Radio+Television Business Report

The FCC has been busily updating aspects of its political programming and recordkeeping rules. In particular, a January 25, 2022 Order revised the Commission’s definition of what a “legally qualified candidate for public office” is, while amending the political file rules.

Paul Feldman at Fletcher Heald & Hildreth has been monitoring when the effective date of the new rules will be, minus portions of the rules that require OMB approval.

He now has a date circled on his 2022 calendar.

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The NAB Leadership Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2023 Broadcast Leadership Training (BLT) program. Applications are being accepted through May 31.

The BLT program is designed to prepare senior-level broadcast executives to advance as group executives or station owners. Women and people of color are encouraged to apply.

Now in its 23rd year, BLT is an executive MBA-style program that teaches the fundamentals of purchasing, owning and operating radio and television stations. As the foremost executive training initiative for the broadcast industry, the 10-month program prepares aspiring broadcast station owners and executives with the working knowledge to further their careers.

The 2023 Broadcast Leadership Training program will consist of weekend sessions held in-person at the NAB Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The starting session will be held in September 2022.

Broadcast professionals from all areas of the industry, including general managers, experienced sales managers and seasoned department heads, as well as regional and corporate executives, are encouraged to apply. Fellowship opportunities are available for women and people of color.

For 2023 sponsorship and speaking opportunities, please contact Tim Dotson, NAB Leadership Foundation Senior director of Development.

INTRODUCING THE CLASS OF 2021

NABLF also announced the 2021 BLT class graduates, who completed the program in November 2021.

“These talented broadcasters join the long list of industry leaders with roots in the BLT program,” NAB Foundation President Michelle Duke said. ” We look forward to watching their careers grow from this success and witnessing the positive impacts as new and diverse leadership advances our industry.”

With this class, more than 350 participants have graduated from the program.

The 2021 Broadcast Leadership Training Class graduates are:

• Melissa Begay, Operations Director, Native Public Media
• Robert Brooks, Digital Solutions Specialist, WHUR-FM in Washington, D.C.
• Cathy Cangiano, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Bonneville – Seattle Media Group
• Thomas Ciprari, Station Manager, KTMF-23 in Missoula, Mont./Cowles Publishing Company
• Leon Clark, Vice President and General Manager, KGTV-10 in Sacramento/The E.W. Scripps Company
• Tina Commodore, News Director, WFTV-9 in Orlando/ Cox Media Group
• Kate Doty, Director of Talent and Team Development, Morgan Murphy Media
• Susie Doucette-Pyle, Vice President and General Sales Manager, KRIV-26 & KTXH-20 in Houston/Fox Television Stations
• Alfredo Duran, President and Founder, Duran Media Management Services
• Blanca Esparza-Pap, Station Manager, KPHO-5 & KTVK-3/Phoenix
• Mariana Ferro, Regional Vice President, Sales Manager – National Sales, Univision Communications
• Andrew Givens, Station Manager and Director of Sales, KMSS-33 in Shreveport, La. (Mission Broadcasting)
• Ben Hart, President and General Manager, WJCL-22 in Savannah, Ga.
• Charity Holman, Station Manager and General Sales Manager, WVVA-TV in Beckley, Va. (Gray Television)
• Andre Holmes, Vice President, Financial Analysis, Gray Television
• Kari Jacobs, President and General Manager, WTSP-10 in Tampa
• Kim Parker, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Graham Media Group
• Nicole Ovadia, Vice President/Client Success, Mediaco and Emmis Communications of New York

The 2021 and 2022 program sponsors include Beasley Media Group, Bonneville International Corp., Cox Media Group, Fox Television Stations, Futuri Media, Graham Media Group, Gray Television, Hearst Television, Legend Communications, NAB, The Nielsen Foundation, Meredith Corporation, Morgan Murphy Media, The E.W. Scripps Company, TEGNA, Univision Communications, and Paramount.

The 2022 class is currently underway, will attend the NAB Show in April and graduate in June. For more information about the NAB Leadership Foundation or the BLT program, please visit, nabfoundation.org.

