Industry News

BALTIMORE — Sinclair Broadcast Group has awarded scholarships to seven university students as a part of its annual Diversity Scholarship program.

Having provided more than $100,000 in tuition assistance during the last six years, the scholarship program aims to invest in the future of the broadcast industry.

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There’s a new Market Manager overseeing a 50kw Class A AM in Chicago, a station that was once the legendary WCFL.

At the same time, the station’s current owner, Good Karma Brands, has selected a Market Manager to lead its Madison, Wisc., operations.

Now leading WMVP “ESPN 1000” in Chicago, starting Nov. 1, is Keith Williams. As Market Manager, Williams will be responsible for overseeing the station’s sales, marketing and content strategy and execution.

Williams is a 22-year veteran of the company and has spent time managing ESPN Cleveland and ESPN Madison, as well as the company’s Mid-Atlantic digital markets.

Speaking of Madison, that’s where Tom Olson will become Market Manager on Nov. 1, replacing Williams. Olson has held a variety of roles throughout his career at Good Karma Brands, including managing the company’s business development team, and most recently as the Director of Sales & Marketing at ESPN Madison.

Olson began his career with Good Karma Brands in 2011 as an intern.

Remember that infamous Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup coffee mug former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai frequently used? Investors and analysts who actively watch broadcast media companies better get two ready for Thursday, November 4.

A sixth licensee of broadcast stations has scheduled their third-quarter 2021 earnings release on this date, with the results distributed following the day’s Closing Bell.

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According to The New York Times, the White House is moving forward with making acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel the agency’s official Chair — making her the first woman to formally hold the seat.

The newspaper also hears from an unnamed source that the Biden Administration is indeed bringing Gigi Sohn back to the FCC, not as Rosenworcel’s successor but as a progressive Commissioner who has been the subject of rumors for months.

While Rosenworcel’s confirmation as FCC Chair is widely expected to come easily, a Congressional battle over Sohn’s nomination could come with precious weeks remaining in this legislative year — keeping a 2-2 deadlock in place. Then, there’s the unthinkable — a 2-1 Republican majority with a Democrat in the White House as Congress blocks both nominations, leading to the end of Rosenworcel’s term and her exit from the Commission.

With so many broadcast media proposals at the Commission, what should radio and TV station C-Suite leaders keep their eyes on? A Forecast 2022 session picks up where our October 12 InFOCUS Podcast left off, with noted Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth co-Managing Partner Frank Montero moderating a panel set to include Colorado Broadcasters Association President/CEO Justin Sasso, Kagan Senior Research Analyst for Broadcast Media Justin Nielson, PMCM TV and Press Communication LLC CEO Bob Mc Allan, and BIA Advisory Services SVP and Chief Economist Dr. Mark Fratrik.

The coming leadership solidification at the FCC is a topic every broadcast management and ownership leader needs to keep on top of. Being at Forecast 2022 offers the best opportunity to stay abreast of what’s ahead in Washington, from Rosenworcel’s desk to Capitol Hill.

Listen to “Frank Montero, Fletcher Heald & Hildreth” on Spreaker.

Roku has enabled publishers to measure channel content on Roku devices with Nielsen Digital Content Ratings (DCR).

The ratings, Nielsen and Roku note, provide access to deduplicated reach and demographic insights for channels on Roku devices to identify which programs most effectively reach key audiences.

This increase in coverage helps content owners and advertisers navigate the expanding world of TV streaming and is “a major milestone on the path to Nielsen ONE, Nielsen’s transformative, cross-media solution that will enable advertisers and publishers to transact using a single metric across linear and digital television.”

Nielsen will enable publishers to measure content across Roku’s 55.1 million active accounts (as of Q2 2021).

Nielsen Digital Content Ratings (DCR) provides audience measurement of digital content consumption, including streaming video, static web pages and mobile apps, across computer, mobile and TV streaming devices.

