Industry News

A sample Quu advertiser message.

Quu Inc. and vCreative announced an integration.

“vCreative customers can now publish messages on car dashboards for their clients that use Quu’s advertising services,” they said in an announcement.

vCreative provides media production workflow solutions. Quu adds dynamic visuals to radio broadcasts.

Quu’s system lets stations publish programming and sales messages called Visual Quus that it says helps with upsells and makes ads more effective. With this integration, radio stations now can produce and send those Visual Quus via the vCreative vPPO production workflow system.

The announcement was made by  Susie Hedrick, CEO of vCreative, and Steve Newberry, CEO of Quu.

The post vCreative Can Now Publish to Quu appeared first on Radio World.

Bill Christian, President/CEO of Vision Communications, has attracted attention in recent years for various television industry projects — including the creation of a TV group serving Lafayette, Ind., from the ground up.

Now, Christian is agreeing to purchase a pair of low-power television stations licensed to a community in the Granite State.

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By Rosemary Ravinal

How often do you use these word whiskers and phrases in your public speaking and presentations?

Um. Ah. Well. I mean. You know. Like. Absolutely.

Whether on Zoom or in person, it is easy to lean on filler words or word whiskers, as they are often known. They become verbal crutches that we use either consciously or unconsciously when we are nervous, get rattled or are not sure about what we are saying.  They take up valuable time, cloud the meaning of what we want to say, and diminish our credibility.

Here are some steps on how to eliminate these pesky word whiskers.

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For some broadcasters, the economic pressures brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic were simply too grand to continue day-to-day operations.

In Panama City Beach, Fla., the licensee of an AM with an FM translator was so negatively impacted that it pressed the Stop button on “PLAY-FM.”

Now, a new owner is ready to resurrect the facilities. Only, it has different plans for what will air on the temporarily dormant station.

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Wedel Software has hired Rick Rowland as an onboarding manager for its new Adthos Platform.

“Rick has been working in the industry for more than 30 years and has, by his own admission, held just about every radio station role within that time,” the company said in its announcement.

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“Not only that, but he’s also designed his own suite of radio software focused on media readiness, commercial reconciliation and daily file readiness.”

Rowland’s products include Power-Link Software Systems and Proof of Play.

The hire was announced by CEO Raoul Wedel. The company introduced the Adthos ad sales platform this month.

Send news of engineering and executive personnel changes to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

The post Wedel Hires Rowland in Adthos Role appeared first on Radio World.

A global provider of content protection technology products developed for the media and content owners, broadcasters and operators has tapped a seasoned industry executive as its new CEO.

He previously served as the chief executive of NBA China.

Taking the top spot at Friend MTS is Derek Chang.

He will be based in London.

“We are at the forefront of rapid changes in consumer behavior, new business models and technology, and will ensure that creators, owners and distributors worldwide will have the formidable tools necessary to protect their valuable content,” Chang said.

Founder Jonathan Friend made the announcement. He’ll now serve as Chief Product Officer.

Friend said, “As we continue to innovate with groundbreaking solutions that our valued customers and partners have come to expect, now is the time to transition to our next leader and we are thrilled to welcome Derek to the helm of Friend MTS. With deep expertise in the global sports and entertainment space, Derek brings invaluable insight to leveraging technology to create an impactful footprint for an ever-evolving media and content ecosystem.”

Prior to leading NBA China’s business, Chang was Head of International Lifestyle Channels for Scripps Networks Interactive and had served as EVP/Content for DirecTV.

He also held senior roles for Charter Communications, the YES Network and TCI Communications. Chang currently serves on the board of directors for Liberty Media Corp. and Isos Acquisition Corp.

Wedel Software has hired an Onboarding Manager for its new Adthos Platform.

It’s an individual with some 30 years of industry experience and has, by his own admission, held just about every radio station role within that time.

Not only that, but Rick Rowland says he’s also designed his own suite of radio software focused on “media readiness, commercial reconciliation and daily file readiness.”

