content via a traditional cable box. For these reasons, we don’t over emphasize any one consumer viewing endpoint. Rather we prioritize all premium TV viewing platforms — from smart TVs to cable set-top boxes — and we’re excited to continue bringing uniformity and simplicity to the convergent TV ad marketplace, while empowering agencies and brands to automate their media buying across the video ecosystem.”

Radio imaging, voiceover, programming, podcasting and jingles producer Benztown says it has become the first imaging library company to bring the benefits of advanced Artificial
Intelligence (AI) technology to audio producers.

How so?

Benztown has launched an AI-based imaging library platform.

Benztown says its AI-powered search functionality “allows audio producers to quickly and
easily find audio in Benztown’s imaging libraries, leaving behind now-dated and more
time-consuming search methods using metadata, which is the current industry
standard. Users are able to upload any audio file (mp3 or wav) to the library, or paste a
link from YouTube, SoundCloud, or Vimeo into the search field, and find files in
Benztown’s imaging libraries that are similar to the example provided.”

The new AI platform downloads the audio file in the background and ingests it to the audio
player, allowing the user to generate similar results based on the entire audio file, or a
specific time selection of the file.

The feature uses machine learning to identify potential tracks based on an example.
Any given track will have a multitude of identifying characteristics, similar to a
fingerprint. These characteristics are compared to thousands of other tracks in the
library to determine possible matches. Recently, Google announced a “hum to search”
feature enabling people to pinpoint songs by simply humming part of a track and
Benztown’s new AI technology works in a similar way.

For more information or to subscribe to Benztown’s advanced AI-powered audio
Imaging libraries, contact Masa Patterson at mp@benztown.com and at (818) 842-4600.

MELBOURNE, FLA. — The turnkey provider of customized network, broadcast and digital signage systems and services known as USSI Global is celebrating its 35th anniversary.

As part of this commemoration, the company is helping broadcasters mitigate interference of the long-standing C-Band satellite spectrum to make room for new 5G services — among other things.

USSI Global is also providing ground station and user terminal services across the globe for LEO satellite internet providers, and offering indoor and outdoor digital signage solutions – plus a suite of repair and sparing solutions – to ensure optimum uptime.

“Our ability to adapt to technological changes and support the world’s digital transformation is really what has kept us relevant and growing over the years,” said President/CEO David S. Christiano. “Our core business is global field services, which has opened up opportunities for us to offer turnkey solutions. We start where everyone else finishes.”

USSI was established in 1985 to cater to the emerging VSAT (very-small-aperture terminal) technology, a two-way satellite system that became extremely popular when the U.S. government broke up AT&T in the 1980s. USSI Global created an installation and maintenance network, building its workforce by training satellite TV installers to be satellite data technicians and recruiting a field engineer network that today is the most experienced in the broadcast television industry.

USSI Global briefly went public in 1989. Two years later, executives returned the company to private status and business boomed. Since 1991, USSI Global has installed more than 100,000 VSAT systems, providing two-way communication for service industries throughout the world. Today, USSI Global’s most prominent business is supporting television broadcasters, providing program management, installation, maintenance, 24/7 technical support, engineering, logistics, and repair services.

For almost four decades, USSI Global has supported a major US network’s satellite distribution and affiliate network in all 50 states. Other companies such as Sinclair, Fox, Discovery Channel, and Telemundo also depend on USSI Global each day to maintain and refresh their technology.

Digital signage projects commenced in 1995, and the market has grown into a major focus for USSI Global. In fact, the company’s Digital Signage Division has completed more than 50,000 site installs, and also offers customized maintenance plans as well as content distribution services.

Recently, USSI Global completed an update of outdoor menu boards for a major quick serve restaurant (QSR) chain, providing full excavation, electrical wiring, and panel installation. Christiano expects to see most QSRs digitize their outdoor menus, as COVID-19 restrictions have increased the use of drive-thru service. ”Why have static menus when you can have dynamic content that you can control digitally?” he said. “We’re currently in the planning stages with other QSRs digitizing their drive thrus. It’s convenient and it works well. We also provide display repair services for Samsung and others.”

Beyond its established digital signage business, USSI Global is expanding to new vertical markets. For example, EV chargers are in the near future plans. An estimated 10 percent of cars in the United States will be electric by 2030, which will require more than 1 million charging stations to be added to current refueling infrastructures. Christiano sees an opportunity to integrate chargers with touchscreen kiosks to deliver advertising and other messages to consumers, similar to digital signage systems the company has already deployed at convenience stores and restaurants. Also, USSI Global is working in the lab to integrate IoT and AI into its solutions.

