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Division, Media Bureau, Issues Hearing Designation Order and Notice of Opportunity for Hearing

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In a stunning turn of events, a Nevada Federal Bankruptcy Judge has — in an oral ruling — paved the way for Ed Stolz, who lost ownership of his three FM radio stations in a protracted California federal court battle over unpaid music royalty fees, to regain ownership of the properties.

What does this mean? The telenovela-like saga of the stations will more than likely end up with the stations in someone else’s control. In an exclusive interview, the court-appointed receiver, Larry Patrick, tells RBR+TVBR it is simply a last-minute act of desperation for an individual financially unable to keep them.

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The owner of an AM station in Idaho faces an FCC hearing to consider whether its license should be renewed.

The reason for a hearing, the commission said, is the station’s “record of extended silence and operation at significantly reduced power,” among other factors.

The station is KPCQ(AM) in Chubbuck, Idaho, broadcasting on 1490 kHz and licensed to Snake River Radio.

If a broadcast station is silent for any consecutive 12-month period, its license expires. However, Holly Saurer, the new chief of the Media Bureau, noted in her order that some licensees of silent stations will resume operation for a short period before the one-year limit applies, to keep a license from expiring. Others have alternated between periods of silence and operations at very low power levels.

The commission appears to believe that was the case here. It says that from Feb. 1, 2018, to Oct. 1, 2021, the station was silent for 1,339 days or 80% of the time.

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SRR reported that it initially went silent when the site owner required it to remove its tower on June 30, 2018.

However, on June 26, 2019, the company filed a notice of resumption stating that the station had resumed operation on June 15 using its licensed facilities. “Because it is improbable that SRR was able to resume operation with the station’s licensed facilities after dismantling its tower, we are designating an issue to determine whether the station’s license expired … because the station failed to operate with its authorized facilities for more than 12 months.”

The station went silent again on June 17, 2019, when according to SRR a construction crew severed a tower guy wire, causing collapse of the tower. “This is also not explained in the Renewal Application.”

On June 24, 2019, SRR filed an application for construction permit to change site, which was granted.

On June 14, 2020, the station operated for one day, using a temporary long-wire facility. But it went silent again when that facility was destroyed by a construction crew, SRR wrote. It requested extension of silent authority because it was still constructing its new facility.

The FCC says the station remained silent until June 14, 2021, when it resumed operation under program test authority prior to filing its license application to cover the CP. It has operated since while a license renewal application, filed in 2020, is pending.

But now the Media Bureau, citing those extended periods of silence and questions about whether the license had expired automatically, says it is “unable to find that grant of the renewal application is in the public interest.” So it has designated the case to go before an FCC administrative law judge.

The commission instructed Snake River Radio to notify it within 20 days about its intention to appear and “avail itself of the opportunity to be heard and the right to present evidence.”

Asked for comment, SSR’s Managing Member Ted Austin told Radio World: “It is unfortunate that the loss of the station’s original tower site, COVID and the impact of digital media on the advertising revenue of small stations such as KPCQ(AM) has resulted in the FCC taking this action, but Snake River Radio LLC intends to provide the FCC with information that hopefully will preserve the license and allow SRR to truly serve the public interest of Chubbuck in the near future.”

The post Idaho AM Station Faces FCC Hearing appeared first on Radio World.

She’s the Chief Research Officer of the not-for-profit trade association representing America’s local broadcast television industry, TVB. And, she’s the latest RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast guest.

In this fresh episode, Hadassa Gerber joins RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson to talk about some very intriguing new info from the just-released GfK 2022 Media Comparisons Study. In short, it’s great intelligence for broadcast and cable TV.

LISTEN NOW!

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Hadassa Gerber” on Spreaker.

SANTA CLARITA, CALIF. — A veteran local news executive has been named VP and News Director for CBS News and Stations’ Los Angeles operations, comprised of KCBS-2, news-intensive unaffiliated KCAL-9, and the CBSLA.com streaming channel.

He reports to CBS Los Angeles President/GM Joel Vilmenay.

Earning the role is Mike Dello Stritto.

