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Issued a Forfeiture Order in the amount of $1,125 to Provision Ministry for failure to timely file a license renewal application for Station WPMR-LP, Russellville, Alabama

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Spotify is expanding its audio advertising marketplace to several new countries.

“Following a successful U.S. launch of the Spotify Audience Network in April, Spotify is taking its audio-first advertising marketplace on the road,” according to the announcement. “The network will now be available to advertisers and Megaphone publishers in Australia, Canada and the U.K. as of June 29.”

[Read: Are Podcast Listeners Open to More Ads?]

The company calls it an “audio-first advertising marketplace.” It includes the audiences that listen to podcasts from the company’s four studios — Spotify Studios, The Ringer, Gimlet, Parcast — and from third-party podcast publishers including ViacomCBS, the Wall Street Journal, Girlboss and adelicious.

According to a Spotify info page, “Advertisers have historically bought podcast ads on a title-by-title basis. And while title-based buying remains an effective way to align with trusted podcasts and hosts, an advertiser’s reach is limited to a specific title. This has made it challenging to target your customers at scale.”

Its marketplace, it says, provides audience-based targeting tools including demographic targeting, geographic targeting and audience segment targeting.

 

The post Spotify Expands Audience Network appeared first on Radio World.

David Santrella, president of Broadcast Media for Salem Media Group, was elected chairman of the NAB Joint Board of Directors, NAB announced today. Santrella takes over from Jordan Wertlieb, president of Hearst Television, Inc., whose term expired.

Bill Wilson, chief executive officer of Townsquare Media Group, was elected Radio Board chair by the NAB Radio Board. John Zimmer, president and owner of Zimmer Radio of Mid-Missouri, Inc., was elected Radio Board first vice chair, while Kevin Perry, vice president and chief operating officer of @Perry Publishing and Broadcasting Company, was elected Radio Board second vice chair.

Collin Jones, senior vice president of Corporate Development & Strategy for CUMULUS MEDIA, Inc., was elected to the Radio Board’s major group representative seat on the NAB Board’s Executive Committee.

Perry Sook, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Media Group, was elected as NAB Television Board chair. Lynn Beall, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Media Operations for TEGNA, was elected as TV Board first vice chair, Pat L., president and co-chief executive officer of Gray Television, Inc., was elected TV Board second vice chair and Emily Barr, president and chief executive officer of Graham Media Group, was elected TV Board third vice chair.

Christopher Wood, senior vice president and associate general counsel for Government and Regulatory Affairs at Univision Communications, Inc., was appointed to the designated TV network seat on the NAB Board’s Executive Committee.

The Board elections took place at the NAB Board of Directors meeting, held June 28-29.

BizVibe has identified the expansion of OTT delivery systems as a major trend for the radio and television broadcasting industry.

Why? OTT services are rapidly becoming a primary source of news and public information. Several TV stations are expanding news coverage on OTT delivery systems such as Apple TV and Roku.

These platforms are trying to supplement traditional broadcasting services and open up new monetization opportunities. As BizVibe sees it, this trend is expected to have a strong influence on radio and television broadcasting companies around the world.

 

The end of the 2021 fiscal year is ending tomorrow for many companies. For others, it marks the first half of a year in which broadcast media transactions have yielded A Tale of Two Signals.

For over-the-air broadcast TV, huge deals have come to fruition since the start of the year. For AM and FM radio, nary a deal that doesn’t involve a religious institution has been had. What’s to come? Veteran media broker Dick Foreman shares his analysis of the media transactions marketplace in this exclusive podcast, presented by dot.FM.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Dick Foreman” on Spreaker.

In November 2019, Jeff Andrulonis-led Colonial Media + Entertainment agreed to the $90,000 sale of a Class A FM with a booster allowing it to better serve the small city of Bradford, Pa., within the Buffalo DMA.

Now, the company that bought this station is selling it. And, it is making a small profit.

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Chevy Silverado is one of the models that might be missing an HD Radio due to a shortage of certain chips.

Because of the ongoing chip shortage, General Motors will omit HD Radio from certain pickup models.

The change was first reported by the website GM Trucks. A GM spokesperson has confirmed the plan to Radio World. The change starts with vehicles produced on or after July 12.

HD Radio isn’t the only victim of the worldwide chip problem. According to automotive trade reports, GM said previously it would build certain trucks without Active Fuel Management and Dynamic Fuel Management technologies due to the global microchip shortage. And the Detroit Free Press recently reported about the broader impact of the chip shortage: “Car dealers have barren parking lots, consumers face limited options on new vehicle purchases and buyers must wait, and wait, for their new ride to be built.”

