Industry News

The TVB on Thursday (2/17) released new research conducted by GfK on its behalf that puts a spotlight on identifying the importance of media platforms in influencing consumers during the purchase decision process.

The study looks at consumers exposed to advertising across seven categories, through any of 20+ media platforms.

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 recent episode, Hadassa Gerber talks to 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.  CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS!

 

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Entrance area at Audio-Technica Canada’s new headquarters in St. Hubert, Quebec.

Audio-Technica Canada has expanded its operations with the grand opening of its new headquarters in St. Hubert, Quebec. The new facility provides the company with an open floor plan, conferencing capabilities and room to display a wide range of products.

The 3120-square-foot facility sits on the first floor of a newly constructed office complex in St. Hubert, in the Greater Montréal area. A total of nine full-time employees will be based there, including sales, marketing, artist relations, product specialist, logistics, accounting, customer service and executive personnel. Additional members of the A-T Canada team will be based in Stow, Ohio.

A fully outfitted boardroom will host internal company meetings as well as conferences with major vendors, artist endorsers and other key business relationships. A common area is decorated with traditional Japanese art, reflecting the company’s Japanese roots and mirroring the aesthetic of the company’s corporate headquarters in Machida outside of Tokyo.

Kenji Yamabe, Audio-Technica Canada general manager, stated, “Audio-Technica has been expanding in Canada in every conceivable way, and the completion of our new office is an important step toward the next phase of business growth. We are seizing the opportunity to further strengthen our market penetration and foster new relationships with dealers, system integrators and all manner of end-users. Our newly opened headquarters in St-Hubert will serve as the base of operations for our expanding enterprise and we will be able to optimize work efficiency at this facility, to the benefit of our clients. We look forward to continuing to serve new and existing customers from our new home.”

Submit business announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Audio-Technica Canada Opens New Headquarters appeared first on Radio World.

According to figures released by WorldDAB, 95% of new cars sold in key European markets were equipped with DAB+ receivers as standard in 2021. The organization credited this level of support to the Electronic Communications Code (EECC), which requires all new car radios sold in the European Union after December 2020 to be capable of receiving digital terrestrial radio.

On a country-by-country level, the percentage of new cars equipped with DAB+ receivers ranged from 90% in France to 100% in Italy and Norway. Norway began shuttering its FM networks in 2017.

In Switzerland, which is set to switch off FM in favor of DAB+ by year-end 2024, 99% of new cars had DAB+ receivers as standard. The U.K. and Belgium were both at 98%.

Courtesy WorldDAB. Sources: JATO H2 2021, Digital Radio UK/SMMT/cap hpi, GfK Italia CAWI, Weer GmbH, Digitalradio Norway

In total, 13 of the top 15 car sales markets in Europe have 90% or more of new cars sold with DAB+ receivers as standard equipment. The other two top 15 markets, Sweden and Portugal, were not included in WorldDAB’s report.

The findings echo the Edison Car Buyers Survey figures released last year, which showed that 90% of survey respondents in Europe expected a DAB+ receiver to be standard equipment in any new car they purchased.

The post Across Europe, Most New Cars Are DAB+ Equipped appeared first on Radio World.

An image from the WLRN website.

The organizations Friends of WLRN Inc. secured an agreement with the Miami-Dade County school board to become the media management company of the WLRN Public Radio and WLRN television stations.

Friends of WLRN is the support and fundraising arm of WLRN Public Media.

Board Chair Joseph M. Goldstein thanked the school board for its commitment “to sustaining independent journalism and safeguarding this important asset for the public.”

“The agreement grants Friends of WLRN, an experienced management company and philanthropic arm of WLRN since 1974, the rights to run the day-to-day operations of WLRN-FM and WLRN-TV, ensuring compliance with all applicable school board policies, regulations, and fiscal reporting requirements while continuing the highest quality media standards of the WLRN stations,” the organizations stated.

The Miami-Dade County Public School Board is the broadcast license holder.

WLRN is public radio and television for South Florida. It began in 1948 as a non-profit, noncom radio station licensed to the School Board of Dade County. TV followed in the early 1960s. Friends of WLRN was created in 1974 to provide financial support and enhance the programming of the organization.

The post Friends of WLRN Sign Management Agreement appeared first on Radio World.

Full year 2021 radio billing stats for New York and Miami are being shared by Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS). 

Why? According to Miller Kaplan, one of their radio stations is the top-biller of the year, regardless of format or language, in la gran manzana. The same can be said in its home market of Miami.

Specifically, SBS’s flagship, Tropical WSKQ-FM “Mega 97.9” in New York, garnered the top spot in local total billing among all radio stations in the nation’s largest radio market, Miller Kaplan data shared by SBS show.

Spanish Adult Contemporary WPAT “93.1 AMOR” was No. 6 among all stations in 2021, in terms of billing, the Miller Kaplan data also show.

Meanwhile, SBS’s Spanish Adult Hits WCMQ-FM “Zeta 92” was the No. 1-billing radio station in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood market in 2021. Tropical/Reggaetón sibling WXDJ-FM “El Zol 106.7” was the No. 5 biller in Miami last year, Miller Kaplan data show.

SBS’s WRMA “Ritmo 95.7,” with a specialty “Cubatón” Latin Urban format, was No. 6 in billing in Miami during 2021, total market.

“These leadership rankings are a testament to our people, our brands and the vibrancy and loyalty of the tremendous audiences we have attracted and sustained in these major markets,” said SBS President/COO Albert Rodriguez, in prepared comments. “Our ability to surpass every radio station, regardless of language, in local total billings in the nation’s largest radio market speaks volumes regarding the strength of our content and marketing initiatives, as well as our importance among advertisers looking to target Latino consumers. Likewise, advertisers recognize our radio stations in Miami as key platforms for connecting with the fast-growing Spanish-speaking population in South Florida. We remain committed to building on our success and consistently serving our audiences with the best music, the most compelling personalities and the most exciting content in these major markets, while continuing to strengthen our multimedia platform spanning radio, television, digital media and live events across the nation.”

In Gotham legal circles, it is considered to be one of the City of New York’s top real estate law firms.

Now, it is playing a key role in getting broadcast license agreements at 1 World Trade Center consummated.

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Until now, Regina Davis and her Buma Group has served as the licensee of a low-power digital TV station serving Texarkana, the market straddling Texas and Arkansas.

Now, the property is being sold. And, it marks yet another LPTV deal for the company that last year merged with Meredith Corp. and acquired Quincy Media, Inc.

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In September 2021, RBR+TVBR first shared the news of a proposed sale involving a Class A FM radio station with a signal blanketing a one-time Spring Break destination that remains a popular winter burg.

The deal, brokered by Jay Meyers’ Broadcast Management & Technology, has now closed.

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Following Tuesday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, Shari Redstone and Bob Bakish had a big announcement to make. ViacomCBS was no more, as the company changed its name to Paramount.

That led Michael Nathanson, the respected Senior Analyst at MoffettNathanson, and colleague Robert Fishman to pen an investor note that asks the tough questions about now-Paramount’s finances for both today and tomorrow.

“Despite the big announcement … we are left with a similar question as we had last year: will the company be able to grow EBITDA and Free Cash Flow again to match prior levels?”

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The NAB on Wednesday (2/16) filed a 56-page letter as part of an ex parte brief with the FCC that the nation’s chief lobbying organization for broadcast media says “corrects numerous misstatements and mischaracterizations by other parties about the Supreme Court’s media ownership decision.”

That unanimous decision put the wheels in motion on the end to the local cross-media broadcast ownership prohibition.

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