DCR is a census-based, panel-calibrated solution that provides syndicated, granular reach and volumetric reporting to provide advertisers and publishers.

“This strengthens the close collaboration between Roku and Nielsen,” said Lougman Parampath, VP of Product Management at Roku. “DCR’s syndicated, independent measurement provides market transparency and immediate value to our publishers around understanding audiences in their channels. This bolsters our commitment to delivering for our customers and underscores our focus to continue to be an innovator in the evolving TV streaming measurement landscape.”

Nielsen GM of Digital and Advanced TV Commercial Strategy Ameneh Atai added, “TV streaming is the wave of the future for digital video consumption, and Roku is a major player in CTV penetration,” said . “With the addition of Roku, DCR will have the capability to measure the majority of CTV platforms devices as well as provide channel partners with an understanding of their overall reach across CTV devices. Armed with these insights, media buyers and sellers can make critical decisions around ad strategies and publishers can create informed programming and content distribution strategies.”

Nielsen and Roku forged a strategic alliance earlier this year.

Furthermore, Roku acquired Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising (AVA) business, which includes Nielsen’s video automatic content recognition (ACR) and dynamic ad insertion (DAI) technologies.

The acquisition furthers Roku’s launch of an end-to-end DAI product for TV programmers.

“Nielsen and Roku will continue to integrate complementary Nielsen ad and content measurement products into the Roku platform and further advance Nielsen ONE, the company’s cross-media measurement solution,” the companies state.

A television station owned by the parent company of the MeTV Network and The CW Network affiliate in the nation’s third-largest market recently signed off on the acquisition of several camcorders to improve the quality — and flexibility — of its broadcast operations.

The equipment is now in place at the Weigel Broadcasting stations serving a market to the north of Chicago, where it owns the CBS affiliate.

As such, several GY-HC900 and GY-HC550 CONNECTED CAM camcorders have been purchased from JVC Professional Video, a division of JVCKENWOOD USA Corporation.

They’ll be put to use at “CBS58” in Milwaukee, WDJT-TV; “The M” WMLW-TV; MeTV Network O&O WBME-CD; and “Telemundo Wisconsin,” WYTU-LD.

“We have been using JVC for over a decade in the field and have been very happy,” says Steve Percefull, Weigel’s chief engineer for its Milwaukee operations. “We have the GY-HM650 ProHD Mobile News Camera and GY-HM790 ProHD Solid State Media Camcorder, as well as GY-HM850 and GY-HM890 ProHD Shoulder Camcorders in our inventory. We have tried other manufacturers’ cameras over the years, but have to use adapters to use SD cards, which became problematic. This time around, when I was buying cameras, I wanted something easy and user-friendly.”

The GY-HC900 has a full-frame and a two-thirds lens.

Aaron Frye, WDJT’s director of photography, was among the first to use the cameras at Weigel Broadcasting.

“I primarily use our new JVCGY-HC900 for field anchoring and to shoot news stories,” he says. “The GY-HC900 has a nice depth of field and the colors really pop; it’s a great upgrade from our previous cameras.”

Additionally, the station purchased the GY-HC550s to replace aging cameras in the Multimedia Journalist (MMJ) kits, which are used by photographers for multi-camera shoots.

Percefull has been impressed with the ruggedness of both the GY-HC900 and GY-HC550.

While Weigel uses the JVC CONNECTED CAM camcorders for traditional live stand-ups, the GY-HC900 and GY-HC550 both offer a wide range of live streaming capabilities. Included among these is direct streaming to Facebook Live and YouTube Live.

While you may be thinking of Carmen, there’s no mistaking the individual who has been appointed International Sales Manager for Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned transmitter manufacturer Dielectric.