[Read: HD Radio’s History of Innovation and Future of Growth]

Kevin Kelly, senior manager, product and brand communications for General Motors, confirmed the HD Radio change in an email to Radio World. “Due to the global, industry-wide shortage of semiconductors GM is removing the HD Radio feature from certain 2021 model year Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 [vehicles] and all 2022 model year Chevrolet Silverado 2500/3500 HD and GMC Sierra 2500/3500 HD [vehicles].”

Kelly said this change to the availability of HD Radio “is currently expected to be permanent.”

Radio World invited comment from Xperi Corp. and will report any reply.

GM Trucks also reported that a window sticker will include the line “Not Equipped with HD Radio,” and a $50 MSRP credit will be applied.

 

The post Global Chip Shortage Hits HD Radio appeared first on Radio World.

It markets itself as “an invaluable free tool for residents to stay informed about major storms, health updates, local news, weather, and sports on local broadcast TV.”

As the NAB and the nation’s Big Four networks see it, it is illegally distributing local television channels to its users without a retransmission consent agreement.

Despite court efforts by the TV industry to shut it down, donation-based Locast continues to grow. It just added its 34th DMA — and it is in the Buckeye State.

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Digital Alert Systems has issued guidance to users of its equipment ahead of the next national test of the Emergency Alert System.

The test is scheduled for Aug. 11 at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The manufacturer released a preparation document to help users of its gear.

This test will be sent via the EAS broadcast-based Primary Entry Point (PEP) system, not the FEMA IPAWS CAP message system.

[Read: National EAS Test Will Focus on Broadcast Chain]

“The NPT is an occasion to perform essential checks on fundamental items, such as checking that the EAS equipment is operating, backup power is functional, the radio monitors are tuned and monitoring the appropriate sources from the state EAS plan, and the equipment’s software is updated,” the company said in an announcement.

It quoted Bill Robertson, VP of business development, saying that if a participant’s DASDEC has been maintained with current software, most steps to prepare for the test are already done. “All DASDEC software from version 3.0 onward will automatically and properly process the NPT code, using the six-zeros national-location code, by immediately forwarding the test alert in compliance with the FCC’s rules.”

But if a DASDEC has earlier than version 3.0, you should update it at least to 3.0 and preferably to V4.3, which he said is most current with security and operational features.

[Read: FCC Releases Results of 2019 EAS Test]

The company said proper configuration is important, especially regarding the system clock. Participants should confirm devices are synced to the correct time and time zone. “One way is to double-check if the device is properly synchronized to a network time source. If a DASDEC is not connected to a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server, then it is important for the user to ensure that the unit time is manually synchronized to an official time source.”

DAS also reminded stations that they must fill out forms on the online EAS Test Reporting System. Form One is due July 6. Form Two must be done after the test, by Aug. 12. Form Three is due Sept. 27.

The backup test date is Aug. 25.

 

The post DAS Has Guidance for DASDEC Users appeared first on Radio World.

Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio, the charitable organization dedicated to the advancement of female leadership in radio broadcasting, has revealed the recipient of the 2021 MIW Airblazer Award.

It’s being handed to DeDe McGuire, host of the nationally syndicated “DeDe in the Morning” program.

The MIW Airblazer Award stems from an alliance formed in 2015 between MIW (formerly known as the MIW Group) and Morning Show Bootcamp (MSBC).

“The recipient is carefully selected, as is tradition, by the prior year’s winner and is recognized for her dedication and contributions to the broadcast industry and to the communities she serves,” MIW notes.

The 2021 Airblazer Award will be presented to McGuire on August 12, during MSBC Chicago.

“It’s an honor and I’m completely blown away,” says DeDe McGuire, one of only a few women nationwide to have her own nationally syndicated morning show.

After ten successful years co-hosting the nationally syndicated program “The Doug Banks Show,” McGuire went on to host her own show, syndicated through Compass Media Networks via Service Broadcasting. It can be heard in over 55 markets.

MIW Board President Ruth Presslaff commented, “What a joy to celebrate DeDe and her many accomplishments. Her non-stop work in radio is impressive enough, but it’s her support of so many organizations, and her commitment to mentoring that makes her so special, and so deserving of this award.”

Previous MIW Airblazers include Kellie Rasberry (2019), Mercedes Martinez (2018), Roula Christie (2017), Angie Martinez (2016), and Ellen K (2015).

 

To register for 2021 MSBC Chicago visit: http://www.morningshowbootcamp.com.

Cordless television consumers are on track to become the predominant TV consumer in the next year.

