Industry News

Every day we get pitched stories about FAST Channels, AVOD and connected TV and, in nearly every instance, we reply with the same statement — how is this important to the broadcast television industry and how can they benefit?

That’s just one of several questions RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson asks Blair Harrison, CEO of OTT linear streaming platform Frequency, in this fresh InFOCUS Podcast.

Learn why FAST channels aren’t a threat to broadcast TV and, perhaps, additive, and why “streaming duplicates” may bring an important boost to your organization in this podcast!

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Blair Harrison” on Spreaker.

They were once radio stations owned by the late Ralph Carlson’s Holiday Broadcasting.

Now, an AM, an FM and an FM translator serving Moab, Utah, are being sold. The buyer is led by William Craig Knott.

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

Engineering classes hosted by the Alabama Broadcasters Association will kick off again later this year.

The association will host the 2022 ABA Engineering Academy classes at intervals throughout the year, starting with radio engineering classes March 7–11 and Sept. 12–16. Another double set of classes will cover television engineering issues during April 4–8 and Oct. 3–7.

The classes, which run five days for each session, are open to anyone, not just ABA members, said Larry Wilkins, director of engineering services for ABA, who is a past recipient of the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award.

“Before we had to stop in-person classes [due to the pandemic], we had students from across the country, even Alaska,” he said.

Classes will be held in person at the ABA Training Center in Birmingham, Ala.

Day one of the radio engineering classes covers basic electronics. “It is important that someone who works in any type of engineering understand the basics,” he said. The class covers electricity, Ohm’s law, the components used in circuits and the various formulas used in broadcast operations.

Day two covers analog and digital audio basics, including digital audio workstations and processors. The class also covers microphone selection and proper placement. New this year is the introduction of loudness units full scale (LUFS).

“Since we have seen that several engineers are also involved in mixing live audio or recording, we spend some time on audio mixer setup and operation,” Wilkins said. The course includes time in the training center’s digital recording studio with a 32-channel mixing console and digital audio workstation.

Day three covers AM and FM transmitters and antennas, including directional AM arrays and HD Radio. The classes touch on basic transmitter site maintenance, as well as legal requirements.

Day four looks at station operation including installation of EAS systems, background on FCC rules and regulations, required paperwork and technical management as well as good engineering practices. Day five is reserved for those looking to take the SBE certification exam.

“We are aware that attending a class for four or five days will not create a ‘chief engineer’ but our goal is to cover as much of the technical operation [as possible] so that someone that is looking at getting into broadcast engineering can work under a seasoned engineer more comfortably,” Wilkins said. “Also, there may those at a station that would like to learn more about the technical side of the operation and [this] can help with basic issues that come up after attending the class.”

Over the years, he said, the association has seen a number of seasoned engineers attend classes, both as a refresher and as an opportunity to learn about new technology.

The ABA also started a monthly engineering webinar covering various technical subjects that parallel the engineering classes. Those attending the classes can receive credit when recertifying with SBE.

Registration for classes can be found at the ABA website. The association also offers a series of continuing educational classes on a variety of technical areas such as audio production, network protocols and data rates, among other topics. In addition, the association offers seminars throughout the year with special presenters, both in person and on the association’s YouTube channel, found at abaengineeringacademy.

The post New ABA Engineering Classes on Tap appeared first on Radio World.

A battle against the FCC that sees the NAB; Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC); and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) join hands in a united fight to stop the Commission’s order mandating disclosures for foreign government-sponsored programming has yielded a freshly submitted reply brief — one that reiterates its belief that the new rules are overreaching and burdensome.

Another reply brief was filed on Friday by the three groups with U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The organizations have waged a legal challenge of the FCC’s order requiring disclosures for programming tied financially to a foreign government. The matter is pending judicial review, and oral arguments in the case are scheduled for April 12.

In the brief, the organizations refute the FCC’s claims that the rule is lawful and argue that the rule violates with the Communications Act, the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act.

On April 22, 2021, the FCC adopted what the three broadcast media advocacy groups call “unnecessary and overly burdensome rules that impose on every broadcaster onerous requirements to make specified inquiries of, and conduct independent research on, all the entities with whom broadcasters currently or will in the future have lease agreements.”

