Industry News

From our Who’s Buying What page: Zoo Communications station WZFL(FM) in Miami is using Myriad Playout Version 5 automation from Broadcast Radio Ltd.

“With this update the station can now have talent live from home with full on-air control, and even bring guest and co-host on air, and all broadcast to the studio in HD quality audio with a milli-second delay,” the supplier said.

“Myriad Playout also gives the station the ability to display now playing information for syndicated programming on RDS receivers.”

Irvin “Brainchild” Nunez is program director of the station, which is branded Revolution 93.5.

The Myriad line from Broadcast Radio Ltd. also includes Myriad Anywhere products that offer web-based, remote working solutions.

Suppliers and users are invited to send announcements for Who’s Buying What to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post WZFL Deploys Myriad Playout appeared first on Radio World.

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The metaverse doesn’t really exist yet, at least not in its envisioned form; but that isn’t keeping companies from expanding their efforts to play in it.

That includes iHeartMedia, which says it wants to build “an easy-to-use ramp to the metaverse and Web3 for the mass market.”

iHeart announced an “important next step in extending its presence into Web3 and the metaverse, beginning with plans for the creation of iHeart events and experiences for listeners and music fans on Roblox,” which it says brings people together online through shared experiences.

The company said it also is committed to launch tokenized communities for its users and creators.

It said it plans to use its existing consumer reach and engagement “to create the awareness and demand necessary to bring new metaverse and Web3 platforms to the mass market.” Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman said in the announcement that iHeart “is uniquely positioned” to play that role.

The company said this year it “plans to bring immersive musical moments to the over 47 million daily active users on the Roblox platform.”

It will launch its first tokenized community, “building a new token that will incentivize and reward the iHeart creator community in new ways and give iHeart’s fans unique access to offerings across its multiple platforms.” It will also launch a series of collectible non-fungible tokens, citing he success of its iHeartRadio Music Festival NFTs launched in partnership with NFT platform OneOf last September.

iHeart’s Digital Audio Group President Conal Byrne said, “We are big believers in the incredible potential of Web3. We have already stepped into the metaverse with NFTs and have much more to come.”

Comment on this or any article. Write to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post iHeart Takes on Web3 and the Metaverse appeared first on Radio World.

Cyrus Uible joins WorldCast Group as an application engineer and solution architect. He will be based in Miami.

He’ll offer sales support to account managers and customers for the company’s brands including NMS Kybio by WorldCast Connect, as well as WorldCast Systems’ Ecreso, APT and Audemat solutions.

WorldCast Co-President Christophe Poulain said Uible’s “strong software know-how, market understanding, insights and solution-oriented approach” will enhance the company’s recent successes in North America.

Uible brings 20 years of experience in software engineering to the position with expertise gained during his time at companies such as Dalet and Skyline Communications, and recently serving as a principal solutions architect covering OTT, satellite broadcast management and NOC monitoring for Skyline Communications.

The post WorldCast Group Hires Uible as Application Engineer, Solution Architect appeared first on Radio World.

The nation’s No. 1 owner of broadcast TV stations in early November saw its share price surpass the $168 mark, a remarkable $60 per share increase from January 18, 2021.

By December 20, 2021, however, some may have wondered if Nexstar Media Group shares had peaked, as values dipped under $143.50 per share. With today’s trading on the Nasdaq GlobalSelect market, those worries can be soundly erased.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — On January 1, Curtis LeGeyt took over as the President/CEO of the broadcast media industry’s biggest advocacy and political lobbying organization.

Now in charge of the NAB, LeGeyt is inviting the association’s members to learn more about his vision at a January 20 Town Hall meeting, to be held virtually.

“It is both an exciting and a challenging time for the broadcasting business, and it is the opportunity of a lifetime to advocate on behalf of America’s broadcasters and help fulfill your mission of serving your communities,” LeGeyt said in a letter to NAB members. “This association will continue to work tirelessly for you every day to educate Congress and the FCC on your businesses, and to ensure you have the tools you need to thrive in this rapidly changing marketplace.”

The January 20 event will see LeGeyt offer his thoughts and an outlook for the association, as well as the broadcasting industry, during a Noon ET session. He will be joined by NAB’s policy team. who will give an update on the legislative and regulatory issues impacting the future of local stations and what NAB is doing to support diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the industry.

Want to pose a question to the NAB Policy Team? They’re accepting questions from NAB Members ahead of the January 20 event. Simply click here or send an e-mail to nab@nab.org.

As the new year unfolds, veteran public relations executive and “Zoom expert” Rosemary Ravinal has received “intriguing questions” from people who spend most of their workdays on Zoom, Teams or similar video conferencing platforms. Two questions she received could resonate with you. Here are her answers.

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It’s a Class A FM covering a small swath of the Edmond, Wash., area to the north of Seattle, and it uses a 9-watt FM translator to help with coverage of such communities as Bellevue and Issaquah.

