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Digital Alert Systems has made available an update for the FEMA IPAWS certificate in One-Net and DASDEC units. The current certificate expires in late October. Without the new certificate the units will not function properly within the EAS network after Oct. 28.

[Check Out New Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

Digital Alert Systems EAS Product Manager Jon Rue said, “We encourage our DASDEC and One-Net customers to update their certificate files before Oct. 28 to avoid any message delivery disruption. … While we understand this does take time, our customers should be encouraged to know we are working with FEMA IPAWS to automate this process in the future.”

Go here to learn more and download the needed file.

 

The post Digital Alert Systems Updates EAS Equipment appeared first on Radio World.

Who’s on top of the podcasting world these days?

Media Monitors has released its latest Podcast Listener survey; the findings are shown in three charts below. The results reflect the ongoing popularity of certain podcasts but also the shifting relationships and acquisitions on the business side of podcasting.

Top Shows

Joe Rogan

Media Monitors reported that “The Joe Rogan Experience” and “The Daily” from The New York Times remain at the top, but “both shows seem to have expanded their audiences since our last survey was taken. Each podcast doubled the total number of respondents that reported listening in the past seven days.”

The New York Times’ “1619” enjoyed strong gains, helped by national attention on racial issues including Black Lives Matter.

“Office Ladies” appeared for the first time this quarter, likely drawing on a dedicated fan base from the TV series “The Office.”

“My Favorite Murder” and “Crime Junkie” made repeat appearances, with MFM down somewhat. Comedy podcasts “The Misfits Podcast,” “Ear Biscuits” from Ramble, and “Unlocking Us with Brené Brown” from Cadence13 all were notable.

Top Publishers

Media Monitors noted that the second quarter “saw further consolidation in the podcast space” as Spotify purchased exclusive rights to “Joe Rogan” and SiriusXM closed its deal to buy Midroll/Stitcher/Earwolf.

The latter deal, it said, gives SiriusXM some level of access to Midroll’s represented shows “but it is unclear how that relationship will evolve moving forward.”

Also notable was the recent acquisition of Serial Productions by the New York Times. “Although the exact terms of the deal are unclear (including a reported “’creative and strategic’ partnership with ‘This American Life’), The New York Times has clearly moved to increase their footprint in upper echelon of podcasting.”

Two NPR’ daily news programs broke int the Top 25: “Up First” and “Consider This from NPR.” MM also recommended keeping an eye on Crooked Media, breaking into its Top 25 chart with “Pod Save America.”

iHeartMedia has the most podcasts in the top 200, 13 podcasts. “These include a mix of their radio-first properties published in podcast form, as well as their podcast-first Stuff Media properties. Coming in second is NPR with 12, followed by Wondery with 8. This seems to bode well for Wondery’s new standalone app and premium service, debuted in June.”

MM added that The New York Times (tied at 7) would jump to #4 if combined with This American Life & Serial Productions.

Top Genres

Comedy (including sub-categories) remains the most popular genre in the survey, while news is tied with society and culture at #2; also popular are true crime and sports.

Media Monitors is a network and local monitoring company that covers various media; its survey was conducted in late June. Participants had to be 18 or over and were screened on whether they had listened to a podcast in the last week, then were asked to list the titles, and were encouraged to consult their app during the survey. These “unassisted” responses were then matched back to RSS feeds that were polled to collect info about genre and publisher.

The post Joe Rogan and “The Daily” Add to Audience Strength appeared first on Radio World.

re: Applications Accepted For Filing

Thornburg Communications, Inc. enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

Liberty In Christ Jesus Ministry enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

Radio Fiesta, Inc. enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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Sun Broadcasting, Inc. enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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re: Actions on Pending Applications

Glades Media Company LLP enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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Heidelberg Broadcasting, LLC enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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The Federal Communications Commission continues almost daily to announce new settlements in the form of consent decrees with various U.S. radio broadcast companies that were not complying with the rules about their political files.

