Radio+Television Business Report

AudioGO, the self-serve digital audio ad buying service from AdsWizz, is now fully integratrated with popular design platform Canva.

The integration enables AudioGO advertisers to easily create display ads with Canva’s graphic design platform during campaign setup, enabling anyone to complement their audio ad campaigns with professional-looking banner ads. In addition, if an advertiser does not have an audio ad, AudioGO will create one for them in under a day.

The new Canva integration comes on the heels of new behavioral targeting capability added earlier this month, making it easier than ever for audio advertisers to connect and engage with the right audiences.

“Our mantra is to make AudioGO easy to use for anyone looking to run audio campaigns of any size,” said AdsWizz CEO Alexis van de Wyer. “Our integration with Canva gives audio ad buyers the ability to easily design professional-quality display ads with Canva’s design tool without ever leaving AudioGO.”

AudioGO enables anyone to create streaming audio ad campaigns at a time when listeners are tuning in on digital devices more than ever before. Time spent with streaming audio has grown during the pandemic, up 32% from December 2019, according to recent data from Comscore. AudioGO’s self-serve audio ad buying service allows anyone to buy ads on premium streaming music, podcast, and news services that, combined, reach over 150 million listeners every month. Bringing multiple services together onto one buying platform enables local buyers to efficiently target listeners on top services with low minimums.

“We’re thrilled to partner with AudioGo with the Canva Button as together we’ll empower businesses to supercharge their advertising,” said Mike Williams, Product Partnership Lead. “We’re very excited to see it come to life.”

AudioGO enables businesses to easily leverage advanced advertising features like zip-code level targeting, enhanced reporting, Spanish-language content, campaign duplication across geographies, and flexible payment options. The user-friendly interface invites anyone to explore the medium with a low minimum spend. A simple dashboard provides up-to-the-minute information on both unique listeners and total ad impressions, as well as click-through and listen-through rates.

RBR+TVBR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Rohde & Schwarz has announced two 5G Broadcast-enabled transmitters – the R&S Tx9 & Tx9evo transmitter series. In addition, for existing Rohde & Schwarz transmitter users, the migration to 5G Broadcast/Multicast can be achieved through a software upgrade and minor hardware upgrade.

Access to 5G Broadcast / Multicast services opens up entirely new business models, such
as venue-casting, ultra-high-quality live video streaming, live commerce and over-the-air
software updates/upgrades.

Worldwide, most terrestrial transmitter networks have been upgraded to digital transmission technology. As the global market leader, R&S transmitters have earned the reputation of being the most advanced, energy-efficient transmitters on the market – now Rohde & Schwarz is offering users a straightforward migration pathway to the world of 5G Broadcast & Multicast.

Also, Rohde &Schwarz is a leading manufacturer of electronic Test & Measurement and communications equipment. Network operators use this equipment to successfully install, maintain and optimize broadcast networks of all types, making R&S a very effective and reliable 5G Broadcast partner.

Using Broadcast and/or Multicast over 5G, network operators can deliver premium content
to mobile consumers while they are still attached to cellular networks with consistent high
quality of service (QoS) and higher quality of experience (QoE) within an overlay concept.
From an architectural perspective, 5G Broadcast/Multicast is a key pillar of the new 5G
ecosystem. It is composed of a Broadcast/Multicast Radio Access Network (RAN) and a
Broadcast/Multicast Core Network (CN).

Compliant with 3GPP Rel.14/16, the R&S 5G Broadcast/Multicast RAN solution is mainly
based on new Tx9 and Tx9evo transmitter range across all output powers. However, for
existing transmitter customers, depending on the solution already implemented, a software
and/or hardware upgrade will be sufficient to acquire the new 3GPP specifications.

“Rohde & Schwarz transmitters set the benchmark for power efficiency. With some of the
largest installations worldwide and a history in RF transmission going back to 1933, we
have the experience required for your transmission needs,” said Manfred Reitmeier,
Vice President Transmitters and Amplifier Systems at Rohde & Schwarz. “A wide range of
highly innovative broadcast transmitters – including the Tx9 and Tx9evo – provide a
distribution system that is ideal for 5G Broadcast / Multicast content distribution.”

RBR+TVBR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES provides an opportunity for companies to present their story, in their own words, to RBR.com and Weekly Tech Roundup readers. For more information, please contact RBR+TVBR at adam@rbr.com.

Broadcasters supporting the “Phoenix Model Market” project for NEXTGEN TV, along with broadcaster group Pearl TV, have started the initial testing of NEXTGEN TV over limited cable infrastructure.

