Radio+Television Business Report

Once May 22 concluded, organizers of the National Translator Association‘s conference were more than pleased with one of the more difficult decisions it has had to make — hold an in-person event in Utah, or cancel it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The former choice was taken, and NTA President John Terrill is thrilled with the response.

Terrill tells the Weekly Tech Roundup that Community Engineers from as far away as Guam and Alaska traveled safely to Salt Lake City for the association’s annual event.

So did some of the industry’s top presenters, with in-person and Zoom-delivered sessions covering topics ranging from basic LPTV operations to NextGen TV and ATSC 3.0.

“Attendance expectations were greatly exceeded as members, exhibitors, and presenters met with COVID distancing, but face to face,” Terrill said. “We know it was risky, but we thought we had to live with COVID.”

At the conference, NBC VP of Technology for the Western Region Doug Lung presented practical ways for translator TV stations to convert to ATSC 3.0-based digital signals.

Joel Wilhite, the Sr. System Design Engineer at Harmonic, covered all the concerns and questions for small broadcasters to join the transition from digital to NextGen broadcasting.

Another conference highlight: the on-site appearance of former FCC Video Division Deputy Chief Hossein Hashemzadeh, who answered questions and worked the packed room through such current Commission concerns as white space technology and checking the FCC database of analog stations to ensure your license is not on the analog list.

Another FCC D.C. notable — Jean Kiddoo — reported on repack payments and encouraged everyone to “close out” their repack reimbursements by certifying that reimbursed payments were paid to the vendors listed in the Form 399 applications.

“The attendance to the first major convention for broadcasters during the pandemic is a clear notice that upcoming conventions may experience the same pent-up interest we had,” Terrill said.

Quu Inc., a technology company known for its capability of adding dynamic visuals to radio broadcasts, is adding to its “Success Team.”

This sees the arrival of a Customer Success Manager, and a Technical Success Manager. Each report to CEO Steve Newberry.

New to Quu are Jackie Bart and Joe Marshall.

In the newly created roles, Bart and Marshall will work directly with operations, sales, and programming teams on the local level. In addition, they will guide stations through installation, on-boarding, training, and support to publish synced programming and sales messages, or “Visual Quus,” on car dashboards.

“We’re excited to welcome Jackie and Joe to the team as we take the next step in Quu’s evolution,” said company founder and Chief Technology Officer Joe Harb.

“Jackie’s deep training experience with Arbitron and Scarborough Research as well as Joe’s technology experience with Harris/GatesAir demonstrate their tremendous professional credentials,” Newberry said. “They are outstanding individuals with a sincere passion and focus on training, service, and success. These critical hires demonstrate Quu’s focus on not simply selling software and services to radio stations, but ensuring our partners know how to use Quu’s powerful tools to engage listeners, upsell radio’s core product, and make ads more effective.”

The app that offers live streaming of every iHeartMedia radio station and those of its partners, on-demand streaming by recording artist, and an array of podcasts has just hit a big register user milestone.

The iHeartRadio app has officially surpassed 150 million registered users.

In addition, iHeartRadio has now recorded more than 3 billion app downloads, with monthly downloads peaking as high as 28% as compared to last year.

One big reason for this growth: iHeartRadio’s “continued dedication and innovation in the growing podcasting space,” the company says.

“As the No. 1 podcast publisher globally according to Podtrac, iHeartRadio has doubled down on growing our expansive library of iHeartRadio Original podcasts, which includes some of the most-listened-to podcast series in the world,” iHeartMedia posts.

Among its podcasts are “Stuff You Should Know,” “The Ron Burgundy Podcast,” “Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach + Donald” and  “Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.”

Additionally, iHeartRadio has added to its streaming catalog, which features millions of songs and curated playlists across a variety of moods and genres.

It’s not just our listeners that are growing, but iHeart’s social audience, too.

iHeartRadio now has a total social audience of 234 million.

Red House Streaming, a CP Communications brand, continues to lure local and national talent seeking professional production and streaming services to its new St. Petersburg, Fla. studio.

Nancy Weil, proprietor of The Laugh Academy, is the latest to call on Red House Streaming studios, leveraging its production sets, broadcast-quality workflow and experienced crew to produce custom videos for her clients.

Red House Streaming studios offers two adjacent 600-square-foot studios, virtual sets, and 5,000 feet of additional production space for content producers. The studio accommodates
on-set talent who wish to live-stream productions or record content for later distribution.

Red House Streaming studios is also equipped to support REMI at-home productions that originate from remote locations, strengthened by an onsite network operations center to monitor and manage all production and content delivery tasks.

