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A range of future technologies driven by AI innovations, including communication services, network infrastructure, and real-world applications will take the spotlight for SK Telecom at the upcoming Mobile World Congress conference and expo in Barcelona.

“SKT,” which trades on the NYSE, will be in Barcelona for MWC 2024 from February 26. It plans to occupy a 992㎡exhibition area situated at the heart of Hall 3 in Fira Gran Via, the primary convention venue for MWC 2024. Here, the company will present telco-centric AI technologies under the theme “AI, on the Point of Inflection.”

The central focus of the exhibition will be telco-specific large language models (LLMs). The exhibition will shed light on SKT’s efforts to develop LLMs tailored for telecom business that can also be leveraged across diverse applications, with the ultimate goal of maximizing their effectiveness for both service providers and customers.

SKT will be introducing multiple use cases rooted in telco-specific LLM, including Litmus Plus, an AI-enhanced system for analyzing indoor and outdoor traffic data; AI Quantum Camera, versatile for applications in robotics, security, and healthcare; virtual agents featuring chatbot capabilities; an AI-based system for filtering spam and smishing; and AI call center (AICC).

Additionally, SKT will present AI technologies with extensive everyday applications spanning fields from media to healthcare. Visitors to SKT’s booth will be able to explore X Caliber, an AI-based X-ray image diagnosis assistance service; AI Media Studio, a platform for media-processing and content quality enhancement; and Intelligence Vision, a biological microscope leveraging Vision AI.

Furthermore, the exhibition will feature AI Data Center (DC) technology, which incorporates liquid immersion cooling, a next-generation advanced thermal management approach; various AI-driven network infrastructure technologies; and a life-sized UAM (Urban Air Mobility) aircraft simulator.

Meanwhile, SKT will highlight its ongoing ESG initiatives at the 4YFN (4 Years From Now) event, an exhibition stage set up at Hall 8.1 of Fira Gran Via. In collaboration with 15 Korean innovation startups, SKT aims to showcase ESG solutions that can help address today’s social challenges.

SKT CEO Ryu Young-sang plans to visit MWC Barcelona 2024, where more than 2,400 businesses are expected to participate, to present the company’s strategy for continued transformation into a global AI company and promote partnerships with various global partners.

In addition, CEO Ryu plans to take the opportunity presented by the MWC stage to further build on discussions for the Global Telco AI Alliance, which was officially launched in July last year.

“At this year’s MWC Barcelona, we will showcase how we are driving new innovations with advanced AI technologies,” said Ryu. “We will also take this opportunity to accelerate our transformation into a global AI company by engaging in extensive collaboration with global players.”

When it comes to South Florida, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market has long been an outlier. Disco never really died, nor did freestyle dance music. An FM focused on English-language classic hits, but with Spanish-language announcers and commercials, is off to a fast start. Multiple AM radio stations offer spoken word programming targeting Hispanohablantes. 

Elsewhere in Florida, however, the same thirst for news, talk and informational fare en español proved to be less successful. As such, iHeartMedia has pulled the plug on its Acción offering, with English-language FOX Sports Radio replacing it two markets.

As first reported by Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink, the Acción Radio Network is now defunct, concluding five years of serving listeners in Orlando, Jacksonville and Tampa.

Acción was born on WRSO-AM in the Orlando market in 2018; it then was added to Tampa and Jacksonville signals in 2021, seemingly in response to the growth of Hispanics in these markets. While there may be more Latinos, consumption of Acción paled in comparison to music-driven stations in the three markets. Acción had been offering select local programming alongside syndicated shows from Héctor Marcano, Mariano Gonzalez, and Millie Colon.

Signs of Acción‘s demise first surfaced in January, when Tampa’s WHNZ-AM changed to English-language Financial Talk. Now, WRSO and sibling WFXJ-AM in Jacksonville are adopting FOX Sports Radio, with WFXJ returning to the Premiere Networks brand.

For iHeartMedia North Florida Area President Paul Rogers, the company is “fully committed to providing the best quality entertainment and information to the Hispanic residents on the First Coast and will continue to explore ways we can increase our impact there. The opportunity to return the Fox Sports brand to its original home on AM930 in Jacksonville was simply too good to pass up. Its appeal cuts across and unites every segment of our community.”

Locally focused Sports stations are among the most successful radio properties in the U.S., with properties including KNBR-AM & FM in San Francisco, WBZ-FM in Boston, WXYT-FM in Detroit, and WFAN-AM & FM in New York generating strong revenue and ratings success.

As September 2023 came to an end, so did the leadership power of the entity that held financial oversight and management of the non-commercial spoken word and Classical stations operating under the “CapRadio” brand, which serve the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto DMA.

