Industry News

The FCC’s Media Bureau is reminding licensees that the window for the submission of 2021 broadcast biennial ownership reports is now open.

All licensees of commercial and non-commercial radio and TV stations must file biennial ownership reports with the Commission in odd-numbered years.

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Salem Media Group, the owner of Christian-themed and secular conservative Talk radio stations saw investors snapping up shares of the company’s stock across Friday’s trading session.

Volume was exceptionally high, pushing Salem’s shares to a price last seen in mid-July 2018.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Until earlier this year, a heritage Hot Adult Contemporary station filled a format void in the Washington, D.C., market, although its programming and advertisers largely focused on the small city of Winchester, along I-81 due west of the National Capital area.

That big, booming signal was sold by Allen Shaw to Educational Media Foundation. The station’s programming shifted to a pair of Class As. Now, one of those two FMs has been spun again. The buyer? A broadcast ministry that’s already in control.

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Inyo County, Calif., is a remote area of the Golden State, located between the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Nevada state line. There’s one town of significance, Bishop. While Fresno and Bakersfield may appear to be near, high terrain and highways make the distance greater.

As such, Bishop is, believe it or not, within the Los Angeles DMA. That’s exactly why a TV station licensed to this little town has just been purchased by the owner of the MeTV Network and related Oldies radio brand.

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“At Saga Communications, we believe local media has the power to affect communities,” the radio broadcasting company’s website reads. “For more than 30 years all of our brands have been operated by local managers committed to building positive relationships with our audiences and clients.”

That said, one of its brands no longer exists, with web traffic routed to the very page on Saga’s corporate portal offering that quote.

What happened? Saga pulled the plug on the AM in a mid-sized market, and surrendered the station’s license to the FCC.

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MIAMI — The owner of unaffiliated Spanish-language television stations serving South Florida, which is awaiting FCC approval of its acquisition of a Spanish-language AM Talk station accused of spreading information the state’s Democratic Party has judged as false, has failed in its attempt to appeal a bankruptcy ruling made earlier year by a Federal District Court.

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Next year will likely be another record-breaking political cycle. How big? One competitive ad intelligence SaaS company is projecting $8.9 billion in political media spend — the highest ever for a midterm cycle.

When asked for a breakout of broadcasting and cable dollars, and for dollars only going to broadcast media, there’s clearly some substantial growth.

But, there’s also one big question that can be asked: Where are 96.4% of the dollars that aren’t going to broadcast media going?

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Audacy employees who receive their pay check via Direct Deposit were left scratching their heads, and perhaps deeply concerned of a major problem, after waking up on Friday, checking their bank accounts, and not seeing their normal infusion of funds.

What happened? A “technical issue” is to blame, and it was quickly resolved.

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What are the primary benefits of virtualization to radio broadcasters? Are we farther along now than a year ago in seeing virtualization come to PPM, to EAS? What are common misconceptions or unfamiliar terms in virtualization that readers should be aware of?

Those are some of the questions explored in our new ebook “What’s Next for Virtualization?”

Editor in Chief Paul McLane talked with six manufacturers and software sponsors about their applications of the concept of virtualization, and he checked in with prominent industry engineering executives for an assessment of the relevance and impact of virtualization.

How close are we to a fully virtualized air chain? What else should we know on this topic? Find out in the latest free ebook.

Read it here.

The post What’s Next for Virtualization? appeared first on Radio World.

At Thursday’s FCC meeting, Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel used the occasion of her trip to Louisiana to explain several commission initiatives.

 In a written statement, she described the damage done by Hurricane Ida and summarized steps the FCC had taken before and after that storm.

 “But we have to understand where communications fell short, where recovery took too long, and what changes can be made to make our networks more resilient before the next unthinkable event occurs,” she wrote in comments released by her office.

 She talked about the NPRM that the FCC has adopted to strengthen its DIRS system and possibly to require backup power at communications facilities including broadcast stations.