A leading authority on the relationship between humor and grief, Tampa-based Weil turned to Red House Streaming studios to bring her customized, content-rich lectures, programs and seminars to clients that could no longer see her on the road.

“COVID-19 put an immediate halt to my live speaking engagements,” said Weil. “I went from being a road warrior traveling at least two weeks a month to being home 24/7.”

Weil soon discovered that the funeral homes, hospice groups and conferences that regularly called on her talents still had a thirst for her unique services. She began offering virtual events through standard conferencing software platforms, but found the results mixed and the limitations frustrating.

“There are so many peculiarities when presenting over a virtual stream, from general video and audio glitches to incorrect meeting links to complete loss of internet connectivity,” she said. “I wanted to present as a professional speaker, and offer a pleasant and consistent experience for my clients. I saw a local news story about Red House Streaming studios, and they seemed to be the right production partner to help me manage these production dynamics that I could not guarantee on my own.”

Weil started shooting in the studio in March, pre-recording her custom programs for each client. Red House Streaming studios shoots and post-produces each video, using Panasonic 4K cameras, NDI networking and Adobe Premier Pro editing as essential workflow components. The videos are subsequently delivered to clients direct and shared on Weil’s Vimeo account, with select clips expected to post to her website in the coming weeks.

“With Red House Streaming studios, every project can now be fully unique,” Weil said. “We load special graphics and create virtual sets specific to each program and client. We frame each shot to ensure the background is perfect for each segment. Props are essential to what we do at The Laugh Academy, and they can accommodate anything I bring onto the set as a part of each program. I can monitor what is happening on displays around the studio to ensure everything is going exactly as planned. On top of everything else, the service is surprisingly affordable, with excellent technical support as needed. The quality of the content my clients receive is absolutely worth the fees I pay.”

Weil is now planning live streams with the Red House Streaming studios team. She plans to continue using the studios after she eventually returns to the road.

— Brian Galante

An end-to-end integration between WideOrbit‘s WO Traffic and WO Automation for Radio applications and the PromoSuite Production radio workflow platform has arrived.

This product, the companies say, can provide benefits to radio stations using PromoSuite Production, including speeding up the order entry process, streamlining cart number assignments, eliminating duplication, and reducing overhead associated with dubbing audio files into WO Automation for Radio.

“This integration will enhance the experience for our radio customers,” said William ‘Dub’ Irvin, WideOrbit’s VP of WO Automation for Radio. “We’re constantly looking for ways to help our clients eliminate errors, reduce repetitive manual tasks, and increase efficiency. The best part is that these improvements positively impact several departments, including sales, production, and programming.”

The new integration has three connection points between WO Traffic, WO Automation for Radio, and PromoSuite Production. First, when an AE enters an order for a client and needs a spot produced, the client information is automatically and seamlessly populated into PromoSuite Production, eliminating duplicate effort in communication. Information only needs to be entered once. Second, cart number assignments are immediately synced between the two systems. Third, audio files are directly dubbed into WO Automation for Radio.

PromoSuite’s Vice President of Product Design & Development, Rey Mena, commented, “Our main priority is and always has been to improve efficiencies for our clients. When you’re able to eliminate unnecessary or tedious processes, you increase productivity and revenue. Regardless of the department, we are continuously looking, building, and creating upgrades and enhancements at the station, market, and company level. This integration showcases the advancements and opportunities we’re delighted to make available to our partners.”

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There’s little change in activity shown in the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten TV report. However, the big new No. 1 is noteworthy, as it reflects a big investment in broadcast by Sanofi US for a treatment for skin disorders.

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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has helped in bring to fruition a study that seeks to offer a better understanding of how young people are engaging with media today.

Roughly 50 tweens and teens were asked, among other things, how they find new shows, apps, or videos. Their findings conclude that young people crave authenticity as they grapple with the issues of today.

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The latest Media Monitors Spot 10 Radio report is out, and there’s a lot of iHeartRadio-focused activity for the week ending May 23.

This actually helps paint a clear picture as to what brands are committing to Radio, and which brands use it sporadically or … not at all.

As shown below, Progressive — fueled not by Flo or Jaime but that tongue twister-loving voiceover artist that’s become more omnipresent than ever for the auto insurance brand — is a big No. 1.

The Home Depot is back in action, with a new effort putting it some 5,000 or so play counts behind Progressive.

Their activity pushes Indeed to No. 3 among fully paid advertisers, as Wendy‘s is upping its Radio activity.

GEICO and Babbel are each softer for the week.

