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Young Vermonters learn the ins and outs of working at WGDR/WGDH, which is now the only full-power community owned and operated noncommercial radio in the state. Photo: Central Vermont Community Radio

Nearly 50 years after its first broadcast, a Vermont community radio station has announced that is officially owned by the public — a rare feat in the annals of radio ownership transition.

Station WGDR/WGDH was built and operated by Goddard College in Plainfield, Vt., as a college and community radio station. In 2020, the newly established nonprofit Central Vermont Community Radio (CVCR) was gifted the radio station from the college, making it the only full-power community owned and operated noncommercial station in Vermont.

The transfer represents “a huge milestone nationally for the public and community radio industry,” the station said in a release. The move is noteworthy, especially for a college station, since university- and college-owned stations across the country are often sold to meet budget shortfalls, the station said.

[Learn more about community broadcasting with our Community Broadcaster column]

Under CVCR’s ownership, the station will continue its affiliation with the Pacifica Network, a community of independent radio stations that give local communities a platform on which to share local issues on a national level. The Pacifica Network also airs nationally broadcast programming like “Democracy Now” and live coverage of international events.

With this move, Goddard College is saying that their commitment to residents, students and the local culture is far greater than money, said Ernesto Aguilar, executive director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. “When institutions like Goddard say they want to pass the torch of media access in this way, it’s worthy of thanks and celebration,” he said.

The transition allows WGDR/WGDH to continue to broadcast a diversity of ideas, stories and culture to Vermonters across the northern part of the state.

“Radio is more relevant and relatable today, especially on a local level,” the station said in its statement. “When you tune in to community radio, you hear the voices of your neighbors, which, during the pandemic, has proven to be a powerful tool in remaining connected.”

CVCR said it will continue the mission of the station, providing a forum that covers issues such as social justice, arts and music and protection of the environment.

“As an independent station, WGDR/WGDH will be able to pursue a variety of ways to diversify not just what is broadcast, but who is given a voice on the air, uplifting the stories of those who are underrepresented in the current Vermont media landscape,” the station said. “CVCR takes this deep responsibility of community radio to heart as it takes on ownership of WGDR/WGDH. CVCR invites all to tune in to help program what comes next.”

 

The post Vermont Station Celebrates Transition to Public Ownership appeared first on Radio World.

Adthos has introduced what it calls “the only free ad-serving technology built specifically for radio.”

Adthos Ad-Server is an ad sales application that replaces playout of ads by an existing automation system, allowing digital audio and radio “to be sold seamlessly within a single integrated campaign.”

The company said the accompanying “integrations” provide users more flexibility; replace audio live and quickly without having to take multiple actions; and send reconciliation back to the user’s traffic system. The system also can facilitate local insertion on boosters and translators, and integrate workflows between the user’s digital and broadcast products.

Its streaming encoder encodes streams in AAC, HE-AAC and MP3, and is compatible with major streaming servers.

The platform is free to stations, and Adthos says further releases are planned later this year.

Adthos is a trademark of Wedel Software. The introduction was announced by CEO Raoul Wedel.

“Adthos Ad-Server can be installed without the need for multiple integrations and zero downtime. Radio stations gain the ability to easily sell, schedule and execute multi-platform campaigns with minimal intervention and with many tasks completely automated,” the company stated.

“In the first release, users can enjoy features such as instant reconciliation and an intuitive customer interface providing for updates and insights on campaigns at a moment’s notice, while the ability to replace spots in real time delivers incredible responsiveness.”

The post Adthos Ad-Server Is Free Ad-Serving App for Radio appeared first on Radio World.

There’s a new Market President for the iHeartMedia radio stations serving Salt Lake City.

At the same time, a member of the sales team has been elevated to a Sr. VP position in that department.

Why are the changes being made? Stu Stanek, who has been with iHeartMedia for more than 20 years, on Monday retired.

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The woman who has served as President/CEO of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) is no longer in the role.

Effective today, Maurita Coley has retired from the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group.

Her replacement is immediately taking over her position.

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With the Memorial Day holiday weekend leading one department store chain to bump up its ad spend, one health and beauty brand greatly accelerated its spending at spot TV to finish at No. 3 in the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten TV report.

At the same time, a big Procter & Gamble Co. brand is back on the weekly report.

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By Rosemary Ravinal

Masks off! … If you are fully vaccinated.  Yet, some people may opt to continue to WFH, at least part of the time.  Knowledge workers have become accustomed to working remotely, and splitting time between the office and home is expected to become the new normal, according to a PwC’s Remote Work Survey 2021.

