Industry News

Jeff Winemiller and his Lowcountry 34 Media has engaged in a series of transactions in recent months involving low-power television stations.

On Thursday (9/2), he moved forward with the sale of six LPTV construction permits.

The buyer? The company co-led by Pat LaPlatney and Hilton Howell Jr.

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The Broadcasters Foundation of America has selected the soon-to-retire President/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) as the recipient of the 2021 Lowry Mays Excellence in Broadcasting Award.

The honor is bestowed annually on an individual in broadcasting whose work exemplifies innovation, community service, advocacy, and entrepreneurship.

This year, it is going to Gordon Smith, the former Republican U.S. Senator from Oregon who will be replaced by Curtis LeGeyt as the NAB’s head in January 2022.

Smith will be presented with the award at the Broadcasters Foundation Annual Breakfast, scheduled to coincide with the 2021 NAB Show. The affair is scheduled for October 12 at 7am in the Brahms Room of the Encore Hotel in Las Vegas.

Smith joined the NAB as its leader in November 2009. Prior to joining NAB, he served as senior advisor in the Washington offices of Covington & Burling LLP.

The Lowry Mays Excellence in Broadcasting Award salutes its namesake and is underwritten by The Mays Family Foundation. Past recipients include Ajit Pai, Bill Clark, Eddie Fritts, Cathy Hughes, Mel Karmazin, Jeff Smulyan, Dick Wiley, and others. 

There’s a new New York Yankee hero to add the list of legends associated with the Major League Baseball team.

Who knew that it would be a sportscaster whose widely known among English-language sports fans in Philadelphia who calls Yankees games en español while in the Bronx?

Rickie Ricardo is being lauded for rushing to the aid of the Yankees’ lead play-by-play announcer, John Sterling, late Wednesday, perhaps saving him from rising floodwaters associated with the remnants of Hurricane Ida.

Ricardo is the Spanish-language radio play-by-play voice of both the Yankees and the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, and is a host on Sports Talk WIP-FM 94.1 in Philadelphia, the Audacy-owned station.

Ricardo and Sterling were at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night, before rain and wind associated with Ida’s remnants arrived in the New York Tri-State Area, creating a late-night mess sparsely covered by local TV stations until the morning.

Sterling, 83, was in New Jersey, stranded on a road that had flooded. Cell phone reception was poor, and some 10 attempts were made for Ricardo to reach Sterling; Ricardo had called upon learning of how terrible the weather had become while also driving to his home in the Garden State.

Ricardo shared on WFAN Thursday morning what transpired from that point.

“He answered the phone and I said, ‘John, it’s Rickie. Where are you? … John is trying — in the dark because the lights are out — to describe to me where he’s at. He goes ‘Oh I’m in front of this Chinese restaurant on the corner of this bagel shop.’ And he’s in his car and the water’s rising.”

Ricardo sprang to action, and raced over the George Washington Bridge to find him. Suzyn Waldman, Sterling’s game-time partner, called Ricardo to give him the exact location: the unfortunately appropriately-named River Road in Edgewater, just south of the bridge and facing Columbia University on the opposite side of the Hudson River.

Ricardo got there. When he found Sterling, some 25 cars were stranded. The water had reached the tires of his automobile. Ricardo rolled up his pants, got out of his vehicle, waded through the flood waters, and got Sterling out safely into Ricardo’s Jeep.

“Finally I get John settled into my Jeep and he’s kind of shell shocked and I don’t blame him,” Ricardo said on WFAN.

The adventure didn’t end. Sterling’s home was just one half-mile away, but getting there proved difficult. With local law enforcement officers assisting, that trek took about an hour but was ultimately successful.

For Michael Kay, also associated with Yankees broadcasts, a trek home to Connecticut proved impossible, due to major flooding in the Bronx that turned the Major Deegan Expressway near Van Cortlandt into a deep river. Kay ended up spending the evening at his alma mater, Fordham University.

— With reports from Twitter and the New York Daily News.

He’d be celebrating five years at Gray Television‘s dual CBS/FOX-affiliated broadcast station serving the Mankato, Minn., market this month.

Sadly, the local leader’s brief battle with cancer ended Thursday, Sept. 2, leading those who worked with him at KEYC-12 and at Gray to mourn his loss.

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LOS ANGELES — For some, she’s fondly remembered as promoter “Bobbi Flekman” in the 1984 cult classic This is Spinal Tap. Most people know her as “The Nanny.”

Now, she’s succeeding Gabrielle Carteris as President of SAG-AFTRA.

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Fran Drescher has been chosen by the union’s national membership to fill the role, while Joely Fisher will serve as the next Secretary-Treasurer.

Their two-year terms began immediately upon the certification of the ballot count on Thursday (9/2).