That’s the primary finding from the fourth Future of TV survey from The Trade Desk.

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Here’s an upcoming event from one of our sister publications that will be of interest to radio people who also work in AV, education and other related fields.

With InfoComm 2021 coming up in October, Systems Contractor News and AVIXA, the association that produces the show, are teaming up for a virtual event on Sept. 23 called InfoComm Sneak Peek.

Attendees will get previews of education sessions on topics including digital signage trends, emerging audio solutions and classrooms of the future. The event will also feature sneak peeks from manufacturers of products they’ll be launching at InfoComm, in addition to networking opportunities.

Rochelle Richardson, CEM, senior vice president of expositions and events at AVIXA, said the virtual event “will pull back the curtain to reveal new and cutting-edge solutions and technologies and give a glimpse of what the industry can expect to experience at the big show.”

InfoComm Sneak Peek is free to attend for qualified integrators, consultants, content creators, technology managers and others. To register or learn more, visit www.infocommsneakpeek.com.

For sponsorship opportunities, contact Adam Goldstein at adam.goldstein@futurenet.com.

InfoComm also is giving readers a free Exhibit Hall pass to the show. Use VIP Code “FUTURE” to redeem your free pass during registration. And for show updates, visit the InfoComm 2021 hub.

 

The post SCN and AVIXA Launch InfoComm Sneak Peek Virtual Event appeared first on Radio World.

FORT PIERCE, FLA. — The future of a noncommercial voice of the African American community across a three-county region of Florida that enjoys a simulcast partner in the important agricultural communities of Belle Glade and Clewiston is now in question, thanks to an agreement  reached last week that sees the FMs heading to a new owner.

Upon closing, ownership will be handed to the local institution of higher learning that owns and operates the NPR Member station serving Florida’s Treasure Coast.

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If you’ve ever been to North Florida Christian School, you can’t miss the large broadcast tower that sits between the school’s athletic field and North Florida Baptist Church in the Macon Community that sits between Interstate 10 and the state capital of the Sunshine State.

Until now, it has relayed a low-power FM’s Spanish-language religious programming. That could change very soon, as the FM translator is being sold.

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Digital Alert Systems, the New York-based emergency communications product developer for broadcast media, has released its guidance ahead of the next National Periodic Test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

That’s scheduled for August 11 at 2:20pm Eastern, and all broadcast and cable operators must participate in the test.

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The AirCheck tool is on screen at right.

The author is head of Audio and Innovation at Eurovision Sport, part of the European Broadcasting Union. EBU commentaries appear regularly at radioworld.com.

Rewind your memory, if you dare, to March 2020 and the start of the global pandemic. For radio broadcasters, there was a sudden need to adapt to new workflows from their sofas and closets.

But for one group of resilient and hardy journalists, this transition was relatively painless. Sports commentators have something in their DNA that allows them to easily connect to their studio centers from anywhere in the world and to start broadcasting.

[Read: EBU’s New Head of Radio Sees Opportunity, Peril]

The problem though was that often there was nothing for them to commentate on! The UEFA Euro2020 tournament was to be the big football event of the year, but that was quickly postponed as nations headed towards local lockdowns.

UEFA Euro2020 was set to be the first edition of the tournament to take place across many different countries — an idea conceived back in 2012, in more innocent times, to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of the event.

Football has a remarkable ability to unite nations and to serve as a wonderful distraction in difficult times, something that made its absence in 2020 even more evident.

So, after a long year of waiting, fans collectively breathed a sigh of relief as the first match kicked off in June 2021 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

The tournament, played across different European countries, as originally planned, was to prove challenging for broadcasters dealing with travel restrictions.

The European Broadcasters Union represents and unites broadcasters across Europe and the rest of the world, and around 40 of our radio members delivered coverage of the tournament to millions of listeners worldwide.

Many of those broadcasters deployed commentary teams to cover matches inside venues throughout Europe, while others decided to work from home, commentating off TV monitors in their studios.

For those working “off-tube,” UEFA Bookings provided a “radio international sound streaming service” over the public internet, delivering high-quality sound with watermarked TV pictures specifically for radio commentators.

The rights-protected service was delivered over the SRT and WebRTC streaming protocols to provide high-quality, reliable and low-latency pictures to broadcasters, freeing them from the traditional reliance on expensive satellite downlinks.

Another popular innovation introduced at this tournament was the Eurovision Sport AudioFoot AirCheck platform, designed for EBU radio members to share near-live emotions.