How should businesses combine the flexibility of remote work with the opportunities of in-office interactions?  Hybrid solutions provide the best of both worlds with employees rotating in and out of offices configured for the virtual world.

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When it comes to retransmission consent fees, there’s perhaps no more touchier subject for both broadcast TV station owners and for MVPDs that earn revenue for bringing crystal-clear signals of these stations to their customers.

For companies such as Gray Television, Nexstar Media Group, TEGNA and The E.W. Scripps Co., retrans consent revenue is more important than ever, as broadcast TV’s core advertising trends remain hazy against local digital growth and evolving viewer habits.

Then, there are the “cable” and satellite TV providers, who consistently finger-point at broadcast TV owners for demanding more and more from them, even with substantial investments in local news departments and ATSC 3.0 NEXTGEN TV transitions.

The MVPDs have lamented that they have no choice but to pass the increased cost in carrying local TV stations on to customers. That’s exactly what is now happening for those who rely on Charter Communications’ Spectrum services. Higher bills are on the way.

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HOBE SOUND, FLA. — Until now, a licensee of radio stations in Upstate New York and the South has seen the involvement of two principal owner-operators and the investment of a Palm Beach County-based private equity and growth-oriented entity “that provides patient capital to exceptional management teams.”

It seems this investment has proven to be a smart one, and puts Jim Leven and Bruce Mittman in a positive light. They have filed paperwork to buy out this equity investor’s stake in their company, Community Broadcasters.

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On October 19, 2020, a broker release obtained by RBR+TVBR revealed that Ramar Communications had agreed to sell The CW Network affiliate in Lubbock, along with two low-power facilities, to Gray Television.

The FCC eventually approved the deal, consummated by Ramar following the February 11, 2018, death of its founder, Ray Moran, at the age of 82.

Now, Moran’s legacy will live on as Ramar is purchasing a low-power TV station in Colorado.

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Many know him as the face of Wedel Software. Now, he’s the CEO of a brand-new ad sales platform for radio advertising called Adthos.

Raoul Wedel joins RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson from the Dutch city of The Hague to share more about the new product release.

How does Adthos from what is presently available in the marketplace? The Adthos Ad-Server is free … so how does Wedel make money?

Get the no-nonsense answers to these questions in this fresh podcast, presented by dot.FM!

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Raoul Wedel” on Spreaker.

It’s “listener-supported radio from Towson University” that brings the Baltimore metropolitan area a blend of eclectic Adult Alternative music that’s not so dissimilar to widely known WXPN, just up the road in Philadelphia.

That will soon change, however. But the new owners of WTMD-FM promise there will be no other differences, once this deal closes.

And, we’ve got the price tag to share.

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Workflow automation, media processing, quality monitoring and test and measurement product maker Telestream has brought to market a cloud-native service that the company describes as an API-driven, cloud agnostic, media processing and transcoding service.

Introducing Telestream Cloud Transform, “built from years of proven media transcoding and workflow technology.”

Leading up the rollout is Tim MacGregor, the Senior Director and Head of Strategy and Product Development for Telestream Cloud.

“We’ve taken proven technology, the Telestream Media Framework, that’s the foundation of Telestream media workflows all over the world and built a cloud-native, API-driven, media processing and transcoding service that runs on our customers’ cloud provider of choice. Transform’s media processing pedigree ensures a future-proof path as standards and technology evolve, even as organizations develop their own workflow orchestration solutions.”

Transform is designed to empower development teams writing their own code for media processing pipelines to access Telestream’s transcoding and media processing technology. According to the company, Telestream Cloud Transform represents “the most efficient way to process video content using a cloud-native API, taking full advantage of the performance and scalability offered by a range of popular cloud providers.”

MacGregor said, “As more companies seek to adopt the cloud for cost and efficiency reasons, many have determined that their unique requirements preclude a one size fits all approach. These organizations need a service that can be started within minutes with a powerful API that allows easy automation with their existing systems.”

Telestream Cloud Transform supports a wide variety of codecs and formats including AVCI, AVC Ultra, DNxHD, DNxHR, IMX, J2K, XAVC, XDCAM, and ProRes 422/444.

For company and product information, visit www.telestream.net.

Inovonics has released its new DAVID IV 719N FM/HD Radio Broadcast Processor with Network Interface.

The updated offering adds Web Access for set-up, control, and increased networking capabilities to the company’s existing DAVID IV 719 processor.

And, the new model comes minus any price increase.

