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Veritone wants you to think of synthetic voices as being available on demand — “Voice as a Service” — and it recently launched a product to that end called Veritone MARVEL.ai.

The company considers synthetic voice to be “a disruptive technology” and said it will wants to participate in developing best practices for synthetic content.

It said its new system enables users to “create, manage, license and monetize” synthetic voices.

“Veritone MARVEL.ai supports both text-to-speech and speech-to-speech processes and offers the first complete, end-to-end suite of voice capabilities and features –– including creation and usage; management; production workflows; licensing, compliance and clearance; and monetization,” the company said in a release.

[Related: “Create Synthetic VOs Just by Typing”]

Here’s more of how the company is pitching it:

“In an increasingly digital world, brands and media companies are struggling to produce content at the rapid rate consumers have come to expect, due to constraints related to talent, production, personalization and licensing. Veritone MARVEL.ai bridges this content gap, allowing brands and media companies to expand and streamline advertising and content production to connect and keep customers engaged, while also finding new revenue opportunities, reducing time-to-market, and easily managing compliance and clearance for synthetic voice content.”

It said users can create and personalize voices to” different tones, dialects, accents and languages,” so “celebrities, influencers and athletes can amplify their own unique synthetic voice … then manage, license and monetize” it.

It’s built around Veritone’s aiWARE operating system and artificial intelligence technology.

 

The post Veritone Ramps Up Synthetic Voices appeared first on Radio World.

Issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $1,500 to Nichols Broadcasting Group, LLC, for failure to timely file a license renewal application for Station WEWA-LD, Wewahitchka, FL.

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Issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $1,500 to World Evangelism Outreach for failure to timely file a license renewal application for Station WWEO-LD, Defuniak Springs, FL.

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The E.W. Scripps Company has promoted the Director of Sales for its NBC affiliate serving Colorado Springs to the role of VP/GM.

Earning the promotion at KOAA-5 after 5 years in the shadow on Pikes Peak is Ross White.

“Ross has a wealth of experience in the local media industry and is a proven leader who has led his sales team to great success,” said Brian Lawlor, Scripps’ President of Local Media. “His knowledge of the news business, the market and the station, along with his commitment to the community, make him the ideal candidate to be the next leader in Colorado Springs for Scripps.”

Prior to joining KOAA, White served as GSM at WMC in Memphis. He began his career at KVII in Amarillo, Tex., as a news photographer, and then as Creative Services Director. He later moved to the sales department at KVII as an account executive and was promoted into several sales leadership positions, including Director of Sales.

“In my time as KOAA director of sales, we have focused on bringing the Scripps mission, ‘We do well by doing good,’ into all aspects of our operation,” White said. “As general manager, I look forward to furthering that mission in the community I call home through a continuing commitment to quality local journalism.”

Travel east of Sky Harbor International Airport and you’ll find not-so-sleepy Apache Junction, Ariz. Once a tiny town of the Ol’ West, today it’s booming as a Mesa-adjacent community that still retains its Cowboy feel, attracting tourists to Lost Dutchman State Park.

Here, a 2kw Class A operates as a non-comm infatuated with 1980s pop and rock hits. But, will that cease once the station’s sale is concluded?

The answer is very likely yes, given the buyer. And, it is a win for Blacks in the Valley of the Sun.

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GCI, the Liberty Broadband-owned MVPD, on January 1 discontinued carriage of “FOX Alaska,” “ABC Alaska,” and “The CW Alaska” on a newly launched “skinny bundle” offering designed to discourage subscribers from fleeing to such services as Hulu and YouTube TV.

It only took until Victoria Day in neighboring Canada for a new retransmission consent agreement to come to fruition, with the three stations finally restored for local cable TV subscribers.

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If you are involved in your state’s Emergency Alert System plans, this item is for you.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that its Alert Reporting System, or ARS, is now open for filing of state EAS plans.