Football delivers raw and passionate moments that cross language barriers. For example, the Portuguese broadcaster RTP celebrates each and every goal with their iconic “Goooaaaal” shouts. Radio Nacional de España sounds dramatic, punctuating their commentary with music and sound effects. The BBC in the U.K. and ARD in Germany deliver a considered commentary style.

Yet no broadcaster can hold back their emotions when their team is about to drop out of the tournament or progress through to the finals.

All of these moments, no matter their language, can prove incredibly useful to producers and journalists looking to build a story of a tournament that stretches far beyond their own radio station’s boundaries.

Swiss start-up deliver.media developed a platform, dubbed AirCheck, to provide access to near-live recordings of the audio output from many of our members.

The platform is unique in its ability to scale using a distributed cloud architecture, currently recording over 240 radio stations. Mathieu Habegger, who established deliver.media, has years’ of broadcast experience behind him.

He created a simple and efficient user interface that does its best to abstract away all of the technicalities involved in the backend, allowing the producer to mark-in, mark-out and download any section of audio for use in their own features or live broadcasts.

We worked with the developers to further customize the platform to support the specific needs of sports journalists working in a pressurized environment.

Live sports data was ingested and embedded onto the digital audio files, making it incredibly easy to locate and download goal commentary.

In addition, a player was developed that could synchronize, display and download audio from multiple broadcasters at any one time.

For broadcasters, it is now incredibly easy to locate a goal from a particular match and to have instant access to the commentary from all of our broadcasters — this makes it so easy for us to reflect the emotions of football across Europe.

It also had some unintended uses. For example, on the second night of the tournament, Denmark’s Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch.

Our Senior Sports Producer Micky Curling was able to locate DR’s highly emotional commentary and make it available to other broadcasters within minutes of the incident. This would have been impossible without the new tool.

The platform also has a flexible data backend that allows users to ingest any type of additional metadata and commentary. deliver.media aims to make linear and audio content searchable in the future and are looking to use AI and deeper audio analysis to really enhance the user experience.

With deliver.media’s AirCheck tool, the innovation from UEFA, and of course the ongoing dedication from radio sports journalists across Europe, UEFA Euro2020 proves once again that football is an opportunity for nations to unite and celebrate a shared human experience.

 

The post AirCheck Tool Aids Sports Journalists appeared first on Radio World.

Then-Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel is shown at a Senate hearing in 2020. She is now acting chairwoman. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

The FCC’s ongoing local media ownership review is in a state of flux without a confirmed chairperson leading it.

Since late January the Federal Communications Commission has been led by Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, and FCC watchers consider it unlikely that she would proceed with the 2018 Quadrennial Review of Media Ownership Rules until a chair is named by President Biden and approved by the Senate. As of mid-June the FCC remained split 2–2 along party lines.

But even when a chair is named — Rosenworcel or anyone else — we probably shouldn’t expect a Democratic-controlled FCC to relax ownership rules further.

Unanimous vote

Broadcasters got a big win in April when the Supreme Court unanimously upheld changes that the FCC made to ownership rules in 2017. The commission had a Republican majority when those changes were made.

The ruling in “Federal Communications Commission v. Prometheus Radio Project” allowed the FCC to abolish the ban on newspaper/broadcast and radio/TV cross-ownership, and relax several local TV ownership regulations. Court challenges have now been exhausted.

That outcome “effectively reinstates the rules adopted in the 2017 Recon Order,” according to a FCC spokesperson.

One attorney familiar with the process says the FCC is likely to tread lightly on further rule changes at least until a chair is named.

“Traditionally an FCC interim chair is unwilling to begin any new initiatives, or in this case conclude the review with any changes. Especially when the current commission is deadlocked,” the attorney said.

And the political world has continued to turn since then-Chairman Ajit Pai prioritized relaxation of media ownership limits.

Rosenworcel voted against the rule changes then; and she again made her feelings known in a statement following the SCOTUS announcement.

“While I am disappointed by the court’s decision, the values that have long upheld our media policies — competition, localism and diversity — remain strong. I am committed to ensuring that these principles guide this agency as we move forward.”

Congress directs the FCC to review ownership rules every four years and update them to reflect competitive changes that affect the radio and television business. The process is intended to allow reforms to reflect the evolving media marketplace. In addition, local ownership rules seek to “promote competition, localism and viewpoint diversity in today’s radio marketplace,” according to the FCC.

The current cycle will likely be completed late this year or early 2022.

The review does offer the commission an opening to change the radio subcap limit, observers said. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that launched the process mentions the “local radio ownership rule” as one of those subject to review.

And pressure to relax ownership rules further has increased in light of the economic hit radio took during the pandemic.

