Industry News

Borrell’s 2021 Local Advertiser survey has just wrapped up.

And, as has traditionally been seen by the research shop, each week across the summer will see the release of a particular finding of note.

With some 3,657 local ad buyers and agencies polled in 2021, Borrell’s first takeaway is yet another wakeup call for broadcast TV: “video” is no longer TV’s exclusive domain.

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With the discussion heavy on closing the digital divide and general thoughts on an incubator program to encourage women and minorities to become a radio or TV station owner, no less than six former FCC Commissioners participated Monday in a live Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) symposium.

Their appearance came as the MMTC is welcoming a new Policy Counsel to its Washington, D.C., headquarters.

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It went on the air on October 30, 1938. In April 1994, it was spun to the Indianapolis-based company founded by Jeff Smulyan.

Now, in a sign of the times, Emmis Communications is preparing to transition the remaining listeners of a Class B AM with 50kw during daylight hours and 10kw after dark to a pair of 250-watt FM translators fed from the HD2 signal of a13,500-watt FM sibling.

Thus marks the impending end of the former WIBC-AM 1070 as a Sports Talker under different call letters. What does the future hold for this facility?

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MIAMI —  The executives selected to drive Univision Holdings Inc.’s next phase of transformation and “execute the vision for the future combined company of Televisa-Univision” once the multinational mega-merger closes have been revealed by Univision CEO Wade Davis.

It paints the picture of Televisa-Univision’s C-Suite following the close of the transaction, expected to close later this year.

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C-Suite executives selected to drive Univision Holdings Inc.’s next phase of transformation and “execute the vision for the future combined company of Televisa-Univision” aren’t the only changes in the works once the multinational mega-merger closes later this autumn.

Univision Television Networks Group President Luis Silberwasser has finalized the new structure of its Entertainment, Sports and News divisions.

The big takeaway: the News President is stepping down.

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The network is not even 11 months old, and it now boasts triple the amount of programming it had at launch.

Now, as autumn readies its arrival, the winds are blowing in two more high-profile telejournalists at NewsNation — the Nexstar Media Group-owned cable TV operation overseen by President of Networks Sean Compton and, since mid-May, President of News Michael Corn.

One of the new faces at the network formerly known as WGN America will take a time slot given two weeks ago to another program, which will shift to a different time slot come late September.

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DISH has selected its primary network services partner for its mobile virtual network operator, or “MVNO,” customers, inking an agreement with billions of dollars in value.

It’s with AT&T, and it is a 10-year agreement, according to a SEC filing made by DISH. “DISH has agreed to pay AT&T at least $5 billion over the course of the ten-year term of the NSA, subject to certain terms and conditions,” the filing states. Neither the length of the agreement nor its value were offered by DISH in an announcement distributed early Monday (7/19).

The deal will allow DISH to provide current and future customers of its retail wireless brands, including Boost Mobile, Ting Mobile and Republic Wireless, access to coverage and connectivity on AT&T’s wireless network, in addition to the new DISH 5G network.

The agreement, DISH says, accelerates its expansion of retail wireless distribution to rural markets where DISH provides satellite TV services.

AT&T is also providing transport and roaming services as part of the agreement, to support DISH’s 5G network.

DISH makes it clear that it is committed to providing competition in the wireless market as the nation’s fourth facilities-based carrier. As such, DISH reiterated that it will continue to build out what it calls “the nation’s first cloud-native, OpenRAN-based 5G network reaching over 70% of the population” by 2023.

“Teaming with AT&T on this long-term partnership will allow us to better compete in the retail wireless market and quickly respond to changes in our customers’ evolving connectivity needs as we build our own first-of-its kind 5G network,” said John Swieringa, DISH COO and Group President of Retail Wireless. “The agreement provides enhanced coverage and service for our Boost, Ting and Republic customers, giving them access to the best connectivity on the market today via voice, messaging, data and nationwide roaming on AT&T’s vast network, as well as DISH’s 5G network.”

DIRECTV BONDS OFFERED TO AID AT&T SEPARATION

The partnership between AT&T and DISH comes as AT&T takes another step toward the spin-off of Dish Network’s lone competitor, DirecTV. 