He was formerly the News Director for CBS News and Stations’ CBS-affiliated KOVR-13 and The CW Network-affiliated KMAX-31 in Sacramento. He’d been there since 2018.

Dello Stritto has spent nearly 13 years of his local news career with CBS Stations, beginning in 2006 when he worked for three-and-a-half years as reporter at KOVR-13.

His resume includes a two-year stint as the managing editor at the company’s KPIX-5 in San Francisco. Dello Stritto began his career as a weather forecaster at WCJB-20 in Gainesville, Fla. in the early 2000s, following his graduation from the University of Florida. He gained his first experience as a news director with KTNV-13, the ABC affiliate in Las Vegas.

Dello Stritto succeeds Andrea Parquet-Taylor, who last month was named VP and News Director for the CW Network and independent stations managed by CBS News and Stations.

“I am excited to join the team at CBS 2, KCAL 9 and CBS News Los Angeles,” Dello Stritto said. “Harnessing the power of two TV stations and our CBS News Los Angeles stream allows us to deliver an unparalleled local product. I am grateful for the support I have received from Joel, Jennifer and the other members of the CBS News and Stations leadership team, and I feel very fortunate to be succeeding my friend and esteemed colleague, Andrea.”

— With reports from RBR+TVBR West Coast Bureau

(Getty Images/Tim Arbaev)

“Completely one-sided.” That’s how Curtis LeGeyt describes the proposed American Music Fairness Act, or AMFA.

In a blog post, the new president/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters says the latest performance royalty legislation would “hurt the very artists that it claims to help by having a profound effect on one of their most impactful outlets: local radio stations around the country.”

The issue is active again on Capitol Hill, as we recently reported.

“Just like some artists, thousands of radio stations around the country are struggling in the aftermath of a pandemic. Stations across the country could pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in new royalties,” LeGeyt wrote.

“Even the AMFA’s ‘starter fee’ would absolutely impact their ability to pay salaries, utility bills and cover local news, and that the fee will only get larger in the years to come.”

The latter remark refers to a provision that small broadcasters would be limited to annual payments of $500 and qualified public, college and noncom stations would pay $100.

LeGeyt says the bill addresses only one aspect of what should be a broader discussion. “A system as complex as the music licensing regime that for years has allowed artists, record labels and radio stations to thrive, deserves a holistic look if it’s no longer serving the interests of those who depend on it.”

He repeated criticism of the artists and labels that he had made in his recent hearing appearance. “It’s hard to dance when you don’t have a willing partner. The record label execs who criticize local radio while at the same time asking for airplay for their artists refused to engage in meaningful negotiations and repeatedly rebuffed every proposal we put on the table.” Read his post.

Advocates for a performance royalty are vocal about what they perceive as the injustice of the longstanding exemption for radio stations. Michael Huppe, president/CEO of SoundExchange, has said the lack of radio performance rights to artists or labels “is one of the most egregious injustices that exists today in the U.S. music industry.”

The post LeGeyt Dismisses Proposed Royalty “Starter Fee” appeared first on Radio World.

On February 1, KPCQ-AM celebrated its fourth birthday under the ownership of its current licensee.

But, it may not have future birthdays, thanks to the FCC and its new Media Bureau Chief, Holly Saurer. That’s because a Hearing Designation Order and Notice of Opportunity for Hearing has been dispatched to the station’s owner.

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Gordon Smith in an image from the 2021 State Leadership Conference.

Gordon Smith, who recently stepped down as president/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, will receive the NAB Distinguished Service Award in April.

“It is an honor to present him with the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of the immense impact he has left on broadcasting in our country and around the world,” said his successor, Curtis LeGeyt.

The organization said that during Smith’s decade, the association “played a pivotal role on a number of significant issues affecting broadcasters, including the broadcast television spectrum incentive auction, preservation and modernization of the music licensing and copyright system, the ongoing transition to the NextGen TV transmission standard, reviews of media ownership rules and the increased dominance of tech platforms in the advertising marketplace.”

The award will be presented at the NAB Show Welcome session on April 25 in Las Vegas.

