Industry News

Saga Communications station WCLZ(FM) in South Portland, Me., promoted the 14th Polar Bear Dip & Dash to benefit the Natural Resources Council of Maine and its efforts to fight climate change.

Before we get too much further into 2022, I’m hoping we can focus on making it a better world for ourselves and our listeners in as many ways as possible.

When you read the many summaries of the headlines 2021, you couldn’t help but notice that climate was one of the top stories. From extremely cold temperatures in Texas and record highs on the Pacific Coast to hurricanes and enormous forest fires, weather effects dominated the news.

Yet as I listen to commercial stations around the United States, I rarely hear the terms “climate change” or “global warming” mentioned other than news radio coverage. The exception is conservative talk radio, where the seriousness of climate change is still rejected as a left-wing scare tactic.

“Pluralistic ignorance” is a useful phenomenon to understand if our industry wants to help improve conditions we face with climate change, COVID and the economy.

Pluralistic ignorance happens when people misjudge beliefs and actions of others and then act accordingly, even when it goes against what they actually believe.

[Read More Promo Power Here]

A prime example of pluralistic ignorance comes from a 2019 survey conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. It discovered that the American public underestimates how many people in our country believe that global warming is real.

It might be surprising to you to learn that Americans on average think that only 54% of others believe that global warming is occurring, when actually 69% of Americans surveyed at that time really did believe it was happening. And the latest survey from September indicates that this belief about global warming has grown to 76% of the American public believing that “global warming is happening,” an all-time high since the program began its surveys in 2008.

Taos Communications station KTAO in New Mexico has been using solar power since 1991.

While I understand talk radio has an audience to serve, these stats make me wonder if its programmers are doing enough research to make sure that the once-sacred cow of poo-pooing climate change should be reassessed, even for their listeners.

After all, it is common for Americans of radically different political stripes to want the same thing. The crux of conflict is how it should be done.

Regarding policy proposals, an April 2021 Pew Research survey reports that among specifically conservative-leaning Republicans, 86% favor planting about a trillion trees around the world to absorb carbon emissions, 69% support tax credit for businesses to develop carbon-capture and storage technology, and nearly half support tougher restrictions on power plant carbon emissions. Those results are not what common wisdom might predict.

And if you take a look at the comparison maps of the Yale Program’s 2018 survey of Democratic and Republican views of climate change, you will see that most Republicans at least “somewhat agree” that global warming should be taught in our schools — and an astounding number at least “somewhat support” the funding of research into “renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power.”

That’s a far cry from the notion that politically conservative Americans couldn’t care less about climate change.

Broaden the conversation
For most of the listening universe in America, it’s past time that stations started openly supporting climate change initiatives, or at least letting the conversation take place.

Where to start? There’s a 90-second piece called “Climate Connections,” produced five times a week by The Yale Center for Environmental Communication that’s on many public radio stations; it could use more support from commercial radio. If you’re interested, email editor@yaleclimateconnections.org. If not, Yale’s climate change focused websites https://yaleclimateconnections.org/and https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/ offer many ideas for how you can incorporate messaging into your programming.

There are even studies showing how the public views specific topics you may consider addressing.

Along with addressing the topic regularly, stations can help support local and national initiatives and execute promotions, events and concerts with the proceeds benefiting organizations working to fight climate change.

Taking political affiliation into consideration, it’s easy to find resources that support different climate change initiatives. Google “climate change solutions” or “climate change education” and you’ll find everything from Greenpeace to the Brookings Institution and the Senate Bipartisan Climate Caucus.

Is it possible to run all or part of your radio station using solar energy? KTAO in Taos, N.M., famously has been using solar since 1991. If you’ve got to “get it in the budget” for next year, there’s no better time to plan for the future than now.

With seven in 10 Americans being at least “somewhat worried” about global warming, it’s time to broaden the conversation about this crucial aspect of the future that we all share.

The post Radio, Influencing the Future for Good appeared first on Radio World.

YFM DJ Kutloano Nhlapo, also known as “Da Kruk,” hosts his “Sinday Social” radio show in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Almost three decades into democracy, radio is thriving in South Africa. Radio listenership in the country is consistently higher than the global average. And it in fact increased during the COVID-19 lockdowns of the past two years.

This is perhaps not surprising given that radio acts as a companion and that people were confined to their homes and so more likely to tune in, more often. But during the pandemic, radio has also played an important role in bringing educational broadcasts to youth who did not have access to the internet. People also listened to radio station podcasts during lockdown, and podcast listenership in South Africa is also higher than the global average.

