Industry News

SBE Chapter 15 in New York City is honoring the late Chris Tobin.

Tobin, who died in December, was named the chapter’s 2021 Engineer of the Year.

“Chris had been an active member of Chapter 15 dating back to the early 1980s and, over the years, he held a variety of chapter officer roles, including that of chapter president,” the chapter wrote on its website.

“In addition to his dedication to the chapter, Chris took an avid interest in new technology education and for many years, co-hosted the ‘This Week in Radio Technology’ video podcast. During his career, Chris worked at a range of prestigious broadcast companies, including ABC Radio Network, WINS(AM), Westwood One and eventually stepped into the position of chief technology officer at WBGO(FM).”

In his honor the chapter made a $1,000 donation to the SBE Scholarship Fund. The award will be presented to his wife Lisa.

 

The post SBE Chapter 15 Honors Chris Tobin appeared first on Radio World.

Robert Branson

The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council has announced that Robert Branson is the new president and CEO of the group as of June 1, as Maurita Coley officially retires.

Branson is a former Federal Communications Commission staff advisor along with a media and telecom industry lawyer who spent time at Verizon, Association of Local Television Stations, National Association of Broadcasters and Post/Newsweek Stations. He is also former president of the Federal Communications Bar Association.

MMTC Board Chair and Treasurer Ronald Johnson said, “Given President Branson’s many years of service in government and in the private sector public and private entities, he is the perfect person to lead MMTC. We extend our deepest appreciation and many thanks to Maurita Coley who has, since 2012, served us admirably, with unparalleled integrity and transparency.”

 

The post Branson Takes Over at MMTC as Coley Retires appeared first on Radio World.

“Reinvention” will be on the agenda for the closing session of the fall Radio Show.

Rishad Tobaccowala will keynote the session on Thursday, Oct. 14.

[Related: “The Fall Radio Show Will Be at the Westgate”]

“The session will focus on the continued transformation happening across the media ecosystem, changing consumer behavior, and what it means for radio,” according to organizers at the National Association of Broadcasters and the Radio Advertising Bureau.

His talk is titled “The Great Reinvention: What Does That Look Like in 2022 and Beyond?”

Tobaccowala is a senior advisor to Publicis Groupe, where he was chief growth officer, overseeing business development for clients. He wrote the book “Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data.” Show organizers said he is considered a pioneer in digital marketing.

 

The post Radio Show to Look at “Reinvention” appeared first on Radio World.

Here is an audio recap of all of the stories appearing at RBR.com, freshly prepared for the afternoon of June 8 and morning of June 9, 2021. You can find these stories every business day following the Closing Bell on Wall Street in the RBR+TVBR Daily Headlines Email and at RBR.com. Due to ongoing internet connectivity issues across June 8, the third-party distributor of the RBR+TVBR Daily Headlines Email was inaccessible. As such, the newsletter could not be distributed as normal. Streamline Publishing is aware of the problem, which also impacts Radio Ink and Podcast Business Journal. Please follow us across social media and at RBR.com for the latest from Washington and Wall Street — and YOUR street!

Listen to “RBR+TVBR Daily Headlines for June 8, 2021” on Spreaker.

Adam R Jacobson
Editor-in-Chief
Radio + Television Business Report

When Jacobs Media rolled out Tech Survey 2021, part of what it revealed was which aspects of media usage had been affected by COVID-19, and how. Their research suggests that hometown station listening is up, and that streaming video, internet use, social media and music streaming is also on the rise. All of these trends were well underway before COVID, but the social and economic upheaval of the past 13 months seems to have amped up the rate of change.

Almost half of the respondents reported watching streaming video daily, and weekly usage is now more than three in four. Since TS 2017, according to the survey, the weekly numbers have increased ten percentage points from 66–76%. Most of the users were in the Gen Z and Millennial groups, who are tied with 93%.

[Read: Amidst Social and Economic Upheaval, Radio Continues to Flourish]

 

Half of those surveyed said they listened to streaming audio daily. Weekly usage is also on an uptick, and, no surprise, the numbers skew up towards the younger demographic. As with streaming video, streaming audio has also seen a ten percentage point uptick since TS 2017, increasing from 58–68%.

The research turned up another bright spot for broadcasters. It says those who listened to streaming audio regularly, tuned inmost to the hometown stream, with 68%, far ahead of Pandora, with 27%; other radio station streams, with 26% and YouTube, holding 25%.

Several years ago, many broadcasters and groups invested heavily in more robust streaming technology. At the time, it was a bit of a gamble, as on-air listeners still outnumbered online listeners. Now, that gamble seems to have paid off.

In the surprise category are the numbers on paid audio and video streaming services. Seventy percent of video users are paying for two or more services, while just 27% pay for two or more audio services. These numbers are startling because some industry analysts predicted a sharp decline in subscription services due to a floundering economy and job loss.

All of that being said, over 60% of those polled say subscription costs for audio and video services are a concern.

 

The post Survey Surprises With Superb Statistics for Subscription Services appeared first on Radio World.

McDonald’s was the most recent company to say it’s committing to a Black-owned media budget increase.

