Industry News

A committee that advises the Federal Communications Commission on diversity and “digital empowerment” in the media will have its mission broadened to cover the broader tech sector.

Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the Advisory Committee for Diversity and Digital Empowerment will be renamed the Communications Equity and Diversity Council.

“This committee is charged with providing recommendations to ensure that underserved communities are not denied the wide range of opportunities made possible by next-generation networks. Jamila Bess Johnson will remain the Designated Federal Officer for the committee, which will run for two years.”

The committee was created in 2017 with the goal of providing advice and recommendations about how to help disadvantaged communities and accelerate the entry of small businesses, “including those owned by women and minorities into the media, digital news and information, and audio and video programming industries.”

Rosenworcel complimented its work and described its members as including “some of the most talented civic-minded people in the communications industry, helping to open doors of opportunity that too often have been closed to women and minorities.”

But she said she hopes for “meaningful progress on these issues” of diversity and equity across the tech sector.

The current committee chair is Anna M. Gomez, partner at Wiley Rein, representing the Hispanic National Bar Association. Among current members who will be familiar to radio readers are Raúl Alarcón of the Spanish Broadcasting System, Caroline Beasley of Beasley Media Group, Skip Dillard of Emmis Communications, Nimisha Shukla of NJ Broadcasting/South Asian Broadcasting and James L. Winston of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters.

The post Rosenworcel Widens Focus of Diversity Group appeared first on Radio World.

Go northwest of Chicago’s Loop, and you’ll find such communities as Des Plaines, Norridge and Rosemont. Here, a 300-watt Class A FM using a tower in Schiller Park has offered listener-supported “Radio for the Jesus People” to the area.

That’s about to change, thanks to the sale of this tiny noncomm.

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For the past 11 years, he’s run a New York advisory firm consulting such entities as Premiere Networks, Viacom, Westwood One, and GeoBroadcast Solutions.

Now, Gary Krantz is joining an investment bank focused on the media, marketing, information and technology industries.

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Add Best Buy to the list of big consumer brands that have committed to spending billions of dollars over the next four years with “BIPOC” and minority-owned “diverse” businesses.

This pledge, the electronics retailer notes, “includes plans to increase all forms of spending” from nearly every corner of Best Buy — including marketing and how it advertises.

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LOS ANGELES — The free streaming platform owned by Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group is bulking up its lineup with the addition of a host of free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels.

The move is designed to increase awareness, and usage, of Local Now.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — It took exactly 60 minutes for the biggest lobbying voice for commercially licensed broadcast media to issue a statement that predictably pans the introduction in the U.S. House of Representatives of the “American Music Fairness Act.”

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He’s been “an integral part” of the Fox Television stations team for 14 years and was “a natural fit” for this position, says Fox TV Stations CEO Jack Abernethy.

Meet the new SVP of Digital Operations for the Fox owned-and-operated over-the-air stations.

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Until his surprising defeat in the 2018 Democratic Primary Election to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Joe Crowley spent 20 years in Congress representing a working class section of Queens, New York. Today, he’s in the National Capital Region, settling into his first month as Chairman of musicFIRST — a lobbying group described by The Recording Academy as “a coalition that fights for fairness and equity for music creators.”

To say Crowley hit the ground running is perhaps an understatement. Just days after his appointment, he was Tweeting about how “it’s past time to pay artists for their work.” Now comes the introduction of the American Music Fairness Act — crafted in part with Crowley’s input.

In an exclusive interview, Crowley shares why this bill’s introduction is important, and how it differs from multiple failed attempts in recent years to get Congress to pass a radio royalty proposal.

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If at first you don’t succeed … then dust yourself off and try again.”

Those are the lyrics to Aaliyah’s early 2000 chart-topper “Try Again,” the first single to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 based solely on airplay. Without radio, would it have been a hit? Would Aaliyah’s place in the annals of rock ‘n’ hip-hop history be sealed?

The argument that Radio cements the success of recording artists continues to be debated, as does the belief by recording industry advocates that the artist isn’t getting its fair share of the royalties they deserve from the airplay of their songs. Numerous attempts at giving singers and musicians more money from Radio have come and gone in the last five years.

The latest effort, which takes a novel scaled royalty payment approach, has just been introduced in Congress. It’s a bipartisan bill from two Members who’ve tried before, and now seek support of what they’re calling the “American Music Fairness Act.”

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From our “Who’s Buying What” page: WSIE 88.7 “The Sound” recently put in a bunch of Heil Sound microphones as part of a studio upgrade project. The mics were donated by the manufacturer.

The station at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville installed 14 PR30s as well as PL2T booms and PRSM shockmounts. The mics are being used in its main studio, production and voice tracking rooms.

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

Jason Church is director of operations and general manager at The Sound. Heil quoted him as saying that at WSIE, students are taught skills that apply to traditional radio, streaming, podcasting, YouTube and other media. “They come here and work on real equipment and learn to present themselves on the air in a professional manner.”

The school and the manufacturer are both located near St. Louis. Their partnership was arranged by Michelle Levitt, marketing director for Heil Sound, who was contacted by a representative at the school about underwriting partners.

Users and suppliers are both welcome to submit news for “Who’s Buying What.” Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

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