Industry News

When it came time for broadcast media analysts to ask questions during The E.W. Scripps Co.‘s fourth quarter earnings call, two clear focal points quickly became clear. What are the dynamics surrounding retransmission consent revenue, given all of the money being put into the “streaming wars”? And, what’s the long-term revenue model for ATSC 3.0?

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It’s known as a home for “Middle Georgia Gospel” programming, and serves as an FM translator tied to a Class D AM licensed to Perry, Ga.

Now, the owner of that AM has secured the FM translator by converting a lease to an outright purchase.

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It has 27 watts of power and serves the municipality of Marion, Ohio, one hour north of Columbus and home to the presidential home of Warren G. Harding.

And, it could be stripped of its license, as the FCC’s Media Bureau has designated for hearing its license renewal application. Why? Those in charge of this low-power FM may have lied with respect to its board members.

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From the Radio World Who’s Buying What page: Calrec said South African community radio stations are using its Type R for Radio consoles with the help of funding from the South African Media Development and Diversity Agency and systems integrator Experience Audio Solutions.

“The MDDA works with the South African government to assist in developing community and small commercial media across the country and provides funding and media education for local community operators,” Calrec wrote.

“More than 20 community radio stations have put in requests for quotes to upgrade their technology,” it stated. Eldos FM in Johannesburg is among those taking delivery of a Type R through MDDA funding. Southside FM in Durban is being outfitted with a Type R, and Giyani FM is planned.

Experience Audio Solutions works with Calrec’s South African distributor Wild & Marr on these projects.

“There are 285 licensed community radio stations in South Africa, 212 on air, and 156 funded by the MDAA. Community radio listenership in South Africa garners roughly 8 million people,” Calrec wrote.

Send news for Who’s Buying What to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Calrec Type R Serves Community Stations appeared first on Radio World.

The Board of Directors of Gray Television has authorized a quarterly cash dividend of its common stock and Class A common stock.

The reward to shareholders comes as GTN, traded on the NYSE, is at the top end of its historical price chart — a good sign for the company led by Hilton Howell Jr. and Pat LaPlatney.

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As a benefit to investors and analysts, Gray Television offered a look at its net income and Broadcast Cash Flow on a year-over-year-over-year basis, with comparisons to Q4 2019 and Q4 2020 offered in its fourth quarter 2021 fiscal report card.

How did Gray do? Net income was down, while BCF was ever-so-slightly under what the 2019 level was.

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Mark 10am on Thursday, March 3, on your calendar. That’s when the Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by State of Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell, will convene an executive session that puts to vote the presidential nominations of nine individuals.

Among them: Gigi B. Sohn, the controversial selection by the Biden administration to fill the fifth Commissioner’s seat at the FCC.

A vote on Sohn’s nomination is third of the nine on the agenda, with the first vote for Arun Venkataraman, to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service.

Other votes are for nominees to serve in roles at the Department of Transportation, Department of Commerce, and the CPSC. Also up for a vote: the nomination of Alvaro Bedoya to be a Federal Trade Commission Commissioner.

As of today, Sohn’s nomination remains highly contentious. And, her path to the FCC could come down to Sen. Ben Ray Luján, who is recovering from a stroke. The New Mexico Democrat is said to be the deciding vote, one that would seat Sohn.

Then, there’s chatter Inside the Beltway that Ranking Member Roger Wicker and other Republicans, likely to include Ted Cruz, would “boycott” a vote on Sohn based on how she answered their follow-up questions. Republicans are extremely concerned about Sohn’s ties to now-shuttered “OTA via IP” television service Locast, and of her tweets that called Fox News a form of state-sponsored propaganda during the Trump administration.

Sohn is also a supporter of “net neutrality,” fueling concerns among Democrats that the GOP is “blocking” Sohn, despite Wicker’s testimony at a second nomination hearing that this was not the case.

While the opposition to Sohn is vocal, she does have an ally in Christopher Ruddy, as the head of conservative cable TV news operation Newsmax has come out in support of Sohn for her commitment to diversity, something Newsmax can benefit from as it further seeks to grow against established news and political opinion-focused cable giant FOX News.

With very tough year-over-year comps due to strong political advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2020, broadcast television industry performance in Q4 2021 can’t be judged by solely the topline numbers being reported.

That’s why the 8.1% rise in core advertising revenue in the final three months of 2021 at The E.W. Scripps Co. is particularly noteworthy, and encouraging.

Nevertheless, Scripps’ EPS for the quarter fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

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Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) has set March 3 for a vote in her committee on the nomination of Gigi Sohn for the open Democratic seat on the FCC.

Commerce has chief oversight of communications issues.

Sohn has had two nomination hearings but as yet no vote in the committee on whether to favorably report her to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

Signaling that there would not be enough Democratic votes to secure a favorable report of her nomination to the full Senate, the scheduled February 2 vote on her nomination was pulled from that executive session.

The post Gigi Sohn FCC Nomination Vote Scheduled appeared first on Radio World.

CARIAD, the software arm of the Volkswagen Group, has joined RadioDNS.

“Audi were innovators in the automotive sector for hybrid radio, using the RadioDNS standards to enable new experiences of radio for drivers in connected vehicles,” RadioDNS wrote in its announcement. Audi is a member of the Volkswagen Group.

“Functionality like the unique ‘range extender,’ which switches seamlessly between broadcast radio and IP streaming, uses our standards to get the required stream information directly from radio stations. CARIAD will now continue to work with RadioDNS to implement and develop standards for their hybrid radio offering, which will be available in Volkswagen Group’s connected vehicles.”

The announcement was made by RadioDNS Project Director Nick Piggott and CARIAD Development Engineer Christian Winter.

Winter said, “Many vehicles in the premium segment of the group are already using RadioDNS technology and we are looking forward to bringing hybrid radio solutions to the volume segment.”

Other organizations joining RadioDNS recently include Hubbard, Gracenote, G&L and NXP.

The post CARIAD Joins RadioDNS appeared first on Radio World.