Despite South Africa’s divisive history, I have argued that this is because radio listening provides background texture to everyday life. It’s a social activity which reminds people that there is a social world “out there” and helps them link to it.

The numbers
Radio is a universal mass medium in South Africa, since more people have access to radio receivers and broadcasts than they do television sets. In fact, radio remains the most popular and pervasive medium across the continent. This is despite the proliferation of cellphones, the growth of social media apps and on-demand streaming music services.

[Read More of Our Coverage of Radio Around the World]

One might assume that fewer people would listen to the radio given these technological innovations. But the most recent measurement figures show that radio audiences in South Africa continue to grow.

In 2021, about 80% of South Africans had tuned into a radio station within the last week, with most people still listening on traditional radio sets. There are 40 commercial and public broadcast stations and 284 community stations in South Africa.

Radio audience numbers in South Africa have not declined as they have in North America, due to an increase in streaming service options. There is, in particular, high listenership among young people, who listen to radio as a source of both news and companionship.

Vernacular radio
World Radio Day is a good time to reflect on the role of the medium in a country like South Africa, characterized by inequality and an ethnically divisive history under apartheid.

Historically, South African broadcasting has not provided a common space of public communication, but instead reinforced notions of separateness, in line with apartheid narratives of difference. As I argued in my book Broadcasting Democracy, people “consume” radio, making strategic choices about which stations to tune into on the basis of their personal or group identities.

Commercial music radio stations in particular are still often seen and sometimes even explicitly framed along racial lines. There is a plethora of radio stations in all 11 official languages available at the public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corp.

South African scholar Liz Gunner has shown how a station like the Zulu language Ukhozi FM has been significant in connecting with urban and rural listeners to navigate post-apartheid Zulu identity. Ukhozi FM has the highest radio listenership with nearly 8-million listeners. While during apartheid language and ethnic differences were used as a means to segregate citizens, today these are celebrated as part of a diverse “rainbow nation”.

The public sphere
Despite the continued popularity of vernacular radio, English-language talk radio stations and shows still attract African language speakers who frequently phone in and participate. This could be linked to the dominance of English-language media in South Africa and the fact that English media spaces are also often dominant.

In other words, despite the range of vernacular options, English stations are perceived as being sites of the public sphere and attract debate and conversation between a diverse range of South Africans.

[Read More Guest Commentaries Here]

Regardless of language, talk radio shows are booming with vibrant conversations, highlighting the important role of radio as a space to bring together geographically diverse South Africans to debate matters of social and political importance.

Aside from identity, radio also plays a key role as a companion for people, as in this study where the majority of youth said that radio “keeps me company”. Another recent study confirmed that listeners often see their preferred radio station as a companion and feel a deep connection with both the station and its DJs.

Social media
While traditional listenership is growing in South Africa, people are also listening more online and interacting with radio stations in different ways, for example via social media platforms.

Whereas in the past listeners could only access radio hosts via calling in to the station, they can now easily and instantly reach them via apps like Twitter. And equally instantly receive responses. While calling in to a station usually implies negotiating one’s way past a call screener or producer and engaging on a specific topic, Twitter communication is often more casual, relaxed and personal.

Radio is thus no longer a one-dimensional platform or “blind medium”, and this is a key contributing factor to its growth. And radio listeners are able to now communicate directly not only with the station, but also one another.

Community radio
And with 284 stations, the role of community radio in South Africa also remains key to continuing to build and consolidate democracy. Originally designed as the “voice of the voiceless”, community radio emerged as part of the liberalization of the airwaves in the early 1990s. They were a key strategy in the repositioning of the apartheid-state media landscape.

Like many other organizations in the NGO sector, community stations have faced financial challenges after the withdrawal of international donor funds which sustained them during the apartheid period. But they are still flourishing, as evidenced by the large number of stations still in existence.

Stations like Bush Radio, the oldest community radio project in Cape Town, still boast an exciting lineup of alternative talk and music content. And smaller community projects like Rx Radio, a children’s radio project based at Red Cross Children’s Hospital, also play a key role in providing children’s entertainment produced by children themselves.

Radio plays a significant role in South Africa as form of education and entertainment. The diverse and vibrant range of stations is a unique feature of the South African media landscape.

Tanja Bosch is an associate professor in Media Studies and Production at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and the author of the book Broadcasting Democracy: Radio and Identity in South Africa. Her Twitter feed is @radionerd76.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here.

The post Radio Is Thriving in South Africa: 80% Are Tuning In appeared first on Radio World.