You’ll recall that in late July the commission announced consent decrees covering six big-name radio companies. (Read about that here.) We reported subsequently that the commission has been using the same template with a growing list of broadcasters.

More have been posted over the past couple of weeks. A sampling of the most recent includes agreements with Liberty in Christ Jesus Ministry, Sun Broadcasting, Heidelberg Broadcasting, Radio Fiesta, Thornburg Communications and Glades Media.

The basic pattern throughout is that the Audio Division of the Media Bureau suspends consideration of a company’s station license renewals, then determines that the broadcaster hasn’t complied with the political file rules, presumably through analysis of information that stations have posted (or not posted) in its online database.

It then gets the company to agree to a series of compliance steps and reporting. At that point the commission says it won’t investigate further, and lifts the suspension. The agreements don’t involve financial penalties.

The consent decrees all use much the same language, including a historical discussion of the need for political files and a statement that the FCC has taken into consideration the difficulties that radio stations face because of the pandemic.

The rules state that radio stations must maintain records of requests for schedules of ad time from candidates and certain issue advertisers, and of deals resulting from those requests. The records must include what advertising aired, advertising preempted, and the timing of any make-goods, along with other information.

Since March 2018 all radio stations were supposed to be uploading new public and political files to the FCC’s online site. More info about the rules can be found here.

The post FCC Continues Its Campaign of Political File Settlements appeared first on Radio World.

The pandemic has been tough on trade show planners, no question. But with no physical convention center to occupy, event organizers at least are free to experiment with different formats.

Witness what the National Association of Broadcasters is doing with its NAB Show New York. It will hold that event this year virtually, which is no surprise at this point; but it will also spread it out over a 10-day period.

Executive Vice President of NAB Conventions Chris Brown said in an announcement that the association is “continuing to evolve the digital event model.” He mentioned a more robust platform and enhanced experience for participants as selling points.

The content of NAB Show New York targets the television, film, online video, live events, podcasting, advertising, corporate A/V, production and post business segments. Typically the show is co-located with the AES convention at the Javits Center in New York.

Brown said the 10-day virtual format offers “a longer, more flexible schedule that optimize opportunities for conducting business, networking and peer-to-peer learning.”

In lieu of exhibit booths, the event includes a marketplace that will feature “immersive tours, new product demonstrations, authoritative white papers, and live chats with representatives from exhibiting companies.”

The fall Radio Show also will be held virtually, on Oct. 5 to 9.

The post NAB Show New York Will Spread Over 10 Days Online appeared first on Radio World.

A new 30-minute Radio World webcast explores new products from several of radio’s leading technology vendors.

Editor in Chief Paul McLane spends a few minutes with each of the manufacturers listed below to learn what they are offering for radio broadcasters. The format is intended to be fast-moving so you can learn about new products without taking up a lot of your day.

You can register here; the webcast goes live on Aug. 26, registrants will receive a reminder email.

From RCS Worldwide, Nate Mumford discusses the company’s cloud-based remote offerings. Though working outside the studio, your radio staff can continue to add audio, metadata or schedules as well as massage a log, automatically send a music log to automation and stream from any location. He also covers brand-new unique hybrid workflows between RCS products.

At Wheatstone, Jay Tyler introduces the Blade 4, a new WheatNet-IP I/O access unit coming out this fall. He explains what’s new in AoIP architecture and walks you through Blade 4 features, including dual ports and power supplies; new onboard apps; advanced source attribution for automating routing and control; codec integration with the AoIP network; and interoperability improvements using AES67 and NMOS.

Marty Sacks of Telos Alliance explains how the Axia Quasar AoIP Console builds on the company’s deep AoIP expertise. He describes its native AoIP architecture; features like new Source profiles, automatic mix-minus and automixing on all channels; and highly customizable design including user-assignable buttons in the Master touchscreen module and every channel strip. Marty also sets the stage for the future of consoles — hardware, software, cloud — based on the needs of the user.

