Industry News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An FCC Enforcement Bureau Advisory related to obligations under the Communications Act to comply with the Sponsorship ID laws requiring disclosure of program sponsorship when airing paid-for programming has been dispatched.

Also released Friday by the Commission: a Public Notice as a reminder of the obligation to place sharing agreements into the public file.

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The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB), the Native American Journalists Association and the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) on Friday came together to submit a letter to the House Judiciary Subcommittee supporting the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA).

This, if passed after several unsuccessful bill introductions, would create an antitrust safe harbor allowing news producers to negotiate with digital platforms over the carriage terms of their content.

Tied to the bill’s reintroduction in Congress was a Friday House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law hearing titled “Reviving Competition, Part 2: Saving the Free and Diverse Press.”

On behalf of the NAB, which supports the JCPA, Graham Media Group President/CEO Emily Barr testified before the Subcommittee.

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The FCC, under former Chairman Ajit Pai largely fueled by Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, opened the door to a potentially game-changing proposal for an industry desperate for its own addressable advertising solution.

Thanks to technology developed by GeoBroadcast Solutions, the company behind Maxxcasting — which brings “fringe” FM signals a city-grade contour — has developed a scheme that splits, if you will, an FM station by zones.

Proponents say it’s a great way for some radio broadcasters to better compete with local digital media. Opponents including the NAB and groups representing multicultural broadcasters warn such a plan could present harm to niche ethnic stations already struggling to survive while destroying an already fragile rate structure at bigger stations.

Whether broadcasting remains broad or can get narrower saw GeoBroadcastSolutions, the MMTC and NABOB all state their case to the Commission on Friday.

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New York – Management Consultant/Director
New York Market Radio Committee (NYMRC)

(Short Term)
The independent consultant/contractor will contract with the New York State Broadcasters Association, Inc. (NYSBA). The consultant will advise the NYSBA leadership and the New York Market Radio Committee (NYMRC) a subcommittee of NYSBA. The primary task is to advance the profile of the local radio industry in New York City. Ability to creatively and persuasively educate the advertising community about the continued influence of radio in Market #1 is essential to the role. Also the skill to engage with the press to tell the success story of FM/AM, along with the growing power of digital audio, is a key as well. The consultant will be responsible for developing overall strategy of elevating New York radio from ideation to execution. If you love and appreciate local radio and can become its biggest advocate, then this position is for you. This short term independent contract position is intended to last for six months, but may be extended.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Work closely with NYSBA leadership and the NYMRC to craft and execute a fully integrated communication plan to support local radio, including strong use of social platforms.
• Liaise with the leadership of the New York City based radio broadcasters to better understand their needs for industry advocacy.
• Identify key advertising industry relationships to build and/or strengthen bonds with local radio broadcasters.
• Interface with the press, both industry and general market, to communicate the compelling stories of impact from New York City radio. This includes proactively seeking public speaking engagements.
• Responsibly manage an operating budget provided by NYSBA to accomplish NYMRC’s goals efficiently.
• Manage the NYMRAC digital footprint, along with drafting press releases.

QUALIFICATIONS:
• Minimum seven (7) years’ experience in a leadership role in local media, preferably radio.
• Knowledge of New York City advertising, media, digital and communications landscape.
• Self-starter who is detailed orientated and can deftly manage multiple stakeholders to garner consensus.
• Creative problem solver, who can build a step by step solution to areas of focus.
• Comfortable presenting to and interacting directly with clients and media.

CONTRACT AMOUNT – Negotiable
REPLY DEADLINE – April 30, 2020
CONTACT – David L. Donovan, President NYSBA, 1805 Western Avenue Albany, NY 12203 at (518) 456-8888 or ddonovan@nysbroadcasters.org

It is the policy of the New York State Broadcasters Association, Inc. when contracting to comply with all federal, state and local law, policy, orders, rules and regulations which prohibit unlawful discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability or marital status.

Publication of the latest The Infinite Dial report by Triton Digital and Edison Research is nudging the series to the quarter-century mark, with the first release taking place in 1998. The current edition tracks media consumption in a year that was full of surprises. A recent online presentation hosted by Tom Webster, senior vice president at Edison Research and John Rosso, president of market development at Triton Digital, summarized this year’s key findings.

The broad view of 2020, according to Webster and Rosso, is that all media took a hit during the disruptive period starting in March, with layoffs, lockdowns and many beginning to work from home. The good news is that by January 2021, when The Infinite Dial’s telephone survey of 1,507 people was taken, things had pretty well returned to normal, with the expected growth being seen in most areas.

Smartphone ownership experienced rapid growth from the time of its introduction in 2009 through 2017, when it began to plateau as the market approached saturation. Nevertheless, the numbers went from 85 million owners in 2019 to an estimated 88 million in 2021. Webster and Rosso speculate that this increase may have been driven largely by Apple’s introduction of the second generation iPhone SE in April.

Not all devices are enjoying an uptick in popularity, according to Triton and Edison’s data. Tablet ownership peaked at 56% of the U.S. population in 2019, and has since declined to an estimated 51% for the current year. At the same time, the data suggests that internet-connected watch ownership seems to have hit a plateau. In 2018 and 2019, 17% of the U.S. population owned one, and the estimated number only rose to 18% for 2021.

In the no-big-surprise department, smart speakers seem to have had another good year. The Infinite Dial’s numbers suggest that ownership jumped from 27% in 2020 to an estimated 33% for this year. Webster and Rosso add that the researchers dug a bit deeper to try and understand why there was this much growth. When this same question of ownership was asked of those who are employed full- or part-time and work from home, the number jumped from 33–49%. Correlation, as they say, is not causation, but it makes one wonder if the economic upheaval of 2020 might not have had a positive effect on smart speaker sales.