DIRECTV Entertainment Holdings LLC, a wholly owned AT&T subsidiary, on Monday revealed a proposed offering of $3.1 billion aggregate principal amount of Senior Secured Notes due 2027 by DIRECTV Financing and DIRECTV Financing co-Obligator.

The timing of pricing of the Notes is subject to market conditions.

Net proceeds will go toward the completion of DIRECTV’s separation from AT&T, and will trim debt owed to AT&T by the DBS provider.

TPG Capital is taking a 30% stake in DIRECTV, which AT&T acquired in 2015. Since then, it has largely phased out its own U-Verse video services.

Future Plc, the parent of Radio World, announced the appointment of Cindy Davis as content and brand director of AV Technology.

Since 2015, she has been a contributing editor to Future’s AV Technology (AVT) magazine, writing features and its Manager’s Guide series, as well as contributing articles to sister publications Systems Contractor News (SCN) and Sound & Video Contractor (SVC). In 2016, she helped launch the AV/IT Summit. She also developed and moderates the New Era AV/IT webcast series.

As the principal of CustomMedia.Co, Davis created multiplatform content for AVT, SCN, SVC and consumer electronics publications TWICE and Residential Systems.

The announcement was made by Carmel King, vice president of the company’s B2B Tech Group.

Davis is former publisher and editor-in-chief of Electronic House. From 2009 to present, as principal of CustomMedia.Co, she developed content for associations such as IEEE Standards Association and AVIXA, for Future and for numerous AV/IT companies.

The post Future Names Davis Content/Brand Director of AVT appeared first on Radio World.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Indianapolis-based WFYI Public Media, the entity that runs the market’s NPR and PBS member stations, respectively, has been given the green light to lead a public media initiative “designed to instill journalism practices that meaningfully address local information needs through active listening and engagement.”

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Stories of advertising success abound across the radio industry — if you know what you’re doing. That’s one assessment from Veritonic, a marketing company that tracks trends in audio and identified 10 brands that “got audio right” in the first half of 2021.

Thankfully for the industry, there continues to be an increased focus on audio marketing, the company said in a recent blog post — despite the changes wrought by the pandemic. Podcasts, for one, have held their worth throughout the pandemic; according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, podcast advertising revenue is expected to exceed $1 billion this year and $2 billion by 2023.

Veritonic compiled a list of the top 10 podcast advertisers, noted for at least one creative attribute, be it aesthetically appealing audio, a humorous spot or successfully persuasive ad.

Top 10 Podcast Advertisers
Salesforce
chiliPAD
Zander Insurance
TD Ameritrade
Fundrise
Mini
NetSuite
Cash App
Hyundai
Parade

The software as a service company Salesforce, for example, jumped from the number eight spot in 2020 to number one in 2021 due to its ability to consistently create ads with strong recall. Other companies like the cool bedding company chiliPAD saw its advertisements score well because of the emotional attributes they built into their advertising, including a sense of familiarity and the jovial conversational tone between its podcast hosts.

Veritonic also ranked the top 10 radio advertisers for the first half of 2021. The industry can expect to see a 10% increase over the course of 2021, something the company calls a “considerable rebound” after the setbacks that were wrought by the pandemic.

Top 10 Radio Advertisers
Owning
Brakes Plus
CuriosityStream
Pennzoil
Little Caesars
LinkedIn
Roman
Cabinet Discounters
Sit ’n Sleep
PNC Bank

Companies with strong advertisements included Little Caesars, which uses humor and sonic branding (think of that “Pizza–Pizza” tune) to set itself apart from the competition. Other strong advertisers include LinkedIn and Pennzoil, which both enticed listeners with offers for free deals and promotions.

In its blog, Veritonic also reiterated the success that advertisers are having with sonic branding. It pointed to a recent study that found that consumers were more consistently able to identify a brand when the name of that brand was tied to an audio melody.

A weekly rating of audio advertisements are searchable on the Veritonic website including sample clips and a description of the audio scoring system that the company uses.

The post Brands that Cracked the Advertising Code in 2021 appeared first on Radio World.