The current caps were adopted in 1996. They allow for an entity to own up to eight stations in the largest markets, no more than five of which may be in the same service (AM or FM). The limits drop in smaller markets.

The National Association of Broadcasters thinks that one party should be able to own up to eight FM stations in any of the top 75 Nielsen radio markets. It also has said there should be no FCC ownership limits in markets smaller than the top 75, and that AMs should not be counted against the ownership limits.

In addition, NAB hopes that radio owners that incubate the ownership of stations by new entrants into broadcasting would be allowed to own up to two additional FMs in a market.

NAB in its proposal cited a dramatic increase in competition from streaming and satellite radio. It said over-the-air radio should have a level regulatory playing field with the new competition.

“We should take a close look”

The association is optimistic there will be some movement on radio subcaps.

“We think there will be changes. It’s more of a question how far the FCC will go. A lot will depend on who the chair is. Everyone has a different opinion,” an NAB spokesperson told Radio World.

The spokesperson anticipated that the FCC would issue a notice to refresh the record and collect additional comments before releasing a final order — and that in fact happened in early June.

In inviting fresh comments, the FCC wrote: “Beyond reviewing the existing record in light of the passage of time, we also seek submission of new or additional information regarding the media marketplace that commenters believe is relevant to this proceeding,” mentioning the broadcast industry’s evolution since early 2019, the growth of online audio and video sources and the impact of the pandemic.

When NAB floated its subcap proposal in 2019, the largest ownership group was opposed to higher FM limits. According to an internal memo reported on several industry websites, iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman and COO Rich Bressler described the NAB proposal as “bad for the industry” and worried “what NAB’s idea would do to the value of AM properties.”

Emails requesting comment from iHeartMedia leadership were not returned.

Matthew McCormick, co-managing member at the law firm Fletcher, Heald & Hildreath PLC, would be surprised if there were any significant further relaxation of ownership rules. “I think it is unlikely that a Democratic-controlled commission will adopt the NAB’s proposal to loosen the radio ownership caps,” he said.

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, in a speech to the Media Institute in May, said it is not clear if consolidation will accelerate following the Supreme Court decision.

“I certainly have a renewed interested in using the next Quadrennial Review to ensure that the pillars of diversity, localism and competition are fully considered in determining what future media ownership regulation should look like,” said Starks, the other Democrat on the commission.

“We should take a close look at everything and see what makes sense in today’s markets.”

Starks compared today’s media ownership landscape to how it was just 40 years ago.

“In 1983 there were about 50 dominant media companies. Today there are five media conglomerates that own about 90 percent of the media in the United States, including newspapers, magazines, movie studios and radio and television stations,” he said.

David Honig, president emeritus and co-founder of the Multicultural Media, Telecom & Internet Council, thinks it unlikely that this quadrennial review will result in further major changes.

“MMTC, along with NABOB [National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters], has asked the commission to maintain the local ownership caps, and we expect that to happen,” Honig told Radio World in an e-mail.

Others pointed out that as political administrations swing back and forth, so do priorities.

“A Democratic commission is unlikely to relax the multiple ownership rules any more than the Supreme Court required. [And] while the commission is tied 2–2, don’t expect controversial changes,” said Melodie Virtue, a communications attorney with Foster and Garvey PC.

More comments?

David Oxenford at Wilkinson Barker Knauer wrote on his blog earlier this year: “Now that the Third Circuit’s reasoning has been rejected, that still does not mean that the FCC, particularly a Democratic-controlled FCC, will automatically look to relax the radio rule.”

When Oxenford wrote that, he too anticipated that the commission would ask for more comments, as it eventually did. “In other words, any change in the radio ownership rules will not come quickly.”

But political volatility in Washington could also lead to a more unpredictable FCC, according to Scott Flick, a Washington-based attorney with Pillsbury Shaw Pittman LLP.

“The traditional Washington perspective on the FCC is that Democratic commissioners seek to regulate and Republican commissioners seek to deregulate. There was a period of time, however, where the views of an FCC commissioner were more informed by their background and experience than by their party affiliation,” he said.

“Whether it was the result of more flexibility in party ideology or a greater willingness to horse trade on issues to achieve the best overall result in that commissioner’s view, it led to a more predictable and consistent FCC.”

That consistency, Flick said, benefited everyone — not just those appearing before the FCC trying to build new businesses and business models without finding their plans upended every four years, but also “the FCC staffers themselves, whose job is made easier when the correct answer on a particular point is the same this year as it was last year, unaffected by perennial changes in commissioners and politics.”

The post Further Relaxation of Ownership Seems Unlikely appeared first on Radio World.