 

With its stock in recovery mode and forward momentum at its secular spoken word AM radio stations, Salem Media Group is gearing up for appearances at a pair of investor conferences.

The first of the two events is scheduled for Thursday morning.

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Starting June 28, TEGNA will have a new Director of Consumer Marketing.

It’s a woman who is joining the broadcast TV station owner from a soon-to-conclude daytime talk program seen on some of its own stations, including WGRZ-2 in Buffalo and KGW-8 in Portland, Ore.

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Travel to the south of downtown Dallas along U.S. Highway 67, and chances are you’ll see the Cedar Hill cluster of broadcast media towers off to the west.

Among the transmitters on these towers is one for a recently upgraded FM translator licensed to rebroadcast a HD multicast channel assigned to an Urban One station.

This translator has just been sold.

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Live and in-person, the Chief Executive Officer of Beasley Media Group will be bestowed with the National Radio Award come October 13 in Las Vegas.

It’s another sign that the pandemic’s concerns are fading as each day at the NAB progresses.

Caroline Beasley will receive the honor during the Radio Show Opening Session on Wednesday, October 13.

The Radio Show, co-produced by the Radio Advertising Bureau, will be co-located with NAB Show and held October 13-14.

“We are thrilled to honor Caroline Beasley and commemorate her impact on the radio industry with the National Radio Award,” soon-to-depart NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith said. “Her business savvy and extraordinary leadership have propelled Beasley Media Group to new heights, while her passion for radio perfectly illustrate the spirit of broadcasting.”

A 38-year veteran of the radio industry, Caroline was appointed CEO of Beasley Media Group in 2017. The company was founded by her father, George Beasley, in 1983.

Caroline Beasley also serves as the chair of the BMI Board of Directors, on the FCC Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and on the NAB Leadership Foundation Board of Directors. She is the immediate past chair of the Joint Board of the National Association of Broadcasters Board of Directors and is a former NAB Radio Board Chair.

 

Discovery Inc., which is acquiring WarnerMedia‘s assets in a Reverse Morris Trust-fueled tax free deal, saw its stock slip by 21 cents in midday trading, to $31.26, on Monday.

Could a further slice of its share price be on the way, following a downgrade from an influential Wall Street watcher?

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On Monday (5/24), as RBR+TVBR on April 20 first reported would occur, Cumulus Media ceased analog broadcast transmissions for an AM radio station licensed for 1,000 watts from 1 tower located in southern Westchester County, N.Y. It’s now operating solely in HD Radio, with a Talk format including The Dan Bongino Show the centerpiece of what’s being branded as “AM1230Digital.”

While that transition points to a possibly rosier revitalization of the senior radio broadcast band in an era where Tesla electric vehicles do not come equipped with AM radios and most kHz-based properties benefit from FM translators to attract younger audiences, present-day challenges for some operators may be too demanding to even consider a future benefit.

No less than five AM radio stations in the last week have surrendered their respective licenses to the FCC. In one case, the move avoids a license revocation hearing. But, for the other AMs, it is simply a realization that FM and audio streaming are more viable options for local consumers.

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MIAMI — If one were to pen a “History of U.S. Hispanic Radio’s Programming Greats,” names such as the late Bill Tanner or Billy Forquet, or perhaps David Gleason, Pio Ferro, Alfredo Alonso and Enrique Santos may come to mind.

Another longtime programming leader, one based in Los Angeles, is also on that list of veteran Spanish-language radio cognoscenti. And, he’s just joined Meruelo Media after a long stint at Univision Communications.

Haz Montana, who had been Vice President of Content for Univision Radio since September 2012 and, before that, the Operations Manager for its Los Angeles radio stations, has taken the role of VP/Audio Brands for Meruelo.

This puts Montana in a key role overseeing what comes out of the speakers for those listening to Rocker KLOS-FM 95.5, Classic Hip-Hop KDAY-FM & KDEY-FM, Hip-Hop KPWR-FM “Power 106” and the lone Spanish-language FM in the Southern California stable, KLLI-FM “Cali 93.9,” a reggaetón-focused station in a direct format battle with Spanish Broadcasting System’s KXOL-FM “Mega 96.3.”

Registration is now open for the in-person, all-informative 2021 Hispanic Radio Conference. For full details, and to lock in your seat at the special Early Bird rate, click here!

 

In a statement released late Sunday (5/23), Meruelo Media President/CEO Otto Padrón explained that “after an exhaustive national search getting to know some of this country’s most amazing leaders in our craft of audio,” the locally based, highly respected Montana chose to accept the position.