Since March 2015, she has served as the News Director for the ABC and CBS affiliates serving Springfield, Mass., and has spent the majority of her career at nearby WFSB-3 in Hartford, a former Meredith Local Media property.

Now, she’s earned a promotion in Western Massachusetts.

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Nominations for the 13th Medallas de Cortez awards — the most respected honors in U.S. Hispanic radio — are now being accepted. If you know someone who is doing great work in Hispanic radio across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, don’t miss this chance to spotlight their efforts with a nomination.

The awards, sponsored by vCreative, will be presented at the Hispanic Radio Conference, June 22-23 in Miami at the Intercontinental at Doral.

Nominations can be made in seven categories:

• Marketer (may be someone from a station, an agency, or a client)
• National/Syndicated Personality
• Local Personality
• Program Director
• Sales Manager
• General/Market Manager
• Station of the Year

Nominations are now being accepted. The deadline is April 22, 2022.

The Medallas de Cortez awards presentation is one of the most inspiring and memorable aspects of the Hispanic Radio Conference. By recognizing excellence in Hispanic radio, these awards pay tribute not only to some amazing and dedicated professionals in Hispanic radio, they serve to energize and encourage others to follow their footsteps.

The awards are named in honor of Raoul Cortez, who founded KCOR — the first Spanish-language station in the United States — in 1946. Nominations are open to anyone, Hispanic and not, who is involved in Hispanic broadcasting. The goal is to make sure everyone dedicated to this segment of the industry has an opportunity to be recognized for their contributions to excellence in radio.

Click here to make your Medallas de Cortez nominations, and remember, nominations are due by April 22, 2022.

SPONSORS Platinum Sponsor Medallas de Cortez Sponsor Corporate Sponsors Participating Sponsors Media Partners

The VIAC ticker symbol is no longer in use. That’s unfortunate for the company known now as Paramount Global to Nasdaq. On its final day under the old ticker symbol, a $6.41 single-session slump was seen by the company formerly known as ViacomCBS.

In midday trading on Friday, things weren’t much brighter for Paramount.

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Do I feel like I have a mission to succeed for the format in a Top 5 market? No. I feel like I have a mission to succeed for Susquehanna and the people who work for me. 

Those words were shared by Joel Folger in a column appearing in the January 30, 1998 edition of Radio & Records. Speaking to columnist Sky Daniels, Folger was fresh off of a run as the top programmer of KDGE in Dallas. With 15 years in the market that included a well-remembered run as PD for Rock-oriented Top 40 KEGL “97.1 The Eagle,” Folger was now programming the short-lived KKZN.

In 2000, he’d jump into consultant work, and consistently served in this role until a setback tied to a recent stroke. He made “tremendous progress,” AllAccess.com reports. Yet, that couldn’t prevent a fatal heart attack suffered Thursday by the veteran radio industry figure.

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How big is the recovery from the pandemic-impacted month of January 2021, with respect to ad spend?

According to Standard Media Index (SMI), ad spend in the first month of 2022 surpassed that of 2021 by $1.1 billion, hitting a new record high for the month.

How did Radio, in particular, perform? Quite good, SMI finds.

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Veteran public relations executive and ‘Zoom” expert Rosemary Ravinal wants to make something perfectly clear when it comes to oratory delivery of a speech, presentation, or anything else that may give them the jitters. You’re not alone. In fact, everyone gets butterflies, she says. It’s how to overcome them that’s key — even in a Zoom or Teams setting, Ravinal says in this column.

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Want to work for the largest licensee of broadcast television stations in the U.S. or its WGN-AM 720 in Chicago? Perhaps the Sean Compton-led NewsNation is of particular interest?

“Please be cautious of individuals or online entities claiming to represent Nexstar in the hiring process,” Nexstar Media Group is warning potential hires, as it has learned it has become the victim of a recruitment scam.

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Forty years ago, it perhaps would have made more sense to schedule an appearance on TODAY. That’s because Byron Allen was part of the lineup of hosts on what many believe is the first “reality” series to air in prime-time, NBC’s Real People. 

Much has changed in the years since that television program aired in the 8pm slot each Wednesday on the Peacock network. Today, Allen is a media mogul who wants to grow his broadcast TV assets and has an interest in owning an NFL franchise.

