Industry News

Just days after attracting attention for a series of moves in Honolulu, SummitMedia, the radio broadcasting company led by Chairman/CEO Carl Parmer, is set to say farewell to its retiring Market President at its Knoxville station group.

With Chris Protzman‘s retirement on February 1, which concludes an 18-year run as the head of the stations, SummitMedia is turning to a woman who served as the cluster’s Local Sales Manager some five years ago before exiting the group.

Kelsey Graham will succeed Protzman, and she’s coming back to Knoxville from Athens, Ga., where she has served as a Station Director for Cox Media Group in the small market that is home to the University of Georgia’s main campus.

“I am excited to return to the Knoxville Market and cluster that I managed in 2017 as LSM,” Graham says. “This homecoming is both a personal and professional desire
for me and my family. Carl’s passion for the Knoxville Operation and our team members
drove this perfect fit.”

Commenting on his retirement, Protzman added, ”Carl and I started this conversation last fall and I am delighted with how all the pieces came together. As I transition into the next chapter of my professional life, I look forward to completing my work as Chairman Emeritus of our State Broadcast Association, as well as advancing several non-profit projects near and dear to my heart. SummitMedia has pledged to support these efforts moving forward and I am deeply grateful for their support.”

Parmer commented, “Chris has done an outstanding job leading our Knoxville cluster and we wish him the very best as begins his next chapter. He was instrumental in helping choose his successor and we couldn’t be more excited for our team.”

How best can stations grow their business? Many would say that social media is the answer, due to its mainstream popularity and pervasive reach.

But others say that social media advertising lacks the effective content engagement and audience value of FM/AM radio. And advertising efforts can be made even more substantial when the two platforms are combined together in a cohesive marketing package, according to a new blog post.

[Read More Articles About Radio and Social Media]

A post by Cumulus Media | Westwood One Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard cited revelations from the 2017 book System1: Unlocking Profitable Growth, by John Kearon, Orlando Wood, and Tom Ewing of the “ad effectiveness agency” System1.

The authors found that growth is driven by increasing sales to new customers and light users, rather than attempting to increase the loyalty of an existing customer base. “Contrary to popular belief, targeting a wide audience and including non-users is not a waste of money. It’s a key driver of growth,” Kearon, Wood, and Ewing wrote.

Building fame is one of the best ways to build a brand, according to the System1 authors, who said that “fame is what gets a brand onto a person’s mental shortlist.” To do this, companies need “to build fame, target wide, touch deeply and be distinctive.”

But social media falls flat of that in some areas, said Bouvard. According to the 2021 Infinite Dial study by Edison Research, Facebook users in the U.S. have decreased 9 percent since 2017. Erosion is coming even more quickly among younger demographics with Facebook’s aged 12–34 audience down 28 percent.

To grow reach, marketers should consider adding AM/FM radio to a station’s social media campaign. Radio reaches new consumers that are unavailable on Facebook including 56 percent of those aged 18+.

The blog post also touched on the varying strengths of social media and radio ad strategies when calculating content engagement, concentration, audience value and all-around impact.

Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Effective Ad Packages Combine Social Reach with Listenership appeared first on Radio World.

The Texas Association of Broadcasters is drawing attention to a Federal Communication Commission proposal to mandate that broadcasters submit status reports following hurricanes and other natural disasters.

The FCC is weighing broadcaster participation in its web-based Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS), which is activated in limited emergency situations. Reporting through DIRS has been voluntary since its establishment in 2007.

TAB in comments in its Jan. 19 newsletter encourages the FCC to “remain flexible” in how it collects reports for DIRS to ensure local broadcasters are not forced to neglect their audiences and operations during an ongoing emergency.

“Because local broadcasters have a long history of cooperating in emergencies to share resources, facilities and equipment to ensure all stations can stay on the air delivering important information, mandatory DIRS filings would provide little actionable information to the FCC,” TAB wrote.

[Previously: FCC Disaster NPRM Discusses Backup Power Requirements]

The FCC is reviewing comments in its “resilient networks” rulemaking proceeding. Broadcasters have been quick to dissent to this idea, expressing concern over the logistical challenges this reporting requirement could present.

TAB fears cluttering DIRS with mandatory station filings “indicating all is fine” would merely serve to distract from voluntary filings made by stations actively seeking FCC assistance in obtaining fuel for generators or access for station employees to their stations and transmitter sites in a disaster area.

“The FCC should instead focus its efforts on promoting broadcast station resilience in emergencies by working with state, local and other federal agencies prior to a disaster to ensure procedures and resources are in place so that a DIRS filing requesting fuel or help with employee access to a disaster area will lead to rapid governmental assistance to keep stations operating,” it wrote.

A coalition of state broadcast associations, including TAB, filed official comments to the FCC earlier: “DIRS certainly has its place and can be useful for broadcasters in certain situations discussed below, but imposing a universal mandatory filing requirement for broadcast stations would often interfere with getting emergency information out to the public more than it would assist with it,” they wrote.

