Industry News

Broadcast software developer NeoGroupe has released a suite of tools for the remote screening of phone calls for radio talk shows.

According to the company, the offerings are headed by the NeoScreenerSmart mobile application (for iOS and Android, available from the stores). Supporting the app is the VPN compatibility of the company’s NeoScreener Windows application software, for both audio and control of phone lines and a cloud-hosted common shared database. The system does not require specified brands of telephone sets: The call screener can operate the phone lines from his/her home using a simple USB headset and microphone;

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The company describes a case study using a studio base in New York City that has a Telos VOIP phone system. It explains that call screeners can be at home in New Jersey and another in Connecticut, securely using the NeoScreener application while the host uses the NeoScreener application in Florida and sees the cued calls. He is able to air them in NYC. A co-host uses the iOS application on an iPad in Georgia to see the same calls that the host sees. He also has the same abilities to air calls, hold or drop them from the mobile application.

This framework allows the continuing remote operation of the show in the same way that it operated when in the studio, side-stepping COVID the travel restrictions. The usual workflow remains totally unchanged.

NeoScreener has also modules to handle prizes, winners, texting for callback and website interfaces. It is available in 10 languages. And finally, NeoGroupe recently added support for AEQ Systel VOIP Systems and the AVT THipPro line of phone systems, so that NeoScreener offers compatibility with the major phone systems available on the market.

Info: www.neogroupe.com

The post NeoGroupe Releases Call Screening Tools appeared first on Radio World.

Entercom named Tim Clarke as the senior vice president and market manager of its six-station Boston operation, which includes WBGB(FM), WMJX(FM), WWBX(FM), WEEI (AM/FM) and WVEI(AM).

Clarke was VP of content and audience for Cox Media Group and, before that, senior director of digital audience for CMG’s radio stations. He succeeds Mark Hannon, whose role recently expanded as regional president of 13 markets.

And Entercom also named Claudia Menegus as market manager for Miami. She is already regional president of Entercom Gainesville, Memphis, Miami and Orlando, where she also has market manager responsibilities; she took those roles last August. She succeeds Keriann Worley, who has left the company.

Menegus began her career with Infinity Broadcasting, which later merged with CBS Radio. She spent 18 years there including various roles in its Baltimore market and later as director of integrated marketing for CBS Radio Corporate, overseeing the Events and Experiences Division in 15 markets.

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Entravision Communications Corp., which owns radio and TV stations superserving U.S. Hispanic consumers, has determined when it will share its final fourth quarter and full-year 2020 financial results.

The announcement came on a highly active day for the company’s stock.

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The Reciva internet radio aggregation platform, which provides the tuning systems for some internet/WiFi radios made by manufacturers such as C. Crane, Grace Digital and Tangent, is to shut down by April 30, 2021.

Radio World has been unable to find any reason for the shutdown issued by Qualcomm, which owns the Reciva platform.

Originally the shutdown was supposed to occur on Jan. 31, 2021, but that deadline was extended in mid-January.

A headlined message “Notice: With effect from 30th April 2021 this website will be withdrawn” appears on the radios.reciva.com website. It has led to despairing posts from many internet radio fans.

“When Qualcomm pulls the plug, it’s gone,” wrote Solo2, administrator of the Internet Radio Forum.

“In the meantime — and I suppose it goes without saying — do not buy a new or used WiFi radio that relies on Reciva as it will not function properly without the Reciva aggregator service,” said www.swling.com.

Coincident with Reciva’s imminent demise, C. Crane has been preparing to release the CC WiFi-3 internet radio. Unlike the earlier CC WiFi radio that ran on Reciva, the CC WiFi-3 uses the Skytune platform.

C. Crane posted this message on its own website: “We were happy to be one of first companies to offer ad-free Internet radio because it allowed anyone to listen to the world without a fee. Fifteen years ago, Ben [Terrell], the founder of Reciva, had a small staff to create the software and volunteers around the world to help manage the station streams. We are sorry, but Reciva’s software will soon not work anymore.”

