Industry News

The facts surrounding the felony conviction of Central Pennsylvania radio station owner Roger Wahl, as previously reported by local media and by RBR+TVBR, involve some rather disturbing tales of voyeurism, and finding men to engage in unwanted sexual activities with a local woman.

The conviction prompted the FCC to conduct a License Revocation Hearing, for which Wahl is serving as his own legal counsel, that will eventually determine whether or not he’s ultimately able to retain control of his radio station, WQZS-FM 93.3 in Meyersdale, Pa.

Officially known as Media Bureau item No. 21-401, the hearing under the office of the FCC’s Administrative Law Judge has already created fireworks between ALJ Jane Hinckley Halprin and Wahl, who was warned to treat the proceeding no different than an in-court legal affair. Now, Wahl has provided answers to a second set of interrogatories from the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau.

Some of Wahl’s responses are eye-opening, and could further cloud his chances of remaining a licensee.

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A multi-platform news organization established by The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism has teamed up with “Your Public Radio” — the main NPR Member station serving Baltimore — for the creation of a joint operating agreement that will allow each organization to work collaboratively “to deliver quality journalism” across the state of Maryland.

The pact involves YPR, based at WYPR-FM 88.1 in Baltimore and heard in both Frederick and Ocean City on WYPF-FM and WYPO-FM, respectively; and the Baltimore Banner.

What’s that? Compared to Tribune’s Baltimore Sun, today controlled by Alden Capital and targeted for significant reporter and editor downsizing, the Banner has embraced hyperlocal journalism. “We’re leaving the national news to others and focusing on the daily lives of the people who live and work here,” the news organization says. “The Baltimore Banner is bringing together Baltimore reporters and editors to make sure you know what’s happening in your neighborhood. As a nonprofit, we’re committed to delivering trustworthy journalism that tells the varied stories of our community and holds our leaders accountable.”

With WYPR already established as a not-for-profit local programming creator, the two organizations will forge bonds that tie the WYPR newsroom and chat show Midday and On the Record with the Banner.

“Both teams will work together to cover stories, special reports and develop joint programming to serve the needs of communities throughout Baltimore and around the state,” YPR said. One of the first collaborations will be to cover the upcoming local elections. Joint podcasts and radio programming are on the horizon.

In addition to content sharing, newsroom collaboration and the ability to reach a broader audience, the agreement allows expanded marketing and sponsorship opportunities to be offered, creating added value for sponsors and financial support for both organizations. “The Baltimore Banner will benefit from access to WYPR’s strong dedicated listenership and network of supporters, including recently acquired WTMD 89.7 FM,” it said.

The deal was struck in late April, and it’s just been filed with the FCC for its blessing.

If regulatory approval is given, and that’s expected, two Oklahoma FM radio stations will be licensed to JL Radio LLC.

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MIAMI — Fresh off of its first Upfront in New York, TelevisaUnivision has selected a new Senior VP of Corporate Events.

It’s a newly created role designed to consolidate and “fuel” the company’s global corporate events portfolio.

Taking the post is a former SVP of Content Relations at Nickelodeon who has spent the last five years in posts ranging from a Celebrity Cruises entertainment strategy developer to leading entertainment and events for the Oneida Nation in New York State.

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The Association of Public Radio Engineers has recognized Rich Parker with its 2022 APRE Meritorious Service Award.

“APRE’s engineering award is granted on an annual basis to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the art and/or science of radio engineering [and] that has made a significant impact on, or improvement, in the state of the public radio industry,” said the nonprofit.

For a decade, Rich was the master control and studio engineer at WHYY in Philadelphia, followed by 17 years as director of engineering at Vermont Public Radio. Since 2014, he has been director of engineering for CoastAlaska, handling broadcast engineering and IT support as well as planning and management for the seven Alaskan stations in Juneau.

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According to APRE President Victoria St. John, Rich was one of the founding members on the association’s board and is deserving of recognition, having been an active part of the public radio engineering community for decades.

“I had the privilege of working with him for many years at Vermont Public Radio and I am proud and pleased for Rich to be recognized for his years of inventive and cheerful service,” she said.

Parker was honored April 22 at the Public Radio Engineers Conference (PREC) dinner in Las Vegas, just prior to the NAB Show.

Rich Parker, left, is shown at the PREC event with colleague Scott Hanley. Photo by Jim Peck.

The post APRE Honors Rich Parker With Engineering Service Award appeared first on Radio World.

The annual TechSurvey from Jacobs Media measures the amount of change in the tech space and its impact on radio broadcasters, and the dashboard in connected cars is the 500 pound gorilla in the room.  

Experts say the technology in the car dashboard is quickly changing and so are driver preferences. Car buyers are putting a higher premium on car tech like Bluetooth, large display screens and Smartphone aux connections, along with a taste for media operating systems like Apple CarPlay and Android Automotive. 