It was a tight race, with Drescher seeing a strong competitor for the role that Carteris announced in June she’d relinquish. She’d been SAG-AFTRA President — and a highly vocal one — since her election in April 2016. In the election for president, Drescher received 16,958 votes, followed by Matthew Modine with 15,371 votes.

For the post of secretary-treasurer, Fisher received 18,547 votes, followed by Anthony Rapp with 13,593 votes.

A total of 122,154 ballots were mailed. Of the total number of votes, 32,362 were returned, equating to a return of 26.49%.

Commenting on her election, Drescher said, “Together we will navigate through these troubled times of global health crisis and together we will rise up out of the melee to do what we do best, entertain and inform. We must never forget the important contribution we make to many millions of people each and every day when they buy a ticket to sit in a dark theater or turn on their TVs or streaming devices. Our chosen professions within the SAG-AFTRA membership have literally gotten Americans to laugh, to learn, to momentarily escape that we are all in a pandemic. We members serve an invaluable purpose in the grand scheme of things. We must never forget who we are and what unites us as one union.”

SAG-AFTRA’s National Executive Director is Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.

With her election, Fisher continues a family tradition of union service, a path blazed by her mother, Connie Stevens, who served as secretary-treasurer for the Screen Actors Guild. Fisher’s acting credits include the role of “Paige Clark” on the Ellen DeGeneres sitcom Ellen, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Series, Mini-Series or Television Film.

SAG-AFTRA’s executive vice president, as well as the seven category and geographical vice presidents, will be elected by delegates at SAG-AFTRA’s biennial convention.

The event, which will be held October 15–18, will take place virtually, making it the latest affair to forego a live, in-person venue.

— RBR+TVBR West Coast Bureau, in Redondo Beach, Calif.

With growing calls for the Biden Administration to offer its nomination of an individual to serve as the official Chairman of the FCC, the NAB has filed comments with the Commission as part of its latest quadrennial review of broadcast ownership rules by staying the course on its quest to further deregulate the radio industry.

Given the chatter around D.C. over who would take over for Jessica Rosenworcel, the NAB’s words could easily fall on deaf ears.

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The author is director of engineering for Hubbard Radio Cincinnati.

Choosing Studio Technology to produce the studio furniture for the new Hubbard Radio Cincinnati cluster was one of the easier decisions that we made in that project.

Vince Fiola, Studio Technology’s owner, made a trip in person, sitting down with the local staff and development team in the earlier planning stages. He came up with several preliminary furniture designs based on the needs and features requested from our staff. After some revisions and tweaks, we had a solid furniture plan for the 12 studios that were to be built.

Studio Technology created 3D renderings of the studio spaces and furniture. Those renderings were helpful for the programming staff to better visualize the furniture design and how it would look spatially.

During the early stages of the building construction, Vince came back on-site and we did a walkthrough of the studios. He took detailed measurements and marked out where cable conduit wall boxes should ideally be located. He worked directly with our architects and their CAD drawings to ensure the furniture would fit perfectly into each space.

Studio Technology also worked with our interior designer and operations manager on the specific materials, finishes, colors, etc. After the furniture was installed, we had realized we needed to make a couple additions in the on-air studios. Studio Technology was extremely helpful and consulted through what the best options would be. They made it happen.

The furniture look was superb, and its design is very functional. Me and my team enjoyed working with it. Having the ample space inside to manage cabling and the overall easy cabinet access was great. The on-air and programming staff enjoy it daily because they now have a workspace that fits their needs.

We have been very pleased with the furniture from Studio Technology on this project.

For information, contact Vince Fiola at Studio Technology at 1-610-925-2785 or vince@studiotechnology.com.

Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.

The post User Report: Studio Technology Furnishes Hubbard in Cincinnati appeared first on Radio World.

The owner of an AM radio station with an FM translator has decided to sell the properties.

How appropriate. The licensee’s name is Sellers Broadcasting.

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Showing proof of a COVID-19 vaccination may be just one requirement the NAB is putting in place in order to attend the 2021 NAB Show in person come October 9 in Las Vegas.

The industry’s chief voice on Capitol Hill for broadcast TV and radio on Thursday left the possibility of a mask mandate open. It says a decision on mask requirements will be made in accordance with the CDC, the Nevada Governor, the Southern Nevada Health District and the Clark County Commission.

That decision will be made closer to the show. But, it signals the possibility that the event, even though it will prohibit unvaccinated attendees from participating, will still require mask use at all indoor events.

As stated above, proof of vaccination will be managed through CLEAR’s free mobile app and Health Pass feature or by a Vaccination Concierge Service before and during the Show.

The holidays, which we all assumed would be fairly normal this year, are just around the corner and unless things get better in a hurry, will be another source of stress in the lives of listeners. Radio can help  make a difference this year with more than Christmas music, says Andrew Curran, President/COO of DMR/Interactive.

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