Ben Barber, President & CEO of Inovonics, says the addition of a Network Interface to the 719 processor gives it two important features. One, the Web GUI can be controlled from any web enabled device; adding SNMP “makes remote management and control a breeze.”

The 719 DAVID IV processor dates to 2011.

The new model adds an intuitive, menu-driven Web interface for remote set-up, monitoring and control.

For more information about price and availability, please contact Inovonics at 831-458-0552

Something new and exciting is on the horizon for radio stations, an answer to today’s most
pressing challenges – changing consumer behavior, ROI expectations of advertisers and of
course keeping step with developments in the digital space.

But before we find out more about that, let’s look in more detail at how the land lies currently.

The world of radio continues to evolve, new innovations and changes in consumer habits
are forcing broadcasters to think in ever more creative ways to target listener advertising.
New technology allows the integration of finer data points such as location, device and even
audience profile to support truly targeted approaches. And with the continuing steady
creep of digital into the space we can expect to see an even split between terrestrial/digital
ad-playout before too long. Campaigns are now routinely multi-platform, highly targeted
and data-driven, creating multiple challenges for broadcasters. Radio advertising is arguably facing the biggest upheaval in its long history.

So, all of this begs the question – how can radio stations make the most of these changes
and not be left behind? After all, so many are dealing with legacy systems, with manual
tasks often needed to bridge the gap between these and new technologies. And where
there are manual tasks there are inefficiencies, and by association an impact on flexibility.
How long before the march of progress threatens to overwhelm the capability of
broadcasters to deliver true value for their advertisers?

What’s the answer?

But instead of focusing on what’s lacking, let’s look instead at possible answers to these
questions. Any solution should be easy to integrate – or even better, require no integration
at all – with existing technology. No overhaul or replacement (or downtime or high cost) to
plan for and manage. The ability to easily sell, schedule and execute multi-platform
campaigns with minimal intervention and maximum automation should also be high on the
wish list. And not forgetting the flexibility and capability to make the most of all that
valuable data to support truly targeted ads.

A breakthrough in broadcasting

It’s this set of needs that have led to the creation of the Adthos Ad Server, the first of its
kind ad-serving technology specifically created for radio. A lightweight yet powerful addition

to any existing traffic or playout system that allows digital audio and radio to be sold
seamlessly within a single integrated campaign. Instant reconciliation and an intuitive
customer interface provide for updates and insights on a complete campaign at a moment’s
notice, with the ability to replace a spot in real time delivering incredible responsiveness.
And this is just the first release of many that Adthos will do this year.

But perhaps the most surprising thing about the Adthos ad-server: it’s absolutely free.

Want to know more? Of course you do.   www.adthos.com

 

With The Home Depot in command at spot radio, its biggest national competitor has responded by upping its radio spot load.

Meanwhile, a big retailer is back, thanks to a Memorial Day Weekend ad campaign designed to woo shoppers to its stores.

That’s the gist of the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report.

As shown below, Macy’s and Lowe’s are back on the report, while Indeed and Progressive are bested by Home Depot.

TORONTO — Imagine Communications has expanded its storage portfolio with the release of Versio IOX Express NAS, providing broadcast and production facilities with “a high-availability shared storage solution that enables on-air scalability and pay-as-you-go expansion.”

The ability to manage a system from tens or hundreds of miles away is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

That’s why Imagine believes Versio IOX Express offers all the tools needed for simple and effective storage management, whether onsite or working remotely.

The products are offered in bundles of predefined capacity and bandwidth and are delivered with software and hardware ready for immediate deployment. For 24/7 broadcasters, Versio IOX Express provides a flexible path forward, enabling scaling of capacity or bandwidth ― without having to take the system off air.

“Our goal in developing Versio IOX Express was to hit all the technical requirements we know broadcasters demand, but do it at an unprecedented price point,” said Steve Reynolds, President of Imagine Communications. “With the latest addition to our IOX portfolio, we can now offer our customers affordable, high-availability storage, delivered as defined, packaged solutions with all the software installed. All they need to do on site is connect the network and start delivering content.”

Powered by the EditShare EFS solution, built on Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) enterprise-grade hardware, Versio IOX Express is designed to sustain prolonged operation in the most demanding environments. True shared storage access eliminates the need for resource-intensive asset transfers, making it ideal for fast-turnaround environments such as news and sports. Coupled with the parity stack and RAID protection, Versio IOX Express guarantees the fastest client recovery time of less than 20ms, providing effectively uninterrupted service to on-air playback servers or editing applications.

