Industry News

During the 2020 Christmas season, a well-known brand of TexMex-style food products integrated some of its offerings into a Lifetime yuletide yarn. The products also found their way into one of Food Network’s top cooking programs.

Did those product placements translate to a bump in sales? TV measurement and analytics firm 605 and the company that handled the product integration agreements teamed up to find the answer.

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For two generations of Top 40 radio listeners, Saturday evenings may have involved tuning in to a syndicated program that was never shy to play a European dance track or take requests from those tuning in across the U.S.

John Garabedian‘s “Open House Party” was a fave from Poughkeepsie to Eureka, with its roots at iHeartMedia-owned WXKS-FM “Kiss 108” in Boston, where Garabedian first found success with the program.

Garabedian sold “Open House Party” to United Stations in 2012, and retired as host on January 28, 2017. But, he was still active in radio, thanks to his ownership of four FMs and two FM translators on Cape Cod.

That ownership is about to end, thanks to a deal brokered by Kalil & Co.

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On September 17, RBR+TVBR readers first learned about some of the key findings in the just-released study, “The Future of Audience and Revenue,” produced by Futuri, with the assistance of SmithGeiger. On September 24, a White Paper with further details from the study was released.

With many insights for radio and for television, we asked Daniel Anstandig, founder and CEO of Futuri Media, to summarize much of the 36-page report. He obliged and is our guest on the latest InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Daniel Anstandig” on Spreaker.

SWANSEA, WALES (U.K.) — With the announcement this month of the cancellation of NAB 2021, Quicklink has announced a series of virtual NAB 2021 webinars.

They’ll occur on October 5 and 6, during which the Quicklink team will announce and give a first-look at the Quicklink Virtual Event Production Solution.

The product gives users “professional, high-quality guest contributions, build and create a professional production, and broadcast to multiple physical, digital and social destinations – all on your own hardware or cloud instance.”

Quicklink will also offer details on its Quicklink Manager remote contribution management platform.

The 40-minute live webinar will include discussions on language localization, contributor session termination, and triggered notifications.

Registrations will have access to watch live and receive an on-demand version after the events have taken place.

To register for Quicklink’s Virtual NAB webinars, click here.

TM Studios is welcoming an industry veteran who has been charged with representing the company’s radio industry products to clients across the Western United States.

It’s an individual with on-air experience at Smooth Jazz stations in Cleveland and Denver, and for Jones Radio Network and Dial Global.

Taking the position is Greg Allen. 

“TM Studios presents the perfect opportunity for me to collaborate with stations all over the country,” Allen said. ‘Under the leadership of Greg Clancy, Dave Bethell and Chris ‘UK’ Stevens, TM is poised for great success. I look forward to partnering with our clients to solve their audio branding challenges while helping to increase ratings and revenue.”

Clancy, co-owner of TM Studios added, “We are thrilled to have someone with Greg’s passion and experience join our team.”

Allen is based in Cleveland, where he once was a host for WNWV “107.3 The Wave.” He later worked at the former KHIH-FM in Denver, under Adams Communications ownership.

TM Century in late 2020 was acquired by Reatro Ventures-owned Media10, joining the ARC Software family of products for Radio. ARC was developed by Sun Broadcast Group founder and former CEO Jason Bailey.

Simplifying cloud-based production.

That’s a key focus of a virtual technology portal that will serve as a primary connectivity point for learning about the latest enhancements to Evertz‘s BRAVO Studio cloud-based control room.

The scalable BRAVO Studio is a collaborative live switching platform that gives broadcast operators an environment that simulates a traditional control room, allowing users to produce shows in the cloud.

It incorporates web-based interfaces that can be accessed from anywhere.

And, BRAVO Studio allows staff to collaborate with any number of team members to produce live events from their own homes, regardless of the size or complexity of the projects they are working on, Evertz notes.

The platform encompasses such Evertz products as MAGNUM OS Orchestration and Control, which provide signal routing solutions.

Other useful functionality includes multiviewing, VUE user interfaces for operations and access to the DreamCatcher suite of live production tools.

Evertz will introduce the latest additions during its Evertz Connected 2021: Fall Edition. It is scheduled for October 1-15. Registration is free and is now open at connected.evertz.com.