As the FCC sees it, the rules will “eliminate any potential ambiguity to the viewer or listener regarding the source of programming provided from foreign governmental entities.”

Specifically, the new FCC rule states that by having stations identify its sources of programming, “we seek to address an important issue of public concern while going no further than necessary, thus balancing considerations of the First Amendment with the need for consumers to be sufficiently informed as to the origin of material broadcast on stations licensed on their behalf in the public interest.”

The Commission rule goes on to say by refining the rule it is ensuring that the public is fully informed on the source of programming consumed. It notes, “We find it is critical that the American public be aware when a foreign government has sponsored, paid for, or, in the case of political programs or programs involving the discussion of a controversial issue, furnished the programming for free as an inducement to air the material, particularly given what seems to be an increase in the dissemination of programming in the United States by foreign governments and their representatives.”

In August 2021, the NAB, NABOB and the MMTC moved ahead and filed a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging the Order.

In the latest objection brief from the three organizations, NAB, NABOB and MMTC say the rule is “pointless” and addresses a “phantom harm” that is highly unlikely to occur since foreign agents, under threat of criminal penalties, must disclose their three foreign principal in all programming and supply copies of that programming to the Department of Justice.

The Order requires broadcasters to conduct investigations of every programming lease, even infomercials and local programming. The groups say it is “arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.”

The target of the R&O? It is most likely the Sputnik radio service, which airs on an FM translator serving the Washington, D.C., market and in select hours on a Kansas City radio station; W288BS is owned by prominent communications attorney John Garziglia, through his licensee Reston Translator LLC.

The Order also likely targets URadio, a Chinese-language service said to be funded by the People’s Republic of China that uses XETRA-AM 690 in Tijuana, Baja California to serve audiences in Southern California.

— Reporting by Ed Ryan and Adam R Jacobson

Sinclair Broadcast Group’s News Reporter Academy, an interactive workshop for college students interested in pursuing a career in news reporting, is back.

The Academy will hold its next virtual session on March 30 from Noon-3pm ET.

Now in its second year, the News Reporter Academy, hosted by Sinclair’s corporate news operation, gives university-level students an opportunity to learn about working in a newsroom and interact with Sinclair’s news teams.

In the three-hour interactive session, students will learn the basics of news reporting and investigative storytelling, managing a social media presence, how to look and sound their best on-camera and how to package a resume and reel.

“After the success of Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Producer Academy, a workshop for students interested in pursuing a career in digital or broadcast news producing, which is now in its fifth year, the company developed a seminar for students focused on news reporting,” Baltimore-based Sinclair says.

The virtual workshop is open exclusively to undergraduate and graduate college students. Registration is limited to 150 students and an .edu email address is required.

Students must register in advance by March 25: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcsc-6tqjkqGNWwZIRFQ47sVkHkrp8_GeZm

NEW YORK — MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Solutions has moved forward with the promotions of two key executives, who each report to CEO Frank Jachetta.

This sees expanded responsibilities given to the pair, focused on the company’s daily business operations and strategic company direction moving forward.

Earning the boost at MultiDyne are Jesse Foster, as Vice President of Product Development, and Matt Watkins, as vP of Sales.

Foster joined MultiDyne in 2018 from Cobalt Digital as Director, Product Development and Western US Sales. He’ll retain his Western U.S. Sales territory, reporting to Matt Watkins for all sales activities and to Frank Jachetta on product development initiatives.

Watkins came to MultiDyne from the consumer electronics world in 2008 as an Inside Sales Manager, where he learned the professional broadcast and production business from the ground up. Matt’s trajectory has now taken him from an entry-level position to a VP post, following 12 years as Sales and Systems Design Manager.

In his new role, Matt will oversee all global sales and business development initiatives, with regional sales teams and channel partners reporting to him. That includes Sebastian Mucha, Director of Business Development, EMEA Region; and Michael Jordan, who came to MultiDyne through its Census Digital acquisition and has been promoted to Director of Business Development, CALA and APAC.

