Industry News

In September 2021, RBR+TVBR first shared the news of a proposed sale involving a Class A FM radio station with a signal blanketing a one-time Spring Break destination that remains a popular winter burg.

The deal, brokered by Jay Meyers’ Broadcast Management & Technology, has now closed.

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Following Tuesday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, Shari Redstone and Bob Bakish had a big announcement to make. ViacomCBS was no more, as the company changed its name to Paramount.

That led Michael Nathanson, the respected Senior Analyst at MoffettNathanson, and colleague Robert Fishman to pen an investor note that asks the tough questions about now-Paramount’s finances for both today and tomorrow.

“Despite the big announcement … we are left with a similar question as we had last year: will the company be able to grow EBITDA and Free Cash Flow again to match prior levels?”

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The NAB on Wednesday (2/16) filed a 56-page letter as part of an ex parte brief with the FCC that the nation’s chief lobbying organization for broadcast media says “corrects numerous misstatements and mischaracterizations by other parties about the Supreme Court’s media ownership decision.”

That unanimous decision put the wheels in motion on the end to the local cross-media broadcast ownership prohibition.

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The ANA 2022 Media Conference is scheduled for March 2-4 in Orlando, and it is presented by A+E Network.

With in-person and virtual sessions on the agenda, the leading advertising and marketing industry advocacy group is this year partnering with the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters to give the diversity discussion an added boost.

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Next Wednesday, the two biggest audio content creation and distribution companies in the U.S. will each release their fourth quarter fiscal results.

For leader iHeartMedia, a pre-market call will be scheduled — a potentially good move for a company that in the past used a Thursday after-market time slot to evade press coverage of a blemish-filled report.

At 10am on February 23, Audacy Inc. will take the spotlight. For the former Entercom, the fiscal report card comes with its stock at a far lower price than it was a year ago.

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The Federal Communications Commission has issued a monetary forfeiture to a Texas LPFM licensee for failing to file a license renewal application on time.

The $1,500 fine is to Holy Spirit Oil Filled Ministry, licensee of low-power FM station KERC(LP) in Kermit, Texas.

FCC rules require stations to file for renewal application at least four months before their license expiration date, which for Holy Spirit was April 1, 2021. The Media Bureau said an application was not filed until May 13 and the licensee hasn’t explained why.

Soon after the bureau sent a notice of apparent liability for forfeiture and gave Holy Spirit 30 days to pay or reply. To date, the bureau said, the licensee has done neither.

The bureau has now determined that Holy Spirit willfully violated the rules and it confirmed the $1,500 forfeiture.

The post Texas LPFM Issued Forfeiture for Late-filed Application appeared first on Radio World.

iHeartMedia has announced a partnership with Sounder, an audio intelligence platform.

The media company said it will use Sounder’s Audio Data Cloud to provide podcast creators with AI and machine learning tools “to help them gain critical, real-time insights to accelerate growth and improve monetization.”

It also is making a financial investment in Sounder, as the lead investor in the company’s Series A round. Sounder was founded in 2019 by former executives of Google and Spotify.

iHeart said approximately 750 of its original podcasts use Sounder technology. An important aspect of the announcement is what is called “brand safety” — a means for advertisers to spend on the iHeartPodcast Network’s content confidently.

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“The brand safety solution enables iHeartMedia’s marketing partners to buy across a wide array of creators with the assurance that the content adheres to industry safety standards,” iHeart stated. “The technology will quickly expand to also allow advertisers to customize their brand safety guidelines, unlocking new and more diverse publishers to provide even more effective ad placements.”

Chief Data Officer Brian Kaminsky was quoted saying, “It’s critical that we learn from the challenges advertisers have had with video and social media to deliver safety tools and controls that allow brands to customize their campaigns and ensure that their ads will be delivered at scale in a brand-safe environment.”

He said the partnership also provides “brand suitability tools” that align brands with relevant content and creator sentiments.

Sounder explained these tools on the company’s blog: “Through our brand safety and suitability solution, we can analyze a publisher’s audio content and identify any segments that might not meet the industry safety guidelines. … Knowing a publisher’s audio content is safe and suitable increases the rate a publisher can charge. Brands, too, are eager to share their messages on audio so long as they know their brand identity isn’t at risk.”

The announcement was made by Joe Robinson, iHeartMedia’s president of corporate development and ventures, and Kal Amin, CEO and co-founder of Sounder.

Kal Amin said, “While podcast advertising is growing fast, it’s still a nascent business when compared to traditional radio advertising.”

Submit business announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post iHeart Pursues “Brand Safety” With Sounder Deal appeared first on Radio World.

