Industry News

In just four years, Bill Christian and Mike Reed launched, from scratch, a group of television stations serving the Lafayette, Ind., market — the home of Purdue University.

They’d go on to acquire other TV stations, including a LPTV property in Manchester, Vt., while building up operations in Jonesboro, Ark., and the Tri-Cities of Tennessee.

Now, Christian and Reed are selling nearly all of their TV stations, along with the four radio stations they own, too. Kalil & Co. is the broker of record.

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As 1999 came to a close, Cumulus Media spent $41 million to acquire four FMs and an AM serving California’s Central Coast and two FMs and an AM in Eugene-Springfield, Ore.

The Golden State AM that came in the McDonald Media Group buy first signed on the air in 1948, and from the mid-1960s through 1980 was a profitable MOR station typical of the times. But, times change. By 2000 it was locally programmed Oldies “1450 The Boomer.” In 2010, it was an affiliate of the “True Oldies Channel.” By the time January 2013 ended, its first weeks as one of the first CBS Sports Radio affiliates had been seen.

Now, the station is all but a memory. Cumulus on July 23 surrendered its license to the FCC.

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Quu Inc., a tech company working to bring dynamic visuals to radio broadcasts, is welcoming a head of marketing and a Product Manager to its executive leadership team.

The two individuals are radio industry veterans, and both report to Quu CEO Steve Newberry.

Now serving as Head of Marketing is Suzy Schultz, most recently at the helm of her own marketing and content production company, Creative Prism. Schultz previously served as SVP/Corporate Marketing for Cumulus Media’s Westwood One arm, and has served as a Managing Editor at iHeartRadio.

The Product Manager post has gone to Ben Husmann.

That’s the person most recently in the COO slot at AccuRadio. Prior to that, he was the SVP/Product and Technology for Emmis Communications’ now-concluded subsidiaries TagStation and NextRadio.

Quu enables radio stations to publish sales and programming messages on car dashboards. These “Visual Quus” sync with on-air content, creating what Quu believes are immediate incremental revenue opportunities through the addition of text and images.

Given new face mask guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, what’s the first thing radio or TV station management should do in response to the update?

That’s just one of several questions Keith Wilkes, a Tulsa-based labor and employment partner at the law firm of Hall Estill, answers in this all-new InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM. 

When it comes to keeping employees safe from the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus, consulting legal counsel may be top-of-mind for some HR executives. What Wilkes offers could very well assist your team in every market your company operates in.

If you go to the NAB Show or Radio Show in October, it may be your first look at the massively expanded Las Vegas Convention Center. And you might also be able to take a ride in the Boring Tunnel Loop.

CNET posted this video report about the tunnel by Senior Editor Claire Reilly, which gives you a look:

The project, nicknamed “Teslas in a Tunnel,” opened in June based on a conception by Elon Musk. It is a three-station transportation system with 1.7 miles of tunnel, cored out by a special boring machine.

It connects the LVCC New Exhibit Hall with the familiar, North/Central/South Halls and is intended to reduce a walk of up to 45 minutes with a free 2 minute underground car ride (here’s a map). The Boring Co. would like to build it out to a much bigger system eventually.

An NAB official confirmed that the loop will be running during the NAB Show in October.

The post Get a Look at the LVCC’s Boring Tunnel Loop appeared first on Radio World.

In a move to simplify operation, BossFM, a radio station in Abuja, Nigeria, has adopted Lawo’s Rɘlay virtual soft mixer to replace its digital console hardware. This was, according to a release. Aimed at making operation “as straight-forward and intuitive as possible” for the station’s talent.

The release explained that the stations ownership said, “Showing our on-air talent and staff the basic functionalities of this novel tool took just a couple of hours. The first show presented with our new virtual setup went live that same afternoon.”

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

Rɘlay can handle 24 audio sources across its AES67-compliant digital audio network, all using a laptop computer or a connected touchscreen at a minimum. There are other tools and third-party hardware and software to expand Rɘlay’s capabilities.

Mega Cyber Plus, Lawo’s Nigerian partner, provided the integration and will handle servicing.

Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

Info: https://lawo.com

The post Lawo’s Rɘlay Please the BossFM appeared first on Radio World.

On July 19, RBR+TVBR reported on the completion of a Spokane transaction that saw the sale of an AM and FM by the Warner Tillman-led Legend Broadcasting.

Just eight days later, the entity that purchased those properties is spinning the FM — along with its four boosters — to a “growing Christian” broadcast ministry.

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Until now, the TuneIn audio service — and its globally used app found in everything from exercise equipment to smartphones and smart speakers — was somewhat limited in its domestic radio streaming offerings.

The reason: iHeartMedia and Audacy, formerly Entercom, found it best to go their own way by funneling all who wished to stream their over-the-air stations on proprietary platforms iHeartRadio and what was Radio.com, respectively.

Now, iHeart has changed its tune.

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Its stock price is just south of $150 at just five dollars below an all-time high that came on March 8 and was nearly replicated in late June.

And, as of August 9, it will have a new Chief Financial Officer in place, allowing Tom Carter to focus on his President/COO role.

Nexstar Media Group is riding high as it prepares to release its Q2 2021 earnings report on August 4. Now, its board of directors has responded with a rich reward to its shareholders of record as of August 13.

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Two days ago, Zacks Equity Research analysts predicted that American Tower Corp. would likely beat Wall Street estimates with a strong Q2 2021 performance.

It turns out that Zacks was absolutely correct in its assessment, with its quarterly funds from operations, or “FFO,” easily beating Zacks’ calculations.

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