Industry News

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Now, armed with new vigor and ION Media properties in its stable, The E.W. Scripps Co. is busily preparing for a “special investor presentation” with its President/CEO and its Local Media President, among other C-Suite members.

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Here’s a note for broadcasters who own their own towers:

The Federal Aviation Administration has known for more than a decade that certain high-intensity red LED-based obstruction lights on communication towers are visible to the naked eye but invisible to those wearing night vision goggles (NVG) in most cases.

The FAA previously issued advisories addressing non-NVG compatible LED lighting systems, but in November 2020 it levied final orders to require manufacturers meet a new specification for certified red LED-based obstruction lights that include Infrared (IR) emitters to make lighting systems more visible to pilots using NVG.

Several light manufacturers have already standardized on the new IR LED lighting, according to experts familiar with the issue.

The use of NVGs and Night Vision Imaging Systems (NVIS) is increasing in civilian aviation to conduct search-and-rescue, emergency medical transport and other flight operations, according to the FAA.

It says certain legacy LED lighting systems fall outside the combined visible and near-infrared spectrum of NVGs, and thus are not be visible to some flight crews. LED-based lighting has largely replaced incandescent technology for red (and some white) obstruction lighting because of its reduced maintenance requirements and extended service life.

Existing non-IR LED tower beacons are grandfathered in, but going forward all certified LED Aviation Obstruction Lighting installed for newly constructed towers or FAA circular updates must be NVG-friendly, according to the FAA.

Broadcasters who own tall towers will need to upgrade to the new certified red LED-based beacons in the normal course of replacing their tower lighting systems, according to the FAA. However, since the new specification ensures the light is visible to pilots operating with night vision goggles, there is risk of a pilot misinterpreting the tower height if a legacy intermediate-level light is replaced with one that meets the new specification unless the top light meets the new specification as well.

“Therefore, if a legacy specification intermediate-level LED-based light is replaced with a light that meets the new specifications, then the top-level light(s) on the obstruction must also meet the new specification to ensure the entire obstruction is visible during the use of night vision goggles,” according to the FAA Advisory Circular issued in November.

Tower consolidator Vertical Bridge recommends broadcasters call their lighting manufacturer and provide them with serial numbers of their red color LED obstruction markers to determine if the pre-existing fixtures on the tower are NVG compatible and are equipped with an IR emitter.

“Knowing that the rule change was coming for several years now, we started upgrading our systems as part of our normal repair and replace program. It’s important that tower owners, including broadcasters, use night vision goggle-friendly lighting going forward,” said Bernard Borghei of Vertical Bridge.

The FAA notes that failure of the IR component merits a NOTAM, a Notice to Airmen, and must be reported even though the LED light may still be flashing.

Any structure that exceeds 200 feet above ground level generally needs to be marked and/or lighted, according to the FAA.

[Related: “Vertical Bridge Remains in Acquisition Mode”]

The post Night Vision Issue Comes to Light appeared first on Radio World.

High demand for tower space from wireless, broadband and data providers continues to drive up the value of communication towers across the United States.

Vertical Bridge, an acquisitive company formed by the former management team at wireless infrastructure company Global Tower Partners, continues to scoop up tower properties. Its purchase of Cumulus Media’s tower portfolio in the second half of 2020 aligned the telecommunication infrastructure company even more closely with broadcast radio.

Vertical Bridge has previously made headlines for its broadcast tower pursuits. iHeartMedia sold more than 400 of its broadcast towers to Vertical Bridge for $400 million in 2014. In recent years the tower consolidator has also announced notable broadcast structure deals to buy or manage tower properties for Townsquare Media, Cherry Creek Radio, Univision and Alpha Media.

Radio broadcasters continue to unlock value in their towers by selling off the assets and generating large amounts of cash. In most cases radio broadcasters lease back antenna space on the towers they sell, according to those familiar with the arrangements.

Selling off towers also means radio broadcasters are left without the worry of tower maintenance and the associated operational expenses. And in the case of Cumulus, the move brings in a large influx of needed cash.

The tower industry is booming with the fast spread of 5G and further TV repack work. Vertical Bridge has been quickly expanding its footprint. It already is the largest private owner and manager of communication tower infrastructure in the United States.