The National Association of Broadcasters also is on record opposing any move to require broadcaster participation in DIRS, saying it would be “unduly burdensome” and could undermine the FCC’s goal of improving public safety by disrupting stations’ efforts to provide critical information following a disaster.

“Mandating DIRS filings would force stations to redirect their already-strained staff away from trying to maintain or restore service to fill out a government form,” NAB wrote in comments in December. “Many smaller stations simply lack the bandwidth to log in, assess their operational status, and complete DIRS reports in the midst of an emergency.”

NAB adds: “Alternatively, if the FCC still believes that DIRS should be mandatory, perhaps the onus should be on government to create and fund an automated system that identifies which broadcast stations are operating during a disaster.”

The FCC’s NPRM, released in October, also considers adding broadcasters to the Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework, which is a mutual aid framework developed by the wireless industry in 2016, Oscar Rodriguez, president of the Texas Broadcasters Association, wrote on TAB’s website: “The [Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative] is designed for monitoring and maintaining common carrier network infrastructure — not a one-to-many content provider.”

Comments to FCC Docket 21-346 can be viewed here.

The post Texas Broadcasters React to Possible DIRS Mandate appeared first on Radio World.

Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of the State of Texas, has a beef with Google. And, it involves air personalities employed by iHeartMedia. The issue: the radio talents endorsed products that, the Lone Star State says, they never, ever used.

As such, Texas is suing Google — putting new attention on the pitfalls that can come when on-air staff are signed on to pitch a product.

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To ring in 2022, Charlie Sislen said farewell to Research Director, Inc., and formally concluded his career by retiring.

This has led the company to initiate several staffing changes that are scheduled to commence across the first three months of 2022.

• Kathryn Boxill will be creating and leading the new Quality Control Team as the Quality Control Team Manager. She previously served as a Senior Sales Research Consultant.
• Nicole Somerville will be transitioning into the Production Team Manager position from previously serving as a Sales Research Consultant.
• Anne Doyle will move into the Information Systems Administrator position from
  Operations Management.
• Nakia Smith and Hayden Waugh will be moving from their Sales Research Consultant positions to join the Client Service Department as Client Service Consultants.

“The team we have assembled are all customer‐focused, experienced, and extremely excited to take on new challenges as we grow,” Research Director CEO and Founder Marc Greenspan said.

Annapolis, Md.-based Research Director assists radio station programming and sales departments.

TORONTO — GeoBroadcast Solutions has formed an exclusive partnership with a Québec-based company that will bring the company’s “MaxxCasting” offerings and associated sales, field service and post-sales support to Canadian broadcasters who seek to improve their signal strength and audience reach.

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Respondents to one of “Zoom expert” Rosemary Ravinal‘s recent polls on LinkedIn told her that “How to organize my content” is their No. 1 roadblock to great presentations. That didn’t surprise her. “Outstanding presentations require thoughtful planning,” she says in this fresh column that puts a spotlight on a fast-paced presentation format used by Japanese business leaders. It’s something you may want to consider.

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MIAMI — Nearly 11 years ago, he was the Chief Executive Officer of a cable network targeting U.S. Hispanics that had just transitioned from Si TV to nuvoTV, an offering designed to appeal to bicultural audiences. In that role, a partnership was forged with Jennifer Lopez, who in 2013 served as Chief Creative Officer. The network held a splashy Upfront event at the Edison Ballroom in New York.

Today, nuvoTV is no more, as it merged with Fuse TV in September 2015. The executive would stay on, adding the title of President as he battled Comcast in 2018 over the Xfinity parent’s decision to drop Fuse.

Now, after a stint with Dish and Sling after exiting Fuse TV, Michael Schwimmer is heading back to the U.S. Hispanic market in a big way.

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MIAMI — Noticias Telemundo has a new leader, and she’s appointed a senior news leadership team that will help the news organ of NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises expand its coverage to the U.S. Hispanic community.

Coming aboard at Telemundo is Gabriela Tristán, as Vanessa Pombo and Gemma Garcia each earn promotions.

Tristán will serve as SVP/News, and will oversee the editorial and production units of Telemundo’s news programs, including the flagship newscast Noticias Telemundo and the morning news and entertainment program hoyDía.

Tristán jumps to Telemundo from Univision, where she most recently served as VP/Director of News Production. There, she oversaw the daily production and broadcast of all the network’s newscasts. Tristán was part of the team that launched Univision’s Al Punto with Jorge Ramos public affairs show.

Garcia is now SVP/Digital News. Since joining the network in 2016, Garcia has served as the executive producer of “Noticias Telemundo” and the vice president for network and digital news; Garcia joined Noticias Telemundo from Spain’s government-funded TVE, where she held positions as chief correspondent in New York, Italy and the Vatican and Morocco.

Lastly, Pombo is being promoted to SVP/Business Operations for News. She was formerly the Sr. Director of Production Management at Telemundo Studios, where she worked directly with production and creative executives supporting production projects for launch. Before joining Telemundo, Pombo served as vice president at Univision Studios managing entertainment and reality productions.

