On April 13, Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. and Univision Holdings shared for the first time that they plan to merge, with Miami-based Univision — thanks, in part, to Google — making the binational deal happen.
Now, Univision is going to the bond market to finance the deal.
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Aug. 11 will be the date of the first national EAS test since before the pandemic began.
Officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency officially informed the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday that it plans its sixth national EAS test on that day. They also plan to conduct a nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) test concurrently.
As in the past, FEMA set a backup date in case a national test on Aug. 11 might interfere with actual alerting needs in the country around that time. The backup is Aug. 25.
Al Kenyon, chief of the Customer Support Branch of the IPAWS Program Office, wrote to the FCC that FEMA plans to conduct the Aug. 11 test at 2:20 p.m. EDT (18:20 GMT).
[Read: FCC Releases Results of 2019 National EAS Test]
“The test message will use the National Periodic Test (NPT) event code and be geo-targeted using the All-US (000000) geocode,” Kenyon wrote.
“This year FEMA proposes to originate the EAS portion of the test via the National Public Warning System composed of the FEMA designated Primary Entry Point (PEP) facilities. The intent of conducting the test in this fashion is to determine the capability of the Emergency Alert System to deliver messages to the public in event that dissemination via internet is not available.”
In the most recent national test in 2019, several PEPs did not transmit the alert due to varying degrees of equipment failures. Out of 77 PEP stations, 12 experienced technical issues on test day, according to a post-test FCC report.
Kenyon said that in the upcoming test, full message text and multilingual messaging will not be available due to the over-the-air message delivery and relay used in this system of EAS message dissemination.
“As in past years the national EAS test message will look and sound very much like the regular Required Monthly Test (RMT) messages broadcast every month by all EAS Participants, broadcast radio and television, cable, wireline service providers and direct broadcast satellite service providers,” he continued.
“Concurrent with the proposed 2021 National EAS Test, FEMA also proposes to originate a Nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) test by originating a WEA message using the WEA test handling code targeting only cellphones where the user has opted-in to receive WEA test messages.”
An FCC analysis of the 2019 test found that 82% of radio stations participated that year.
While that test generally was deemed a success, the FCC said in its post-test report that some challenges impeded the ability of some EAS participants to receive and/or retransmit the NPT.
Some participants reported problems with equipment configuration, audio quality, alerting source problems and clock errors, among other issues. More than 2,530 test participants didn’t receive the test at all.
Other issues in 2019 included audio issues, power issues, signal issues, internet issues and even lightning — 20 participants reported issues caused by bolts of electricity.
Also, several State Emergency Communications Committees reported that certain areas of their states did not receive the alert. SECCs in Florida, Michigan and Georgia reported delivery problems to the Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations. The FCC also received reports of smaller-scale monitoring source issues in parts of several other states.
The post Aug. 11 Is the Next National EAS Test appeared first on Radio World.
In the view of American Enterprise Institute Visiting Scholar Mark Jamison, White House control of FCC regulatory analysis is a bad idea.
A better idea, he says, is to set transparent standards for such analyses, including public review.
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It’s despised by the nation’s “Big Four” networks and the NAB isn’t quite fond of it, either.
That’s not stopping Locast from rolling out its not-for-profit “donation”-fueled model of delivering local TV stations via an IP-based delivery platform in yet another market.
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Big Tech is coming after automotive dashboards to win the ears and eyes of drivers/passengers; and radio’s best chance to survive this attack is to get hybrid radio into cars/trucks fast.
This “call to action” was expressed repeatedly during a recent webinar hosted by WorldDAB and the European Broadcasting Union.
“DAB+ at the Heart of Hybrid” delved into advances being made in hybrid radio technology by various companies and associations.
[Read: Broadcasters Conspiring in Their Own Demise]
Hybrid radio refers to platforms that combine over-the-air broadcast reception with two-way wireless connectivity.
The webinar focused on the role of hybrid radio in the DAB context, but themes of the conversation — threats from large digital competitors, the use of metadata, the future role of broadcast radio — are of interest globally.
Stark Warning
The presenters warned against allowing large digital competitors to take control of in-vehicle entertainment environments.
“When you look at what Big Tech can do and what they’ve (already) done in the app space — just look at Apple and Amazon and YouTube: They’re basically giving away audio content to aggregate an audience to basically monetize,” said Joe D’Angelo, Xperi’s senior vice president of radio.
“They’re stealing your audience by commoditizing an audio platform and audio service,” he said. “That’s the threat.”
Numerous topics were touched upon during a fast-moving two hours, thanks to the gentle but firm time management skills of moderator and WorldDAB Vice President Jacqueline Bierhorst.
Ben Poor, EBU’s project manager for digital radio, discussed the future of radio.
“We think that DAB can provide the best of broadcast,” said Poor. At the same time, “hybrid (radio) is the best way of creating a better user experience. So using broadcast plus IP makes for a range of new user experiences that are more engaging, that are more interesting, that are more dynamic, and that give the user more information and more value.”
RadioDNS Project Manager Nick Piggott explained the role of RadioDNS in creating open standards for hybrid radio, with an emphasis on the “open” part of the equation.
“The purpose of open standards is that they are durable,” Piggott said. “That means they last. They’re not anchored to the success of one company. And they’re interoperable, which gives you that huge scaling capability,” while reducing costs for broadcasters and manufacturers by only having one interface to support.