To assist stranded CC WiFi owners, C. Crane is offering a number of replacement offers, including a half-price sale (US$60 plus shipping, until June 1) for CC WiFi owners whose sets are out of warranty. C. Crane has a post about the Reciva situation here.

Meanwhile Grace Digital is helping owners of its older WiFi radios (manufactured 2007 to 2017) that rely on Reciva.

“If you have a legacy internet radio, to help with the transition, Grace Digital will offer special one-time discounts to effected customers,” states the company’s Upgrade page. It adds that, “based on the current information provided to Grace Digital the presets will continue to function for basic internet radio stations … However, please note this strategy will only work with standard radio stations.”

Finally, Tangent has cross-posted a list of internet radios affected by the Reciva platform shutdown. Referring to its now-discontinued Tangent QUATTRO internet radio, “We as radio manufacturer do not have the possibility of offering an alternative software as the module and software is made by RECIVA,” said Tangent-Audio.com.

The post Reciva Internet Radio Platform Shutting Down appeared first on Radio World.

The desert landscape surrounding Palm Springs, Calif., has gotten a big boost in recent years from The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which due to COVID-19 is cancelled for 2021. The region is also a big LGBTQ haven.

Now, the Coachella Valley has emerged as an investment opportunity for one Louie Comella. He’s the head of a media company that’s buying radio properties in the market due east of L.A.

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Central Virginia’s Classic Rock station, a Class C3 FM with a signal covering the Lynchburg half of the Roanoke market, has been owned by regional licensee Todd P. Robinson‘s WVJT LLC since August 2012.

Now, Robinson is selling the station to a nationally known operator that’s also locally based.

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In recent months, the Jeff Andrulonis-led Colonial Radio Group has successfully shifted the focus of its media operations from the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and Western New York to the Carolinas.

Now, one of Colonial’s three FMs in South Carolina is being spun.

The buyer? It’s a Maryland licensee whose behind an Oldies operation heard on an AM and a trio of FM translators due northeast of Baltimore.

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Idil Cakim is senior vice president, research and insights with Entercom. Devora Rogers is chief strategy officer with Alter Agents.

Life in our modern, always-on world has made for shorter attention spans as more options for information, entertainment, engagement and connection vie for our time. Today’s audiences jump from one media source to the next in a flash, giving brands only a few seconds to tell their story and call consumers to action.

When Entercom set out to discover how audio content and advertising fit into this equation, we wanted to understand how audio amplified messages and engaged audiences compared to other media. We designed a study to measure the impact of audio on audiences and define “engaged impressions.”

We employed a number of market research techniques to dive into how audiences consumed media and contextualize media choices they made as they: navigated their everyday activities; leaned in to get information about their communities; and sought entertainment.

Together with market research firm Alter Agents, Entercom decided on an approach consisting of a survey of a nationally representative population of adults, coupled with an agile neuroscience study by Immersion of individuals from the major U.S markets of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. We compiled the data to examine consumer experiences with audio such as over-the-air (OTA), streaming OTA and podcast versus other mediums such as TV, video, social, and pureplay platforms.

Immersion, the key metric in our study, is a scientific measure of emotional connection and attention. It reveals what audiences truly love and predicts their future actions.

Using our neuroscience partner’s platform, backed by 20 years of peer-reviewed science funded by DARPA, we measured variations in heart rate in order to understand what the brain values. We then coupled these findings with our survey results to create a multidimensional picture of media audiences.

Our findings fell into three core areas:

• Immersion, which predicts sales: Our data indicated that audio has the highest level of immersion among all the platforms. Linear TV and social media scored significantly lower. Immersion is predictive of sales at a very high analytical accuracy rate, surpassing 80%. The findings suggest audio impressions, which are more immersive, will yield sales. (Immersion is scored from 0 to 100; the higher the number, the more immersive the experience.)

