Industry News

Since the start of 2018, he’s been the VP of Broadcast Digital for Salem Media Group. 

Now, this former USA Today Network/LOCALiQ Group Sales Director is adding SVP stripes.

Now SVP/Broadcast Digital is Jamie Cohen. He will now be called on to oversee all aspects of the digital operations for Salem’s local and National/Network digital efforts.

He reports to Salem Broadcast Media President Dave Santrella, who said, “Jamie has done a tremendous job building Salem’s digital enterprise for our local stations. Overseeing all aspects of our digital operations, both locally and nationally, will open more channels of opportunity and unify our efforts in reaching our audiences through digital avenues and monetizing our digital assets.”

Cohen added, “I’m proud of the progress we’ve made and am bullish on our future. With the emergence of platforms like Salem Now, the Salem Podcast Network and other innovations, our audience has never been bigger. We have an amazing opportunity ahead of us and I can’t think of a better place to be.”

Cohen started his career at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, as an account executive for its STLToday.com operation.

Last week, the FCC concluded “Auction 109,” a bidding contest that saw the government offer construction permits for 135 new FM stations and four AMs in St. Louis. As previously reported by RBR+TVBR the AMs attracted not even one single bid.

That said, some 38 FMs went unsold in the auction. For Wilkinson Barker Knauer attorney David Oxenford, this presents one big question: Does this result say something about the FCC’s local ownership rules?

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As Oxenford points out, the FCC will have raised $12,344,110 from Auction 109. However, the bulk of the dollars are attributed to two properties. More than $6 million will go for a new Sacramento FM at 107.9 MHz, with iHeartMedia the company getting the chance to bring a station back on a signal once home to KDND-FM. The other big-dollar FM deal is one for just over $3 million, and involves a signal covering the northern portion of the Dallas metropolitan area.

Thus, the $12.34 million total could have been higher — if only those AMs in St. Louis and the 38 FMs were sold by the Commission.

What happened? Oxenford says, “The 42 channels that were unsold range from channels allotted to small communities in states like Wyoming or Alaska that were predicted to serve very few people, thus having opening bids as low as $750 that no one was willing to meet, to channels in somewhat bigger communities including channels in New York state and Colorado that had opening bids of $75,000, indicating that they would serve a substantial number of people.”

Why did the FMs in New York and Colorado fail to get a bid? “[T]he prices were apparently deemed too high to justify for companies looking for a business return,” Oxenford says.

But, he also ties the lack of bids for the FMs and the zero interest in the St. Louis-area AMs, to the FCC’s local radio ownership rules.

“Many of the unsold channels are in communities where there are already local broadcasters,” he says. “In some cases, I have been told that parties would have been interested in bidding on channels that went unsold but, because of the FCC’s ownership limitations, they were precluded from owning those stations.  So instead of providing new service to the public, these channels will lie fallow providing service to no one.”

Thus, the argument that deregulation can help the broadcast media industry along with the brokerage community and, most importantly, local listeners appears bolstered by Oxenford’s reasoning.

The timing could not be better for the broadcast industry, even though current FCC leadership is hardly open to further deregulation of AM and FM station ownership.

Oxenford points out that comments on whether changes should be made to the FCC’s radio ownership rules are due to be filed at the FCC on September 2. “The results of this auction may well be instructive on the issues that the FCC will be considering,” he says. “In comments filed in 2019, parties talked about stations in their smaller radio markets that are essentially nothing but a transmitter and a computer – providing no real local service – when local owners who do cover the issues of importance to local communities are precluded from using these channels to provide new services, as the ownership rules do not permit such ownership. The radio industry has significantly changed since the 1996 Telecommunications Act which set the current radio ownership limits. No longer is owning a local radio station the dream of every amateur DJ or kid with an interest in electronics – many of those dreams are now fulfilled by digital channels.  But there are still broadcasters who want to serve local communities.  Perhaps the result of this auction and the other comments filed on September 2 will inform the Commission on the realities of the current audio marketplace – realities that can impact their assessment of whether the current radio ownership limitations remain in the public interest.”

On Thursday (8/12), global advertising company dentsu announced that it has adopted a new policy in which it will pay all minority-owned media within 30 days.

This includes Black-owned radio and television stations, and is a decision that the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) calls “a game-changing commitment.”

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Expanding on its existing relationship with Mercedes Benz, Xperi announced that HD Radio receivers will be available in digital dash displays of Freightliner Cascadia trucks early next year.

Xperi SVP/GM Jeff Jury said in an announcement that the Freightliner Cascadia “will be the first commercial truck to fully implement HD Radio technology in its cab.”

Daimler Trucks North America is the parent of the Freightliner line.

The two companies have worked together before, including in the hybrid radio space. Xperi’s DTS AutoStage system was introduced to the market in the Daimler MB User Experience (MBUX) in the 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

Xperi says HD Radio technology is now available from approximately 40 manufacturers in about 200 vehicle models and that it is in 75+ million vehicles.