Now, CapRadio‘s interim President/GM has resigned as ongoing debt obligations cloud the continued operation of the audio brands of Sacramento State University.

 

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East of Palm Springs, the Coachella Valley of California has become world famous for its staging of the annual music festival which takes its name for the geographical region between the Riverside and the Arizona border.

Here, a silent FM is being traded. Upon FCC approval, it will become the property of a 50/50 partnership led by Managing Partner William K. Watson.

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MESA, ARIZ. — The National Hockey League club seeking a new permanent home in the Valley of the Sun has a new direct-to-consumer offering in the way of the demise of regional sports network Bally Sports Arizona.

Introducing Coyotes Central, a creation of streaming company Kiswe and the division of The E.W. Scripps Co. led by Brian Lawlor.

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As the end of August 2018 arrived, the future of Les Moonves as chief executive of what was CBS Corporation was suddenly put under a microscope amid multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. Talk of a $100 million exit package dominated the Labor Day holiday chatter across the industry, with Moonves’ resignation completing his downfall in September 2018.

Now, Moonves is back in the news, and sees the former CBS head agreeing to pay a fine to the City of Los Angeles for violating its ethics code.

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The Wall Street Journal has given a highly positive review of a new book that examines the wonders of radio — and the importance on a global level of a technology that is more than 110 years old.

Published Friday by WSJ, reporter Steven Poole takes a deep look at a 375-page Princeton University Press hard-cover titled “The Mathematical Radio: Inside The Magic of AM, FM and Single-Sideband,” by Paul J. Nahin. As Poole sees it, radio broadcast technology, “which underpins vast swaths of communication via Wi-Fi and cellphone towers, is still a fundamental cornerstone of civilization.”

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Nexstar Media Group‘s TV stations serving Southwestern Missouri have a new leader. It is an individual who is transferring from the company’s media operations in Houston, and he has a resumé that includes management roles for TV stations in Waco, Texas and TV properties in Twin Falls, Idaho, for Neuhoff Communications.

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The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) has elected three industry professionals to its Board of Directors.

One heads iHeartMedia’s spoken word network superserving African American consumers, and he’s being joined by the Associate Professor in the Radio-TV-Film Department at The University of Texas at Austin, and by the longtime President of Katz Television Group.

As such, the LABF board now includes Tony Coles, President of Multi-Cultural Business and Development and President of BIN: Black Information Network.

Coles has a long history in radio programming and management, and has served as Metro Markets Group Division President, leading markets including Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, St. Louis, and New Orleans; and as Executive Vice President of Programming for the company’s Western US markets from 2016-2020. During his 20 years at iHeartMedia, he has held several leadership roles, including Senior Vice President of Programming for Alaska, Hawaii, and the Pacific Northwest, as well as Operations Manager of the Chicago region.

Coles currently serves as the Vice Chair on the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America board of directors, as well as serving on the board for the National Association of Broadcasters Leadership Foundation, and the Radio Advertising Bureau.

Also new to the LABF board is Dr. Caroline Frick, the UT Austin faculty member who also serves as the founder and Executive Director of the Texas Archive of the Moving Image, an organization devoted to the discovery and preservation of media related to the state.

Prior to her work in Texas, Dr. Frick worked in film preservation at Warner Bros., the Library of Congress, and the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Dr. Frick also programmed films for the American Movie Classics cable channel in New York and served for four years as the President of the Board for the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA).

Lastly, Leo MacCourtney, the Katz Television Group head, is taking a LABF board seat. His career in media advertising began at WERE Radio in Cleveland. In 1981, MacCourtney left radio to join Blair Television as an account executive. He was promoted to President/CEO of Blair Television in 1998, a position he held for nine years. In 2007, Leo joined Katz Television Group as Vice President of Business Development. He became President of Eagle Television Sales in 2008. In March of 2012, Leo was appointed to his current role as President of the Katz Television Group.

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Tony, Caroline, and Leo to the LABF Board of Directors,” said LABF co-chairs Heidi Raphael, the Beasley Media Group Chief Communications Officer, and Jack Goodman, a former NAB general counsel and longtime DC-based Communications attorney. “Their valuable insight and experience will help in our mission to preserve, protect and promote radio and television broadcasting’s incredible history.”

Executive Committee members elected to additional two-year terms include Heather Birks, Harry Jessell, Kathy Kirby, Jim Morley, Heidi Raphael, and Joyce Tudryn. In addition, Dennis Wharton was approved to join the Committee.