Immersion Index:

Audio             57

AVOD            54

Digital video  54

Linear TV       52

Social media  52

• Impact, which is rooted in trust. When measuring variations in heart rate and brain activity, our researchers were actually reading biological signals of trust. Trust triggers memorability and action and is the underlying factor in audio impact. Our engaged impressions study found that the audio portfolio (69%), consisting of OTA, streaming OTA and podcasts, is significantly more trusted than other mediums such as TV (64%), social media (56%), YouTube (47%) and even Digital Pureplays (44%).

• Action, which moves business. Audio has a winning formula that moves people to take action. For example, we found that one-third of broadcast OTA listeners have taken action after hearing a host recommendation as part of a commercial (34%) or as part of their show (32%). Audio portfolios that blend local content and host recommendations to consumers create a ripe environment for advertisers and positively impact consumer action.

The findings from this study are critical for the audio industry, as they lay a data-driven foundation to “make the case” for the strength of audio.

As more and more mediums compete for audience attention, this study proves that audio can effectively reach, engage and mobilize audiences. Audio leads all other media formats in its natural ability to guide listeners into spaces where they are hyper-connected, open and receptive. Immersive audio experiences trigger memorability, trust and connection. Listeners are drawn in with a sense of community and belonging. And advertisers see consistent results.

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

Idil Cakim is senior vice president, research and insights with Entercom. She has devised marketing and communication strategies for Fortune 500 companies and non-profit organizations for 20 years.

Devora Rogers is chief strategy officer with Alter Agents, a strategic market research consultancy. She has led research teams, developed the methodology deployed for Google’s groundbreaking ZMOT research, and worked with dozens of global brands.

The post Audio Content Drives Unmatched Engagement appeared first on Radio World.

John Burtle has died. His career included stints at technology companies Automatic Tape Control (ATC) and Broadcast Electronics, where he once held the position of VP of product development.

He was 80, according to an obituary on the website of Hansen-Spear Funeral Home in Quincy, Ill.

“He was the force behind the BE automation products including the Control 16,” wrote his friend Chuck Kelly of Broadcast Electronics on social media.

According to the obituary, Burtle served in the U.S. Air Force and graduated from Chicago DeVry Tech School.

Andy Rector met Burtle while making a sales trip for ATC in the mid-1960s. Burtle eventually joined ATC, which would be purchased by Gates Radio, and he moved with the company from Bloomington to Quincy, Ill.

“John followed Larry Cervon when he purchased Broadcast Electronics and was instrumental in moving the BE operation [in 1977] from the Washington, D.C., area to Quincy,” Rector recalled.

Later in his career Burtle worked at ETC Computerland in computer training prior to retiring.

“John was a good friend and a fellow conservative,” Rector said. “He helped me put together a history of the broadcast tape cartridge machine which we presented to the Madison Broadcasters Clinic in 2008, the 50th anniversary of that device.” He called Burtle a great friend and fellow broadcaster.”Information about graveside services on Friday are on the funeral home website.

The post John Burtle Dies, Worked in Radio Tech appeared first on Radio World.

The iHeartMedia Region Senior Vice President of Sales for the Kentucky-Indiana Metro has been selected to serve as Market President for its Indianapolis radio stations.

Earning the promotion is Kristy Beebe.

As Market President, Beebe will work closely with the programming, business and sales teams and oversee all of the station’s on-air and digital programming as well as create new revenue opportunities.

She will report to Earl Jones, President for iHeartMedia Kentucky-Indiana Metro.

Beebe will be based in Indianapolis.

“I am so excited for Kristy’s well-deserved promotion to Market President,” said Jones. “She has earned the opportunity to lead our Indianapolis market. Kristy has been an incredible sales leader, coach, and major contributor to the success of iHeartMedia Kentucky-Indiana Metro.”

Beebe has held various sales leadership positions throughout her career, including Local Sales Manager and General Sales Manager for iHeartMedia Toledo and iHeartMedia Louisville. She began her career in sales at iHeartMedia in her hometown of Toledo, Ohio and is a graduate of Lourdes University.

“I am so thankful to Earl Jones and the iHeartMedia team for this new leadership opportunity,” said Beebe. “I am ready to lead the Indianapolis team to new heights as we work together to provide unmatched service to our listeners, advertisers and the community.”