The Maine-based Sinclair subsidiary has appointed Daniel Bizet to the role. He succeeds the now-retired John Macdonald and is based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Bizet reports to Dielectric VP/Sales Jay Martin, and will lead Dielectric’s sales efforts markets with a strong focus in Latin America. He previously spent more than 30 years working with Broadcast Electronics, most recently as its Latin America sales manager. He lived in Venezuela, and served as a dealer for BE for more than 20 years as president and owner of Professional Broadcast Supply, directing sales of broadcast equipment and radio station turnkey solutions across the now-troubled country. Bizet began his career as the technical manager at Circuito Union Radio in Caracas, where he was responsible for installation and maintenance for all network stations.

“I’m thrilled to join the Dielectric team,” Bizet said. “Dielectric is a very strong global brand that builds and delivers antennas and RF systems optimized for every TV and FM radio broadcast. Based on a proven reputation, close customer engagement, and excellent service, they are for me the key to success.”

Dielectric VP/GM Keith Pelletier said of Bizet, “He truly understands the broadcast industry, which means he can help our customers select the right hardware and software for their specific transmission requirements.”

PPDS, the exclusive global provider of Philips Professional TV and Philips Digital Signage products, has a new VP of Commercial Displays. His chief task: to lead the global company’s North America business forward.

Taking the role is Vince Schuster, an AVIXA Certified Technology Specialist and Digital Signage Display Expert who is certified in Imaging Science Foundation-Commercial.

In Philips’ words, Schuster is a “notorious and highly respected figure” in the AV industry, with a career spanning more than 25 years. “Vince brings invaluable additional industry knowledge and experience to the PPDS team in North America, as well as the wider global company,” the company says.

He will be based in the Washington National Capital Region.

Schuster will report to PPDS General Manager Chris Colpaert, who calls him “a natural leader.”

North American focus areas include Pro TV, Digital Signage and LED products.

It has also formed a series of strategic partnerships with such hardware and software providers as Crestron, Advantech, Bosch, Intel, and i3 Technologies.

Comrex is announcing a new cloud service called Gagl.

Gagl delivers conferenced audio from multiple contributors to Comrex hardware codecs in high quality and allows between one and five users to send and receive audio from computers and smartphones.

Participants can connect and send audio by clicking a link using any common web browser. Their audio is conferenced (if there’s more than one user), and delivered to a Comrex hardware codec such as ACCESS or BRIC-Link II. All participants can hear other
participants, and the codec can send audio back to them.

Gagl could be used as the hub for a round-robin reporting program or for a multi-host radio show to support multiple simultaneous connections at once. Because it offers low latency, it is appropriate for call-in talk radio.

Gagl could also be used to allow a single contributor to connect back to the studio from a computer or smartphone.

Designed with audio quality in mind, Gagl provides stable connections with limited bandwidth.

Gagl uses the Opus audio encoder, with a bit rate that delivers both voice and music in top
quality.

Gagl also delivers audio directly to a Comrex codec with all the stability enhancements,
pro-grade audio connections, and features that hardware codecs provide.

A company known for its radio imaging, voiceover, programming, podcasting and jingles business has added to its production leadership team.

Coming from YamanAir is a new West Coast Director of Commercial Production, while the company is also welcoming a Production Manager for Long Form Programming.

The former position is that of Darren Silva, who spent 22 years as a Network Production Manager for Radio Disney in Los Angeles who began his career as an overnight air personality in San Luis Obispo, Calif. In the late 1980s, he was “Dangerous Darren” at Heavy Metal rocker KNAC-FM 105.5 in Long Beach, Calif. Later, he worked at KEGL “97.1 The Eagle” in Dallas.

In addition to his Radio Disney role, Silva for the past 17 years has been an air talent associated with Sirius XM’s Hair Nation, Ozzy’s Boneyard and Classic Rewind channels.

Meanwhile, the Production Manager for Long Form Programming role is now being held by Jake Urbanek. He joins Benztown from Apple Music in Los Angeles, where he was
Assistant Producer of The Zane Lowe Show. Prior to that, he was Audio Engineer for
over 8 years Mr. Smalls Recording Studio in Pittsburgh. He was also Sound
Engineer for the Washington Symphony Orchestra in Washington, Pa.