Industry News

ABC Radio Network entertainment reporter Bill Diehl is out with a book.

’50 Years Of Celebrity Chatter (Or The Time I interviewed A Porn Star Naked)‘ has stories and quotes from almost all the well-knowns he’s talked with over the years.

Diehl dug deep into his archives for the collection, bringing back great memories, “It’s been a great ride,” said Diehl.

Among those chiming in on Diehl’s career: Barbara Walters.

“Bill Diehl has interviewed me countless times over the course of our respective careers,” she said. “His knowledge of the entertainment business is vast and his insight is always keen.”

The book is available on Amazon. It is available in paperback form for $12.95, and on Kindle devices for $7.95.

— Radio Ink

This holiday season once again may look a little different than many of us might have imagined. But with vaccines widely available in the United States, many more of us have been able to reunite with family and friends during the past year. As FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sees it, “The personal networks that have supported us through these days have been important, as have the communications networks that make it possible for so many of us to stay in touch, stay working, stay healthy, stay informed, and stay entertained.”

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Two motions filed by AT&T and DirecTV against the owner of Indianapolis’ MyNetworkTV and The CW Network affiliates that sought to dismiss a racial discrimination lawsuit filed against the MVPD service providers have been denied by the Chief Judge of Indiana’s Federal District Court.

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In June, several Cox Media Group radio and television stations fell victim to a vicious cyberattack. Audio streaming was nonfunctioning for weeks. Some TV stations had extreme difficulties in producing a live, local newscast. The company didn’t comment on what was wrong. Now, new information has surfaced as to who the culprit is behind the cyberincursion.

All arrows point to Iran.

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Is a harbinger of a strong programming sales market in 2022, and a healthy transactions marketplace at the upcoming NATPE Miami conference?

Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Ukraine, part of media holding Media Group
Ukraine, has signed a three-year contract deal with NBCUniversal Global Distribution for exclusive rights to broadcast its content in the eastern European nation.

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On August 11, 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the FCC, conducted a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) using only the broadcast-based distribution system, otherwise known as the “EAS daisy chain.”

As FEMA explained, “[t]he intent of conducting the test in this fashion is to determine the capability of the [EAS] to deliver messages to the public in event that dissemination via
internet is not available.”

How did this sixth EAS nationwide test go?

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As 2021 comes to a close, NEXTGEN TV service is available to half of all U.S. television viewers — assuming they’ve shelled out hundreds of dollars as the economy hurtles into recessionary uncertainty.

For ATSC President Madeleine Norland, however, “next year is promising to carry forward the tremendous momentum.”

The PR push and continued quest to convince consumers that NEXTGEN TV is worth the investment enters 2022 on a strong note, indeed, as Norland others tied to ATSC will be in Las Vegas for the pandemic-plagued CES 2022 event.

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RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION

As 2021 comes to a close, the subject of AM radio’s continued viability in the coming years has arose anew, driven by the decision of companies including Cumulus Media to surrender the licenses of stations that have had their fair share of challenges.

While some may shed a tear over these station’s final broadcasts, there is a bigger, more fundamental question that needs to be asked: Did the U.S. radio broadcast industry fail to future-proof itself when it decided to embrace in-band, on-channel HD Radio instead of progressing to DAB, which much of Europe and Australia have adopted? 

Yes, and no.

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In October 2020, Cumulus Media made an executive decision as to whether or not the transmitter for a pair of AM radio stations serving Savannah, Ga., should be repaired, or if it was more prudent to surrender the licenses of the facilities. Cumulus chose the latter, with WBMQ-AM 630 and WJLG-AM 900 disappearing from the Coastal Empire radio dial.

Now, Cumulus has decided to terminate the life of another AM radio station — this time in a hurricane recovery zone.

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Of the topics that have continued to attract the attention of broadcast media’s C-Suite leaders across 2021, addressable advertising is poised to remain front and center as a big concentration point in 2022. With video-on-demand a leader in addressable advertising, how can OTA and VOD collide, providing broadcast media with some solid revenue opportunities in the coming years?

That’s just one question Marianne Vita, SVP and Director of Integrated Strategy and Marketing at the VAB, answers in this fresh podcast arriving just in time for CES 2022, and the upcoming Matrix Media Ad Sales Summit and NATPE Miami in Miami Beach, Fla.

The InFOCUS Podcast is hosted by Adam R Jacobson, with the support of dot.FM.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Marianne Vita” on Spreaker.