Industry News

The Federal Communications Commission will amend its rules governing short-range, low-power radio services that will affect the CB radio service, general mobile radio services (GMRS) and family radio service (FRS).

At its Open Meeting on Aug. 5, the FCC ruled on three petitions for reconsideration of the 2017 Report and Order to update the commission’s Part 95 personal radio services rules. The move will allow the FM band to be used as an optional modulation scheme for all existing CB radio service channels and allow automatic or periodic location and data transmissions in the GMRS and FRS, which are sometimes used during recreational activities and during emergencies and natural disasters.

The commission decided the public interest would be served by adopting additional rule changes. Cobra Electronics requested the commission permit frequency modulation as an optional modulation scheme in the CB radio service. Motorola Solutions asked the commission to allow automatic or periodic location and data transmissions on GMRS and FRS frequencies. Medtronic sought the correction of typographical errors and rule changes that inadvertently altered the substance of the Medical Device Radiocommunications Service (MedRadio) rules.

When the FCC last considered changes to Part 95 rules surrounding CB radio in 2017, the commission declined to allow use of FM frequency modulation; AM amplitude modulation and SSB single side band remained the only permitted voice-emission types. At the time, the commission concluded that such a change might substantially change the character of the service.

After considering Cobra’s request, however, the commission found that permitting dual modulation will provide a significant benefit to CB radio users, giving them an additional modulation option while still maintaining the basic character of the service. “The addition of FM as a permitted mode will not result in additional interference because users who hear unintelligible audio on a particular channel can simply select another channel or switch modes,” the commission said in its most recent ruling.

The commission noted that AM and FM operations are permitted in other Part 95 services under similar technical parameters. The commission will generally apply the technical rules to FM signals as they are currently applied to AM signals for the CB Radio Service, an approach taken in other Part 95 services.

The commission also made a specific note about peak frequency deviations. In those cases, the commission said it adopted a limit of ±2 kHz due to the 10 kHz channel spacing and 8 kHz occupied bandwidth maximum in the CB radio service. Although this specific limit differs from those established in other Part 95 services (such as ±2.5 kHz for 12.5 kHz channel bandwidth in the GMRS and Multi-Use Radio Service [MURS]), it is consistent across Part 95 services considering the respective occupied bandwidths.

The commission noted that parties planning to incorporate FM mode into CB radios will need to obtain a grant of certification under the commission’s equipment authorization rules.

The commission also agreed with Motorola’s petition and concluded that public interest will be furthered by allowing automatic or periodic location and data transmission on all GMRS channels. In an emergency situation, the FCC said, an individual who is disoriented or unable to send a manual transmission could be helped by the automatic transmission of location information.

The commission also agreed to fix typographical errors, clarify language within the Part 95 rules and correct unintended substantive changes made in earlier changes as part of this petition for reconsideration.

The post FCC Finalizes Changes to Part 95 Rules appeared first on Radio World.

Audacy’s plan to adopt a more centralized programming system and eliminate some on-air positions may have created some controversy, but this country’s second largest radio company says its second quarter financial report shows positive news that it is emerging from the havoc created by the pandemic.

The broadcaster, which has more than 200 radio stations and rebranded itself as Audacy earlier this year, did squeeze out a second-quarter income of $1.4 million after reporting a loss in the same period a year ago. The Philadelphia-based company posted revenue of $304.5 million total for Q2, which is an increase of 73% over 2020. That was led by a 98% increase YoY in spot radio advertising to $202.8 million of revenue in Q2.

[Read: Audacy/Entercom Signs Deal With Big Sportsbook]

Digital revenues were $58.4 million and up about 41% compared to the same quarter a year prior. The company notes it has launched some 350 new digital stations available on Audacy’s digital platform. Audacy, which rebranded to better reflect its push into the audio space outside traditional terrestrial radio, has made a concerted effort to monetize its streaming audio platform.

Audacy President and CEO David Field said while the company’s broadcast segment is recovering from the pandemic, it is still being negatively impacted by other “significant disruptions” facing some large sector advertising clients.