While COVID-19 presented a challenge for new project work this year, Christiano said service and maintenance work through USSI Global’s Electronic Business and Consumer Solutions remained strong. “We never missed a beat,” he added. “We have a great team, and I think we’re much stronger as a company. With proper precautions, we’ve been able to support our customers in the field, and we’ve identified new lines of business needed for COVID-19 and beyond.”

Over the next decade, USSI Global’s Broadcast and Network Division plans to provide LEO ground station support for satellite-based internet. The company already handles installation and maintenance for the bulk of transmission repeaters used for satellite radio, and continues to assist broadcasters with OTT technology.

During the next three years, USSI Global will also remain focused on stabilizing U.S. broadcast TV quality with 5G/C-Band Interference Mitigation services while clearing the way for 5G. “Tens of thousands of antennas across the country have to be filtered to avoid 5G interference,” Christiano said. “We’re well-positioned for this project – we’re already installing new antennas and supporting the transition that needs to take place.”

— Reporting by Brian Galante. Editing by Adam Jacobson, in Melbourne, Fla.

AudioGO, the self-serve digital audio ad buying service from AdsWizz, is now fully integratrated with popular design platform Canva.

The integration enables AudioGO advertisers to easily create display ads with Canva’s graphic design platform during campaign setup, enabling anyone to complement their audio ad campaigns with professional-looking banner ads. In addition, if an advertiser does not have an audio ad, AudioGO will create one for them in under a day.

The new Canva integration comes on the heels of new behavioral targeting capability added earlier this month, making it easier than ever for audio advertisers to connect and engage with the right audiences.

“Our mantra is to make AudioGO easy to use for anyone looking to run audio campaigns of any size,” said AdsWizz CEO Alexis van de Wyer. “Our integration with Canva gives audio ad buyers the ability to easily design professional-quality display ads with Canva’s design tool without ever leaving AudioGO.”

AudioGO enables anyone to create streaming audio ad campaigns at a time when listeners are tuning in on digital devices more than ever before. Time spent with streaming audio has grown during the pandemic, up 32% from December 2019, according to recent data from Comscore. AudioGO’s self-serve audio ad buying service allows anyone to buy ads on premium streaming music, podcast, and news services that, combined, reach over 150 million listeners every month. Bringing multiple services together onto one buying platform enables local buyers to efficiently target listeners on top services with low minimums.

“We’re thrilled to partner with AudioGo with the Canva Button as together we’ll empower businesses to supercharge their advertising,” said Mike Williams, Product Partnership Lead. “We’re very excited to see it come to life.”

AudioGO enables businesses to easily leverage advanced advertising features like zip-code level targeting, enhanced reporting, Spanish-language content, campaign duplication across geographies, and flexible payment options. The user-friendly interface invites anyone to explore the medium with a low minimum spend. A simple dashboard provides up-to-the-minute information on both unique listeners and total ad impressions, as well as click-through and listen-through rates.

RBR+TVBR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Rohde & Schwarz has announced two 5G Broadcast-enabled transmitters – the R&S Tx9 & Tx9evo transmitter series. In addition, for existing Rohde & Schwarz transmitter users, the migration to 5G Broadcast/Multicast can be achieved through a software upgrade and minor hardware upgrade.

Access to 5G Broadcast / Multicast services opens up entirely new business models, such
as venue-casting, ultra-high-quality live video streaming, live commerce and over-the-air
software updates/upgrades.

Worldwide, most terrestrial transmitter networks have been upgraded to digital transmission technology. As the global market leader, R&S transmitters have earned the reputation of being the most advanced, energy-efficient transmitters on the market – now Rohde & Schwarz is offering users a straightforward migration pathway to the world of 5G Broadcast & Multicast.

Also, Rohde &Schwarz is a leading manufacturer of electronic Test & Measurement and communications equipment. Network operators use this equipment to successfully install, maintain and optimize broadcast networks of all types, making R&S a very effective and reliable 5G Broadcast partner.

Using Broadcast and/or Multicast over 5G, network operators can deliver premium content
to mobile consumers while they are still attached to cellular networks with consistent high
quality of service (QoS) and higher quality of experience (QoE) within an overlay concept.
From an architectural perspective, 5G Broadcast/Multicast is a key pillar of the new 5G
ecosystem. It is composed of a Broadcast/Multicast Radio Access Network (RAN) and a
Broadcast/Multicast Core Network (CN).

Compliant with 3GPP Rel.14/16, the R&S 5G Broadcast/Multicast RAN solution is mainly
based on new Tx9 and Tx9evo transmitter range across all output powers. However, for
existing transmitter customers, depending on the solution already implemented, a software
and/or hardware upgrade will be sufficient to acquire the new 3GPP specifications.