The company, founded in 2014, has approximately 2,000 broadcast towers in its portfolio. In total it says it has more than 290,000 owned and managed sites in the United States, which includes wireless and broadcast towers, rooftops and land parcels. It recently completed a merger with another tower company, Eco-Site, that brought in approximately 600 towers.

The Cumulus purchase was valued at $213 million and included 250 sites in 32 states, according to Cumulus filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The purchase has closed except for a few pending obtaining consent from landlords, according to Vertical Bridge. The remaining assignments are expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2021.

Cumulus President/CEO Mary Berner said in a press release about the transaction last year that it was a way to “further add to our liquidity and contribute to significant incremental debt pay down.”

The leaseback period between Cumulus and Vertical Bridge is for 10 years, followed by five option periods of five years each, according to government filings by Cumulus.

“The annual lease payment obligation for the assets leased back in the initial closing is approximately $13.2 million, subject to customary escalators,” according to a Cumulus investor note in October.

Those properties were attractive for one very specific reason, said Bernard Borghei, co-founder and EVP of operations for Vertical Bridge — the same reason most tall broadcast sticks interest the company.

“These tower properties were built 40, 50 and 60 years ago. These properties now exist in core urban areas. With the restrictions you have on zoning and permitting towers, these towers exist in locations where no one else can zone to build a tower,” Borghei said.

“These are assets we refer to as zoning protected. Meaning our competition cannot come in and try to build a new tower.”

Some of the former Cumulus tower sites are in the middle of urban areas in Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, he said, and are attractive to non-broadcast tenants as well.

“And as a real estate company we love the great locations,” Borghei said.

Vertical Bridge, headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., leases tower space to radio and TV broadcasters, telecommunication carriers and other users of wireless technology.

Borghei believes the terrestrial radio broadcast industry is healthy enough to support Vertical Bridge’s long-term growth.

“Certainly we intersect closely with radio. We think the broadcast industry is on its own healthy. We could see that iHeart, once they restructured, would come out healthy and strong. We have that same feeling about Cumulus. We believe in that market sector and secured what is now the largest broadcast towers portfolio in the country.”

Vertical Bridge is owned by private equity groups including Digital Colony, The Jordan Company and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, along with private investment groups like the California State Teachers’ Retirement System. It has lease agreements with many regional radio broadcasters, Borghei said.

“The leaseback agreements help us maintain occupancy, of course. The lease terms are in line with what the tower industry is experiencing on the broadband side as well.”

Borghei said there are obvious advantages for radio broadcasters who sell their tower sites to Vertical Bridge.

“Some of the broadcast companies needed to raise capital. And didn’t want the ongoing maintenance cost of looking after these really tall towers,” Borghei said. “Broadcast towers require time and money to maintain. I think many broadcast companies are optimizing their resources and their engineering teams. And they don’t have to worry about having cap ex allocations in their budgets to maintain these towers.”

The company handles the obstruction lighting, painting, structural inspections and ground maintenance of the towers they own and manage, he said. Vertical Bridge also maintains generators and HVAC systems while keeping abreast of all FAA and FCC regulatory requirements (see sidebar).

Borghei says the company’s pipeline for mergers and acquisitions of broadcast towers remains strong.

“(Vertical Bridge) is keenly interested in further broadcast tower projects to develop. Operating a broadcast tower is quite different than a broadband tower. We understand both. You have to have that understanding to be able to work with different tenants, and especially live broadcast companies.”

The integration of 5G remains a primary focus of Vertical Bridge’s infrastructure plans, Borghei said, including the plans of Dish Network now that that company has been confirmed as the fourth national 5G network. Dish has said it will begin its 5G network buildout in earnest in the second quarter.

“More 5G and CBRS [Citizens Broadband Radio Service] networks are beginning to take hold. It’ll also be interesting to see who comes out and owns what as a result of the C-band spectrum auction. That’s very valuable spectrum, and it looks like Verizon and AT&T are the top two,” Borghei said.

Borghei said the COVID-19 pandemic has done little to slow the growth of Vertical Bridge despite some challenges.

“For us 2020 was a heck of a year. From a business perspective it was a tremendous year from the Cumulus acquisition to closing the Eco-Site merger. And our new build program has been extremely successful. We continue to have a lot of new tower builds and we don’t expect that to slow down in 2021,” he said. “The majority of our new towers are 180 to 250 feet for 5G and 4G densification upgrading to 5G.”

In fact, 5G plays a critical role in Vertical Bridge’s pursuit of tall broadcast towers, Borghei said.