It’s being done in the Pacific Northwest’s second-largest market, home to stations owned by Meredith Corp., Sinclair Broadcast Group, TEGNA and Nexstar Media Group.

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The global TV market is on track to achieve 1.2% growth in 2020 and is set to end the year on more than 233 million shipments.

The COVID-19 pandemic is to “thank,” if you will, for the forward momentum, a new market report from Futuresource Consulting finds.

Trade value has also fared relatively well.

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Google’s GNI Innovation Challenge has selected one of the nation’s leading broadcast TV companies for $200,000 in funding to support a multi-platform journalism project focused on health disparities in the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia regions of the U.S.

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In June 2019, RBR+TVBR reported on the proposed sale of a 100kw FM serving the Grand Junction, Colo., market from high atop a mountain peak some two hours to the north.

The intended buyer: a wholly owned subsidiary of Allen Brill’s Western Slope Communications.

It turns out that deal never closed. Now, a new buyer has emerged for the facility.

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Northern Mechatronics, a Canada-based manufacturer of radio frequency (RF) and wireless solutions, has chosen Ambiq’s Apollo3 Blue microprocessor (MCU) for its latest LoRa Bluetooth 5 Low Energy Module, NM180100, a revolutionary single-package solution for IoT applications.

The NM180100 is purpose-built to enable edge and endpoint computing with short and long-range wireless communication capability in a highly integrated and flexible single package module solution. By combining Apollo3 Blue MCU, the NM180100 can achieve ultra-low power consumption in all application states, including computing, transmitting, receiving, or deep sleep.

Wireless communications expertise has always been at a deficit, especially for commercial industries such as agriculture, electric and gas metering control, and property management. With the rapid growth of Industrial IoT and the recent 5G rollout, the need for faster time-to-market can easily make or break a solution provider in today’s competitive landscape. The NM180100, supported by a wide range of design resources, including the evaluation board NM180100EVB, the NM180310 small form factor application board, a software development kit, full programmability, and regulatory certifications for FCC and IC/ISED, is the only turnkey solution in the growing IoT market.

“We partnered with Ambiq because of its record-breaking ultra-low power energy efficiency. IoT sensors provide unprecedented insights to businesses across the spectrum, including commercial, industrial, and consumer levels,” said Dr. Joshua Wong, Executive Chairman and CEO at Northern Mechatronics. “Until the development of the NM180100, an ultra-low power single package IoT solution possessing short-range and long-range communications and edge computing capability without sacrificing battery life has been a pipe dream.”

About the NM180100 LoRa Bluetooth 5 Low Energy Module

With 1MB of on-module flash memory and 384kB of SRAM, the NM180100 allows applications to run two radio stacks simultaneously (BLE and LoRaWAN) with ample memory remaining for over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates via either LoRaWAN or BLE.  Page-level locking in the flash memory allows the application to maintain regulatory certifications without impacting critical firmware components such as the radio stacks.  The architecture design significantly reduces the end-product cost by eliminating the need for an additional application processor typical of many other LoRaWAN module solutions.

The Apollo3 Blue possesses a secure interface (ISO7816), including secure boot and secure OTA firmware upgrade over Bluetooth. Built on Ambiq’s patented Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT) platform, the Apollo3 Blue further enhances the power efficiency on Arm® Cortex M4F with DSP instructions by enabling designers to perform raw data pre-processing before transmission over the air, in so doing improving the battery life by reducing the amount of raw data transmitted.

For more information, visit www.northernmechatronics.com/nm180100.

With Christmas right around the corner, we’re pleased to offer our readers this Classic Media Information Bureau installment from longtime Adult Contemporary programming consultant Gary Berkowitz. 

Happy holidays, and best wishes on a successful “Holiday” ratings book.

By Gary Berkowitz

Christmas is less than two weeks away. If your company has stations that are presently airing all-Christmas music, making sure they sound great throughout the holiday season is of utmost importance. Here is a 10-point programming checklist to keep the holiday tunes sound fresh through December 25.

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Talk about “a case of the Mondays.”

Entercom Communications lost some 13.1% of its value on December 14, largely due to one big midday trade that send ETM’s average volume doubling while its share price fell hard.

At 11:44am Eastern, ETM dipped from $2.54 to $2.24, likely triggered by a single sell.

At day’s end, volume was 3.527 million, compared to an average of 1.893 million. The downward activity continued in early after-hours trading, falling to $2.32 as of 4:19pm Eastern — off 1 cent from the $2.33 closing price on Monday.