And WideOrbit’s William “Dub” Irvin talks about how WO Automation for Radio helps stations manageoperations from any location. The conversation includes a sneak peek into v5.0, available soon, which allows for full control of the automation system, including true voice tracking and recording capabilities, through native apps that can be installed and used from anywhere.

This is a free sponsored webcast, part of Radio World’s ongoing series about radio and audio products and technology trends. Register here.

The post Radio World to Stream “Fall Product Peeks 2020” appeared first on Radio World.

We already knew that U.S. commercial radio was going to bring in a lot less money from local advertising this year; but the latest projection is not any more encouraging.

BIA Advisory Services expects over-the-air radio advertising to finish at about $11.2 billion for 2020. Its prior projection four months ago was $11.4 billion; and before the pandemic, BIA originally had projected that OTA radio would bring in about $13.1 billion.

So this latest forecast suggests a –15% differential from “what might have been” for radio this year.

More broadly, the research company predicts that spending on all local advertising in the U.S. will be down about 6% despite strong anticipated political advertising, as shown here:

The firm lowered its previous estimates in almost all media categories. It now projects total 2020 local ad spending at $140.4 billion, down from a projection of $144.3 billion four months ago.

Mark Fratrik

Its chief economist Mark Fratrik said in the announcement, “Right now, we believe a realistic view of the economy overall and the advertising marketplace is that after a dramatic decrease in the second-quarter and a bumpy start to the third, the remainder of the year will turn positive but end up with an overall decline in local advertising for the year.”

He pointed to local political ad spending as one positive area, with campaigns making more use of online rallies and events. Segments showing “some COVID resilience” include healthcare and finance & insurance, but even those are down in terms of overall ad revenue spending.

The post BIA Lowers Local Ad Spending Projections Again appeared first on Radio World.

“Best of Show” Up Close is a series of Q&As with participants in Radio World’s annual springtime Best of Show Awards program.

RCS nominated its Revma Professional-Grade Streaming.

Radio World: What is Revma, and what kind of users is it intended for?

RCS: Revma is a Content Delivery Network that allows professionals from small to large scales to distribute their stream and efficiently duplicate their feeds to multiple destinations and configurations. Revma is compatible with industry standard encoders and players, as well as can be custom tailored to specific user workflows.

RW: What sets it apart from similar offerings in this product class?

RCS: Revma is different from most Content Delivery Networks because it can easily scale from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of streams, all while maintaining a next level of ultra-high reliability, with rich analytic detail.

To further monetize their streams, users can also take advantage of Revma’s VAST compliance ad-insertion technology, which can be further controlled with a wide array of rules, like geo-targeting and more.

The Revma Conference App, one of the many tools available for broadcasters included as part of the Revma package, creates a cloud studio in which hosts can invite multiple participants from different geographical locations, to be mixed as part of a single output stream.

Revma Ads Graph

RW: RCS has been emphasizing the ability of many of its products to work remotely. What about Revma?

RCS: The Revma UI is completely web-based and can be accessed via any computer or device with an internet browser using defined logins and passwords. Administrators can remotely monitor their streams, adjust configurations and run analytic reports, all of which can be done without downloading from an app store or installing software on a machine.

RW: What does it cost? Is it shipping?

RCS: Available now. Since every client has different unique requirements, our RCS sales representatives are available to tailor each Revma quote to a user’s desired setup.

RW: What else should we know about Revma?

RCS: For commercial in-store radio applications, Revma also has an In-Store Radio model in which administrators can define centralized programming that is broken down between Blends, content, and Breaks, commercial traffic, that can be duplicated from the master feed or overwritten with each location’s own blends and/or breaks.

Most importantly, as part of the RCS family of products, users know they’re receiving renowned worldwide support, sales, development and reliability.

[Read about all the nominees and winners in the award program guide.]

The post “Best of Show” Up Close: RCS Revma appeared first on Radio World.