Matt will also continue to head Eastern US Sales, a job he assumed in 2018, serving as Jesse’s sales counterpart east of the Mississippi River; and take on increasing responsibilities in marketing communications.

“MultiDyne has always valued long-term employee retention and encouraged promotion from within,” said Jachetta. “Matt has spent his entire professional career here, and his talents have touched nearly every department over 14 remarkable years. Jesse came to us several years ago with strong industry pedigree and made an immediate impact on how we market and position our fiber solutions, while bringing MultiDyne into new product areas and business verticals. These are well-deserved promotions that set the stage for our next generation of business growth.”

— Brian Galante

Boston-based video accessibility provider 3Play Media has a new owner. It’s a company known for products devoted to live and recorded captioning, localization, and audio description services.

The acquisition of Captionmax includes National Captioning Canada (NCC), the largest live captioning provider in the nation and a subsidiary of Captionmax.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

“Live video captioning is a tremendous area of growth and one that 3Play has been increasingly focused on for our customers,” said Josh Miller, co-CEO and co-founder of 3Play Media. “As we evaluated the market, we realized there are a lot of benefits to a combination with Captionmax. Its reputation as a trusted and high quality live captioning solution, particularly in the broadcast space, was a great complement to 3Play, which has a strong presence in the recorded captioning space across industries and is focused on the same goals of reliability and quality.”

Said 3Play Media co-CEO and co-founder Chris Antunes, “Captionmax is well aligned with our commitment to exceptional service, customer experience, and accessibility – making this a natural partnership. We look forward to combining 3Play Media’s innovative technology and processes with Captionmax and NCC’s deep industry experience and expertise to drive our collective growth.”

Captionmax was founded in 1993 and is led by CEO Truck Morrison.

Ahead of the 2022 NAB Show, 3Play Media in January introduced Live Professional Captioning, a live captioning solution that the company says is the first to provide users with automated failover.

In addition to Captionmax and NCC’s foothold in the broadcast market, the global video streaming market is growing exponentially year-over-year and is forecasted to approach $930 billion by 2028, with live streaming expected to reach $250 billion within 5 years.

The FCC and the NTIA say they will be working more closely together on spectrum issues.

The Federal Communications Commission and National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced an initiative intended to improve U.S. government coordination on spectrum management.

“The Spectrum Coordination Initiative will involve actions by both agencies to strengthen the processes for decision making and information sharing and to work cooperatively to resolve spectrum policy issues,” they said in the announcement.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the agreement with NTIA Assistant Secretary Alan Davidson.

[Read More of Our FCC Coverage]

“Now more than ever we need a whole-of-government approach to spectrum policy,” Rosenworcel said in the statement. “Over the past few years, we’ve seen the cost of not having one — and we need a non-stop effort to fix that.”

They laid out a plan to reinstate high-level meetings; “reaffirm” roles and responsibilities; and renew efforts to develop a national spectrum strategy. They also said they would “recommit to scientific integrity and evidence-based policymaking” and revamp their technical collaboration.

Among other steps, the FCC will participate as an observer in the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, while NTIA will participate as an observer in the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council and the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council.

The organizations wrote: “The FCC and NTIA jointly manage the nation’s radio spectrum resources, and the agencies have a long history of working together to ensure that spectrum policy decisions foster economic growth, ensure our national and homeland security, maintain U.S. global leadership and advance other vital U.S. needs.”

The post FCC, NTIA Seek Better Spectrum Coordination appeared first on Radio World.

He’s been with iHeartMedia for 14 years and has a 50-year career in broadcasting.

Come March 22, it will all come to a conclusion, as the Area President for iHeart in Alabama — Destin, Fla.-based Ray Quinn — will enter retirement.

Quinn has been in the role for iHeart since December 2007. He joined the company to take on the Alabama regional leadership role after serving as VP/Market Manager for Audacy Corp. predecessor Entercom’s Denver stations. Before taking that role in 2005, Quinn spent four years as VP/Market Manager of Entercom/Milwaukee. From 2003-2004, he held similar duties for Entercom in Madison, Wisc.

