Industry News

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty says its audience in Russia is growing significantly but that the government there has escalated its effort to force RFE/RL out of the country.

President Jamie Fly said the organization has been targeted “because we continue to provide a growing audience in Russia with objective news and information at a moment when the Kremlin is trying to limit access to information.”

The organization said that Russia’s media regulator plans to serve RFE/RL with a new round of 130 charges, bringing its total alleged violations to 520 just in the past several months.

RFE/RL says it has almost doubled its audience in Russia over the past five years, reaching an estimated 6.7 million people. That includes social media videos produced by Current Time and online audiences for the Russian Service.

It noted that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week expressed concern over these Russian efforts.

The post RFE/RL Says Russian Pushback Is Increasing appeared first on Radio World.

If you missed “What’s Next?” — the visually explosive multimedia keynote by Craig Anderton at the first Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit — you missed out on a wide-ranging, clear-eyed summary of how technology is changing every part of pro audio right in front of our eyes…and where it’s all headed.

The keynote presentation and all other Summit content is now available for free on demand. Musician/author Craig Anderton is an internationally recognized authority on music and technology. He has played on, produced, or mastered over 20 major label recordings and hundreds of tracks, authored 45 books on musical electronics, written over a thousand articles, lectured on technology and the arts (in 10 countries, 38 U.S. states, and three languages), and done sound design and consulting work for numerous music industry companies. He is the current president of the MIDI Association, and a longtime columnist for Pro Sound News.

[See the Full Pro Audio + Radio Tech Summit]

The presentation, like all parts of the summit, including the extensive panels on podcasting, House of Worship studio creation, immersive audio, an in-depth discussion on the audio production of this year’s Grammys with the show’s audio team, audio for audio education and more, is available for the viewing through April 30.

Meanwhile, the Radio Track features sessions on hybrid radio, AoIP, virtualization, streaming, business continuity and trends in transmission. These topics will be of interest to any radio broadcast manager or engineer who manages technology or uses it to advance their careers and business missions.

Click here to view the agenda and register for free to see any part of the summit.

The post Anderton’s Multimedia Pro Audio Radio Tech Summit Keynote Available appeared first on Radio World.

To the southwest of Corpus Christi, Tex., is Falfurrias, home to a Class B AM that has been owned and operated by a New Jersey-based Hispanic broadcast ministry since fall 2019.

Now, Erick Salgado is saying goodbye to this station.

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On Wednesday (4/7), ViacomCBS confirmed that Peter Dunn, who led the CBS O&Os, and news division leader David Friend will not return to their positions and will be exiting the company.

Dunn’s attorney on Thursday issued a statement that clarifies Dunn’s departure from ViacomCBS.

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Search. Social. Mobile. Each has played their role in digital advertising and its evolution. Now there is the voice era. But, some brands may think of smart speakers in ways that don’t fully take advantage of the ways it can converse naturally with consumers, through a Voice AI platform.

Where are marketers on this opportunity, and where is linear media such as TV and radio? Andy Whatley, the senior vice president for global business development and partnerships at Instreamatic, the company focused on enabling voice interactivity and measurability in the audio ad market, has much to share on the topic.

Andy is the latest guest on the InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Andy Whatley, Instreamatic” on Spreaker.

Have you assessed the maturity of your consumer data? What about the level of capabilities seen across your organization?

It may be a fine time to do so. The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA Global) has just released its findings of a survey powered by EY that reviewed consumer data accessible to senior U.S. marketing leaders.

Your clients have a lot of work to do.

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Jack Mortenson, co-founder of Christian radio company Mortenson Broadcasting, died on April 1. He was 85.

According to his obituary from Milward Funeral Directors, the Rev. Jack Maurice Mortenson died at his home in Lexington, Ky.

“As the eldest son of traveling evangelists, Jack became intricately involved in his parents’ ministry at an early age by assisting them with musical presentations,” it stated.