The following LABF board members were elected to serve new three-year terms: Pierre Bouvard, Gary Chapman, Mary Collins, Mike Conway, Dave “Chachi” Denes, Erica Farber, Harry Jessell, David Kennedy, Dr. Judy Kuriansky, Brian Philips, Heidi Raphael and Julie Talbott.

Other current LABF board members include Heather Birks, Sally Brown, Michael Carter, Mary Collins, April Carty-Sipp, Chandra Clark, John Dille, Jack Goodman, Richard Liebner, Jim Morley, Ginny Hubbard, Deborah Parenti, Larry Patrick, Walter Podrazik, Patricia Smullin, Jeff Smulyan, Dan Spears, John Taylor, Joyce Tudryn, and Dennis Wharton.

NORTHVILLE, MICH. — The Democratic National Committee is launching a new advertising campaign designed to reach Black, Latino, and Native American voters in Michigan.

The ads, which will focus on print and radio across the Mitten state, will highlight some of the Democratic Party’s key recent accomplishments on Capitol Hill.

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Who says AM and FM radio is passé for Generation Z and anyone born after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.? In Pittsburgh, one of the first stations licensed for broadcast is teaming up with a local institution of higher learning by “redefining radio” with a new overnight show hosted by students.

It demonstrates how a medium more than 100 years old is making strides to keep it future-proof.

KDKA-AM 1020, which today is rebroadcast on a 99-watt FM translator at 100.1 MHz in Hays Woods, is introducing “KDKA Next Take” as a news, information and talk program. It debuted Monday (1/9), in the 1am-5am slot, and is hosted by University of Pittsburgh students Margaux Rentzel, Jaime Ely and Ryan Tarabokia.

“KDKA Next Take” is produced by Dylan Foster. Executive Producer is KDKA Radio’s Amy Mauk.

The hosts and producer are not KDKA employees, students of Kevin Michael Smith, Director of Undergraduate Studies in Broadcast at Pitt, who has been preparing them to broadcast on KDKA.

“This is a project that I have been developing for a few years and it’s ready to launch.  It’s the right time and the right place with the right people,” Audacy Inc./Pittsburgh Vice President and Market Manager Michael Spacciapolli shared on the KDKA website. “This show will bring a fresh look at local news from the perspective of the next generation, which is so crucial in 2024 and beyond.”

KDKA added that its commitment to local news and content “never wavers and being able to add significant local content overnight through this partnership and with new perspectives is a win on every level.”

 

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The Media Bureau announces the effective date for the report and order completing the 2018 quadrennial review of the Commission's broadcast ownership rules.

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On January 30, Gray Television announced that it was launching a process through which it expects to amend certain terms of its $1.19 billion term loan and $500 million revolving credit facility due 2026.

While Gray on Friday closed a refinancing and upsizing of that revolving credit facility, a “planned opportunistic” refinancing of the term loan is being placed on hold.

 

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Executive management from the nation’s No. 1 owner of broadcast television stations have confirmed their participation in a pair of key gatherings for big institutional investors during the month of March.

Nexstar Media Group Chairman/CEO Perry Sook, the company’s founder, will participate in a “fireside chat” at 12:35pm Pacific at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. 

The event is scheduled for March 6 at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

Then, on March 12, President/COO Michael Biard and EVP/CFO Lee Ann Gliha will participate in their own “fireside chat,” this time at the Deutsche Bank 32nd Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference.

The Deutsche Bank event is scheduled for March 12 at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla. The Nexstar presentation is scheduled for 10:30am Eastern.

A live webcast and replay of the Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank fireside chats will be available through the “Events and Presentations” section under “Investor Relations” on Nexstar’s website.

In this letter to the editor, the author comments on David Bialik’s recent story “Cleanup in Studio 3: All in a Day’s Work.” Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

David Bialik’s story reminded me of one of my favorite “Bill vs the GM” stories.

I was contracting for an FM that was owned by an estate. The estate lawyers would begrudgingly pay for repairs but would not spend a penny for preventive maintenance.

The station had an old, aging RCA BTF-10D transmitter. It had many known problems but no money would be approved to bring it up to snuff. One issue was that the original RCA driver had been replaced by a Sparta 250W driver that would eat a 4CX250 every couple of weeks.

Anyway, late one afternoon, I started getting pages. At that time the transmitter site was staffed for another station so I called the operator and asked for a favor: “Hit the reset switch and let me know what happens.” He came back to the phone and said “A bright flash came out of the PA and it tripped off again.”

So I fought my way through afternoon traffic to the transmitter. When I got there, I found the same bright flash.

Then the station phone rang. It was the GM. He asked “How much longer will we be off the air?” My answer was “It will be longer if I have to answer stupid questions” and hung up the phone.

