Industry News

Looking for that special holiday gift amid a supply chain slowdown that could make finding that item a bit difficult?

Second-hand presents may be the answer, and eBay has stepped up its efforts to make that point known by investing in a Spot Radio effort.

According to the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report, eBay is now the third-largest full paying advertiser on the stations tracked by the iHeartMedia-owned service. RBR+TVBR negates any iHeart-associated activity as it does not reflect fully paid advertising across all radio stations.

The latest report also shows a surge in activity from Indeed, while audio advertisements for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine rank No. 5.

The FCC recently threw out all eight applications for new NCE FM channels from a recently formed ham radio club in Washington state, citing “numerous significant and egregious technical defects.”

When the Media Bureau last month announced the settlement period for mutually exclusive applications filed in the recent window for new noncommercial educational stations, it also published a list of applications being dismissed due to technical defects.

The Fort Ward Amateur Radio Club was prominent on the list. The club, established in 2021 according to its website, is on Bainbridge Island, home of the historical Fort Ward WWII naval radio station. The club’s mission statement indicates that the club includes licensed amateur radio men, women, students and youths.

The FCC said it typically doesn’t review MX applications for technical defects at this early stage, but it made the effort to do so and the ham club’s technical defects were identified.

Attempts by Radio World to contact the Fort Ward Amateur Radio Club for comment were unsuccessful.

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The commission cited numerous technical conflicts in the club’s applications, including significant overlap caused to first-, second- and third-adjacent channels and co-channel licensees. It said the club also ignored interference treaty agreements between the U.S. and Canada.

A rejected applicant has one opportunity to file a minor curative amendment and petition for reconsideration, requesting reinstatement of the application, according to the FCC. Any amendments and petitions for reconsideration must be filed within 30 days of the dismissals.

“In order for an application to be reinstated, the amendment must correct all the application defects, propose only minor changes, comply with all the commission’s relevant rules, and not create any new application conflicts,” according to the rules.

Bainbridge Island is just west of Seattle across Elliott Bay from the city. The island is connected to Seattle by ferry, according to the city’s website.

The Fort Ward Amateur Radio Club was founded this year by Louis Charles Hoffmann Alloin, according to the club’s website.

The commission received almost 1,300 applications for noncom educational FM stations in the recent window. Out of those, there are 231 MX groups with a total of 883 applications.

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

The post FCC Rejects Ham Radio Club’s NCE Applications appeared first on Radio World.

Until now, opposition to President Biden’s choice to take the fifth seat on the Federal Communications Commission, Gigi Sohn, was expected to get vocal opposition from Republican members of the U.S. Senate.

Now, one key GOP leader in the upper body of Congress has voiced his opposition to the nomination of the acting Chairwoman to serve a new five-year term, setting the stage for a potentially unthinkable scenario — a 2-1 Republican majority at the FCC during a Democratic presidential term.

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A Class B FM once known for its rock ‘n’ roll programming and today offering South Asians an audio home as “Bolly 92.3” has become the first radio station in the U.S. to broadcast geo-targeted advertising.

It’s perhaps the first step in convincing marketers that broad-casting isn’t so broad, after all, and can bring addressable advertising to the FM radio dial, in addition to streaming audio.

RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION: There’s a song that’s more than 40 years old called “Video Killed The Radio Star.” How about an update called “Marketers Killed The Radio Business.” Why? Broadcasters offer a broad array of consumers, putting one single message in the ears of thousands of potential buyers. Is that not worth anything in 2021?

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Is the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 a worry Wall Street need not push to much focus on? On Monday, that answer appeared to be a “yes,” as financial markets were up broadly.

Media stocks rode the wave upward. But, 3 notable decliners were seen.

Nexstar Media Group shares slipped by 1% on Monday, to $152.42, while Entravision shares declined by 2.6%, to $7.01. Also down: Cumulus Media, dipping by 1.4% to $11.83.

How did other stocks fare on Monday? Please visit the RBR.com homepage to view our Wall Street Report.

Recently, Good Karma Brands promoted Sam Pines to a corporate-level role of SVP. This left the top leadership spot open in Cleveland, where it operates the market’s ESPN Radio affiliate.