Further signs of smart speaker growth, according to The Infinite Dial 2021,  may be found in data on number of smart speakers in a household. In 2018, the first year that numbers were collected, 67% of respondents owned one smart speaker, 22% owned two, and just 11% owned three or more. Ownership for the current year is 47% owning one, 19% with two, and 34% with three or more. Webster and Rosso posit that this data suggests many first-time buyers are starting out with two or more smart speakers.

The post Despite Disruptions in 2020, Media Consumption Trends Upwards appeared first on Radio World.

JACKSONVILLE — The Market President for iHeartMedia’s Jacksonville, Fla., station group has just been elevated to a key corporate-level sales post at the audio media company.

It’s a role that will see her report to Multi-Market Partnerships President Julie Donohue, as this 20-year iHeart vet takes on the new role of SVP/Multicultural Sales for the Markets Group.

Taking the role: Nicky Sparrow.

With the promotion, Sparrow will lead multicultural ad sales revenue for the Markets Group division. “Sparrow will apply her deep knowledge of multicultural audiences and strong relationships with multicultural ad agencies and brands to build, drive, influence and execute strategic multicultural initiatives across the iHeartMedia sales organization,” iHeartMedia said.

Donohue commented, “Nicky continues to demonstrate strong leadership skills and with her expansive experience, expertise in sales and vision for creating an innovative, strategic focus on our multicultural audiences, I am fully confident she is the person to lead our multicultural sales efforts.”

Sparrow says she’s “thrilled for this next step in my career. I’ve been with iHeartMedia for more than 20 years, and I can’t wait to take my experience and strong relationships with partners and advertisers to further deliver and create innovative and effective multicultural opportunities for our consumers that will not only grow our portfolio of assets, but represent and truly connect with our diverse audiences.”

Sparrow began her career at iHeartMedia as a sales representative in 1999, in Tupelo, Ms. She later rose to General Sales Manager, and in 2005 moved to Tallahassee to become Director of Sales. In 2008, she was promoted to GSM of iHeart/Jacksonville. After shifting to Memphis in 2011 as DOS and, later, taking the SVP role for iHeart/New Orleans, she returned to Jacksonville in January 2016 to serve as Market President.

In November 1993, Gary Cocola — the Fresno-based digital multicast pioneer — acquired a low-power TV station in one of the fastest-growing markets in the U.S. West.

Now, Cocola is parting ways with the LPTV station, the Azteca América affiliate in this Mountain West locale.

The buyer? Lawrence Weissman and Ted Achilles own it.

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Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., is a major U.S. Armed Forces training site, nestled within the Ozarks of Mid-Missouri.

The closest city of size is St. Robert, and a Class C3 FM playing Adult Contemporary Country favorites is trading hands.

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Two leading minority organizations are calling for the creation of a test pilot program before the FCC makes any decision about geo-targeting via FM boosters.

The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters made the recommendation to the Federal Communications Commission, which has been taking industry input about the geo-targeting concept proposed by technology company Geo-Broadcast Solutions.

Advocates of the GBS idea have cited potential benefits to minority broadcasters and businesses among its selling points; and MMTC and NABOB have been among those expressing support for the concept.

But the National Association of Broadcasters and several large radio groups expressed strong opposition in the recent comment period, saying that geo-targeting could have serious technical and financial implications for the FM business model.

Now Maurita Coley and David Honig, who are respectively president/CEO and president emeritus/senior advisor of MMTC, and James Winston, president/CEO of NABOB, have told the FCC, “The NPRM contains 103 questions. Fortunately, many of the 103 questions may be answerable with engineering and economic data that could be produced by a pilot test of the technology.”

They encouraged “the leading parties” to collaborate to design and execute a pilot with at least three markets: urban, suburban and rural.

“We recommend that the pilot be designed to address all of the questions raised in the comment round of this proceeding, including the impact of the technology on local advertising markets. We encourage the commission to help unite all parties in the quest for a universally beneficial result.”

[Related: “ZoneCasting Will Level the Playing Field for Radio”]

The post Minority Groups Call for a Geo-Targeting Pilot appeared first on Radio World.

The Federal Communications Commission has a couple of reminders for U.S. radio and TV stations.

First, its Enforcement Bureau has issued an advisory to broadcasters about their obligations for sponsorship identification.

“Broadcasters who air paid-for programming without disclosing the program’s sponsor can mislead the public and promote unfair competition,” the bureau reminded them in a public announcement.

“Such non-disclosures foster the perception by the public that a paid announcement is the station’s editorial content, while concealing that the station is being paid by a third party to promote a particular message. That impression can also give undisclosed sponsors an unfair advantage over competitors whose paid programming is properly disclosed as paid-for material.”

The document summarizes broadcasters’ disclosure obligations and provides more information; read it here.

Second, with the broadcast license renewal cycle moving ahead, the Media Bureau is reminding commercial broadcast licensees that every “sharing” agreement about the operation of the station must be retained in their online public files.

That includes lease of airtime, joint sale of advertising or sharing of operational services.

“Commercial broadcast licensees have a longstanding obligation to place in their OPIF, within 30 days of their execution, public copies of every agreement or contract involving the lease of airtime on a licensee’s station (or of another station by the licensee) and every agreement for the joint sale of advertising time involving the station,” the bureau wrote.

It emphasized that these requirements are based on the substance of an agreement rather than its title, even if it is not specifically labeled as a “Time Brokerage Agreement,” “Local Marketing Agreement,” “Joint Sales Agreement” or “Shared Services Agreement.”

Broadcasters have seen recently that the FCC is well aware of what is in their online public files, given the announcements in recent months of numerous consent decrees involving public and political files not being kept current.

The post FCC Issues Enforcement Reminders appeared first on Radio World.