“Rohde & Schwarz transmitters set the benchmark for power efficiency. With some of the
largest installations worldwide and a history in RF transmission going back to 1933, we
have the experience required for your transmission needs,” said Manfred Reitmeier,
Vice President Transmitters and Amplifier Systems at Rohde & Schwarz. “A wide range of
highly innovative broadcast transmitters – including the Tx9 and Tx9evo – provide a
distribution system that is ideal for 5G Broadcast / Multicast content distribution.”

RBR+TVBR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES provides an opportunity for companies to present their story, in their own words, to RBR.com and Weekly Tech Roundup readers. For more information, please contact RBR+TVBR at adam@rbr.com.

Broadcasters supporting the “Phoenix Model Market” project for NEXTGEN TV, along with broadcaster group Pearl TV, have started the initial testing of NEXTGEN TV over limited cable infrastructure.

It’s being done in the Pacific Northwest’s second-largest market, home to stations owned by Meredith Corp., Sinclair Broadcast Group, TEGNA and Nexstar Media Group.

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The global TV market is on track to achieve 1.2% growth in 2020 and is set to end the year on more than 233 million shipments.

The COVID-19 pandemic is to “thank,” if you will, for the forward momentum, a new market report from Futuresource Consulting finds.

Trade value has also fared relatively well.

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Google’s GNI Innovation Challenge has selected one of the nation’s leading broadcast TV companies for $200,000 in funding to support a multi-platform journalism project focused on health disparities in the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia regions of the U.S.

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In June 2019, RBR+TVBR reported on the proposed sale of a 100kw FM serving the Grand Junction, Colo., market from high atop a mountain peak some two hours to the north.

The intended buyer: a wholly owned subsidiary of Allen Brill’s Western Slope Communications.

It turns out that deal never closed. Now, a new buyer has emerged for the facility.

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Northern Mechatronics, a Canada-based manufacturer of radio frequency (RF) and wireless solutions, has chosen Ambiq’s Apollo3 Blue microprocessor (MCU) for its latest LoRa Bluetooth 5 Low Energy Module, NM180100, a revolutionary single-package solution for IoT applications.

The NM180100 is purpose-built to enable edge and endpoint computing with short and long-range wireless communication capability in a highly integrated and flexible single package module solution. By combining Apollo3 Blue MCU, the NM180100 can achieve ultra-low power consumption in all application states, including computing, transmitting, receiving, or deep sleep.

Wireless communications expertise has always been at a deficit, especially for commercial industries such as agriculture, electric and gas metering control, and property management. With the rapid growth of Industrial IoT and the recent 5G rollout, the need for faster time-to-market can easily make or break a solution provider in today’s competitive landscape. The NM180100, supported by a wide range of design resources, including the evaluation board NM180100EVB, the NM180310 small form factor application board, a software development kit, full programmability, and regulatory certifications for FCC and IC/ISED, is the only turnkey solution in the growing IoT market.

“We partnered with Ambiq because of its record-breaking ultra-low power energy efficiency. IoT sensors provide unprecedented insights to businesses across the spectrum, including commercial, industrial, and consumer levels,” said Dr. Joshua Wong, Executive Chairman and CEO at Northern Mechatronics. “Until the development of the NM180100, an ultra-low power single package IoT solution possessing short-range and long-range communications and edge computing capability without sacrificing battery life has been a pipe dream.”

About the NM180100 LoRa Bluetooth 5 Low Energy Module

With 1MB of on-module flash memory and 384kB of SRAM, the NM180100 allows applications to run two radio stacks simultaneously (BLE and LoRaWAN) with ample memory remaining for over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates via either LoRaWAN or BLE.  Page-level locking in the flash memory allows the application to maintain regulatory certifications without impacting critical firmware components such as the radio stacks.  The architecture design significantly reduces the end-product cost by eliminating the need for an additional application processor typical of many other LoRaWAN module solutions.

The Apollo3 Blue possesses a secure interface (ISO7816), including secure boot and secure OTA firmware upgrade over Bluetooth. Built on Ambiq’s patented Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT) platform, the Apollo3 Blue further enhances the power efficiency on Arm® Cortex M4F with DSP instructions by enabling designers to perform raw data pre-processing before transmission over the air, in so doing improving the battery life by reducing the amount of raw data transmitted.

For more information, visit www.northernmechatronics.com/nm180100.

With Christmas right around the corner, we’re pleased to offer our readers this Classic Media Information Bureau installment from longtime Adult Contemporary programming consultant Gary Berkowitz. 

Happy holidays, and best wishes on a successful “Holiday” ratings book.

By Gary Berkowitz

Christmas is less than two weeks away. If your company has stations that are presently airing all-Christmas music, making sure they sound great throughout the holiday season is of utmost importance. Here is a 10-point programming checklist to keep the holiday tunes sound fresh through December 25.

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