“Haz brings the right balance of audio art and hard science perfectly nested within his steady brand of leadership, personal values and the confident entrepreneurial spirit we energetically embrace here at Meruelo Media,” Padrón said. “These very essential qualities are must-have requirements to steer our team and legacy audio brands.”

At Univision, Montana most recently had direct oversight of three national audio brands, found across six markets where Univision owns radio stations.

Montana joined Univision as its L.A. radio operations manager in 2005, following a six-year run as Program Director of the former KSSE-FM “Súper Estrella” — a massively successful rock en español-influenced Spanish Contemporary station that rode the Ricky Martin-to-Shakira wave. He launched KSSE under EXCL Communications, continuing through Entravision and winning a direct format war with the former operator Big City Radio’s “Viva 107.1” in L.A.

Before that SoCal success, which saw him steer KLVE “Radio Amor” and KRCD/KRCV “Recuerdo,” Montana had already made his mark in Hispanic radio. From December 1995 through August 1998, he served as PD of SBS’s WRMA-FM “Romance” in Miami, then a ratings leader following its debut under prior ownership led by Russ Oasis.

Furthermore, from 1991 to 1994, he was a “mental weapon” for Critical Mass Media, extensively traveling to consult with radio clients in their programming and marketing decisions. That experience led him to WRMA, and a career in Hispanic media.

A graduate of Michigan State University, Montana began his career in 1984 at Goodrich Broadcasting, a Grand Rapids operator of Rock and Top 40 stations that today owns a R&B station in the market.

“Hip Hop, Rock, Throwbacks, Latin Rhythm, and passionate talent — this opportunity is a dream come true,” Montana said. “I’m honored to be starting today with Team Meruelo. Above all, I’m excited about chartering a bold path in this newly reimagined role.”

Montana, who has won numerous Radio Ink honors, will be based in Los Angeles and reports to Padron.

Montana recently completed a course on Digital Business Strategy from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

A plan has come to fruition that would see the issuance of senior notes due in eight years, and a series of senior notes due in 10 years, as a way the nation’s dominant audience measurement and data analytics company can prepay a series of term loans agreed to in June 2020.

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The owners of a Macy’s warehouse located on Gandy Blvd. midway between downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg, Fla., have moved forward with buying the neighboring property due east of the facility facing the Selmon Expressway.

It’s a multimillion-dollar deal. And, it will see the relocation of iHeartMedia’s radio stations serving the Tampa Bay region.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the company will pocket $3.8 million from the real estate deal for 4002 W. Gandy Blvd.

The iHeartMedia/Tampa station group is comprised of Top 40 WFLZ, once Jacor’s famed “Power Pig”; Adult Contemporary WMTX “Mix 100.7,” Rock WXTB-FM “98 Rock,” Country WFUS-FM “US 103.5,” Hip-Hop/R&B WBTP-FM 95.7 “The Beat,” Sports WDAE-AM and FM Translator W237CW, Talk WFLA-AM 970, “Impact Radio” WHNZ-AM, “Throwback Tampa Bay,” and Tropical WRUB-FM 106.5 in nearby Sarasota.

According to the Times, Hillsborough County property records indicate the iHeartMedia facility was sold on April 29 to LBA LVF VII XII Company LLC. It shares an Irvine, Calif. address with the buyers of a 39-acre Macy’s warehouse property just to the west of the iHeart facility.

The Macy’s property sold in late December 2020 for $32 million.

Xperi subsidiary DTS and Cumulus Media have reached a deal that will see the integration of the audio media company’s AM and FM radio stations into a “connected car infotainment platform.”

That would be DTS AutoStage — described by Xperi as a global hybrid radio platform that’s currently coming to market in the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class series of vehicles.

The DTS AutoStage platform is open and available to all broadcasters at no cost, at this time.

Cumulus SVP/Technology Conrad Trautmann notes, “DTS AutoStage is helping elevate radio into the connected car future, while enabling our radio stations to benefit from economies of scale and service simplification.”

Cumulus station metadata will be represented in the DTS AutoStage in-vehicle infotainment ecosystem.

Among the content partnerships DTS AutoStage has with major broadcast groups and aggregators around the world are BBC, Bauer, Global Radio, NPO, Audacy, Beasley, Cox Media, Commercial Radio Australia, radiko, FM World, and Germany’s SWR.

With Urban One stock exploding in value on Thursday, it was only natural that some investors may want to cash out and enjoy a handsome profit.

That’s exactly what transpired on Friday, as UONE went on a wild ride that saw shares jump and quickly recede, leading to a 13% dip for the day.

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