The award goes to a person “who has made a significant and lasting contribution to the American broadcasting industry.” David Sarnoff was the first recipient in 1953; Jim Henson is the most recent, given posthumously in 2020. Other recipients include Eddie Fritts, Cathy Hughes, Lowry Mays, Alan Alda, Dick Wiley, Jim Quello, and Robin Roberts, among others.

Smith is a former U.S. senator who practiced law in New Mexico and Arizona before returning to Oregon to direct the family-owned Smith Frozen Foods business in Weston, Ore. (His Twitter handle is @peapicker541.) He also served in the Oregon State Senate and was its president.

The post Smith to Receive NAB Distinguished Service Award appeared first on Radio World.

In May 2020, Michael Stapleford was engaged in several transactions, each of which involved radio station sales.

Now, Stapleford-run Magnum Broadcasting has agreed to buy a low-power television station serving Key West, Fla. — a sign that he wishes to operate a multimedia business serving the Florida Keys.

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The 2022 Radio Mercury Awards nomination window is officially open.

Eighteen trophies will be awarded in 14 categories, and the final round judges have the option to award a Best of Show winner. All categories are eligible to compete for Best of Show. The Radio Mercury Awards will also bring back prize monies for all award winners.

In 2022, a classic Radio Mercury Awards category, “Creative Use of Sound Design,” is back on the slate and will recognize radio/audio work that utilizes sound design to creatively communicate its message. The Radio Mercury Awards is also expanding the campaign category with “Creative Radio Campaign by a Radio Station or Group,” which will award two winners to radio station-produced campaigns.

In addition, the Student-Produced Radio Commercial category has been brought back this year. Entries into this category are free for students.

The Call for Entry deadline is Wednesday, April 6. Finalists for the show will be announced in mid-May, and winners will be announced at the live Radio Mercury Awards, June 9 at Sony Hall in New York.

For more information regarding entry categories, guidelines, entry fees and deadlines, click here.

The NAB’s Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to “a broadcaster who has made a significant and lasting contribution to the American broadcasting industry.”

The 2022 recipient of the DSA: the man who led the NAB until his retirement at the end of 2021.

Former President/CEO and retired Senator Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) will join the ranks of Jim Henson, Alan Alda, Robin Roberts, Bob Schieffer, Michael J. Fox, Mary Tyler Moore, Ronald Reagan, Edward R. Murrow, Bob Hope, Walter Cronkite and Oprah Winfrey by receiving the honor from the organization he successfully ran for 12 years.

It is the NAB’s highest honor, and he’ll receive it during the 2022 NAB Show welcome session scheduled for April 25, in Las Vegas.

During his tenure, NAB played a pivotal role on a number of significant issues affecting broadcasters. This explains the decision to award Smith with the DSA. Under his tenure, the FCC’s broadcast television spectrum incentive auction transpired, along with the preservation and modernization of the music licensing and copyright system, the ongoing transition to the NEXTGEN TV transmission standard, reviews of media ownership rules and the increased dominance of tech platforms in the advertising marketplace.

“As the head of NAB for more than a decade, Gordon was instrumental in advancing our agenda to help radio and television stations thrive,” NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt said. “Gordon’s leadership, dedication and political acumen have enabled broadcasters to continue serving their local communities in ways no other medium can. It is an honor to present him with the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of the immense impact he has left on broadcasting in our country and around the world.”

With the release of its fourth-quarter 2021 financial results, Beasley Media Group is on a strong path toward returning to its 2019 growth initiatives. Growth across its Top Four advertising categories was strong, with significant year-over-year growth.

But, how was Automotive? Despite car and truck supply chain concerns, the dollars are up — with trends pointing to a robust third quarter.

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The first of the broadcast media industry quarterly earnings reports has arrived. And, for those in the radio business, C-Suite leaders may not be so pleased to see the Q4 2021 fiscal health report for Beasley Media Group.

While net revenue increased by 3.2%, a 66.8% decline in operating income was registered by the owner of radio stations and an Overwatch League eSports franchise. As such, Beasley’s net income declined by two cents per share from Q4 2020.

Why? Unfair comps that require a look to two years ago are in order.

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iHeartMedia Albany’s News Radio 810 and 103.1 WGY will celebrate the station’s 100th anniversary on Feb. 20.