The post HD Radio Snags a Spot With Freightliner appeared first on Radio World.

Here Comes TikTok.

That’s the declaration from Gordon Borrell, whose Borrell Associates has released another nugget from its April to late June 2021 Local Ad Agency Survey.

Here’s what broadcast media executives and sales associates need to know about how this rise could impact their chances of a buy — or not.

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A small broadcaster with TV stations in its home market of Salisbury-Ocean City, Md.; adjacent city Dover, Del.; Bowling Green, Ky.; Glenwood Springs, Colo.; and two Georgia markets in June 2020 agreed to a transaction involving Jeff and Janet Winemiller.

Now, the Winemillers are selling another property to this company — this time a LPTV facility serving Music City USA.

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In a major development heralding the possibilities for all broadcasters with the new ATSC 3.0 digital television broadcast standard, the first Broadcast Internet remote learning service has been deployed.

It is now up and running in the Nation’s Capital, and its over-the-air launch is thanks in part to a partnership with ONE Media 3.0 and Sinclair Broadcast Group.

The EduCast service’s deployment is a victory for Chantilly, Va.-based SpectraRep, and is utilizing the NEXTGENTV signal powering Sinclair’s WIAV-CD 44 in Washington, D.C.

The facility’s signal contour covers the entire National Capital Region and the Baltimore suburbs.

The deployment is the first Broadcast Internet remote learning service in the nation to utilize NextGen TV to deliver educational services that are designed to mitigate broadband access issues for students and teachers around the country.

In short, EduCast allows educators to immediately evaluate and deploy Broadcast Internet in the region for remote learning.

Broadcast Internet, also known as datacasting, uses digital television transmission infrastructure to deliver IP-based content to users within a broadcaster’s transmission footprint.

“When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country and students and teachers were sent home, we saw the negative impacts on remote learners without access to adequate broadband,” said Mark O’Brien, President and Chief Technology Officer of SpectraRep. “Issues like homework gaps and equity in education became even more acute, and we quickly realized we could help to bridge the digital divide through our technology and the enhanced advances offered by ATSC 3.0, in the same way we’ve supported public safety and law enforcement customers.”

EduCast uses a portion of the digital television capacity to deliver a secure, wireless data network that safely delivers targeted assignments, course materials and classroom
videos to students.

O’Brien says EduCast is operational and available in 12 states using the ATSC 1.0 transmission standard.

With ATSC 3.0, “we can directly support even more students faster and in a timeframe and manner that keeps them learning no matter what the new school year brings,” O’Brien says.

John McCoskey, SpectraRep’s COO, adds, “When the ATSC 3.0 standard was ratified, we knew it could dramatically improve our service offerings due to its native IP architecture, increased data capacity, and better reception characteristics. Our goal was to enhance our services to operate using both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 transmission systems and to provide stations and end users a simple, no-cost transition from one to the other. At the station that means just configuration changes and moving a few cables. The in-home receiver we chose and have deployed already supports both transmission standards.”

In anticipation of the staggered and voluntary transition of stations from the current standard to NextGen TV ATSC 3.0, SpectraRep partnered with DigiCAP to develop an advanced in-home receiver capable of simultaneous operation using both ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 transmission.

Educators access the EduCast service using their existing Learning Management System (LMS) and tools. In a student’s home, the DigiCAP receiver connects to a simple TV antenna that is used to receive the broadcast signal and the IP content it carries.  The receiver establishes a Wi-Fi hotspot in the home that students connect to with their Chromebook, tablet, laptop, or smartphone.  The receiver stores up to 128 GBytes of educator-curated content.  This can include videos, presentation slides, worksheets, interactive documents, and images. Anything that can be saved as a file can be delivered.

On June 30, 2017, Continental Broadcasting Corp. sold a Class B AM in Phoenix to an entity controlled by Vic Michael Jr.

Now, less than two years after asking the FCC for a Construction Permit allowing him to “diplex” the AM with another property he owned, Michael is spinning this kHz-band facility along with its FM translator.

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If the audio media company formerly known as Entercom ever needed a shot in the arm from a Wall Street analyst, it arrived over the weekend.

The Insiders Forum, which reviews “attractive small- and mid-cap” stock insiders are buying, says now is the time to purchase Audacy shares. Why?

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For more than 10 years, New York Spectrum Holding Company — controlled by Chau-Chi “Charles” Wong — has engaged in the acquisition of low-power broadcast TV stations. Among the licensee’s leaders across its history is Vern Fotheringham, CEO of ARK Multicasting.

In recent weeks, Wong has emerged as a seller, and has agreed to spin LPTVs in Florida to Ravi Kapur. Now, Wong is exiting Houston.

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