The ARS online filing system combines the FCC EAS Test Reporting System, or ETRS, with a new electronic one for the filing of state plans, one that the commission says has been streamlined.

The deadline to file electronically has not been announced, but it will be a year after the publication of a pending notice in the Federal Register.

State Emergency Communications Committee members can access the ARS here (click on the ETRS icon to access).

“When the commission adopted the ARS, it also amended its rules regarding State EAS Plan content and defined current EAS designations to ensure that SECCs are able to use those designations to help them describe their respective state’s EAS alert distribution hierarchies in their State EAS Plans,” the commission continued.

“Compliance with the new State EAS Plan content rules and EAS designations will become required at the same time as the filing deadline for electronic submission of State EAS Plans in the ARS.”

The announcement was made by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the commission. Questions should be emailed to David.Munson@fcc.gov.

 

The post ARS Is Now Open for Filing State EAS Plans appeared first on Radio World.

In March 2021, a transaction was consummated that saw the sale of 20 unbuilt LPTV construction permits from Landover Wireless, a 30-year veteran of the global wireless telecommunications industry.

Now, a second deal has been struck that sees Landover shedding more low-power TV stations ahead of a deadline for building them expires. And, it involves the same buyer.

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NAB Deputy General Counsel Patrick McFadden has offered his response to a new attempt by Microsoft to overturn recently adopted FCC rules that allow broadcasters to further the deployment of NextGen TV services through the voluntary rollout of ATSC 3.0.

In his view, Microsoft’s request submitted to the Commission can’t hide its “empty promises” to deploy TV white space devices.

We’ve got our thoughts on Microsoft’s plan … er, folly … too. It’s another RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION, and it appears below the rest of this story for Members Only.

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In-person conferences are back on the schedule, with IBC on May 25 confirming it will stage a 2021 show in December, postponing it from September rather than scratching it off the calendar or going with an all-virtual presentation.

Ahead of that event, in late August, is a state broadcasters’ association conference that promises to be one of the more dynamic post-pandemic gatherings leading up to the NAB Show in October: the 70th Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Summer Conference.

The 2021 agenda is a dynamic one, and WBA President/CEO Michelle Vetterkind spoke with RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson to share what’s on tap for attendees this year in this podcast, presented by dot.FM.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Michelle Vetterkind” on Spreaker.

Peter Rothfuss will take the helm in Audacy’s Gainesville/Ocala, Fla., market starting June 1.

He’ll succeed Dick O’Neil, who is retiring.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

Rothfuss will oversee WKTK(FM), WRUF(FM), WSKY(FM), WRUF(AM + FM translator). He has been the market’s general sales manager for five years.

Past roles include marketing and sales positions at Audacy Wilkes-Barre; sales management at Townsquare Media; chief operating officer for The Advertising Agency in Winter Park, Fla.

The announcement was made by Regional President Claudia Menegus.

Send your people news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Audacy Promotes Rothfuss in Gainesville appeared first on Radio World.

Aside from the NAB Show in Las Vegas, one of the biggest global annual events for the broadcast media industry and the vendors that seek to grow their business at such conference expo halls is the IBC affair.

Held each year in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, the 2021 in-person edition of IBC was largely thought to have been scrapped, due to lingering pandemic concerns.

That’s not the case. It’s just delayed a few months from its normal show dates.

IBC2021 will take place on December 3 at the RAI in Amsterdam.

The announcement follows a decision at the May 24 IBC Partnership Board meeting to move the event from its usual September slot.

“Following a period of industry consultation, the IBC Partnership Board has agreed that December is the best date in terms of safety and industry readiness to engage,” IBC CEO Michael Crimp said, noting that the organization’s conclusion is based on the results of recent IBC exhibitor and visitor surveys and “macro evidence” of Europe opening up for business.

“We really value the feedback and candid input of our community — we have always been ‘By the industry, For the industry’, and this ethos continues to guide our daily decision-making process,” Crimp said.