I knew that sooner or later the estate would finally sell the station to a new owner and new staff would be brought on board. The existing GM and I did not get along. He was a big, tall guy and used his size to manipulate people. But I’m 6′ 4″ and tall enough that he couldn’t do it with me. That bugged him. And to make it even better I called him “Shorty.”

Turns out that the PA problem was that the plate DC came through the plate capacitor as a Teflon-insulated wire. The wire had broken off at the plate terminal lug. I was able to push enough slack up the capacitor and resoldered the lug and got it working in an hour or so.

Back to David Bialik’s story. There’s a story — perhaps urban legend — that an LA rock station put their engineer in a hospital after he inhaled the copious white powder inside the console.

— Bill Ruck, San Francisco

[Check Out More Letters at Radio World’s Reader’s Forum Section]

The post Letter: Who Wins in a GM vs. Radio Engineer Standoff? appeared first on Radio World.

In this letter to the editor, the author comments on Buc Fitch’s 2006 story “The Demise of the First Phone,” which was recently reshared in our Radio World Engineering Extra SmartBrief newsletter. Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear when First Phones populated the hallowed walls of control rooms in directional AM stations everywhere.

The thrill of having your First Phone license hanging in a cheap Woolworths store frame next to the Chief Engineer’s license was unforgettable. Remember the sense of pride that it was your name on that sacred piece of paper? Ah! Those were the best of times.

There I was, seventeen years old, making an astronomical $5 per hour when minimum wage was $1.40. I was in high clover; life couldn’t get any better than this. I was doing what I had only dreamed of. I loved radio, and the opportunity to be part of it was intoxicating.

The responsibility of taking meter readings, changing the directional pattern at sundown, changing defective tubes in the Gates “Yard” audio console, loading the automation system with 14” reels of music tapes and commercial carts in the 55 stacker cart machine was like being in heaven. This was nirvana!

Life moved on, jobs as Chief Engineer at numerous radio stations, then on to Director of Engineering jobs in television, even to owning my own consulting business. That First Phone opened many a door even when it moved into a fancier frame. The First Phone License placed you in an elite club which even to this day is special.

I guess like all things, nothing lasts forever and even the good times come to an end. Although time has passed, my memory has never faded. I still remember the smell of the warming up audio consoles on those cold mornings. The thrill of being a First Phone broadcast engineer never grows old.

— Walt Konetsco, Retired Foreign Service Field Engineer at Voice of America

[Related: “Letter: Remembering the FCC’s First Class Radiotelephone License“]

The post Remember Having a First Phone License? Those Were the Days appeared first on Radio World.

An Adult Contemporary radio station serving Frankfurt, Germany, owned by regional owner The Radio Group, has established a new world record in a “Fun Marathon” that resulted in a single radio show airing non-stop for six consecutive days.

The Rekord-Institut für Deutschland, the German-language counterpart to the internationally oriented Guinness World Records, awarded Radio Frankfurt 95.1 its world record for “longest music radio show” on February 13 after 132 hours, 2 minutes and 3 seconds.

Eike Knall, Head of Marketing & Sales for The Radio Group, tells RBR+TVBR that the special marathon broadcast began at 6am CET on February 8. A roster of 10 radio hosts including Knall, who has experience in programming in other German markets, paired up for six-hour shifts. On Day One, Knall was heard on Radio Frankfurt from 6pm-midnight. He returned at Noon on Day 2 for another six hour shift, this time paired with another member of the radio station’s team.

Knall repeated the Noon-6pm shift, this time with a third co-host, across last weekend. Come February 12, he went on-air for the 6am-noon shift; on Tuesday, he hosted noon-6pm before Anne Graul took the 6pm-10pm slot and formally hit the World Record for Radio Frankfurt. Other hosts include Hakan Turan, Raoul Helmer, Helmer Litzke, Andreas Schmidt, Sandrina Kunz, Dieter Döring, Felix Rockenkamm, Roger Rinker and Julia Moschner.

The previous world record, involving a radio station in Dubai, was 106 hours and 50 minutes. Radio Frankfurt’s broadcast was monitored by a judge who traveled from Hamburg to certify the world record on-site.

What was the purpose of the “Fun Marathon”? Knall says there was certainly the publicity behind in, gaining attention to Radio Frankfurt. However, team building was also an important element of the World Record event.

RID record judge Olaf Kuchenbecker said, “Eike Knall and his team delivered a really impressive performance. Organizing such a radio program thematically over the course of days and broadcasting it in an entertaining way speaks for technical competence, creativity and, above all, passion for music.”

The judge also praised the successful involvement of Radio Frankfurt’s listeners, who gave the team encouragement and support during the broadcast. “This new world record is therefore a successful team effort,” RID said.

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