His father was Dr. E. M. Mortenson. The family founded Faith Memorial Baptist Church in Canton, Ohio. “It was during those years at Faith Memorial that Jack and his father pursued their vision for Christian radio in founding Mortenson Broadcasting Co.,” the obituary reports.

“The company was founded with the mission statement of ‘Helping to make and keep the home sacred.’”

Their first station was WTOF(FM), “Tower of Faith,” launched in 1960 in Canton. The second was WHKK(FM) serving the greater Cincinnati area.

The company grew to 40 stations in 18 U.S. markets and also started one of the nation’s first networks of Black gospel radio formats. According to the company website, “MBC continues to lead a growing trend of transition from general Christian formats to formats directed to specifically targeted audiences. These specialized formats have included Christian teaching and preaching, Christian talk, Contemporary Christian music, Southern Gospel music, Urban Christian Talk, Urban Gospel and Hispanic, which is the latest and fastest-growing targeted Christian audience.”

Mortenson Broadcasting received the 2012 National Religious Broadcasters Milestone award. According to his obituary, Jack Mortenson continued to work until his hospitalization in mid-March.

The post Jack Mortenson Dies at 85 appeared first on Radio World.

The advertising sales division of Comcast Cable has launched a new “function” in a move it says will better serve advertisers’ evolving needs for audience delivery within a rapidly changing TV marketplace.

BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON FACEBOOK!

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On April 1, Hispanic consumer-focused Entravision Communications disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would not be able to file its annual report in a timely manner to the financial regulatory agency.

There’s a good reason for this, and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is fully aware of the situation. Still, the NYSE had to move forward with handing Entravision a non-compliance warning.

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In a move that further cements the importance of quality metrics for social media advertising and for marketers, Twitter has integrated Nielsen‘s cross-media planning and measurement services into its video advertising platform.

It’s an “expanded integration” of Nielsen’s audience measurement and outcomes cross-media offerings, the company says.

The integration includes a new subscription to Nielsen Media Impact (NMI) and Nielsen Ad Intel, along with greater access to Nielsen Total Ad Ratings (TAR).

‘Together, these tools will enable Twitter to help video advertisers do more robust pre- and post-campaign planning, maximize ad inventory, understand cross-media planning, and deliver campaign results with increased speed and agility,” Nielsen asserts.

“With a highly engaged audience and powerful premium video content, Twitter is where advertisers can connect with consumers in the moments that matter most to them,” said Doug Brodman, Twitter’s Director of North America Agency and Platform Solutions. “Nielsen’s cross-media suite will make it easier to augment our client’s video strategy and planning with Twitter’s premium video inventory and optimize audience reach and frequency alongside other top video platforms. Ultimately, this expanded partnership brings increased transparency, clarity and value to Twitter’s video solutions for our agency partners and advertisers.”

To bolster its use of NMI and TAR, Twitter will use Nielsen’s National TV Ratings data for added insights of ad campaigns across platforms. “Each solution and dataset provides Twitter with unique tools and capabilities to strengthen one of its most brand safe and impactful surfaces for advertisers: Twitter Amplify, a video ad platform that gives advertisers pre-roll and sponsorship opportunities next to premium video content,” Nielsen explains. ‘The implementation of Nielsen’s measurement and planning tools, provides a holistic view of campaign performance across all video platforms including TV.”

“To compete in a fragmented ecosystem, publishers require tools that help them plan their cross-media media strategies efficiently as well as provide deeper analysis and more robust insights of an advertiser’s campaign across screens,” said Jay Nielsen, SVP of Planning Products at Nielsen. “Twitter’s use of NMI and Ad Intel levels the playing field and ensures they have the same metrics and tools as agencies and advertisers, facilitating alignment on a common goal and plan. With TAR’s expedited capabilities, Twitter will now be able to better monetize the incremental reach and frequency delivered by ads on their platform. Altogether, our expanded collaboration will help Twitter maximize their video platform and unlock more value for advertisers as this type of video consumption continues to grow.”