They report to Patsy Loris, who led Noticias Telemundo’s coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential election and succeeded the now-retired Luis Fernandez on January 1 as EVP/News.

 

It’s official: Procter & Gamble Co. was the top parent advertiser in the U.S. for the second year in a row, thanks to millions of spots airing on the radio and TV stations and cable TV channels offering local drop-in capabilities across 2021 tracked by iHeartMedia-owned Media Monitors.

According to Media Monitors, which saw its co-owned radio industry trade publication and public relations operation share the news before its widespread distribution, P&G aired more than 26 million spots on radio, local cable and broadcast TV last year.

And, for the second consecutive year, the consumer products goods (CPG) firm increased its year-over-year instances. In 2021, Procter & Gamble aired 14% more instances (26,398,691) than it did in 2020, when it ran 22% more spots (23,154,642) than 2019.

At the same time, GEICO is once again the top advertising account. The insurer aired a total of 5,945,084 instances across radio, local cable and broadcast TV. Although it was the top advertiser on broadcast TV, it ranked second on local cable and fourth on radio.

“With some of the world’s most trusted household brands like Tide, Gillette and Crest, it recognizes the value of reaching out to consumers during challenging times such as the current pandemic,” said Media Monitors President/CEO Philippe Generali. “The brand has continued to increase its reach and use advertising to boost sales.”

Here’s who advertised the most on radio, local cable and broadcast TV. RADIO Procter & Gamble was the number one parent advertiser on radio. The CPG company allocated more of its spots to radio (9,097,535) than to local cable or broadcast TV, and aired 71% more instances year-over-year on the medium. In 2020, it aired just 5,318,812 spots on radio. The US Government (2), which had ranked as the number one on radio for both 2020 and 2019, fell to number two. COVID-related government advertising dropped slightly, to 5,372,010 in 2021 from 5,857,218 in 2020. Job search service INDEED was the top radio account, with 2,532,634 instances, having just barely made it into the top 10 for 2020. Progressive Insurance aired fewer spots in 2021 than it did in 2020, dropping to number two with 2,296,537 instances. Babbel, the language-learning service and a newcomer to the list last year, rose to number three from number five in 2020. GEICO (4) and The Home Depot (5) each dropped one spot in the ranking. Top Parent Advertisers in Radio Top Accounts in Radio LOCAL CABLE On local cable, the top three parent advertisers of 2020 retained their positions in 2021, with Procter & Gamble once again at number one. With over 8.5 million instances, Procter & Gamble aired more spots than communication providers Comcast Corporation (2) and Charter Communications, Inc. (3) combined. Other top parent companies also were focused on personal care, including GlaxoSmithKline, PLC (4), L’Oreal USA, Inc. (5) and Unilever, PLC (9). Meanwhile, the battle for share-of-voice among three insurance providers rages on. Among the top 5  accounts were: Liberty Mutual Insurance (1) with 3,051,031 spots, closely followed by GEICO (2) with 3,035,714 instances. Progressive (5) trailed slightly, airing over 1.8 million spots. After its release in early 2021, Discovery+ shot to number three among the top 10 accounts with 2.8 million instances. This was enough to drive parent company Discover, Inc., into the top 10 ranking of parent advertisers in the medium. For parent advertiser Amazon.com, Inc., 3,051,527 instances were enough to lift the e-commerce company into the top 10 at number seven. With 1.4 million spots aired, Amazon.com also entered the ranking of top accounts at number 10. Top Parent Advertisers in Local Cable Top Accounts in Local Cable BROADCAST TV After being #1 on Radio and #1 on Cable, P&G did the “hat trick” in 2021: on broadcast TV, it is also the top parent advertiser. Procter & Gamble aired nearly four times as many spots as number two Johnson & Johnson. Together, the two firms aired almost as many spots (a total of 11,024,353) as the eight other parent companies in the top 10 combined (a total of 12,050,439). Broadcast TV, like local cable, also reflected a trend for self-care. In addition to Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal USA, Inc. (6), and Unilever PLC (7) led the top 10. In addition, healthcare-focused organizations were strongly represented in the top parent company advertiser rankings. Among the top 10 were GlaxoSmithKline PLC (3), the US Government (4) and AbbVie, Inc. (9). Insurance companies topped the rankings of advertising accounts, with GEICO holding the number one spot, followed by Liberty Mutual Insurance (2) and Progressive (4). However, five of the top 10 advertising accounts were related to health and personal care. Procter & Gamble-owned Tide (6) and Downy (7) were followed by Dupixent (8), Neutrogena (9) and Colgate (10). “We’re only going to see growth in the self-care sector,” said Generali. “The ongoing need to self-protect from the pandemic combined with increased stay-home time means that people are taking even more time to focus on themselves. They’re going to be looking for brands that reflect their lifestyles for the coming year.” Top Parent Advertisers in Broadcast TV Top Accounts in Broadcast TV