“Broadcasters are typically at the top of the towers but then you have the 400 to 500 feet beneath broadcast available for broadband carriers looking to deploy 5G. And again we own towers in locations where no one else can ever zone a new tower,” he said.

Other major ownership groups making notable deals to sell off communication towers in recent years include Townsquare Media, who sold 43 towers and property to Vertical Bridge for approximately $22.8 million in 2016, and Cox Enterprises, which sold all but one of its towers to InSite Wireless Group in 2015.

[Also read “Night Vision Issue Comes to Light”]

The post Vertical Bridge Remains in Acquisition Mode appeared first on Radio World.

The author is executive director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. NFCB commentaries are featured regularly at www.radioworld.com.

This was quite a wild week for news. Radio was asked to respond to events in Washington, the ongoing confusion about vaccination in communities, and the sundry local stories that come up each day. However, a particularly important study on radio should not be missed.

Many community broadcasters focus on volunteer recruitment and offering an assortment of programming. For generations, the reasoning has been “the more, the merrier” — the more voices on the air, the more access you create, the more support and word-of-mouth marketing your station can build. However, with generational change comes a change in thinking. More local stations are focusing on training and giving DJs a baseline of expectations. They recognize the hosts want to sound better, want to represent the station well, and stations are finding a lack of attention to what goes out over the air can damage community relationships and make engagement and revenue much more demanding.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: Distant Tension]

This week, NuVoodoo Media Services revealed its study of 3,500 radio listeners, aged 14–54, on a variety of topics. One area looked at a cornerstone of radio: the DJ. What people said may inform your training, or even get your station thinking differently about your hosts.

Among the more shocking things to come up? Millennials and Generation Z listeners feel stations would be better off without DJs, at least more than their older counterparts. By a lot.

In fact, almost 75% of Gen-Z gives DJs a “Meh,” noting they either have no use or are okay, but don’t add anything to listening. Millennials were slightly better, at 63% who felt the same way. 43% of Generation X audiences found DJs made listening more enjoyable, compared to just 26% of Gen-Z.

NuVoodoo promises to get more into these issues on an upcoming webinar, though to most observers in radio, what’s lending to these perceptions may be quite obvious.

Streaming services, podcasting and micro-content distributed on social media and platforms have changed how we perceive programming as well as listening experiences. Generation X’s formative media experiences weren’t in a world that was nearly as disintermediated. For subsequent generations, faster, shorter and on our terms are baselines, not bonuses. As a result, the days of the DJ with long stories or inane trivia may not be over, but seem destined for limited, older audiences. Surely there may be exceptions, but that seems the forecast.

Community media and local stations have long leaned on unique on-air personalities to foster relationships with audiences. As there are demographic shifts in how people listen to the programming a station puts out, however, we in radio must evolve. Thus, it is the responsibility of a station to think carefully through how hosts use their precious time on the microphone.

Every station or network will come up with their own solutions, but it is certain that many leaders may look at the length of breaks and what is being conveyed during that time. The million dollar question: how can you create that memorable moment for a listener that isn’t a turn-off or take up too much time? Future radio, in this regard, is very exciting.

These issues are more than DJs and personalities, but our community relationships and our bridge-building to new generations of listeners. No one has all the answers yet, but if you are in radio, how millennials and Gen-Z hear you is critical to your success.

The post Community Broadcaster: DJing the Generational Divide appeared first on Radio World.

The author is R&D engineer at AEQ and was the technical coordinator for the project described.

This article appeared in Radio World’s “Trends in Codecs and STLs for 2020” ebook.

At times it seems that “media” is everywhere. Smartphones provide immediate content from seemingly every corner humans visit. Drones and small GoPro-style cameras add another omnipresent dimension. The world is awash in multimedia material that can be turned into usable/sellable content.

Designers of new buildings already pack them with media-friendly digital infrastructure. Hoping to take advantage of an opportunity, many owners of aging, media-constrained venues are refurbishing their facilities to take advantage of the growing media world.

Dynamo National Olympic Stadium is the largest multipurpose stadium in Minsk, Belarus. It was reconfigured a few years ago so it could hold not only football matches but also athletics and other kinds of events, making into a venue with an international scope. It was reopened in December 2017, in time to setup for the 2019 European Games.

