Industry News

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Former Star Tribune Media Chair Jean Taylor has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Public Media Group, its board has announced.

Taylor will start on Aug. 23. She succeeds Jon McTaggart. A seven-month search was conducted to fill the position.

[Read: APM Picks Riddle]

APMG Board Vice Chair Mary Brainerd said, “She is someone who leads with her values, who cares deeply about the role of public media and its importance … Her deep roots in our region, her experience in media and digital technologies and her understanding of APMG are important assets for our future.”

According to an announcement, during her tenure as Chair, Star Tribune was lauded and seen as a leader in the industry for its commitment to high-quality public service journalism, its digital subscription growth, and its strong financial results. Taylor was also President and CEO of Taylor Corporation from 2001 to 2010.

The American Public Media Group includes, Minnesota Public Radio, Southern California Public Radio and program producer American Public Media.

 

 

The post Taylor Takes Over at APMG appeared first on Radio World.

What do the NAB and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters have in common?

NABOB will host its 45th Annual Fall Broadcast Conference and 21st Power of Urban Radio Forum in October, at a casino hotel and resort with ample meeting space.

There’s one key difference, however, for the NABOB affair: a hybrid option is in place.

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A search committee appointed by the Board of Trustees for American Pubic Media Group has concluded “a rigorous, national search” for its next chief executive, in partnership with executive search firm Koya Partners.

The new President/CEO, the first female individual to hold the spot, begins her new duties on August 23.

She replaces an individual who lost his role due to high-profile sexual harassment and diversity and inclusion concerns widely reported in fall 2020.

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He’s the newest member of the FCC. Nathan Simington is someone all radio broadcasters need to know.

That’s exactly what attendees of this year’s Hispanic Radio Conference will have the opportunity to do when Commissioner Simington kicks off Day Two of the conference.

As a former senior advisor at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Simington is well prepared to address the many items on the commission docket that will impact broadcasters in the years ahead.

Hispanic Radio Conference attendees will get the chance to hear him elaborate on his positions on a wide range of those issues. “First, I want to enable innovation, new technologies, and new business models,” he says. “Second, I want regulatory stability. Whenever I can advocate to stop a partisan pendulum swinging between administrations on a matter of FCC policy, I will do so. An adequate but stable rule is better than a good rule that is in danger of being revoked every election cycle.”

Third, Simington says he prefers, whenever possible, “fewer and more modest rules.”

He is coming to listen to Hispanic broadcasters as well. “I want to know what you think, because it helps me to clarify how I think,” he says.

Don’t miss the opportunity to be part of this important session with FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington. It’s another reason you can’t afford to miss the Hispanic Radio Conference agenda. Register today for early bird pricing. If you are staying in Miami, don’t forget to take advantage of our limited room block at the Intercontinental at Doral.

 

We care about your safety and comfort. The conference will be presented in a larger than customary conference room to provide maximum space and more distancing. And read here for how the Intercontinental has strengthened procedures designed to give you greater confidence and protection throughout all of the hotel’s facilities.

In every issue of Radio World Engineering Extra, Cris Alexander and the Radio World team provide ideas, best practices and problem solvers just for engineers.

Frank McCoy writes that old-school email origination clients need a little help with authentication.

Todd Dixon explains how to do some cool things with Paessler PRTG, for network monitoring on a budget.

Paul Kriegler of Telos Alliance delves into virtualizing your air chain.

Read it here.

The post Inside the Aug. 11, 2021 Issue of RW Engineering Extra appeared first on Radio World.

Darryl Parker has died.

For radio engineers, Parker for many years was the face of TFT, a company that manufactured STL, EAS and monitoring equipment.

His death was announced on his Facebook page by his wife Elizabeth Parker. He had been in hospice care with a neuroendocrine tumor and died Friday. He was 77.

TFT, based in San Jose, Calif., was established in 1970 in Santa Clara in the Silicon Valley. Parker held the position of senior vice president for many years, and was the person best known to engineers who purchased TFT equipment.