The close negated an upward trend for Entercom that began November 19, and ETM on December 9 reached $2.86 — the highest closing price seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, a negative investor report surfaced, and shareholders seem to have responded.

 

Take a look at the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten TV report, and you’ll immediately notice one big difference from the Spot Ten Radio report for the week ending December 13.

Big retail stores are present at spot TV; they’re absent at radio.

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In October 2009, a veteran radio programming executive joined AT&T Entertainment Group as its Operations Director, a role that saw him “monitor technology acquisition responsibilities and optimize talent training responsibilities.”

This most recently included activity with the DirecTV/AT&T U-Verse channel Audience Network, which ceased operations on May 23.

With Audience Network sunsetting, Ken Kohl has opted to do the same for his career, which spans 50 years.

Kohl’s role at AT&T was far bigger than running an exclusive commercial-free channel. “On behalf of The Dan Patrick Show and The Rich Eisen Show I maintained a 500-station radio network,” he says, in addition to NBC Sports Network, AT&T Regional Sports Networks, two podcasts and a branded SiriusXM channel with an emphasis on business expansion.

Kohl arrived at AT&T following a two-year run as VP/Content Development and Broadcast Operations for The Content Factory/Acquaint Media, where he built out the Dan Patrick network.

That role was Kohl’s first outside day-to-day radio station activity — a career that began on New York’s Long Island, with an overnight shift at WBLI-FM and a Program Director slot, in the early 1970s, at beloved Progressive Rocker WLIR-FM. In June 1974, he joined the air staff of KBPI-FM in Denver, a legendary AOR station.

The 1981 year-in-review for Adult Contemporary radio from R&R

But, like many who started in free-form rock, Kohl rolled into a successful career in the News/Talk arena. His resume includes stints at KOMO-AM in Seattle, which he joined in February 1981 when it was still Adult Contemporary; KFBK-AM in Sacramento; and, most notably, KFI/Los Angeles, where he shifted to Talk upon joining in early 1987.

“It’s been an amazing 50-year career,” he tells Streamline Publishing, which also produces Radio Ink. “I’ve been blessed with fantastic staffs, amazing talk talent and exceptional ownership but there are a handful of folks who championed my career to whom I am eternally grateful: Mike Harrison (who reported on his WLIR departure as a Radio & Records Rock Editor long before launching Talkers Magazine), Monty Grau, Jim Donahoe, Jimmy De Castro, Chris Long, and the best of the best, Gerryann Agovino.”

What’s next for Kohl? “We’ve moved back to Seattle for our FINAL move, fishing and cruising the San Juan Islands, making new friends, and reconnecting with old Seattle pals top the list. For the first time in 50 years, I don’t have a morning show to get up for.”

Kohl remains available for a limited number of consulting clients in between bites of fresh
salmon and can be reached at kenkohl@acquaintmedia.com 

For more than a month, yuletide tunes, jolly jams and perhaps even “Puppy for Hanukkah” have been easily accessible — via YouTube, Pandora, Spotify and radio stations across nearly every city in the U.S.

Yet, SiriusXM, which offered a plethora of holiday-themed channels to its subscribers in years past, has seemingly skimped on its satellite-delivered offerings.

That’s not the case, the satcaster says. However, there’s an app for that explanation.

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Christmas may less than two weeks away, but that doesn’t mean key retailers are putting their dollars at CHR … or any other radio formats.

The latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report shows no retailers present for the week ending December 13 — no Macys, no Walmart, no Target or Kohls.

In fact, the big categories are financial, with Bank of America and its Merrill arm in the top 5, while pharmaceutical brand Bristol Myers Squibb-Pfizer slips to No. 2.

Softer this past week were auto insurers, while Indeed.com is No. 10.

 

He’s been the acting Chief Revenue Officer since January 2020.

Now, he has officially gained the title at the Comcast Advertising arm known as FreeWheel.

Mark McKee is responsible for FreeWheel’s sales revenue and execution across all
U.S. lines of business with a strategic focus on customer experience and account strategy.

“Mark is an industry leader with a finger on the pulse of today’s dynamic advertising industry,” said FreeWheel GM Dave Clark. “He has been able to combine his visibility into areas of challenge with prioritization of areas with greater opportunity to deliver results and value for our customers.”

Until the start of 2020, McKee was a VP of Marketing at FreeWheel.

Prior to joining FreeWheel in 2018, McKee was a Sr. VP at Videology, where he oversaw
North American commercial functions. He also held sales strategy and development leadership roles at Joost and Massive Incorporated.