Quinn joined Entercom after spending 11 years with a company he helped launch in December 1988, Opus Media Group. It owned stations in Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; Jackson, Ms.; and Monroe, La.

Entering radio station ownership came after a market leadership role for American Media in San Antonio. He earned that position after serving as GM of Capitol Broadcasting-owned WMJJ in Birmingham, Ala.

In the 1970s, Quinn gained notice for serving as PD of WFIL-AM in Philadelphia. He took the job in September 1979, after serving as Program Director of WCBM-AM in Baltimore.

Outside of his daily duties, Quinn is highly involved in the community. In fact, the Governor of Kentucky recognized him as a “Kentucky Colonel” for participating in numerous charitable projects. Additionally, Quinn was awarded the March of Dimes “Order of the Battered Boot” for walkathon fundraising efforts over the years.

Quinn was named one of Radio Ink’s Best Managers in 2019 and was even recruited by the U.S. State Department in 1992 to provide pro bono consulting work to the first companies to be awarded commercial radio and TV licenses in the former Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

“Ray is one of a kind. He is known as a unicorn of a leader with his passion, enthusiasm
and constant innovative thinking,” said Shosh Abromovich, Division President for
iHeartMedia. “He has impacted so many of our lives in this industry for the better. We
are beyond thankful for the many years Ray has led our teams and are truly excited for
him to enjoy this next chapter of his life.”

Quinn commented, “It’s been an amazing 51 years in radio and 14 years with iHeartMedia. Along the way, I’ve worked for and with some of the most intelligent people in the
business and I am grateful to iHeartMedia for allowing me to lead multiple markets in the
Southeast. While I will miss my team and the day-to-day battles, it’s time to pass the
torch to the next generation of leaders.”

iHeartMedia owns radio stations in the Alabama markets of Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, Gadsden and Tuscaloosa.

In an effort to reflect modern campaign practices and increase transparency, the Federal Communications Commission has updated its rules about political programming and recordkeeping. The change takes effect March 14.

In late January, the Media Bureau at the commission released the order changing the way broadcast licensees, cable TV system operators, DBS providers and satellite radio licensees update their political programming and recordkeeping information.

It expanded the definition of the term “legally qualified candidate for public office” in an effort to better determine if a write-in candidate has made a substantial showing of a bona fide candidacy.

[Related: “FCC Adopts Revised Political Broadcast Rules”]

Generally, in order to be considered a legally qualified candidate, an individual must publicly announce an intention to run for office, as well as be qualified to hold the office and either have qualified for a space on the ballot or have publicly committed themselves to seeking election as a write-in. If they’re seeking election by write-in, they must make a clear, substantial showing that they are actually running for office.

The rule update adds two items to the existing list of activities that a station can use to determine if a write-in candidate has a bona fide candidacy. One is the use of social media; the other is the creation of a campaign website. Other previously listed activities include making campaign speeches, distributing campaign literature, issuing press releases, maintaining a campaign committee and establishing a campaign headquarters.

In its order, the commission also amended its political file rules. It requires entities to maintain not only records of each request for advertising time but also records of each request for advertising time that communicates a message relating to any political matter of national importance.

It also amended the rules to specify which records must be maintained in online political files for both candidate ads and issue ads. These records include:

• whether the request to purchase advertising time is accepted or rejected by the licensee
• the rate charged for the advertising time
• the date and time on which the communication aired
• the class of time that is purchased
• the name of the candidate to which the communication refers and the office to which the candidate is seeking election or the election to which the communication refers or the issue to which the communication refers
• the name of the candidate, the authorized committee of the candidate and the treasurer of such committee
• the name of the person purchasing the time; the name, address and phone number of a contact person; and a list of the chief executive officers or members of the executive committee or of the board of directors of such person

“These revisions ensure that the political recordkeeping rules fully and accurately reflect statutory requirements [and will] foster greater transparency about the entities sponsoring candidate and issue ads,” the commission wrote.

The post FCC Updates Political Programming, Recordkeeping Rules appeared first on Radio World.