“Our recovery is being constrained by the widely reported disruption in supply chain and labor shortages that has impacted a number of our customers, including auto, our largest category,” Field says.

Audacy has aggressively expanded into sports betting content and what is calls “wagertainment” that focuses on “all things sports betting,” according to the company. The broadcaster announced in June it was converting six broadcast stations to a sports betting format with programming provided by partner BetQL.

The broadcaster, which operates nearly 40 all-sports stations across the country, also has advertising and marketing agreements in place with sports betting platforms like BetMGM and FanDuel while naming them preferred sports betting partners.

“The sports betting business is growing at a rapid pace. We expect sports betting to grow into a $100 million category for us in a few years as legalized sports betting grows across the country,” Field said on Friday’s earnings call.

[Read: Audacy Expands BetQL Sports Betting Network]

Audacy reported total operating expenses of $286.5 million in Q2, up 29% compared to $221.4 million in the second quarter of 2020. The rise in expenses is partly due to the build out of a team of digital professionals at the corporate level. “We have digital resources at the local market level as part of station operation’s costs, but there is also a growing and increasingly significant digital team not housed at the market level and that is the most significant driver of our so-called expense growth,” said Rich Schmaeling, chief financial officer for Audacy.

The company’s recent implementation of a centralized CHR programming structure, which involves importing several DJs to multiple stations across the country, has gained considerable industry attention. The move, which was announced in July, followed a similar streamlining of Audacy’s alternative and country formats earlier this year.

There are critics of Audacy’s format reorganizations and the resulting job losses due to consolidation of on-air positions. Jerry Del Colliano, editor of the Inside Music Media newsletter, said he believes Audacy’s debt is responsible for the programming shakeups, which results in less service to listeners in local markets and hurts ratings.

“Audacy ratings have been eroding as the company has aggressively sought to regionalize its programming and fire live and local talent to save money,” Del Colliano recently wrote in his newsletter. “One thing that is a proven fact is that live and local talent almost always generates better ratings than out of market syndication, nationalization or regionalization of programming.”

Audacy has close to $2 billion in debt, according to its most recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company did receive a large infusion of cash in July — pegged at approximately $75 million — after it entered into a three-year “trade receivables securitization” with several banks.

The post Audacy Recaps Q2 Earnings appeared first on Radio World.

With our latest issue, I’m taking a moment to note my 25th anniversary of joining Radio World and to appreciate the circle of friends and colleagues who create the memories and stories we’ve shared and continue to make. 

The year 1996, in addition to being a landmark one for U.S. radio regulation, was also when I came on board here, having cut my teeth in radio newsrooms and then learning about radio technology as a sales and marketing executive on the manufacturing and dealer side of our business.

This crazy industry has changed so much since. The challenges that have faced broadcast radio stations, radio executives and radio engineers over those 25 years have been remarkable.

But so is radio’s capability for reinvention.

It has been exhilarating to guide Radio World’s content through a similar process, in partnership with the leadership of IMAS, NewBay Media and now Future, our most dynamic parent company yet.

I’m grateful to today’s business leaders who have put their trust in me, including Carmel King, Rick Stamberger, John Casey and Zillah Byng-Thorne, and to our many advertisers. I’m also privileged to work with a remarkable cadre of contributors, including a “brain trust” of engineers who have become my dear friends.

But none of it happens without you, the industry professional who reads our stories, saves our ebooks, watches our webcasts.

Whether your title is chief engineer, station owner, department head, manufacturing employee, regulator or one of any number of other key radio roles, my hope is that Radio World’s content continues to help you in your job as well as your career, keeping you informed while also entertaining you and stimulating new thinking.  

So thank you for the trust and loyalty you’ve shown to me and to Radio World in those 25 years — and here’s to many more years together.

The post 25 Years and Counting appeared first on Radio World.

Spotify’s Megaphone is launching an audience insights tool for podcasters which will be powered by Nielsen. The new reporting tool will offer publishers a real-time look at their listeners’ demographics, interests, and behaviors.