The text of her statement is below:

This week I had the opportunity to see firsthand the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ida. Commissioner Carr joined me to crisscross a long, flat stretch of Louisiana — from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. The drive itself was telling. Along the way we saw cruel reminders of the storm and the great damage wind and water can do — mangled store signs and piles of refuse still being cleared away. Still, what struck me most was all the blue. Not the grey-blue of Lake Pontchartrain. Instead, it was the bright blue of heavy plastic tarps. They were everywhere. On the pitched rooves of homes. On the flat tops of commercial buildings. They were part of fixing what had blown away.

That image stays with me. But so does the strength and resilience of everyone we met. They love where they live and are deeply committed to restoration in their communities. They are also deeply invested in making sure that when the next storm comes — and it will — they are better prepared. Being better prepared means having more resilient communications. It means making sure our networks work when we need them most. I spoke with Governor John Bel Edwards about this before our trip and I heard it from everyone we met — state public safety leaders in Baton Rouge, 911 call center operators in Livingston, broadband companies in LaPlace, and FirstNet officials in Raceland.

Everyone we spoke with wanted to tell us their stories and give us their ideas. They wanted us to know what worked and what didn’t and how stronger and more resilient communications can save lives. I’m grateful Commissioner Carr was able to join me and thank all my colleagues for supporting the swift actions the agency took to assist before and after the storm.

In anticipation of landfall, the Federal Communications Commission set up an information hub for Hurricane Ida, with emergency communications tips in nine languages, tailored media advisories for broadcasters, downloadable Public Service Announcements, communications status reports, and other content.

We deployed FCC staff to Louisiana and the Federal Emergency Management Agency Regional Response Coordination Center in Dallas, Texas, to support spectrum management, perform damage assessments, and prioritize recovery efforts.

In coordination with FEMA and other federal partners, we activated our Disaster Information Reporting System. As a result, we published the first comprehensive assessment of Hurricane Ida’s impact on communications networks followed by daily updates.

We provided technical assistance to 911 coordinators, State Emergency Operations Centers, 911 call centers, carriers implementing the Wireless Resiliency Cooperative Framework and other communications providers, and the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters.

We engaged in daily coordination with Federal, state, and local partners, as well as with industry, to help coordinate the transport of necessary communications equipment, fuel, and other resources to help fill communications gaps. We also set up a first-of-its kind team to address coordination with utilities to prevent accidental fiber cuts during debris removal and restoration.

Of course, we had help.  Communications companies worked long and hard to restore critical services. All of this made a difference. More than 98 percent of the cell sites in the affected counties have been restored. Other outages trended downward as fast as power was restored.

This is progress. But we have to understand where communications fell short, where recovery took too long, and what changes can be made to make our networks more resilient before the next unthinkable event occurs.

Today’s rulemaking gets that effort going. We start by taking a second look at the voluntary Wireless Resiliency Cooperative Framework and its disaster roaming and asking where can it be strengthened. Are best practices enough? Should coordination happen earlier? Be more automatic? This was something that came up repeatedly in our discussions in Louisiana — a desire for this cooperative roaming to work faster, work better, and help keep more people connected in disaster.

We also revisit our Disaster Information Reporting System and seek targeted comment on where there are gaps that need to be filled. 911 call centers should not be the last ones to find out where there are critical network failures. But we learned that during Hurricane Ida, that is exactly what happened. So we ask about how we can improve data collection and timely notification during disasters.

Finally, we renew our inquiry into backup power for communications facilities. Our review of the data collected in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida reveals that the lack of commercial power at key equipment and facilities is the single biggest reason why communications networks failed. Left unaddressed, this problem will only get worse in coming years as we experience disasters with increasing severity, duration, and impact. So our rulemaking explores resilience strategies for power outages — including better coordination between communications providers and power companies and backup power or other measures that could help keep service running after a disaster.

I am hopeful that this rulemaking is the beginning of a broader discussion of our need for resilient networks. Look around. We have hurricanes in Louisiana, a snowstorm in Texas, and wildfires out West. These issues are not going away. We need to think deeply about what network resiliency means and how our policies can support it. So in addition to this rulemaking, next month the FCC will hold a virtual field hearing on Hurricane Ida and the resilient networks now needed in disaster more generally. To make it simple, we’ll have it as part of our monthly open meeting in October. Stay tuned for details.

The post Rosenworcel Highlights Network Resilience appeared first on Radio World.