(Photo by Pixbay)

The National Association of Broadcasters has laid out its top policy priorities for the 117th Congress with a list of policy priorities that include preserving local journalism in the age of big tech, increasing diversity in broadcasters, preventing harmful changes to advertising tax treatment, and ensuring broadcast ownership rules reflect the competitive marketplace.

Its list of policy priorities began with preserving local journalism in the age of big tech.

Noting that journalism and a free press are bedrocks of American democracy, the NAB said that while “free, accessible and reliable content remains in high demand, it is being undermined on multiple fronts.”

As the “advertising market has become dominated by a few giant online platforms, broadcast stations’ advertising revenues have significantly declined, making local journalism more difficult to support,” the NAB said.

“As Congress considers the competitive challenges and antitrust concerns raised by digital platforms and their impact on local news and information, it should support laws and policies that recognize and uphold broadcasters’ unique and essential role in democracy and a free press,” the NAB said.

[Read More of RW’s Congressional Coverage]

In opposing a performance tax on local radio stations, the NAB contended that a “performance tax would financially cripple local radio stations simply for airing music, jeopardizing local jobs, stifling new artists and harming local radio listeners. Broadcasters strongly support the Local Radio Freedom Act (H. Con. Res. 33, S. Con. Res. 9), a resolution that opposes a performance tax and is supported by more than 230 bipartisan members of the House and Senate.”

In terms of its policy priority of increasing diversity in broadcasting, the NAB noted that “the most impactful program to expand diversity in broadcast ownership – the Minority Tax Certificate Program – was eliminated by Congress in 1995. That program had provided tax incentives to those who sold their majority interests in broadcast stations to minorities, and broadcasters support legislation to reinstate it.”

“Broadcasters support the Expanding Broadcast Ownership Opportunities Act (H.R. 4871) and the Broadcast Varied Ownership Incentives for Community Expanded Service Act, also known as the Broadcast VOICES Act (S. 2456), introduced in the House and Senate respectively during the 117th Congress,” the NAB said. “Reinstating the Tax Certificate Program at the FCC would encourage investment in broadcast station ownership for women and people of color and dramatically help underrepresented voices realize their dreams of radio and television station ownership.”

The NAB also came out against preventing harmful changes to advertising tax treatment.

“Under the U.S. tax code, advertising is treated as an ordinary and necessary business expense deductible in the year it is incurred,” the NAB said. “In the last few years, some in Congress and in state legislatures have proposed changes to the tax treatment of businesses’ advertising as a means of raising revenue. These modifications would have a devastating impact on radio and television stations, as well as local newspapers, by discouraging businesses from advertising….Congress should oppose legislation that modifies the tax laws to make advertising more expensive for businesses.”

In terms of relaxing ownership regulations, the NAB stressed that “TV and radio stations are best able to serve their local communities when allowed to compete effectively in the marketplace….Broadcasters urge policymakers to support the FCC’s modernization of radio and TV ownership rules to reflect the current marketplace and account for the rise and increasing influence of digital media.”

More information on the policies that broadcasters will focus on during the rest of the 117th Congress is available at nab.org/advocacy.

The post NAB Lays Out Top Policy Priorities for 117th Congress appeared first on Radio World.

MIAMI — Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) has filed a petition for declaratory ruling with the FCC that would allow foreign investors to indirectly own up to 49.9% of the Hispanic media company’s equity in the aggregate.

Should that happen? The Media Bureau wants to know.

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As the court-appointed receiver of three radio stations tied to Ed Stolz, Larry Patrick was directed by a California federal district judge to move forward with the sale of Stolz’s three FM radio stations licensed to Royce International Broadcasting. The action, the judge said, was necessary in order to provide past-due royalty payments tied to the airplay of music on those FMs.

Then came Stolz’s bankruptcy filing, in a Nevada court. As RBR+TVBR reported this week, the Nevada Federal Bankruptcy Judge — in an oral ruling — paved the way for Stolz to regain ownership of the properties.

Paperwork reflecting the unwinding of a deal engineered by Patrick has now been filed with the FCC.

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Some companies do it to award shareholders. Others to it to attract them.

For Nielsen, the latter appears to be the incorrect response from Wall Street of the decision by its Board of Directors to declare a quarterly cash dividend.

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As RBR+TVBR was first to report on Thursday (2/10), Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) has successfully negotiated a purchase of Rhythmic Top 40 “Power 95.3” in the Orlando market and Alternative “97X” in Tampa-St. Petersburg — stations that an Elliot Evers-administered trust needed to spin by Tuesday.

With the former Cox Media Group FMs now set to become Spanish-language properties in two hot growth markets, the only remaining question until now involved the value of the deal.

We now have an answer.

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Infographic Courtesy Pure Digital. Click to embiggen.