Raoul Wedel, CEO of Wedel Software, said, “It’s fantastic to have a true radio professional like Rick onboard right from this critical starting phase. He’s focused a great deal of his career on optimizing log and reconciliation processes and proof of performance. We’re delighted to have someone join our team that shares our passion to finally do away with these issues.”

Rowland added, “I’m very pleased to be joining the team at Wedel and help to introduce Adthos, a groundbreaking and innovative solution that I know will bring many solutions to the industry.”

 

Many know him as the face of Wedel Software. Now, he’s the CEO of a brand-new ad sales platform for radio advertising called Adthos. Raoul Wedel joins RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson from the Dutch city of The Hague to share more about the new product release. How does Adthos from what is presently available in the marketplace? The Adthos Ad-Server is free … so how does Wedel make money? Get the no-nonsense answers to these questions in this fresh podcast, presented by dot.FM!

Tightrope Media Systems is expanding its Screenweave mobile and OTT apps to bring community media organizations’ live channels and on-demand programs to an even wider range of viewing platforms.

Complementing existing Roku and Apple TV support, a new Screenweave app brings content from Tightrope’s Cablecast Community Media platform immediately to Amazon Fire TV devices. Screenweave apps for Android TV devices as well as Android and iOS smartphones and tablets will follow in the coming months.

Screenweave apps work with Cablecast broadcast automation servers and the Cablecast Reflect cloud-based streaming service to make public access, education, and government (PEG) channels available through OTT media players and mobile devices in HD quality. Viewers can browse categorized collections of VOD clips, search the station’s VOD library for topics of interest, and switch between the station’s live feeds.

Extending the Cablecast platform’s “add once, publish everywhere” simplicity, Screenweave requires no ongoing operational effort by station staff. After initial Screenweave configuration – adding the station’s branding, customizing metadata display, and defining content categories via keywords – new content added to Cablecast is automatically made available in dynamically-updated libraries across all OTT and mobile platforms.

“Community broadcasters need to reach their audiences whenever, wherever, and on whatever device each viewer prefers,” said Steve Israelsky, President of Cablecast Community Media. “OTT platforms have become crucial conduits for making content accessible to potential viewers who don’t have cable subscriptions. Meanwhile, although our responsive online templates already let stations offer content to mobile viewers through their websites, users often now prefer an app-based approach for everything from media consumption to online shopping. With the expansion of our Screenweave app family, our customers can effortlessly make their content available in intuitive apps on all of the most popular OTT and mobile platforms.”

Viewers can access content through the standard Screenweave app, which provides a central directory of all Screenweave-powered community media channels and automatically recommends the station located closest to the viewer when the app is first used. The viewer’s preferred station is remembered for subsequent app sessions, automatically going directly to the station’s branded portal. Stations can also upgrade to their own custom-branded, dedicated app, making it even easier for their audience to find the station in their platform’s app library.

Publishing through the community Screenweave app is free of charge for Cablecast customers with an active Cablecast Reflect stream delivery subscription, including up to three channels per station. Custom, dedicated Screenweave apps can be created by Tightrope’s professional services team at extremely competitive pricing – typically far less expensive than alternative offerings or the time and effort of customers doing their own development.

“With the standard Screenweave apps free for stations to use with our Cablecast Reflect subscription, there’s less reason for any PEG broadcaster not to make their content available on all of these OTT and mobile platforms,” Israelsky added. “Even for viewers who also have cable, Screenweave lets them add the community channel to their device’s home screen right alongside their favorite commercial media services, elevating it from being buried deep in a channel guide. Plus, once a station sets up Screenweave for one OTT or mobile platform, they’re instantly set up for the other five – plus any future Screenweave platforms we add. For example, our new Fire TV app launched with several hundred channels already available from our existing Screenweave customers – all with zero additional effort required on their part.”

The new Screenweave Fire TV app is available to viewers immediately, with the Android TV, Android mobile and iOS mobile apps slated for release in the coming months.