Through the dashboard, publishers will see insights about which audiences are listening and compare trends year-over-year across their entire podcast network or on an individual show-by-show basis.

Matt Turck, Head of Megaphone Publisher Solutions, will be discussing the new dashboard live at Podcast Movement today.

More details on the new product can be found HERE

The nation’s No. 1 owner of broadcast radio station late Thursday released Q2 earnings that reflect strong year-over-year improvement as it continues to dig itself out of a multi-billion financial hole.

Things are progressing. The net loss narrowed year-over-year. But, perhaps the existence of any net loss worries Wall Street. Shares of iHeartMedia stock tumbled significantly in Friday’s trading.

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RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION

The FCC’s “Auction 109,” which saw active bidding for a host of new radio stations, is over.

As expected, iHeartMedia and Radio Brands Inc., an entity tied to the CEO of Ampex Brands were the big winners. Other winning bidders include a Hispanic media entrepreneur in the Savannah, Ga., market; and a Maria Guel’s Mekaddesh Group Corporation, devoted to evangelical programming en español.

Yet the biggest takeaway from Auction 109 is the fate of four defunct AM radio stations in Market No. 24.

Zero bids came for these facilities. Even with the prospect of HD Radio on AM, not one bidder for the AMs emerged.

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Audacy CFO Rich Schmaeling and CEO David Field had much to offer beyond what was stated in the company’s second quarter earnings release early Friday.

Chatting with a variety of financial analysts, Schmaeling said Local is narrowing the gap in Q3 for Audacy. He also offered an update on net leverage goals, while adding that the depth of active advertisers is significantly higher than in recent months.

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The FCC Enforcement Bureau has issued a $20,000 fine against ESPN for “willfully violating the commission’s rules that prohibit the transmission of false or deceptive emergency alert system” tones during a program.

The FCC said the violation occurred during the airing of the program “30 for 30: Roll Tide/War Eagle” on Oct. 20, 2020. After receiving a complaint about the broadcast of the tones on Oct. 27, 2020, the FCC started an investigation and notified ESPN.

In a March 21 response, ESPN admitted that the tones had been broadcast but said they were part of the depiction of April 27, 2011 tornadoes “for storytelling purposes” during the documentary.

[Read: Entercom Faces Penalty for Misuse of EAS Tones in 2018]

ESPN also admitted that the transmission was not part of any actual emergency or EAS test.

The network argued, however, that the broadcast EAS tones could “not have triggered any automated relay equipment” because the portion transmitted “did not include audio frequency-shift (AFSK) tones” and that the tones appeared very briefly in the program for only 1.83 seconds.

The FCC rejected those arguments and proposed a higher fine than the $8,000 base forfeiture for section 11.45 of the commission’s rules covering violations of emergency alerts.

“The nature of EAS violations requires particularly serious consideration because, among other issues, such violations undermine the integrity of the EAS by desensitizing viewers to the potential importance of warning tones and therefore implicate substantial public safety concerns,” the FCC concluded. It also noted that ESPN had been fined in the past for violating these rules.

“Although only a single transmission was involved, given the totality of the circumstances, and consistent with the Forfeiture Policy Statement, we conclude that an $8,000 base forfeiture plus an upward adjustment in the amount of $12,000 is warranted,” the FCC concluded.

The post FCC Proposes a $20K Fine for ESPN appeared first on Radio World.

The Entertainment Sports Programming Network known as ESPN has received a proposed fine from the FCC for its use of an emergency alert system (EAS) code during a documentary it aired in October 2020 as part of its popular 30 for 30 series.

BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON TWITTER!

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DAYTON, OHIO — It’s no secret that Cox Media Group and its related Cox Enterprises maintains a dominant position in the Miami Valley, with its WHIO-7 perhaps the nation’s most-watched CBS affiliate, its WHIO radio operation a top ratings-getter, and the Dayton Daily News a near-monopoly among print publications.

Yet, Nexstar Media Group has a formidable presence, too. It owns the local NBC affiliate.

Soon, it will also own a second station in this market.

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