Industry News

The DRM Consortium says one of the benefits of its digital radio technology is the potential savings on power bills. Now it is promoting a calculator tool that it says can determine how much energy would be saved by a user that switches from analog to Digital Radio Mondiale.

The calculator was created by Simon Keens, sales and business development manager of Ampegon Power Electronics AG, which is a member of the consortium.

“The DRM Energy Efficiency Calculator (https://energyefficiency.drm.org) has been created using typical performance data from transmitter manufacturers,” the organization stated.

“It then calculates total expected energy usage for up to 10 transmitters by considering operational mode, time on-air and broadcasting technique assessing the energy consumption and electricity costs, based upon local market information.”

It said in the announcement that by comparing data sets for analog and DRM digital operations, it can estimate the potential “and often huge” savings broadcasters might expect from switching over to DRM.

DRM says the tool can be programmed into an Excel spreadsheet and distributed in PDF reports summarizing the findings.

The consortium will demonstrate it in an upcoming webinar on June 30.

The post DRM Calculator Highlights Power Savings appeared first on Radio World.

A look at the latest Spot Ten TV report shows a pharmaceutical brand is now the leader at the stations monitored by iHeartMedia-owned Media Monitors.

That hardly takes away the continued fight for consumers being waged by auto insurers through the use of spot TV.

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The latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report is littered with in-house promotional announcements from Media Monitors owner iHeartMedia.

Is that a sign of a spot slowdown for national radio advertisers?

Answering that question may not be an easy one, as play counts may not equate to dollars spent by CMOs and brand managers at the radio stations tracked by Media Monitors.

Still, six of the top 10 spots represent fully paid brands, and Progressive was beaten by iHeartRadio Music Festival promo spots that likely aired only on the company’s own radio stations.

As such, the lone campaign of note for the week ending June 20 is for Liberty Mutual Insurance.  From nowhere, LiMu has grown in name recognition and brand value through quirky TV spots. Now, it is attracting potential customers via spot radio.

As RBR+TVBR has reported, HC2 Broadcasting has been selling various non-essential properties as part of an effort to raise capital — a major campaign being waged by chief executive Wayne Barr Jr. following the exit one year ago of Philip Falcone.

Within HC2 is DTV America Corp., and that licensee is selling properties, namely unbuilt construction permits. In the latest deal to involve yet-to-be-constructed LPTVs facing a July 13 sign-on deadline, DTV via HC2 is parting ways with three mini-stations in Wisconsin and a fourth in Texas.

The buyer is a family-owned entity based in Central California.

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The FCC’s Media Bureau is reminding U.S. broadcasters that this is an odd-numbered year, so they’ll have to file their biennial ownership reports this fall.

It issued a public notice reminding them that the window for filing Form 323 or 323-E will open in October.

This applies to licensees of commercial and noncommercial AM and FM radio stations, full-power television, Class A TV and low-power TV stations.

“Reporting such information has long been a fundamental obligation of broadcast licensees,” the Media Bureau said in a public notice.

“The accurate, and timely, filing of ownership information is critical to ensuring that the public knows who owns, operates, and controls broadcast stations. Additionally, accurate and timely ownership information is crucial to an understanding of the broadcast industry as a whole, including an understanding of the diversity and multiplicity of owners.”

Radio and TV stations are in the midst of the license renewal process. The license renewal application, Form 2100, Schedule 303-S, requires broadcast licensees to certify compliance with the biennial ownership reporting requirement.

“We remind licensees that, as part of its review of license renewal applications, Bureau staff will be reviewing whether licensees have filed their 2019 and 2021 biennial ownership information and whether they have certified truthfully concerning compliance with the filing requirement.”

Stations also must maintain a current ownership report in their Online Public Inspection Files.

The bureau encouraged licensees to prepare in advance for the window that opens Oct. 1 “and to review carefully their compliance with the filing requirement as they prepare and file their license renewal applications.”

The post FCC Ownership Report Season Is Ahead appeared first on Radio World.

In Grand Junction, Colo., Gray Television enjoys a formidable presence, with ownership of NBC/Telemundo/MeTV affiliate KKCO-11 and a low-power TV station that serves as the western Colorado market’s home for ABC, Ion Network and The CW Network.

Gray is adding another LPTV property to the mix.

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There will be a new Vice President of News, who will also serve as Managing Editor, of NewsNation, come July 19.

She will oversee the Nexstar Media Group-owned network’s day-to day news gathering and production process and supervise a staff of more than 100 reporters, producers, writers, and photojournalists.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — In reply comments filed with the FCC regarding its plans for FY 2021 regulatory fees, the NAB says the Commission has the authority to ensure that all industries pay for their “fair share” of the agency’s indirect costs.

As such, “Big Tech” companies and other unlicensed spectrum users should pay regulatory fees “to more accurately reflect” the FCC’s work.

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Exactly one year ago, the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic led Saga Communications to join the list of audio media companies to put its quarterly cash dividend for shareholders in a cryogenic state.

The Saga board has just brought out the EKG machine, breathing new life into a historically robust dividend that will reward SGA shareholders in mid-July.

Saga’s Board of Directors on Monday (6/210 declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.16 per share.

The dividend will be paid on July 16 to shareholders of record on June 30.

The aggregate amount of the payment to be made in connection with the quarterly dividend will be approximately $960,000, and Saga says the quarterly cash dividend will be funded by cash on the company’s balance sheet.

Including this dividend, Saga will have paid over $72 million in dividends to shareholders since the first special dividend was paid in 2012.

Saga adds that it currently intends to pay regular quarterly cash dividends in the future as declared by the Board of Directors. “Consistent with returning value to our shareholders, the Board of Directors may also consider declaring special cash dividends, stock dividends, and stock buybacks in the future,” the company adds.

Saga owns or operates 79 FM and 35 AM radio stations in small and mid-sized U.S. markets.

As of 12:10pm Eastern, Saga shares were priced at $20.97.

Saga in 2020 suspended its dividend to conserve the company’s cash position. This included reducing planned capital spending and seeking discounts from vendors.

There’s a new President and GM for the FM radio stations serving the Denver market owned by Max Media.

It’s an individual who started off his career in radio as an Account Executive at iHeartMedia’s properties due south on I-25, in Colorado Springs.

Taking the role, which will see him lead KJHM-FM and KFCO-FM, is Sean Rhoads.

He jumps up from VP of Sales, a role Rhoads earned in 2016. Rhoads joined Max Media in 2010 as a Sr. AE, and rose to the posts of Digital Sales Director and General Sales Manager across the next six years.

“We have an incredible team here in Denver and we’re ambitious to take Denver to new heights,” Rhoads said. “Our company has always placed the highest value on results for advertisers, enjoyment for listeners and happiness of employees. I’m excited and honored to carry on with this mission.”

Concurrent with Rhoads’ rises, Max Media/Denver GSM Jeff Silver has been promoted to a VP.

Silver is a veteran sales leader with over 20 years of experience leading sales teams for Entercom (now Audacy) in Denver and the stations under prior owner Lincoln Financial Media.