Now, these homes of Christian Rock noncommercial network RadioU are being spun. The buyer is known for stations “Where God’s Word Is Heard.”

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Consumer media usage growth slowed to a pre-pandemic norm of 1.6% in 2021, following the fastest growth since 1995 in 2020.

But, media consumption is poised to grow faster in 2022. That’s the key finding from the ninth annual Global Consumer Media Usage Forecast for 2021-2025 released Wednesday (1/12) by PQ Media.

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Giving the industry only a day or so of notice, the FCC’s Media Bureau announced that its Consolidated Database System (CDBS) online filing system, used by broadcasters for decades, will no longer accept filings effective at 5 p.m. Eastern today, Jan. 12.

The agency announced new and apparently transitional procedures for types of filings that are currently submitted in CDBS, ones that cannot yet be entered in the newer LMS system.

The move is necessary due to what the FCC calls “pressing technical issues that prevent effective use of CDBS going forward and to facilitate the ongoing transition of all filings to the Licensing and Management System.” It did point out that the majority of types of broadcast filings had already migrated off of CDBS.

The new procedures are apparently transitional, but the Media Bureau emphasized that it expects this to be “a permanent sunset of the use of CDBS for Media Bureau filing.” [Read the announcement.]

So for now, effective with today’s sunset of CDBS filings, broadcasters will need to submit those FCC forms not currently accepted in LMS as an attachment in an email in PDF format, according to the announcement, and the FCC staff will have to enter them manually into its system.

The Media Bureau listed the following filings that will be required to be submitted by email to mailto:audiofilings@fcc.gov:

• AM Application for Construction Permit for Commercial Broadcast Station on Form 301
• AM Application for Construction Permit for Reserved Channel Noncommercial Educational Broadcast Station on Form 340
• AM Applications for Broadcast Station License on Form 302
• Special Temporary Authority (STA) Engineering Requests and Extension of Engineering STA Requests for all audio service stations
• Silent STA / Notification of Suspension/ Resumption of Operations / Extension of Silent STA Requests for all audio service stations
• Change in official mailing address
• AM Digital Notification on Form 335-AM
• All-Digital AM Notification on Form 335-AM
• FM Digital Notification on Form 335-FM
• Amendments to pending applications previously submitted in CDBS
• Pleadings (Petitions to Deny, Informal Objections, Oppositions, Replies, Supplements, Petitions for Reconsideration and Applications for Review) concerning applications submitted through CDBS or using the email procedures outlined in the Public Notice

Note that other filing types that had already transitioned to LMS, including FM and FM NCE applications for CPs, must continue to be submitted using LMS.

Media Bureau staff will be entering all pertinent information from the above types of emailed filings into CDBS, the FCC said. “Since this will be a manual process, it may take 1–2 business days to receive a confirmation of your filing.”

The FCC noted that informal filings, such as requests for Special Temporary Authority or Silent Station Notifications, submitted by letter may still be submitted in PDF or Word format.

The majority of applications and submissions have already transitioned from CDBS to LMS. The FCC launched its e-filing LMS forms system for TV licensees in late 2014. The transition for radio broadcasters began in May 2019 with radio station renewal applications.

The FCC says the public will continue to have access to CDBS for public searches and CDBS data files.

Additional information about the LMS system and which filings are supported by LMS can be found at the Media Bureau’s LMS Help Center.

One leading consultant, Gary Cavell of Cavell Mertz & Associates, told Radio World, “Based upon what the Public Notice outlined, the interim procedure for non-LMS filings should be relatively painless. My only long term concern is having continued access to some of the historical data and filing attachments that were a part of CDBS, but I understand that the FCC is aware of the need.”

The post FCC Ends Broadcaster Filings in CDBS appeared first on Radio World.

Since 1996 it has offered radio stations products and services it believes can lead to better sales, improved ratings and reduced expenses for 100% barter.

Now, Sun & Fun Media is having a little fun itself, as it officially celebrates 25 years of operations.

The Orlando-based network radio was founded by CEO Rob Koblasz. Today Sun & Fun serves more than 1,400 stations across the U.S.

For those unfamiliar with Sun & Fun Media, the company has established itself as a radio industry supplier of products and services needed by radio stations for barter — including vacations, incentives, gift cards, vehicle wraps, branded station merchandise, bill pay for NTR events, television and billboard advertising for stations, research, consultants, transmitters and other equipment, and even software.

The company has even paid electric bills on barter, Koblasz says.

His company has even worked with large radio groups to cover costs for corporate managerial meetings and office holiday parties.

Among those saluting Sun & Fun on its 25 years is SummitMedia/Omaha President Rick Parrish, who calls it “a terrific company to work with to find incentives for your sales team or vacations and trips for on-air giveaways.”