Versio IOX Express is offered in predefined bundles, allowing users to choose capacity and parity stack topology to suit their needs. This simplifies the order process and makes pricing transparent. Users can choose from a single device, relying on the internal RAID-6 protection; a 1+1 configuration with stack mirroring; or a high-availability N+1 single-stack parity architecture. Available options include configurations that provide as much as tens of gigabits per second of assured bandwidth across the network, even during degraded or rebuilding modes, guaranteeing the performance required in high-pressure applications.

— RBR+TVBR Canadian News Desk, in North York, Ontario

U.K. singer YungBlud took over L.A.’s Troubadour with Mötley Crüe ’s Tommy Lee and Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney for the one-year anniversary of his live HD livestream, “The YungBlud Show,” produced by Bulldog DM. Photo: Tom Pallant

In the 12 months since the World Health Organization declared the global COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, the music livestream production business has chalked up some remarkable records and is now looking toward what could be a bright future. Livestreaming is not new, of course, but when venues were shuttered last year, a surge in virtual concerts helped fans scratch the live music itch while artists were able to earn some income in an otherwise lackluster year.

“The pandemic certainly accelerated the music industry’s adoption of livestreaming, in terms of artist awareness, artists’ willingness to explore it and fans’ interest in it,” says game entrepreneur Gordon Su, CEO of Sessions, which launched in April 2020. Su co-founded the interactive livestreaming platform with Pandora founder Tim Westergren, aiming to help both established and up-and-coming artists build their audiences and generate income.

Livestreaming certainly exploded this past year. Europe’s Tomorrowland EDM festival in July attracted a pay-per-view audience of over one million, more than doubling 2019’s in-person attendance. In October, BTS sold 993,000 livestream concert tickets, offsetting some of the revenue the K-pop band lost when it had to cancel a 40-date tour. More recently, on Valentine’s Day, Justin Bieber’s live performance on TikTok attracted more than four million unique views.

Taking Notice
Billboard and Pollstar have taken notice, both launching new charts tracking artists’ livestream tallies. And as Billboard recently reported, U.S. consumers spent $610 million on virtual concerts in 2020, more than they forked over for either music downloads or CDs.

Livestream production studio Sessions handled a Valentine’s Day Eve livestream by CeeLo Green, followed by an online meet-and-greet, direct from his living room in Atlanta. Photo: Alysse Gafkjen/Sessions

The concert industry has also cottoned on to livestream production. In January, entertainment juggernaut Live Nation acquired a majority stake in streaming platform Veeps, which launched in 2017. On Mar. 22, Todd Rundgren wrapped a novel 25-show virtual tour, performing and streaming live from Chicago at 8 p.m. local time at each city on the route.

While many practitioners have been working in the field for 10, even 20 years, livestreaming came to most people’s attention around 2015, when Twitter introduced Periscope. Established platforms, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitch, soon followed suit with new live streaming products.

Over the past year, the number of companies offering music livestreaming suddenly went through the roof. “This time last year, I had three to five competitors. Now there are estimated to be between 100 and 200 pay-per-view livestreaming companies, just for music,” says John Petrocelli, founder and CEO of Bulldog DM.

Music producer and musician Kerry Brown was one of those launching a new company, Rolling Live Studios, in June. He’s no Johnny-come-lately; as one example, he partnered with Roland to do its first global livestream for 909 Day in 2016.

“For years, I was pitching promoters and artists to do virtual meet and greets, aftershows and ancillaries; no one wanted to listen,” says Brown. “They either thought it would be pennies compared to the dollars they were making, or it would take away from the live experience.”

When COVID initially closed everything down, he says, “It was interesting how unprepared the big players were for this, and still are, including the network guys. Very few people know how to do it.”

Indeed, livestream production requires some expertise with the technologies, but while the tech may be too daunting for some artists and their teams, others have jumped in with both feet.

Bee’s Knees
“TourGigs has been in concert filming and livestreaming since 2013,” says company COO Sean Barnicle. TourGigs did more than 190 sets of livestreams in 2019, many in collaboration with sister streaming technology company Gigcasters. Clients include Umphrey’s McGee, with whom they have done more than 100 shows, and String Cheese Incident — “bands that are very adventurous and technologically savvy,” he says.

“A really full-sounding stereo mix is still the bee’s knees for us,” says Barnicle, who is also exploring the potential of Dolby Atmos. “Someone like [Umphrey’s McGee FOH engineer] Chris Mitchell knows how to mic shows to make it interesting. You want some crowd and ambient mics, but you want control of the levels. Chris has it dialed, but if we don’t know the band, more than half the time, we will bring in an audio person and do a submix.”