Local Now, a subsidiary of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, is a streaming service delivering real-time, local news, weather, sports, traffic, television shows, movies, and lifestyle information through technology that provides localized information to more than 225 markets across the United States.

It is available across a portfolio of OTT, CTV mobile, and TV platforms. As of today, it is also available on one of the nation’s biggest MVPDs.

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NEW YORK — Independent audio ad sales network AdLarge has signed a renewal agreement with Nielsen Audio.

With this agreement, AdLarge continues its participation in RADAR, the Nielsen audio service that provides commercial ratings.

Speaking of the new accord, AdLarge Media Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer Cathy Csukas says, “RADAR is the gold standard in network radio measurement. What sets it apart are the strict guidelines it requires from its subscribers, so they can provide agencies with highly accountable audience measurement. These are exactly the characteristics that make RADAR extremely valuable to advertisers and marketers as they make their purchasing decisions.”

Bruce Supovitz, SVP/National Audio Services at Nielsen Audio, adds, “AdLarge is an industry leader and a top independent audio sales network, and we are extremely pleased they have chosen to continue our relationship. We applaud AdLarge for continuing to be champions of audio advertising and investing in accountability and transparency for their advertisers and marketers.”

RADAR radio networks provide Nielsen with commercial clearance records from affiliated radio stations, which are merged with listening information from a database of nearly 400,000 respondents. “This added accountability allows RADAR to provide the best available forecast of a network’s future audience delivery and a high standard of reliable metrics for buying network radio,” Nielsen says.

The founder and chief executive officer of America’s United Financial Partnerships and the Auto Masters Automobile Dealership Group, located in Middle Tennessee, considers himself to be an accomplished entrepreneur.

Among the businesses he’s controlled is a company owning Spanish-language radio stations that were once a part of the now-defunct Davidson Media Group, led by Chris McMurray. 

However, radio hasn’t been so kind to Mark Janbakhsh. Earlier this month, he divested properties in one North Carolina market. Now, he’s done so in the Triangle region.

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On Monday morning, the legacy of President Trump in Washington, D.C., was imprinted on the Federal Communications Commission.

Thanks to a spat over Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, and the unwillingness of a Republican Commissioner who openly spoke out about his views as a strict Constitutionalist, the White House schemed to get a man who’d go along with the president’s quest to change the rule.

That individual on Monday was formally sworn in as the newest FCC Commissioner.

Nathan Simington has now been officially welcomed as one of five legislative leaders for the agency. The Commission notified all via a mid-morning Twitter post.

Simington takes the seat, previously held by Mike O’Rielly, after narrowly winning U.S. Senate approval — thanks to unanimous GOP support. Despite the controversy surrounding his nomination by the White House, the alternative would have been potentially worse for those seeking to further Republican “light touch” legislation — having the expectedly incoming Biden Administration get to select not one, but two, Commissioners.

Thus, for Roger Wicker & Co., it was a no-choice vote.

No matter how high Simington’s profile becomes in Washington, he can never be elected President.

Simington is from Saskatchewan, Canada, and became a U.S. citizen. That said, he is steeped in knowledge of many aspects of the telecommunications regulatory world. The University of Michigan law school graduate may have been a Senior Advisor at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for just months, but in the role he worked on many aspects of telecommunications policy, including spectrum allocation and planning, broadband access, and the U.S. Government’s role in the Internet.

He’s also said to have authored the White House’s Section 230 plea, seeking it be discarded — thus holding social media platform owners accountable for what users post.

Prior to joining the Commission, Simington was a senior counsel to Brightstar Corp., the international mobile device services company. In this capacity, he led and negotiated telecommunications equipment and services transactions with leading providers in over twenty countries.

Prior to joining Brightstar, he worked as an attorney in private practice.

With Simington seated, he will be present at Ajit Pai’s swan song — the Jan. 13, 2021 Open Meeting for the Commission.

At this time, an agenda has not yet been released.

A wholly owned subsidiary of The E.W. Scripps Company has launched an offering of $700 million of new senior secured notes and $500 million of new senior unsecured notes.

The secured notes from Scripps Escrow II are expected to mature in 2029, and the unsecured notes are expected to mature in 2031.

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It’s now eleven days and counting for a major “blackout,” as required by Federal law, of all Nexstar Media Group-owned over-the-air channels and the nationally distributed WGN America cable network on Dish, due to the absence of a new retransmission consent agreement.

Could it be months before they return? It just took Cox Media Group, controlled by Apollo Global Management, nearly five months to ink a new deal with the direct broadcast satellite TV services provider.

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