A new study from digital radio manufacturer Pure Radio finds that for many Brits, radio now provides the soundtrack for their lives.

This is especially true 18- to 34-year-olds. The survey found that more than 62% of the younger audience segment is tuning to radio compared to pre-pandemic. Despite older listeners not changing their listening habits as dramatically, on average, more than a third of U.K. listeners find themselves listening to the radio more now.

In part, Pure Radio stated in a release announcing the survey findings, the increase is connected to working from home. A fifth of respondents noted they listen to the radio while eating breakfast or during the workday with 11 a.m. being the most popular time to listen to the radio. Forty-seven percent of respondents said they put on the radio to help combat feelings of loneliness.

[Related: “World Radio Day Focuses on Trust for 2022”]

The biggest difference in listening habits between younger and older listeners comes in an unexpected place — the shower. The survey found that the 18–24 segment was four times as likely to listen to the radio while washing themselves than those aged 45+ (20% of 18–24 respondents versus just 5% of those 45+). Younger listeners were three times as likely to listen to the radio during dinner than older listeners (18% vs. 6%).

When it comes to their preferred listening method, 27% of 18–34s said they found listening via a traditional radio receiver most convenient.

Pure Radio surveyed 2,000 Brits for the study to understand the trust people have in radio as part of a campaign connected to World Radio Day 2022.

The post Radio Listening Up Among Younger Brits appeared first on Radio World.

I think Fred Baumgartner’s article about OTA Next Gen ATSC 3.0 and the entire push to put it on the air misses a very important point: Why bother?

While he argues that ancient modulation on the MW band and even FM on the VHF band cannot compete with ATSC 3.0 on the UHF band for OTA distribution for most of the global audience, he forgets that wireless transmission in general is passe except for time spent in motion, commuting, etc. Fiber to the home is rapidly replacing copper circuits of all types and is far more reliable than any OTA signal.

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Do we need ATSC 3.0 to reach commuters? Nope. Sure, we could use its data formats with 5G OTA, but that’s really optional. Once you have an IP connection, any data format will work. ATSC 3.0 TV transmission, even synchronous repeaters, pales in comparison with cellular carriers, who will be providing thousands of cell sites in any one community.

If you look at rural areas, especially those with very hilly or mountainous terrain, OTA remains highly challenged. And that includes 5G cellular service. But many of these same areas are being rewired with fiber.

So, for that magnificent 8K TV screen, fiber will likely rule. For the kids in the back seats of the family van, do they really need 8K for the 24-inch screen built into the back rests of the seats in front of them?

In the world of Internet of things, will traditional TV license holders matter? Nope. These devices require two-way connectivity. Only the wireless carriers are in a position to expand and prosper. And at home, the bits can be uplinked more efficiently with wireless modems connected to the world via fiber than 5G.

The author is chief engineer of Monadnock Broadcasting Group and Saga Communications. Opinions are his own.

Comment on this or any story. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Why Bother With NextGen TV? appeared first on Radio World.

Spanish Broadcasting System has asked the Federal Communications Commission to allow foreign investors to indirectly own up to 49.99% of its equity in aggregate.

SBS filed a petition for declaratory ruling as a consequence of a litigation settlement under which certain investors would receive a combination of cash and new shares of SBS’s common stock.

SBS has radio holdings in multiple major markets including flagship WSKQ(FM) in New York.

“The issuance of the total number of shares required to implement the settlement could cause the aggregate equity foreign ownership of SBS to exceed … [the] 25% benchmark because some of these parties are foreign entities and/or individuals,” the commission wrote in a summary.

[Recently in RW: “FCC Grants iHeart Petition on GMEI Foreign Investment”]

The commission noted that SBS only seeks approval for foreign investors to hold up to 49.99% of the company’s total equity interests; it does not seek special approval with respect to its voting interests.

Raúl Alarcón is the only person or entity that would hold a 5% or greater voting interest, with an approximately 80% voting interest and 34% equity interest in SBS. “The remainder of SBS’s stock would be held by various domestic and foreign investors,” the FCC wrote.

The petition doesn’t seek advance approval for any individual or entity. SBS told the FCC that the request raises no national security, trade policy or law enforcement concerns “and will further the commission’s goal of encouraging foreign investment in the broadcast industry.”

The commission accepted its petition for review and will take public comment. Per its past practice it also will check with relevant executive branch agencies for any concerns related to foreign ownership of SBS.

Comments can be filed on the FCC website and are due March 14, 2022. They should reference MB Docket No. 22-61.

The post SBS Seeks OK for More Foreign Investment appeared first on Radio World.