As the founder of Livestream Remote, Stephen Tucker has mixed 40 concerts and 280 streams in the last year. That included an “UnderCover” gig by Parisian artist Francesca (pictured), who he mixed from New York by using Zoom’s remote-control capabilities. Photo: The Control Room

Sessions works similarly, says Guy Streit, head of production. Clients’ engineers need to remember, he says, “They’re not mixing to the front-of-house; they’re mixing to a broadcast. We have producers that are with them, virtually, to listen in and make sure that the mixes are to our standard.”

“We work with the artist’s team to make sure that their sound and look and how they want to present themselves carries through in the best way to the audience,” adds Jesse Dondero, director, program management and production. That extends to the rising artists admitted to the Sessions platform, each of whom is paired with a coach. “They review the streams and give them guidance. We also have tips and tricks for anyone getting started,” he says, such as how to improve their audio or use a virtual mixer.

Stephen Tucker, a broadcast and streaming veteran, launched his Livestream Remote operation shortly after lockdown. “Since May, we’ve done 280 streams, 40 concerts,” he says. That includes work with Daniel Kramer’s “UnderCover” series, where two bands cover each other’s songs. Kramer, Tucker and a third partner have now formed The Control Room, a livestream production, branding and marketing strategy company that sits between producers and distributors in the chain.

One UnderCover artist was in France. “I mixed her rig in Paris from my studio,” Tucker says, using Zoom’s remote-control capabilities. He was an early adopter of remote control and uses it on his own “Morningside Sessions” show. “I send my sound engineers my virtual board. I have them mix my show and do the cues, and I just host.”

TourGigs has performed similar technological feats, says Barnicle. Adam Robinson, Josh Groban’s engineer, mixed an L.A. show from his home in Chicago. “The audio was going from Los Angeles to Chicago on the internet, then back to Los Angeles to be married to the video. The video went to our operations center in Texas and from our servers to the globe. They had to do some math, but they got it to work — and it was amazing.”

Livestreaming is a powerful marketing tool, especially as artists prepare for the world to reopen, post-pandemic. Bulldog DM helped with Bieber’s TikTok stream, says Petrocelli. As a free stream following right on the heels of Bieber’s New Year’s Eve pay-per-view event, “If I’m one of those four million [viewers], I’m buying a ticket to his show,” he says. Bieber’s world tour begins June 2 in San Diego, Calif.

Advantages
Unlike broadcast television, livestream production allows platforms to analyze viewers’ data, and to a granular level, identify who in what country watched on which type and brand of device using what operating system. TourGigs has been working with some major artists during the pandemic, doing drive-in shows or performing in empty clubs or Hollywood soundstages. “When they threw it out there, the whole world got back to us,” says Barnicle. The data showed that Trans-Siberian Orchestra was watched in 101 countries, Josh Groban in 85, Billy Gibbons in more than 60 and Air Supply in over 40, he reports — a broader reach than any physical world tour.

Sessions’ Hank Williams Jr. livestream did almost as well financially as the physical show, underlining possibilities for post-pandemic hybrid concerts Photo: Sessions

Virtual concerts have now become so ubiquitous that Rolling Live is producing a constant flow. “We do all the streams for the Bowery Electric out of New York City,” says Brown. “What started as an iPhone in Jesse Malin’s apartment is now eight cameras, a video switcher and a full production crew, almost every day, doing ticketed live streams.”

That has allowed Brown to focus on big curated events, like “A Bowie Celebration,” a 74th birthday special that mirrored Bowie’s 50th at Madison Square Garden and included 40 Bowie band alumni. “It was a global livestream with some of the most iconic musicians in the world paying tribute to one of the most iconic artists in the world,” says Brown.

For the celebration, Rolling Live worked with Logitech company Streamlabs, which develops fan engagement software. Brown has now formed a business partnership with the company.

Fan engagement, which comes to music livestream production from the gaming world, is key to the Sessions platform, even for hybrid shows, where there is also an audience in the venue. “We did one with Hank Williams, Jr. where the livestream did almost as well as the physical show, financially,” says Su. “The potential of the hybrid show is not just the extended reach, but also the potential of that interactivity, both from virtual fans tuning in but also fans in the space being able to interact live with the artist in real time.”

For Barnicle, it also goes beyond commerce. “Music heals, motivates and consoles and does things that have been crucial in this period. We really do believe we’re playing a role in helping get this art and music out to the world.”

 

The post Livestream Production: From Emerging Format to Industry Cornerstone appeared first on Radio World.