Broadcasters and non-broadcast companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon are working with car manufacturers to maximize their presence in the mediascape of the connected car, according to those familiar with developments. And car makers are looking at all options in order to monetize the dashboard. 

About 12% of TechSurvey respondents say they plan to purchase or lease a new vehicle in 2022 despite much higher new car costs. That percentage has held fairly steady the past four years, said Fred Jacobs, president of Jacobs Media, but what new car buyers are looking for is changing.

 

Bluetooth has now surpassed FM radio as the most important feature among new car buyers, Jacobs said on a webinar last week highlighting sections of the latest annual survey. 

Americans are placing a higher premium on technology because it keeps them connected and productive, even in the car, experts say. The car has become a Smartphone on wheels if you will.

“For the first time ever the most important feature for those planning to make a new vehicle purchase, participating in our survey, Bluetooth has surpassed radio. (Bluetooth) is up three points and FM radio was down four points. Connectivity is becoming very important,” Jacobs said.

Having an AM radio is a desired feature for only 33% of respondents planning to purchase a new car, according to TS 2022.

And hitting a new high, eight in 10 respondents with a Smartphone can now connect the device in their car, an especially popular feature for younger consumers participating in the latest survey. 

“These content monsters, as we call the younger generation, are far more likely to connect their Smartphone to the car for content,” Jacobs said. 

The good news for AM/FM radio is that actual in-car consumption of the service is still number one at 56% followed by SiriusXM (19%) and personal music from a Smartphone (9%). “Surprisingly, streaming audio is only at 6%, but remember we are dealing with an older audience (participating in TechSurvey) by and large,” Jacobs said. 

But Jacobs points out on the TechSurvey webcast the trend of AM/FM radio listening in the car continues to erode falling from 62% in the 2018 survey project to 56% in TS 2022. 

“Overall people are listening to less AM/FM radio in the car. More people are using full blown media systems like the Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep UConnect, Ford Sync, Audi Connect,” Jacobs said, “and that tends to erode radio listening.”

In fact, when you examine the survey data and weight it for those respondents who have a “Connected System” in the car, AM/FM radio listening shrinks to only 47%.

This is the last in a series of stories exploring the results from TechSurvey 2022. Click here to read part five.

The post TechSurvey 2022: The Car is Getting Crowded appeared first on Radio World.

From its latest string of new hires, StreamGuys brings on Megan Killion as its vice president of sales and marketing, a newly-created position.

In this new role, Killion will “develop strategic initiatives that build a stronger sales culture across the organization, with an emphasis on driving new business and increasing close rates,” according to a company press release. She will report to StreamGuys President Kiriki Delany.

Killion brings 15 years of B2B technology sales and marketing experience to StreamGuys, having already formed professional ties with the company through past roles.

Said roles include executive positions at CacheFly, a CDN network where she served as vice president of strategic sales and marketing, as well as at her own MKC Agency, where she worked with StreamGuys on branding and outbound marketing initiatives.

“These experiences, along with previous similar positions [at] Ericsson UDN and long-term consultancies with Mutable, Reblaze, and StackPath, provide Megan with a broad knowledge of the technology infrastructure that StreamGuys excels in across the CDN, cloud, edge computing and streaming universe,” said the company.

“More importantly, she knows how to translate product and technology language into sales success for new and existing clients, and move successful companies like StreamGuys into lucrative new markets.”

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In the announcement, Killion said one of her goals is to help StreamGuys better market their existing services and find ways to better support customers.

“My experience working in the technology space suggests that few companies really understand why they need both a strong sales culture and engineering vision,” said Killion. “StreamGuys has both excellent sales and engineering teams in place, and they work very hard to service their customers and deliver on the technology promises they make. I am excited to bring these operations even closer together.”

The post StreamGuys Expands Executive Team with First VP of Sales and Marketing appeared first on Radio World.

With the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election’s official results determined on November 8, 2020, financial markets promptly roared in approval on Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. Among the company’s starting their COVID-19 induced slumps on Wall Street was Audacy Inc., formerly Entercom.

Things looked good for Audacy, at first. Then came the Ides of March. Since then, Audacy shares have slumped. On Thursday (5/19), they dipped again, reaching a fresh year-to-date low.

In fact, Audacy’s share growth since the election of Joe Biden as U.S. President has been erased.

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The latest ratings report from the Radio Joint Audience Research body (RAJAR) in charge of measuring radio audiences across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland is out. For iHeartMedia interloper Global, the first quarter of 2022 data was a bright one, as the company touted its national and London performances for spoken word LBC and Hot Adult Contemporary Heart, in addition to Top 40 Capital and Adult Contemporary Smooth.

Audio consultant Matt Deegan took a close look at the entire report. And, in a blog post made early Thursday, he made note of a big new trend — smart speaker consumption of radio. There’s much to take away for U.S. broadcasters, in particular the age of the typical smart speaker user.

 

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A lay apostolate with broadcast signals in North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming, has agreed to part ways with a radio station serving Bismarck and its FM translator licensed to Williston, N.D.

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