Nautel has announced the June 2021 topics for the Jeff Welton-hosted “Transmission Talk Tuesday” roundtable sessions, which have now been taking place for a full year.

These interactive discussion sessions have covered a broad range of engineering-oriented topics, providing an opportunity for engineers to learn and discuss ideas with their peers.

“When we started these sessions in June 2020, it was a way to stay in touch with our friends in the Radio community and keep ideas flowing through the pandemic lockdowns,” Welton said. “We had no idea that our online gatherings would still be in place a year later, or that they would remain as popular as they have been.”

Since the inception of the online seminars, an average attendance of over 100 people for each session has been seen.

Topics for June 2021 include:

“How Technology has Changed our Lives,” June 8.

Changes in technology have dramatically affected the way people work over the past 10 – 15 years. Welton will be joined by Jim Gray, Managing Partner for Optimized Media Group, and Matt Herdon, Product Manager for Nautel.

“SNMP – How and Why,” on June 15.

Josh Bohn, President/CEO of the MaxxKonnect Group and Shane Toven, Senior Engineer with Educational Media Foundation, will join Welton to talk about interfacing SNMP managers with transmitters and other devices, and how to manage the data.

“STLs – Moving Signals from Here to There,” on June 22.

Josh Bohn will join Welton and Customer Service Technologist Alex Hartman to talk about different ways of getting audio and data from Point A to Point B, as well as thoughts on how the future will look for STLs.

“Tips and Thoughts for Contract Engineering,” on June 29.

Tom Ray, president of Tom Ray Broadcast Consulting, will join Welton to talk about the challenges faced by contract engineers and some of the “must do” business and planning items for contract engineers.

All sessions begin at noon Eastern and pre-registration is required. For more information and to register, visit Nautel.com/webinars/.

Sessions are also posted online for those who are unable to join the live chats.

As with traditional Nautel webinars, ½ SBE recertification credit is available for attending each session.

PILOT, NAB’s technology innovation initiative, will be accepting submissions for the PILOT Innovation Challenge through 5 p.m. ET on July 9.

The program will provide mentorship and promotion to winning proposals, along with an opportunity to demonstrate their products at NAB Show in Las Vegas, October 9-13, 2021.

This year’s challenge is seeking startups and growing companies providing solutions to some of the key challenges and opportunities facing broadcasters over the next two to three years.

The challenge is specifically seeking products or prototypes that are focused on the following areas:

• Edge technologies that drive new revenue opportunities for broadcasters, such as through geo-targeted content, location-based advertising, accurate audience measurement and augmented experiences;

• Technologies that enhance broadcast journalism to help viewers and listeners get more from their most trusted source of local news, including tools to better aggregate and verify crowd-sourced news reports, enhancements to news-gathering technologies such as drones, or avatar news anchors to deliver personalized updates on a myriad of topics; and

• In-vehicle technologies that deliver more value out of broadcasting, including technologies that enhance the in-car experience for radio listeners, as well as technologies that harness the mobile reception capabilities of the NextGen TV standard to deliver even more rich data services or back-seat entertainment.

“The Innovation Challenge offers a platform for developing technologies that will help broadcasters better serve their audience, while providing emerging companies a showcase for their cutting-edge products,” said PILOT Executive Director John Clark. “We are excited for this year’s program to explore the ideas and innovations that will open up new revenue streams, strengthen local journalism and enrich broadcasting’s relationship with the car.”

Individuals, teams, companies, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply subject to the Challenge’s official rules of participation. Up to 10 finalists will be selected by a panel of industry experts by early August, with up to three winning proposals being notified by September 1. Participants can review the judging criteria on the PILOT website.

Three winners will be selected to receive relevant mentorship, feedback, numerous opportunities to engage with broadcasters and a trip to the annual NAB Show, held October 9-13, 2021 in Las Vegas. They will be provided exhibit space in the “Startup Loft” to demonstrate their prototype to potential customers, investors and partners.

The deadline to apply is July 9 at 5 p.m. ET.