After that company closed in 2015, Parker offered support services to its former customers and assisted other technicians and engineers in doing so as well.

“Personally I want to help all the people who have helped me over the years,” he told Radio World at the time.

“A super nice guy,” one industry colleague told RW this week. “He tried his best to keep TFT afloat.” “A great man, always available and happy to help with whatever we needed,” wrote former NPR engineering executive Mike Starling on Facebook. “A gentleman,” said engineering veteran Tom Ray.

Parker was born in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in the city of Terrill. He attended Southern Methodist University and earned his B.A. in classics and mathematics. According to his Facebook page he also studied high-tech marketing at Caltech.

Parker started in broadcasting by working at a local radio station that was owned by a friend’s family. He worked on-air and in news before moving into engineering. While in high school he also worked as a grip on the movie “Giant.”

Parker was not afraid to make a little fun of himself. “Wilbur the cat was Darryl’s best buddy for the last decade,” Elizabeth Parker said.

He also had a love of liturgical music; he started organ lessons when in grade school and played for dozens of churches in his life. “The Sunday before his last hospitalization he was at the organ bench,” Elizabeth Parker said.

Former professional positions also included director of marketing at Alligator Communications; president of Parcom Inc.; sales manager at MZB & Associates; and electrical engineering director at Texas State Networks.

He is survived by his wife, a sister, two children, his step-daughter, three grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, stepmother, and brother.

Services will be announced later. “At Darryl’s wishes, he will be scattered in his beloved Texas at a later date,” his wife told Radio World.

The post Darryl Parker Dies; Was Face of TFT appeared first on Radio World.

Synthax, the domestic distributor of RME, Ferrofish, Digigram, Appsys and myMix, has chosen its next Broadcast Sales Manager. She will report directly to Derek Badala, Synthax’s Director of Sales for The Americas.

Taking the post is Brittany Hilton, who Badala calls “a consummate professional” with nearly 10 years of experience in the industry.

Hilton has spent the majority of her career in broadcast sales, most recently at the Broadcasters General Store in Ocala, Fla. Before this, she worked with Broadcast Depot as a national account manager, DoubleRadius as an outside sales rep, and worked lighting and sound at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Synthax believes her “extensive background in the industry will help her target the right products to broadcasters, allowing them to streamline their processes and obtain the highest quality audio available.”

Key to her new role will be increasing Digigram’s reach and brand awareness.

RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION

Looking for a bit of good news amid the sour headlines ranging from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation to more jabs at his counterpart in Florida, Ron DeSantis, over how he’s reacted to the rise of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in the Sunshine State?

Nielsen has some for those who own or manage radio stations. Listening levels are at their highest point since April 2020.

That said, were radio listening levels acceptable prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?

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Photo: Pexels – Michael Judkin

Local broadcasters are urging the Senate to provide tax credits to stations that staff up their newsrooms, citing, in part, Big Tech’s “devouring” of their local ad market.

In a letter to Senate leadership, all 50 state broadcaster associations called for passage of the Local Journalism Sustainability Act.

They said the bill “would provide local newsrooms a lifeline that would enable them to sustain, and in some cases, significantly improve the critical public service these local media outlets provide their communities.”

The associations said that lifeline is needed in part because their advertising market has been disappearing, “devoured by massive online technology platforms.”

The bill, which was introduced last month by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, along with Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), would provide tax breaks for stations as well as small businesses that support local media with their ad dollars.

The goal, according to the bill’s sponsors, is to “revive and sustain trusted local media,” in which broadcast TV and radio play a central role. The credits go to support local newspapers, digital news operations, TV and radio.

 

The post Broadcasters Push for Local Journalism Tax Break Bill appeared first on Radio World.

It’s a unique Class A facility offering co-channel protection to Class B giant KBIG-FM in Los Angeles, some 90 minutes to the west. And, until July 31, it was offering the “Valley’s Greatest Hits” to listeners from Palm Springs to Twentynine Palms and Cathedral City.

Now, gracias a dios, this FM is speaking Spanish, and serving evangelical Hispanics in the Coachella Valley.

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