The percentage of women serving as radio general managers in the largest U.S. media markets shows “strong growth year over year,” according to the organization Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio.

In the top 100 markets, the percentage continues to run higher than the national average. In 2021, about 24% of stations in these larger markets were managed by women, up from about 22% the year before.

Overall, MIW finds that about 21% of stations in 2021 had women in the general manager position. “This is an increase of almost a full percentage point from 2020 … Notably, this number continues to show consistent growth from 2004, when the percentage of female general managers was only 14.9%.”

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The study is based on data about roughly 11,000 AM and FM radio stations in the United States, as accounted for by PrecisionTrak.

“Overall, the best management opportunities for women in radio continue to be in sales management,” MIW said. About 34% of stations had a female sales manager, basically flat from 2020.

“The greatest challenge for women in radio management continues to be in the area of program directors/brand managers.” Women currently program about 12% of stations, again basically flat.

The organization does not report the number of women in technical management positions.

MIW Board President Ruth Presslaff was quoted saying, “If the glass is half full, we should celebrate any upward movement, even if it’s incremental, as jobs continue to be eliminated in the continuing pandemic. However, it’s disappointing that the glass isn’t filling faster for those in programming and MIW is paying close attention to this issue.”

The post Women Make More Gains in Top GM Jobs appeared first on Radio World.

Dick Pickens is being remembered as a consulting engineer, ABIP inspector and DJ.

His passing at age 85 was noted by the Texas Association of Broadcasters.

Pickens owned technical consulting company Microcom Systems Inc. One of its specialties, according to its website, was measuring, building, servicing and signal measuring AM and AM directional radio stations.

As one of the first four inspectors in Texas under the the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program in Texas, Pickens helped hundreds of broadcast stations with FCC rule compliance.

Before he started his company in the 1980s, he had already been a top-rated deejay, program manager, production person, AV producer, radio chief engineer and teacher of broadcasting at the University of Texas College of Communication.

The TAB writes that Pickens began in broadcasting at the age of 10. He and nine-year-old Ben Laurie launched the “Keebie Kids” Saturday morning live children’s radio program on KEBE(AM) Jacksonville in 1946.

He met his future wife Nancy when she performed a piano piece on the program. The couple celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary last year, TAB noted.

Pickens began his DJ career in the 1950s with the air name Dick Laine, eventually joining the Gordon McLendon group of stations. He interviewed rock ’n’ rollers on-air and became a PD and DJ for the original KOKE(AM) in Austin. He later moved to top 40 station KNOW(AM) Austin. The Texas Radio Hall of Fame inducted him as Dick Laine in 2012.

“Throughout his on-air years, he expanded his knowledge of the engineering side of broadcasting, eventually earning his Amateur Radio license and in 1964 his FCC First Class commercial radio operator license,” according to the TAB. “He worked up to an Amateur Radio Extra Class License in 1975 with the call sign K5UD.”

In the 1970s he created, built and managed a radio common carrier business for which he had to learn to create computer programs; he designed and installed a number of radio studios and transmitter sites, according to the MSI website.

He later earned bachelor and master of divinity degrees from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. “He was a man of great Christian faith who also would use his broadcast experience to assist several Texas religious broadcasters over the years,” TAB wrote.

“In 1997, he became one of the four original TAB ABIP inspectors. For the next 25 years, Dick and Nancy traveled throughout Texas, inspecting hundreds of radio and television stations throughout the state, helping stations achieve compliance with FCC regulations,” TAB wrote. “Nancy served as the team’s Public Inspection File specialist.”

A memorial service is planned for March 5 in Spicewood, Texas.

The post Texas Broadcasters Remember Dick Pickens appeared first on Radio World.

Colorado community station KAFM has joined the VuHaus Group’s “NPR Live Sessions” project. The Grand Junction, Colo.-based station will have a page on the project site featuring unquie, local music video content.

The non-profit Grand Valley Public Radio Co. Inc. owns the volunteer-run KAFM, which is heard on 88.1 MHz in Grand Junction and 96.9 MHz in Palisade, Colo.

“We are thrilled to be joining so many well-respected radio stations across the country and NPR Music’s ‘Live Sessions’ that support musicians and their craft,” stated Cyrene Jagger, KAFM executive director.

VuHaus is a non-profit organization focused on connecting public radio’s music discovery stations with artists and audiences across the country. It manages the NRP Music “Live Sessions” website, curating music from 21 public radio stations across the county, including WFUV in New York City, KCRW in Los Angeles, WMOT and WNXP in Nashville, and Mountain State in West Virginia.

The post VuHaus Recruits KAFM for ‘NPR Live Sessions’ appeared first on Radio World.