Pines’ successor in the market has now been named.

Rising to the post is Amy Crossman. She was previously the Director of Sales & Marketing for the Sports Talk station.

Pines said, “Amy embodies Good Karm Brands’ core values and takes a marketing first approach for our fans, advertising partners and teammates. She directly impacted our growth during a difficult and unique two years. I am excited for the future of ESPN Cleveland and our continued growth with Amy as Market Manager.”

Crossman added, “I appreciate the trust Sam Pines and the Good Karma Brands’ leadership team has put in me to lead and continue to grow a legacy brand. ESPN Cleveland has a passionate fanbase, loyal advertising partners and a dedicated team that we will continue to build in 2021 and beyond.”

Crossman joined ESPN Radio in Cleveland in October 2019, and for 19 months prior to that was Director of Partnership at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. A 25-year veteran of marketing, Crossman has worked at Men’s Health, Time, The New York Times, Crain’s New York Business, PARADE Group, and as a director for Momentum Worldwide’s top B2B account, American Express OPEN.

On Wednesday, December 1, the legal counsel representing the trustee for two FM radio stations in Florida Cox Media Group is required to sell in order to comply with FCC local ownership rules spoke by phone with the head of the Media Bureau.

Why? Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey wants answers as to the necessary steps for the “CXR Radio Station Trust,” led by Houlihan Lokey broker Elliot Evers, to complete an “orderly process” of divesting the two radio stations.

Does this point to a capitulation with respect to Cox’s request that it get up to one year to sell the FMs, on the basis that the COVID-19 pandemic deflated their valuations and a rise in value could come in the next 12 months?

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Members of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) elected three experienced media executives to serve on the ATSC Board of Directors for three-year terms that begin in January 2022.

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On Dec. 2, Croatian media regulator Agencija za Elektroničke Medije (AEM) announced plans to consider applications for national DAB+ concessions, as well as local DAB+ concessions in Zagreb and nine counties. Applications for the 20-year concessions are due by year-end.

According to a report in the newspaper Glas Istre, AEM believes there is public interest in launching new digital radio services, especially in the Zagreb region, despite the low number of DAB+ receivers in the country.

Comment on this or any article. Write to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Croatia Opens DAB+ Licensing appeared first on Radio World.

A new partnership between Triton Digital and Pocket FM will give media buyers additional access to the digital audio space in India.

The agreement will make Pocket FM’s OTT platform — a free podcast app and audio show that has grown into the largest audio OTT platform in India, the company said — available on the Triton Audio Ad exchange, giving buyers access to Pocket FM’s inventory through more than 30 demand size platforms via Triton.

According to the company, Pocket FM has become a top-ranking music and audio app, clocking in more than 40 million downloads and 2.7 billion monthly listening minutes. Listeners have access to more than 100,000 hours of programming via long-format content, audio shows, stories, novels and podcasts in eight languages through Pocket FM.

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Through the partnership, the companies said, Pocket FM media buyers will have access to Triton’s Yield-Op capability, an audio-first supply-side platform built for broadcasters, podcasters and music streaming services. Yield-Op offers users controls to set up deals, manage demand and optimize yield. Users will also have access to Triton’s Tap OnDemand, which enables streaming audio services and web-only audio publishers to streamline advertising trafficking and maximize revenue with dynamic audio ad insertion (DAI) as well as coordinate campaign trafficking, delivery and reporting.

“Consumption has grown significantly over the past 24 months, making digital audio an important medium for marketers seeking to reach this engaged and growing audience,” said Aditya Summanwar, director of market development for Triton Digital, adding that 57.6 million people in India as of 2020 were consuming podcasts on a monthly basis. “That makes India the third largest country for podcast consumption, following the U.S. and China,” Summanwar said.

Rohan Nayak, co-founder and CEO of Pocket FM, said that the new partnership with Triton Digital will offer media buyers and publishers a deeper look into validated measurement of India’s growing digital audio consumption market. “In the coming months, Pocket FM intends to achieve 100 million users and introduce more genres on the platform, building the largest community of writers, artists and homegrown authors in India,” Nayak said.

Submit business announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

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