Industry News

Three media companies discussed their first quarter earnings results at the same time Thursday afternoon, and among the trio of entities that own radio stations was Entravision Communications.

Entravision, which superserves Hispanic audiences, isn’t a radio-centric company. And, based on its revenue results for Q1, it isn’t a TV-centric company, either.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

In mid-April, a Class A FM that’s been simulcasting a Mexico-licensed Regional Mexican station operated by a Rio Grande Valley-based broadcaster on the U.S. side of the border was sold by MBM Texas Valley.

It’s now seeking FCC approval to sell a second station serving the popular beach community.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Reftone, the company created by engineers Dave Hampton and Lisa Chamblee, recently started shipping the LD-3B Ref-Cube. The cube-shaped monitor with a single 4-inch driver is a powered version of the company’s Ref-Cube monitors. The LD-3B is the first active model released by Reftone.

Available singly or in pairs, the LD-3B is capable of putting out 25 W at 8 Ohms. It offers two connection options: Bluetooth 4.2 or analog via a 3.5 mm input.

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

The monitors are 5 x 5 inches in size, weigh 5.5 pounds each, and are housed in magnetically sealed birch-plywood enclosures. Because they have no ports, the cabinets are less prone to resonance and offer clear midrange reproduction. According to Reftone, they designed the Ref-Cubes to “allow you to hear full-range audio clearly at low volumes.”

The LD-3B provides more than just midrange, however. Thanks to its full-range driver, it boasts a frequency response of 70 Hz to 20 kHz, which is wider on both ends than similarly designed speakers from its competitors.

You can purchase the LD-3B singly mono ($399) or as a stereo pair ($599). A special white stereo pair is available at $699. For the pairs the left monitor functions as a satellite, which is connected to the right with an included speaker wire equipped with banana plugs.

According to Reftone, these powered Ref-Cubes are designed for a wide range of applications, including tracking, editing, mixing, mastering, broadcast and post-production. Due to their small dimensions, magnetic shielding and ability to connect to an audio source using Bluetooth, the LD-3Bs are easy to place in virtually any production environment.

Info: https://reftone.com

The post Reftone Releases LD-3B Ref-Cube Monitors appeared first on Radio World.

The nation’s top audio media company and No. 1 licensee of radio stations released its first quarter 2021 earnings just after Thursday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street.

What did iHeartMedia have to share, ahead of its earnings call for analysts and investors?

Revenue fell 9.5%, or 7% ex-political. Adjusted EBITDA in Q1 2021 declined by $38 million. That’s better than what iHeart’s forecasts predicted, and only fuels its confidence that it will return to 2019 adjusted EBITDA levels by the end of 2021.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

If there ever was a time to swing from a significant net loss to profit, this is it. And, Salem Media Group delivered, with total revenue rising year-over-year.

Here’s the thing: Salem’s publishing division, along with continued strong digital dollars, made the feat possible. Net broadcast revenue declined in the first quarter of 2021.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

The company’s fiscal performance during the first three months of 2021 were bumpy but could have been worse. This sequential growth was coupled with positive comments from CEO Mary Berner during the company’s Q1 ’21 earnings call on Wednesday referencing “enhanced operating leverage” and “continued year-over-year sequential growth.”

Cumulus Media‘s path to profitability appears to have gotten the seal of approval from some in the investment world. The company’s shares were up significantly on Thursday.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

There’ll soon be a new person responsible for overseeing the content, sales, brand, and operations across all platforms — as well as defining and executing the vision and strategy — at a TEGNA property in the Lone Star State.

BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON FACEBOOK!

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

My column about the FCC’s political-file consent decrees caught the eye of an engineer whose  employer has one radio station under a decree; he was appointed to be its designated compliance officer, so he’s getting a close look at the impact.

“I thought I might offer you a little off-the-record inside look at how easy it is to run afoul of the FCC’s political broadcasting rules,” he told me. But given how many stations are affected by this issue, I asked permission to share his comments anonymously, and he agreed.

Here’s what he wrote:

Paul, 73.1943(c) requires: “All records required by this paragraph shall be placed in the online political file as soon as possible and shall be retained for a period of two years. As soon as possible means immediately absent unusual circumstances.” That “as soon as possible” and “immediately” is what got us and a lot of others in trouble.

I get it … political candidates need to know right away, the same day, what competing candidates are doing in terms of advertising schedules, so that info needs to be up and available… immediately.

What happened in our case was that a gubernatorial candidate placed an order last October for an ad buy on our station. The account executive dutifully entered the order. Traffic got the spots scheduled and the spots aired right on time.

However, the paperwork for the order sat on the AE’s desk for a few days before she gave it to the person responsible for OPIF uploads. And just like that, because an AE set another piece of paper on top of the order sheet, we were in violation. When the OPIF manager got the order sheet, she immediately uploaded it and of course it was time stamped … several days after the order date.

There was no way around it, and we owned up to it in our renewal application.

It was nothing malicious, nothing particularly careless, just an honest mistake on the part of an employee who probably should have had a greater awareness of the rule and the possible consequences of violation.

Paul, another perilous, treacherous path to violation is network programming.

Oftentimes, political buys are made at the network level. The syndicators are required by contract (by our contracts, anyway) to immediately send us the paperwork so that we can upload it, but they quite often do not, either at all or not until several days later if they do at all.

We have no way of knowing what political ads are embedded until/unless we hear them or the syndicators tell us. When we do get the paperwork, we always annotate it with the date/time received and immediately upload it. But that could still constitute a violation, even though it is arguably beyond our control. The FCC would argue that we are responsible for everything that goes out over our airwaves, and they are correct.

The point of all this is that while political OPIF violations in this renewal cycle may seem epidemic, I don’t believe that is the case.

The OPIF and time stamping of uploads make it impossible to claim compliance if even a little late — not that we would ever knowingly do that anyway (we always in the past disclaimed our certifications in license renewal applications, “to the best of our knowledge …”). A tiny mistake under the current system makes for a black-and-white license renewal issue. It’s all very frustrating.

For now, we have put an embargo on all non-federal political advertising and will only take federal candidate ads that we are required to by law.

We hate to leave money on the table and not give candidates a platform, but we simply cannot take a chance that another small mistake will be made and affect our licenses.

Thanks to this reader for sharing his experience of how the current FCC initiative is affecting one company’s daily operations.

The post “It’s All Very Frustrating”: Life Under a Consent Decree appeared first on Radio World.

In the last year, fueled by “Black Lives Matter” social justice protests, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives reached full tilt across Corporate America. Now, there is a growing realization that “DEI,” or D&I, action is no replacement for marketing and advertising to ethnic consumers.

That’s the crux of a statement being sent by the Hispanic Marketing Council today to Fortune 1000 Chief Marketing Officers and the media.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

It was a company first: Saga Communications President/CEO Ed Christian was absent from its Q1 2021 earnings call held Thursday morning. He’s “doing fine,” CFO Sam Bush told those on the call.

Christian suffered a painful muscle pull, Bush reports, and he was at a doctor’s office getting X-Rays instead of offering his trademark “picturesque comments,” as Bush calls them, on what turned out to be a nine-minute fiscal review for analysts and investors of Saga’s first three months of 2021.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)