WGY was founded by General Electric in 1922. Dame Media sold the station to Clear Channel, now iHeart, in 1999. “The Capital Region’s Breaking News, Traffic and Weather Station” will mark the occasion with a special broadcast and new podcast series.

According to a “list of firsts” on the station’s website, WGY was the first station in the state of New York; gave the first presentation of a radio drama in August 1922; was the first to broadcast at 50,000 watts (and at various times used two to four times that); aired the first World Series coverage, with WJZ; and made the first use of a condenser microphone.

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Anniversary events kick off Feb. 20 with a live celebration of the brand’s history beginning at 1 p.m. Hosts and news anchors, past and present, and other guests will be on hand. A retelling of the radio drama “The Wolf” will be presented live from the Kenmore Ballroom in Albany, N.Y., [preceded by a lecture from Chris Hunter from the Museum of Innovation and Science. Music by the Musicians of Ma’alwyck chamber music ensemble will also be featured.

WGY kicked off its centennial year with a new podcast series, “Wireless: 100 Years of WGY.” The podcast, which features candid interviews with many familiar WGY voices, launched Jan. 31. It is hosted by WGY News Anchor Mike Patrick with new episodes released weekly.

Program Director Jeff Wolf was quoted in the announcement saying that leading the station into its next 100 years was an honor. “We’re looking forward to highlighting our first 100 years and commemorating important events in history throughout 2022.”

John Cooper, senior vice president of programming for iHeartMedia Albany, said WGY has had an impact on his life since the early 1960s. The anniversary of service to the community is an “amazing milestone,” he said.

“WGY became a trusted source of information that helped me begin and develop my business career,” said Howard Greiner, Area President for iHeartMedia Albany. “It is very meaningful to be a part of this celebration with great people, past and present, at WGY.”

For more information about the weekly podcast and the event at the Kenmore, visit the station’s website.

The post WGY Celebrates 100 Years appeared first on Radio World.

The IBC Technical Papers Committee has extended the deadline for its 2022 call for papers.

Proposals are now due by 12 noon EST (17:00 GMT) on Feb. 16, and the 300-word synopses must be submitted online.

[Previously: “IBC2022 Conference Opens Call for Technical Papers”]

“This year the competition is high. We are looking for original, non-commercial research on solutions to real-world problems faced by the international broadcast and digital media industry,” stated the committee.

For examples of the sorts of articles being sought, the committee recommends looking at 2021 technical papers currently available via IBC Digital.

The post IBC Paper Submission Deadline Extended appeared first on Radio World.

He’s the creator of the world’s first stereophone. Now, audiophiles and broadcasting industry professionals are paying tribute to the musician, inventor and entrepreneur who in 1953 launched an electronics company originally designed as a TV rental business for hospitals.

John C. Koss, the founder and Chairman of Koss Corporation, died on December 21, 2021. He was 91 years old. News of death first became widely known last week.

Five years after launching his business, Koss, at the age of 28, teamed with business partner Martin Lange Jr., by introducing personal listening to the world.

How so? They developed the world’s first high fidelity “Stereophone.” This product, the SP/3 Stereophone, sparked the creation of the global stereo headphone industry. 

Today, Koss remains a family-run operation, with Michael J. Koss serving as Chairman/CEO. “Dad loved music and the experience of a live performance,” he said. “Like many legendary entrepreneurs, our founder channeled his passion to create a revolutionary product. Today, it’s clear that his innovation changed the way the world listens to music.” 

After introducing the SP/3 Stereophone, Koss developed the Pro/4 Series, which became a recording industry standard — and the official headphones of Air Force One. He went on to help standardize the plug and headphone jack we take for granted today.

By the 1980s, an era when the SONY Walkman dominated personal listening, John Koss pushed his company to develop “portable” headphones for on-the-go listening. The result was the Koss Porta Pro, a collapsible headphone that remains available today.

Outside of Koss Corporation, John Koss was important to Radio. In the 1970s, he purchased the original Classical WFMR-FM 96.5 in Milwaukee, saving the format in the market.  He owned the facility until 1983; today it is WKLH. The sale prompted WFMR’s call sign and format relocation to 98.3 MHz.