This international profile is reflected by the attendance of sports journalists from all over the world for live broadcasting. With that expanded mission, Dynamo National Olympic Stadium managers selected AEQ commentary system with 150 positions, each one equipped with an AEQ Olympia commentary unit. This allows more than 150 international TV and radio stations to broadcast events from Minsk simultaneously. Each of those can customize its language, style and media personalities.

[Check Out More of Radio World’s Ebooks Here]

The whole stadium offers Dante-AES67 AoIP multichannel technology provided by AEQ equipment. A powerful AEQ BC2000D audio matrix was installed, allowing for centralization and distribution of all the audio signals produced in the building.

In order for the commentary positions to communicate with the rightsholder stations or RHBs for each event, 150 AEQ Phoenix Stratos audio codecs were installed. Each one is able to establish two bidirectional circuits between the station and the commentary units. One of them is normally used to carry the program and program feedback, while the other commonly operates as a coordination channel.

Each codec has front-panel controls; however, it would be chaos if each codec operator could take control of the system. Fortunately there is a control software available so AEQ’s ControlPhoenix software application is being used to establish and supervise the up to 300 simultaneous connections that can be established with the 150 audio codecs.

AEQ Stratos is a suitable audio codec for this purpose because:

• It is a dual codec, so the same device can establish the program and coordination circuits.
• It is developed according to EBU N/ACIP standards, so it can communicate with most any third-party codec that may be in a broadcast facility inventory.
• Besides operating with IP networks, it can also establish connections using synchronous ISDN and even V.35 lines, allowing for an alternative path to establish a link.
• Stratos audio codec includes several state-of-the-art audio algorithms, such as Opus, the new standard for broadcast-quality audio communications, as well as legacy codecs for ISDN communications and guaranteed third-party compatibility, such as G.722 or MPEG2.
• It offers both analog and AES/EBU digital input/output connectivity with external synchronization capability, plus ancillary data transport, seamlessly emulating RS-232 protocol over the IP audio stream and GPI/O connections for external signaling.
• ControlPhoenix software provides full remote control of codec installations ranging from one to several hundred Phoenix family devices. Control is possible locally or from anywhere in the world, if so required, using an internet connection. This software application is provided for free with all AEQ Phoenix codecs while a license is only necessary to simultaneously manage more than two devices. It includes call list management, full configuration, real time VU meters, audio alarms, event logging, etc.

Eurovision Sport was the event’s broadcasting partner. Eurovision used the Phoenix Stratos audio codecs in order to send the audio from commentators speaking all the different languages throughout infrastructure.

Some of the most important international sports events held in the remodeled Minsk stadium include the Second European Games and The Match Europe vs. USA track and field competition.

The Second European Game featured 4,000 athletes from 50 European countries competing in 15 sports.

For those games the real-time broadcasting production used a total of 12 OB vans and more than 200 cameras. Seven hundred broadcasting professionals ensured that the signals were properly produced and reached the 190 rights-holding broadcasters around the globe. More than 600 live and nearly 800 recorded coverage hours were produced.

The Match Europe vs USA, conducted in September 2019, gathered 300 world-class athletes who competed in 37 different track and field events.

The post AEQ Codecs Deliver International Content From Minsk appeared first on Radio World.

The author of this commentary is CEO and founder of AdTonos.

Audio is an innately powerful and personal medium that delivers the soundtrack to consumer lives.

When listeners tune in to their favorite radio stations, they build trusted relationships with presenters — feeling like they’re being spoken to directly. When music is streamed, keen subscribers can access meticulously curated playlists full of meaning and memories. And when a podcast is carefully selected, the audiences’ personal knowledge expands.

As we move deeper into 2021, audio is in the midst of an interactive transformation that will ensure the listening experience is even more personal and engaging.

Spurred on by the increased adoption and acceptance of voice assistants and smart speakers, this presents an exciting opportunity for advertisers to truly connect with listeners at a one-to-one level.

Listening to audio is no longer a passive activity as consumers are increasingly comfortable integrating their voice assistants and smart speakers into their everyday lives. A Juniper report revealed that consumers are expected to interact with voice assistants on 8.4 billion devices across the globe by 2024, up from 4.2 billion at the end of 2020.

Smart speaker adoption is growing particularly quickly, indicating that users trust the technology and find it beneficial.

