Industry News

He’s the President of Carroll County Broadcasting and of related entity Bunyard Northwest Properties.

Now, Jay Bunyard is adding an additional Arkansas radio property to his stable of stations.

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The Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), in partnership with the ANA’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) and presented by Univision, will host a weeklong virtual summit next week that provides “a virtual stage for new voices and candid conversations, featuring video advertising industry professionals whose experiences can inspire real shifts in mindset and offer practical guidance.”

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One month ago, a licensee headed by Matthew Davidge and Julie Huang agreed to purchase a trio of yet-to-be-constructed low-power TV stations serving small communities in Illinois, New Mexico and North Dakota, respectively.

They’ve now struck a series of bigger deals with the entity that in May agreed to spin those three unbuilt LPTVs — HC2 Broadcasting.

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A former U.S. Surgeon General has agreed to join the medical reporting team of the CW Network affiliate serving Indianapolis owned by African American broadcast station owner DuJuan McCoy.

BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON TWITTER!

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Clyde Scott, a broadcast engineer and consultant, has died at age 70.

According to his obituary, he passed away Tuesday in Georgia.

Scott was the owner-operator of technical consulting firm EME Communications. “He was well-known throughout the southeastern United States for troubleshooting radio transmitter issues,” the obituary states. “He was sought after to research and file new applications and worked closely with the FCC attorneys in Washington, D.C.”

He also was active in amateur radio (W4CCS) and established the online station Bluegrassradio.org as well as low-power FM station WLOV, Colquitt Community Radio, in Moultrie, Ga.

His friend Robert Combs, director of engineering at Cumulus Media, told Radio World that Clyde Scott graduated from the University of Tennessee with an electrical engineering degree. His first job was as a transmitter site engineer at WSB(AM) in Atlanta.

“Besides working in radio, he worked at a Procter & Gamble plant in the engineering department on the third shift so he could work on radio stations during the day,” Combs said.

“Clyde was the go-to engineer in southern Georgia and northern Florida when you needed help with filing paperwork with the FCC or if you need some troubleshooting help that required heavy equipment. He was the guy with all the test gear that was always willing to help,” Combs said.

“He was an avid ham operator and had three towers, a long-wire and satellite dish in his back yard for his hobby. He also enjoyed rebuilding 1940-era John Deere tractors.”

Combs called him a mentor and friend to many engineers who began their careers in the Southeast.

“Clyde took me, an overnight DJ in Bainbridge, Ga., under his wing and helped me with my career every step for the last 32 years,” Combs recalled.

“The funniest story he ever told me was of the time he and some fellow college students ‘accidentally’ connected the ground system of a small Tennessee AM station to a railroad track one Sunday morning and had the citizens of that town thinking it was God’s voice talking to them through every appliance, radio and TV in their house.”

The post Clyde Scott Dies, Well-Known Engineer in Southeast appeared first on Radio World.

In late May, the head of sales for Fox Television Stations’ owned-and-operated station serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, who added SVP/Market Manager duties in December 2014, packed her bags and relocated to the company’s Seattle-Tacoma operations.

Now, her successor has been chosen, and it is a promotion from within.

Marian Davey, the VP/News Director for KMSP-9 and MyNetwork TV sibling WFTC (KMSP-9.2), has risen to SVP/GM of the Twin Cities siblings.

Davey succeeds Sheila Oliver, who took the Seattle SVP/GM post, overseeing KCPQ-TV “Q13,” and “Joe TV” KZJO-TV.

Davey reports directly to FOX Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy, who called out Davey for “a stellar job in leading the KMSP-FOX 9 news team for the past eight years. Her past success and understanding of the market, coupled with her local news expertise and results-driven attitude, make her the natural choice to lead our Minneapolis duopolies.”

Davey has been with the FOX-owned duopoly in Minneapolis for nearly 20 years. She ascended to her most recent role in August 2013, and previously served as Managing Editor and Assistant News Director for the stations. Prior to joining FOX, she spent fourteen years at WCCO-4 in Minneapolis, in various roles ranging from intern, to Producer, and Managing Editor at the CBS O&O.