Now, “an inaugural group of 20 clients” has pledged to spend at least 2% of their total annual media budgets in such entities as Urban One — without naming the companies poised to benefit from the verbal promise.

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LOS ANGELES — Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group has taken the next step to fuel the fast grow of its free streaming platform Local Now by signing an agreement with Los Angeles-based OTT white label service OTTera Inc.

The new partnership allows Local Now viewers to view 12 additional free streaming channels, adding to the existing array of content.

New channels to be added to the platform’s OTT offerings include the rapidly growing Canela TV, created for U.S. Hispanics as a connected TV/OTT offering; Motorvision TV; 
podcast video focused POD TV; outer space-focused news and entertainment offering Space Channel (not to be confused with Canadian cable TV channel Space); Party Tyme Karaoke; cocktail-focused DrinkTV; The Love Destination; Cooking Panda; martial arts and combat sports-focused Channel Fight; Treehouse Gaming Network; and family-friendly comedy offering Novocomedy.

— RBR+TVBR West Coast Bureau

LAKE WALES, FLA. — Media production workflow product provider vCreative has partnered with radio broadcast “dynamic visual” tech company Quu on a new integration offering.

This means vCreative’s users can now publish messages on car dashboards for their clients that use Quu’s advertising services.

Quu’s business model is built on giving radio stations the ability to put messages on car dashboards, which it calls “Visual Quus.”

The vCreative partnership now means radio stations can produce and send Visual Quus via vCreative vPPO, the production workflow system used by 19 of the top 20 broadcasters for traditional and digital ad creation.

“This integration underscores our shared commitment to make radio more dynamic and profitable while making life easier for our customers,” said Steve Newberry, Quu’s CEO. “vCreative’s broad adoption as the premiere workflow solution across our industry is unparalleled. It’s the perfect time to expand our reach as vCreative begins its exciting next chapter under Susie’s leadership.”

On May 27, iHeartMedia’s Premiere Networks finally announced what its long-term plan was with respect to the successor offering to The Rush Limbaugh Show. 

It’s going with a new show featuring FOX Sports Radio host Clay Travis and Premiere-syndicated talk host Buck Sexton.

Sexton will shift from afternoon drive, Pacific Time, to take the slot. Now, Premiere knows what will fill Sexton’s current three-hour time period.

Introducing The Jesse Kelly Show, which will air from 3pm-6pm PT and is already on the lineup of more than 200 affiliates nationwide.

Kelly, a former Arizona candidate for Congress who lost his 2010 campaign against Rep. Gabby Giffords, starts his new duties on June 28.

He’s a U.S. Marine combat veteran, and his stature grew even as he never successfully won an election. In 2018, his growing Republican Party status led iHeartMedia to give him an hour on KPRC-AM in Houston. This was later expanded to two hours, and in April 2020 grew to a three-hour show before entering syndication via Key Networks, which is ending its relationship with Kelly. Key brought his program to WRKO-AM in Boston.

Now, iHeartMedia says he’ll be called on to “share his unique and entertaining perspective, unfiltered opinions and trademark humor as he discusses the latest headlines and welcomes a variety of guests and experts.”

Kelly said, “I wish I could say I’m humbled, but the truth is that signing with an amazing company like Premiere will only boost my well-established ego. But honestly, I’m beyond
thrilled that now every American will get a chance to hear my voice for three hours a day.”

The radio gig won’t impact his 6pm Pacific OTT-delivered TV program “I’m Right with Jesse
Kelly.” It airs on The First, a digital-only TV offering found on such connected TV offerings as Pluto TV.

“We couldn’t be happier to have Jesse at the helm of our weekday afternoon timeslot,”
Premiere Networks President Julie Talbott said. “His fresh voice will undoubtedly connect
with and engage our audience with intelligent, witty conversation and bold opinions, while
creating impactful opportunities for our partners.”

Kelly’s show is the latest from a political conservative, which overwhelmingly outnumber liberal-leaning talk hosts on commercially licensed radio stations in the U.S.

He offered a keynote address at the 2018 Radio Show in Orlando. He returned to the lineup of guest speakers for the virtual 2020 Radio Show.

Now, Rishad Tobaccowala has booked a trip to Las Vegas in early October to once again deliver a keynote address to Radio Show attendees.

Tobaccowala, who became a Publicis Groupe Senior Advisor in January 2020 after relinquishing his Chief Growth Officer role, will keynote the 2020 Radio Show’s concluding session, scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 14.

The session will focus on “the continued transformation happening across the media eco-system, changing consumer behavior, and what it means for radio.”

It’s titled “The Great Reinvention: What Does That Look Like in 2022 and Beyond?”, and will see Tobaccowala also discuss ways the industry can transform in the face of shifting consumer interests.

The 2021 Radio Show is co-locating with the NAB Show in Las Vegas this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a co-production of the NAB and RAB.

Tobaccowala in early 2020 published “Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data” through Harpercollins.

This came following a career that included roles as Starcom IP President from 1999-2002, and a 13 1/2-year run at Leo Burnett, starting in August 1982.