Worldwide smart speaker sales reached almost 147 million in 2019 — an increase of 70% on the previous year — and by 2027 the global smart speaker market is projected to be worth an impressive $19 billion. In the U.K., more than a quarter of consumers already own a smart speaker, and this proportion looked set to grow over the 2020 Christmas period, with almost 20% of people planning to gift a digitally connected device. Whether it’s Amazon’s Echo, Google’s Nest or Apple’s HomePod, smart speakers are becoming an accepted feature of the modern home.

Smart speakers and voice assistants can respond — in a conversational manner — to hundreds of different commands, meaning audio is gaining a strong sense of utility for users. Asking Siri for an update on lockdown restrictions or instructing Alexa to play a favorite radio show is no longer a novelty, but a practical and productive use of established technology.

And the audio landscape is set to develop in more complex ways, with a view to provide smart speaker users with greater flexibility, such as booking doctors’ appointments, purchasing event tickets or adding items to shopping lists.

Audio interactions are still largely initiated by the user, however with advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as the connectivity promised by the arrival of 5G, the potential for smart speakers to start the conversation first isn’t far off.

We’re already seeing brands experiment with the potential of two-way communication. For example, interaction triggers within audio ads can be inserted into commercial radio content, inviting the listener to respond using a pre-defined voice invocation and initiating the process of interaction between voice assistant and listener.

We developed our YoursTruly technology to do exactly this and deployed it for the first time last year in partnership with Octave, for Omnicom Media Group’s PHD client, Audi.

[Read: “AdTonos Promotes Interactive Audio Ads”]

When played through a smart speaker, the first ad of a commercial break featured a verbal call-to-action, to which interested listeners had the ability to engage with the voice assistant to complete a specific task, such as booking a test drive, before the listener was returned to the live radio station.

Interactive audio advertising not only allows brands to nurture one-to-one customer relationships and deliver highly engaging advertising experiences, it also delivers valuable measurement data. Brands are able to see precisely how users interacted with their audio messaging and compare campaign results with other digital marketing channels. Additionally, interactive advertising provides publishers with a new way to monetize content, making audio even more attractive as an advertising medium.

Audio is already an incredibly emotive and engaging channel. As adoption of smart speakers and voice assistants escalates, the sense of utility will become more established and new technologies will further enable true two-way communication, welcoming a new age of audio interactivity.

Comment on this or any story. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Entering the Age of Audio Interactivity appeared first on Radio World.

iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media vet Don Pollnow is heading for Alabama’s capital city to oversee Cumulus’ six Montgomery radio stations. As the new vice president and market manager he’ll have his hands on WMXS(FM), WLWI(AM/FM), WMSP(AM), WXFX(FM) and WHHY(FM).

Pollnow comes over from iHeartMedia where he most recently was market president for Wichita, Kan.. He has been with Cumulus previously, running the Green Bay, Wis., operation.

He has also worked for NRG Media, Renda Broadcasting and LM Communications.

Send your people news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Pollnow Moves to Cumulus Montgomery appeared first on Radio World.

Packaging together a small digital recorder with its own TM-10L lavalier microphone, TASCAM has introduced the DR-10L.

Housed in small lav bodypack-style case, DR-10L specifics include 48 kHz/24-bit BWAV recording along with MP3 recording at both 128 kbps and 192 kbps. Recording is done to an SD card. Onboard features auto gain, a limiter and a low-cut filter.

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An OLED backlit display details information about recording levels, SD card status and more. Chiclet buttons provide basic physical controls. The lavalier connects with a locking 3.5 mm-1/8-inch plug.

The DR-10L has a polyfile feature for recording a lower-resolution backup copy when activated.

It ships with iZotope RX Elements audio processing and noise removal software.

The DR-10L uses a single AAA battery. TASCAM says that with 10 hours of operation from one alkaline battery or fifteen hours via a lithium battery.

Info: www.tascam.com

The post TASCAM Releases Mic/Recorder Combo appeared first on Radio World.

HIALEAH, FLA. — The nation’s largest Hispanic-owned media company superserving Latino audiences through radio, TV and digital properties has launched a senior secured notes offering.

The offering is designed expressly to repay its 12% senior secured notes … due four years ago.

BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON FACEBOOK!

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HIALEAH, FLA. — They’re just preliminary numbers, but they are certainly worth a gander.

Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) on Friday offered a sneak peak of its Q4 2020 results. What does the company led by Raúl Alarcón Jr. have to say?

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