“Getting the opportunity to lead these incredible stations, KMSP/WFTC is a dream come true,” Davey said. “I’m honored and excited to bring both stations continued growth and success.”

The parent company of FOX News Media, FOX Sports, FOX Entertainment and FOX Television Stations is moving forward with an authorization of incremental stock repurchases.

This could see FOX Corporation snap up hundreds of millions of its own Class A and Class B shares.

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In addition to owning a formidable portfolio of over-the-air television stations across the U.S., Atlanta-headquartered Gray Television is the parent of video production companies such as Raycom Sports, Tupelo Honey, and RTM Studios.

Now, Gray is seeking to better monetize its internal content production portfolio when presenting to CMO, brand managers and advertising agencies.

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“When a new technology for wireless microphones comes along, it merits a close and careful look.”

That’s what Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said this spring in introducing a proposal to permit the use of Wireless Multi-Channel Audio Systems.

WMAS systems digitally combine multiple mic signals and use a more efficient operating protocol, which results in more mics being able to operate in the available spectrum. Sennheiser filed the original petition requesting the rule change, and other mic companies have given qualified support. Now the commission is taking comment via a notice of proposed rulemaking.

“These systems have the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of wireless microphone operations,” Rosenworcel wrote in April. “So much so, that under the rules we propose here, three times as many microphones may be able to operate while putting the same amount of power over the air as a single wireless microphone does under our rules today.”

She noted that wireless mics are “ubiquitous,” from Broadway productions and small-town theaters to film sets, churches, stadiums and schools. “These airwaves are shared with a range of other wireless services, including broadcasting, aeronautical activities, Wi-Fi and unlicensed operations that use white spaces to expand the availability of broadband. Making sure all of these services can function at the same time without interference is a significant task.”

In 2018 Sennheiser filed a petition asking the commission to allow this use. “WMAS approximately doubles the capacity of a 6 MHz channel for wireless microphones that deliver the best audio quality, and triples the capacity for intercom quality,” it told the FCC then. “Most productions use a mix of device types, and will see improvement between these extremes (and will occupy fewer channels overall).”

Shure subsequently weighed in with support for an NPRM and suggestions of its own for how to go about it, as did Alteros, part of Audio-Technica. Among points of difference are how many mics they think should be allowed per 6 MHz WMAS channel.

The NPRM asks for public comment on allowing WMAS on a licensed basis in frequency bands where wireless mics already are authorized, including the TV bands, the 600 MHz duplex gap and in portions of the 900 MHz, 1.4 GHz and 7 GHz bands. It also explores using the technology on an unlicensed basis under Part 15.

The FCC noted that the technology is permitted in Europe under European Telecommunications Standards Institute standards.

“We do not intend to alter the existing spectrum rights — or expectations regarding access and availability of spectrum — vis-à-vis all the various authorized users, whether broadcast licensees, white space device users, the wireless microphone users themselves, or others, that share frequency bands with wireless microphones,” the commission stated.

Comment deadlines have not yet been set in ET Docket 21-115; they await publication of the NPRM in the Federal Register.

[Read the NPRM text.]

The post FCC Explores More Efficient Wireless Mic Systems appeared first on Radio World.

Cumulus Media named Jeff Boden as vice president/market manager of its operation in Washington, D.C., which includes WMAL(FM) and WSBN(AM).

He succeeds the late Ken Roberts, who died in April.

Boden is the former VP and market manager for Alpha Media’s four-station group down I-95 in Fredericksburg, Va., and former president of Delmarva Broadcasting in Wilmington, Del.

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“The Cumulus appointment is a homecoming for Boden, who was president/general manager for Washington, D.C. stations WRQX, WMAL and WJZW from 2005 to 2012, when the stations were owned and operated by ABC Radio and later, Citadel Broadcasting,” the company stated. Boden has additional D.C. roots, having graduated from The American University.

The announcement was made by EVP Operations Dave Milner.

Send news of engineering and executive personnel changes to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Boden Will Run Cumulus D.C. Cluster appeared first on Radio World.