In other product news, Evertz has integrated its Ease Live graphics engine into BRAVO Studio. “This means that program creators can deliver many more interactive options to consumers, allowing them to make bets, select players, view statistics, view highlights, or take part in quizzes – all of which will keep viewers engaged in the live production,” Evertz says.

Evertz is based in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

Sierra Wireless‘ 5G New Radio (NR) module has been integrated by AVIWEST, a provider of live and recorded video contribution systems, into its mobile video encoders.

This, the companies say, is designed to help broadcasters remotely stream HD video from live sporting and other events.

The encoder with 5G module has already been used by broadcasters to live stream video from the Tokyo Olympics, as well as professional football and basketball tournaments to remote video production facilities.

The benefits: Simplified operations and lower production costs, Sierra Wireless promises.

“5G will fundamentally transform live video production, making it simpler and less expensive, while eventually enabling new, more entertaining, immersive, and exciting viewing experiences with additional mobile, Point of View (POV), and other cameras,” said Ronan Poullaouec, CTO at AVIWEST. “With the Sierra Wireless EM9191 module, AVIWEST’s mobile video encoders can use 5G networks to stream high-definition video from live events to broadcasters’ production facilities, allowing these broadcasters to realize the cost, simplicity, and other benefits of 5G-powered remote video production today.”

The EM9191 module for the broadband edge is currently available globally, from Sierra Wireless’ global network of partners.       For more information, visit:    www.sierrawireless.com/products-and-solutions/embedded-solutions/5g-iot/   www.sierrawireless.com/EMSeries      To contact the Sierra Wireless Sales Desk, call +1 877-687-7795 or visit http://www.sierrawireless.com/sales.  

A company widely known for its radio imaging, voiceover, programming, podcasting and jingle services has inked an agreement with a web design and development company serving radio for 20 years that will extend its tech platform to Benztown clients.

Envisionwise presented by Benztown delivers to users three technology products that deliver and maintain station websites, Alexa Skills and Text Messaging services for radio: LinkedUpRadio, Pivot Radio and TextMeMan.

Stations can activate one, two or all three products, with the convenience
of one log-in for multiple stations. Envisionwise presented by Benztown also offers
continuous live concierge support.

“The platforms are scalable and give stations more capabilities for less money, with no long-term commitments with both cash and barter options,” the company says.

LinkedUpRadio is a custom-designed website platform that allows individuals or groups to manage all station websites, ads, content, and social networking in one system, with no coding or special skills required.

LinkedUpRadio websites are designed for radio stations housing  blogs, image sliders,
schedules, photos, and custom forms, among other items. “A variety of premium add-ons
available for unlimited digital revenue opportunity,” Benztown notes.

Pivot Radio develops custom Alexa Skills for radio stations that integrate with Amazon
smart speakers. Benztown comments, “Stations can schedule pre-rolls and outro advertisements while managing the Alexa voice and the visual display graphics through a simple admin interface. Pivot Radio handles all development, submissions and establishes an Amazon Alexa skills store presence for each station’s skill. Custom banner graphics are
provided help promote skills and analytics are available to share with station advertisers. Pivot Radios newest skill feature provides an opportunity for stations to take client requests over Alexa.”

Lastly, TextMeMan connects stations directly to listeners through texts for contests, giveaways, song requests, and local updates, including news, events, and advertising promotions. Listeners can receive both SMS or MMS messages, with options to opt in and out at any time.

The iHeartMedia owned radio network focused on news and insight for African American listeners has struck a content distribution and marketing agreement with a Detroit-based entity focused on Black consumer needs.

BIN: Black Information Network, the 24/7 network that launched in June 2020, will see Real Times Media (RTM) share and distribute news created by the iHeart entity under the direction of Tony Coles.

The deal also allows iHeartMedia to source and distribute news stories from RTM publications across BIN radio stations and sites.

In return, RTM will source and distribute BIN news, entertainment and sports stories and place BIN’s audio widget on their digital properties. Opportunities for iHeartMedia to convert RTM stories into audio reporting also will come from the agreement.

Real Times Media is the parent company to The Atlanta Daily World, Atlanta Tribune: The Magazine, The Chicago Defender, The Michigan Chronicle, and The New Pittsburgh Courier, all of which focus on African American audiences.

BIN can be heard in 32 markets.

Private companies, communities and institutions of higher learning are rejoicing over the decision by a nation’s president to grant nearly 160 operating licenses for radio and television stations.

The new broadcast properties are coming to Nigeria.

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