He’ll be sharing his thoughts about the Denver Broncos, among other topics, on CBS come February 20.

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It’s quickly become of one the broadcast media industry’s most anticipated honors of the year.

Starting today, you’ll have the power to help shape this year’s ranked list.

The nomination window has officially opened for BROADCAST TELEVISION’S BEST LEADERS of 2022!

For the fourth consecutive year, RBR+TVBR is turning to its readers to help us determine who the top-ranked individuals that oversee over-the-air broadcast TV groups are.

From understanding AVOD and FAST Channel opportunities to the voluntary rollout of NEXTGEN TV, these are exciting times for over-the-air television. Furthermore, the desire for broadcast TV — from live sports to news programming and from syndicated fare to prime-time favorites — remains strong amid increased competition. That’s why it is our honor to salute the individuals that have demonstrated management prowess, guiding their broadcast television stations to ratings and revenue success.

VOTE TODAY! You may make up to three nominations by our deadline of Friday, March 4, 2022, at 5pm Eastern.

Remember: This is a reader-generated ranked honor roll — the voting is in your hands. Don’t miss this opportunity to help create BROADCAST TELEVISION’S BEST LEADERS of 2022.

VOTE NOW BY CLICKING HERE!

 

Across the nation and around the world, radio stations are being recruited to celebrate the unique and undying format of vinyl records by doing something that on January 26, 1987, would have seemed absurd given the tech trends of the times.

No CDs. No MP3s via computer. Not even a cart machine, if they still exist.

A vinyl-only day in celebration of “Vinylthon 2022” is planned for Saturday, April 23.

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Jeff Winemiller and his Lowcountry 34 Media has been involved in many transactions involving low-power television stations over the last several months.

The latest one has just been filed for approval with the FCC, and it sees Winemiller signing off on an agreement that would give one of his properties to the Chicago-based entity led by Norman Shapiro that is readying the launch of a sixth digital multicast network.

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A home for “praise and inspiration” serving Texas’ capital city with a Class D AM with a 2kw signal from 3 towers has been sold.

The price the buyer is paying for the daytime-only operation to the northeast of Austin is something to take note of. Why? It’s actually a pretty impressive valuation.

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Until now, it has served as the home in the Tampa-St. Petersburg market for Miami-based América Tevé. 

Soon, the independent Spanish-language television programming seen on the facility, a low-power TV station licensed to Pinellas County’s biggest municipality, will say adios to the fare.

That’s because a religious broadcaster has just snagged the station.

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In mid-September 2021, Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned Dielectric first shared how the company literally changed how FM broadcast antenna manufacturers validate directional pattern studies for new FM broadcast antennas.

This led Dielectric to submit a Petition for Rulemaking with the FCC. And, if the FCC moves forward with a NPRM and subsequently approves the rules, a process that could take just months, a move from physical to AI-driven simulated modeling could come to fruition.

The engineering guys may get this, but those in the C-Suite may already have eyes glazed over. In this encore InFOCUS Podcast, Keith Pelleiter explains this so the only thing glazed in their office is a Krispy Kreme donut.

Given the FCC’s decision this week to eliminate six of 7 “outmoded” radio broadcast technical rules, the timing is right to revisit this audio discussion with RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson.

Listen now!

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FCC on Wednesday (2/16) adopted a Report & Order released today that effectively eliminates or amends what the Commission calls “outmoded” broadcast technical rules.

One will remain, however, and it is thanks to the NAB.

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The FCC’s Communications Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC) will gather online on February 23.

The agenda for what will transpire has been released by the Commission.

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How important are AVOD, OTT and FAST Channels to broadcast TV? The latest data from The Gauge, Nielsen‘s total TV and streaming snapshot, show that streaming reached an all-time high in first month of 2022, while overall television usage increased 8%.

Combined, a powerful metric for broadcast TV emerges.

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Ad-ID, used for identifying advertising assets across all media platforms, has agreed to a  new partnership with TelevisaUnivision to support advertising asset identification and tracking for Univision’s media portfolio.

The agreement is designed to improve targeting and delivery for Univision and its advertising partners.

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