Radioplayer Director of Automotive Partnerships Laurence Harrison said, “We’ve got some experience in this area because we already powering approaching a million cars on roads today with hybrid radio and DAB+ at its heart. That’s through our collaboration partnership with Volkswagen Group and previously the fantastic team at Audi, which is now Car.Software Org.” Harrison noted that Radioplayer has recently formed a partnership with BMW Group, with Radioplayer’s hybrid radio solution going into BMW dashboards starting next year.
Added Andrea Heidrich, managing director of Radioplayer Austria: “Metadata is the key to the success of Radioplayer. Radioplayer ensures that only official station metadata provided directly by the broadcasters is used on car dashboards.”
Xperi’s Joe D’Angelo highlighted the features of his company’s DTS AutoStage hybrid radio system.
“This platform is open to all broadcasters,” said D’Angelo. “It’s free of charge. There’s no required investment. The data flows through the system ensuring that broadcasters are constantly in control of the end-user experience.”
The first carmaker success for DTS AutoStage was its adoption by Daimler last year.
Pluxbox CTO Cas Adriani titled his talk “A Brand Isn’t What You Say, It’s a Sum of All Experiences You Create.” He urged broadcasters to present the best visuals on hybrid radio screens.
“Your brand strategy is as strong as your weakest link,” said Adriani. “If people see your old logo or no logo at all in the station list, it’s hard for them to connect all the efforts you put in this advertisement for this important moment choosing the station.”
Finally, Radioline COO Xavier Filliol talked about his company’s hybrid radio efforts.
“Today what we provide is two hybrid radio applications,” he said. “One is HTML5-based: We presented it with Xperi last year at CES. And the other one is on (compatible with) the Android Automotive OS. We did it with Panasonic Automotive System Europe since last year in May.”
Panel Discussion
The webinar concluded with a presenters’ panel discussion on the merits of hybrid radio — that it uses the best of broadcast and IP to deliver a superior in-vehicle entertainment experience, doing so free from the influence of Big Tech.
“We need to make sure, as an industry, that we are working hard to keep radio prominent in that environment,” said Harrison of Radioplayer.
“The by-product of Big Tech’s involvement in the dashboard — and Android Automotive is a good example of this — is the dash becoming an app ecosystem … Hybrid radio is absolutely the platform on which we can build and innovate and create that radio experience that is going to keep radio exciting; keep it strong and keep it relevant.”
Radio isn’t alone in wanting to keep Google’s grip off the dashboard.
“Automakers are as leery of Big Tech as broadcasters are,” D’Angelo said. “That’s why we consider — and I think everyone would agree with this — that we’re in this space to provide a competitive response to Big Tech. … The whole reason we’re doing this is to provide control to broadcasters and provide an alternative to the car companies for how they can innovate around audio services.”
Will radio broadcasters and automakers be able to resist the incursion of Big Tech in the world’s dashboards? Will radio become “just another audio stream” in a vast catalog offered by Google and other Big Tech providers? The answer has yet to be written.
View the webinar “DAB+ at the Heart of Hybrid” on the WorldDAB YouTube channel.
The post Hybrid Described as Radio’s Best Chance appeared first on Radio World.
Adjacent to the broadcast tower for Nexstar Media Group’s WKRN-2 in Nashville is the transmitter for a FM translator serving Brentwood, Forest Hills and tony Belle Meade, on the south side of Music City USA.
Until now, it’s been used for Middle Tennessee State University‘s MTSU Jazz Network. That’s about to change, as the facility has been sold.
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Thursday is shaping up to be one of the busiest in ages for media industry analysts and investors, with a half-dozen Q1 2021 earnings calls competing with Estrella Media’s Upfront presentation and a webinar showcasing Edison Research’s Moms and Media Study.
In the middle of all of these noteworthy events is Jacobs Media‘s presentation of its Techsurvey 2021 results. We’ve got a smidge of the details prior to this May 6 online affair.
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Wednesday is a day to appreciate the folks who work on your tower.
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association has declared May 5 to be Tower Technician Appreciation Day “to pay tribute to the important work that communications infrastructure technicians conduct on a daily basis to enable a connected world.”
The proclamation highlights tower technicians for their skill sets, big responsibilities and demanding work environments.
[Read: NATE Shares Warning About a Honeywell Harness]
For example, it states: “Communications tower technicians have been designated by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) as essential critical infrastructure workforce and are currently playing a heroic role on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic building, installing and maintaining America’s broadband infrastructure to accommodate the explosive demand for data and wireless services, thereby ensuring or enhancing reliable, high-speed networks.”
In the tower biz, a lot of attention is paid to work supporting 5G, broadband infrastructure and emergency alerting. But of course tower techs serve broadcasters as well.
Gordon Smith, the president/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, joined in the appreciation.
“NAB salutes America’s tower technicians whose work is critical to the operation of broadcast radio and television stations. The particular skill set required, including working under dangerous conditions, is vitally important in preserving broadcasting’s uniquely local and resilient platform on which consumers and communities rely,” he said in a statement released by NATE.
The social media hashtag to use is #TowerTechAppreciationDay.
The post May 5 Is Tower Technician Appreciation Day appeared first on Radio World.
LOS ANGELES — The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) has four new board members, following their election to the organization that hosts the annual NATPE Miami conference each January in Miami Beach.
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Now on the board are the following individuals:
The new appointees will serve a term of three years.
The NATPE is comprised of 41 members from all areas of the content industry.
A wider net loss. Lower station operating income. Those are the key takeaways for Beasley Media Group, which released its Q1 2021 earnings results on Tuesday morning.
Investors reacted by shedding shares in BBGI. Within the first hour of trading, Beasley’s stock price was down by nearly 9%.
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