IBC found that two thirds of the visitors and exhibitors it surveyed said assurance of robust onsite health and safety protocols would encourage them to attend, with vaccination passport entry by far the most popular measure. Further, some 86% of survey respondents said they were very likely, and 13% likely to have been vaccinated by December.

Additionally, two thirds of respondents already feel they are ready to travel, and a vast majority expect any corporate travel restriction policies to be updated by the end of the summer.

European Union commission data show that Europe is now on track to achieve its 70% vaccination target by July 2021 and to surpass this target by December.

Only one in ten of the visitors surveyed said they would not attend a December event.

Crimp concluded, “We did not shift from September lightly. However, as the evidence was gathered and considered, there was a shifting sentiment towards December from both exhibitors and visitors. We also had to consider the ability of the supply chain to deliver a high-quality event. We believe that key services such as airports and airlines, and hotels will have established smooth operations and be able to provide a more streamlined service by December.”

PromoSuite announced integration between WideOrbit WO Traffic and WO Automation for Radio and its PromoSuite Production radio workflow system.

“This solution will provide many benefits to radio stations using PromoSuite Production,” it said in a press release, “including speeding up the order entry process, streamlining cart number assignments, eliminating duplication, and reducing overhead associated with dubbing audio files into WO Automation for Radio.”

The announcement was made by WideOrbit’s Dub Irvin and PromoSuite’s Rey Mena.

[Read Radio World coverage of other recently introduced products]

The integration has three “connection points.” When an AE enters an order for a client and needs a spot produced, client information is populated into PromoSuite Production, which the company says eliminates duplicate effort in communication.

“Second, cart number assignments are immediately synced between the two systems. Third, audio files are directly dubbed into WO Automation for Radio.”

 

The post PromoSuite Integrates With WideOrbit appeared first on Radio World.

Effective June 7, the Audacy radio stations serving the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose region will have a new Regional VP and Market Manager.

It’s an appointment that comes just weeks after Cumulus Media’s crosstown stations named a new VP/Market Manager. And, it is the result of Audacy’s current RVP/Manager in Northern California getting a bump up to a national sales role at the company formerly known as Entercom.

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In Indiana’s largest market, an FM licensed to Danville, Ind., west of downtown Indianapolis, and a pair of AMs and their respective FM translators, have been transferred to a trust.

A FCC filing made Tuesday (5/25) offers a little insight as to why: the licensee of the stations passed away a couple of months ago. But what wasn’t shared is perhaps more noteworthy, as it involves the head of Connoisseur Media and the legendary Wolfman Jack.

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Sennheiser has unveiled its latest lavalier microphone, an omnidirectional clip-on mic aimed at content creators. The XS Lav Mobile mic is available in separate versions with TRRS connector and a USB-C connector, respectively, and the USB-C version is also sold as part of a larger Mobile Kit.

The XS Lav USB-C Mobile Kit includes the mic as well as an additional Manfrotto PIXI Mini Tripod and Sennheiser Smartphone Clamp.

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

The lavalier microphone is intended to help emerging users upgrade their audio beyond use of onboard mics in cellphones and other capture devices, allowing content creators the ability to mic a sound source (such as themselves) closer and thus help isolate that source.

The mic ships with a 2-meter/78-inch cable for plugging into a device; a standard USB-C to USB-A adapter will make a XS Lav ready for legacy products, too. For video conferencing, users may want to choose a XS Lav USB-C, as the 3.5 mm jack on XS Lav Mobile will disable a device’s audio output.

Frequency response is listed at 50 Hz–18 kHz.

All XS Lav mics include a microphone clip, removable foam windshield and a draw-string storage pouch as a standard.

The XS Lav (with TRRS plug) is priced at $49.95, while the XS Lav USB-C runs $59.95 and the XS Lav USB-C Mobile Kit is $99.95.

Info: www.sennheiser.com

 

The post Sennheiser Launches XS Lav Mobile Mic appeared first on Radio World.