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USSI Global says it has completed the first phase of its project management services for Intelsat’s C-band clearing and relocation activities.

“Completed in October 2021, USSI Global provided logistics and field services that were essential in supporting Intelsat’s customer service transitions, technology upgrades and earth station filtering required to meet the aggressive Phase I schedule as mandated by the FCC’s Report and Order,” the company said in a press release.

It is working with Intelsat and other satellite companies to relocate radio, TV and other contribution and distribution services to a different part of the C-band spectrum. The FCC’s initiative is opening 300 MHz of the C-band for 5G mobile services by the end of 2023.

[Related: “USSI Global Supports SES in C-Band Transition”]

Intelsat hired USSI Global as one of its vendors to manage the transition. The vendor said it started with contacting the owners of 2,500 sites to inventory their antennas and assess the needed transition work.

A closeup of an Intelsat satellite dish.

“USSI Global’s program management and logistics team subsequently handled all equipment procurement and logistics for these sites,” the press release read, “ensuring that systems were delivered in alignment with transitional deadlines.”

Its technical staff installed 5G passband filters and antennas at about 300 sites. New satellite IRDs were installed at some programmer affiliate sites to facilitate an upgrade in compression technology.

Phase II will start shortly and require about three times as many sites and antennas to be transitioned, the company added.

The post USSI Global Preps for Phase II for Intelsat appeared first on Radio World.

With CEO Ed Christian “unscripted” and sharing with investors and Wall Street analysts “what happens in the kitchen” in describing how Saga Communications gets its revenue each quarter, SVP/Operations Chris Forgy offered a peek at what the company’s top three ad categories were in the final quarter of 2021.

At the same time, CFO Sam Bush shared details on something Forgy praised as “beautiful” to Saga’s bottom line — its Local Direct prowess.

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A 19-year veteran Allen Media Group employee who first joined as Vice President of Advertising Sales has been given the new role of Chief Revenue Officer.

Before his 2003 arrival at the Byron Allen-owned operation, he spent over a decade in national broadcast buying.

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Of the broadcast media companies offering rich dividends, Saga Communications has consistently delivered, with the company’s stock going ex-Dividend on March 21 and a $0.16 per share award scheduled for an April 8 delivery.

In Q4 2021, the numbers were good, showing across-the-board improvement from 2020. That said, Saga still has a way to go to return to 2019 — or 2018 — dollar totals.

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There’s been much chatter about where the presentation of the 2022 NAB Marconi Radio Awards will be, now that the Radio Show has been abandoned, with sessions integrated into the annual NAB Show schedule.

The honors won’t be in Las Vegas in late April. Rather, they will be held on a Wednesday evening in mid-October as part of NAB Show New York.

The awards, which honor radio stations and on-air personalities for excellence in radio broadcasting, will take place during a special dinner program at NAB Show New York on October 19, 2022 at the Javits Center.

Established in 1989 and named after inventor and Nobel Prize winner Guglielmo Marconi, the NAB Marconi Radio Awards have emerged as a signature awards program for the Radio industry.

For those questioning the choice of NAB Show New York for the awards dinner, NAB EVP of Industry Affairs April Carty-Sipp replies, “NAB Show New York is the perfect venue for the Marconi Radio Awards with its prime location and ideal timing in the fall when the Marconis have traditionally been presented. We look forward to celebrating the best in radio in October.”

The entry window for the 2022 NAB Marconi Radio Awards nominations will be May 1-31.

DALLAS — A 98,000-watt Class C FM signal that covers the northern half of the sprawling Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and the Oklahoma cities of Ardmore and Durant has officially transitioned from talk about hoops and passes to Biblical teaching, Sacred Music and “Informative News.”

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The NUG@NAB Radio Technology Forum will be back for 2022.

Prior to the start of each spring NAB show, Nautel hosts the Nautel User Group (NUG), a technology forum that brings together notable industry speakers and company personnel to discuss broadcast transmission best practices, challenges and trends in technology.

In years past, the event has included guest speakers, updates on important industry milestones, tips and tricks, and a Q&A session. Radio World Editor in Chief Paul McLane is among the speakers.

The event wraps up with a networking lunch.

Starting this year, attendance at the NUG@NAB event qualifies for a 0.5 credit toward SBE recertification in Category H (attendance at a factory school or in-station learning environment). After the event, an optional session will offer an in-depth introduction to Natuel’s new HTML5 Advanced User Interface.

This year the event will be held on Sunday, April 24, 2022, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. PDT at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Those interested in attending the free event — which is open to anyone interested in radio transmission — can register online.

The post NUG@NAB Ready to Roll in Las Vegas in April appeared first on Radio World.

When it came time for questions from financial analysts who cover Townsquare Media to ask questions, the focus was on pacings and on Automotive category performance. CEO Bill Wilson and the company’s Chief Financial Officer obliged, and the situation regarding Auto dollars in 2022 isn’t a great one.

At the same time, Townsquare’s top two executives talked up their company’s underappreciated value to Wall Street.

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The latest Share of Ear report from Edison Research reveals radio continues to dominate in several key areas.

But can one go so far as to say that AM/FM radio shares are pandemic proof?

The fourth quarter 2021 report examines American audio listenership in several ways, including examining ad-supported audio use among key voter segments and by location and demographic.

Cumulus Media and Westwood One’s Audio Active Group recently dug into the data.

Among the conclusions is that AM/FM radio continues to grab a sizable share of registered voters’ listening time. When calculating the share of ad-supported audio time spent among persons aged 18 and older, registered voters who were surveyed by Edison say they spend 75% of that audio time listening to AM/FM radio. Those numbers fall significantly when compared to other outlets: 11% for podcasts and into the single digits for the ad-supported platforms Pandora, SiriusXM and Spotify.

Radio’s share among registered voters and by party. (Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group)

The report also revealed that AM/FM radio leads when tracked across major demographics. Leading the charge are those aged 35–64 who say they spend 79% of their ad-supported listening time with AM/FM radio. Persons aged 25–54 fall in the second range with 72% of time spent with radio, followed by ages 18–49 (66%) and ages 18–34 (59%).

In comparison, the age group spending the largest percentage of time listening to podcasts is those 18–34s at 21% followed by 17% for those aged 18–49, 13% for those aged 25–54 and 9% for those aged 35–64.

[Read past coverage of the Share of Ear report]

But what about the charge that AM/FM radio shares are pandemic proof? An analysis of the report by Brittany Faison, insights manager for the Audio Active Group of Cumulus Media | Westwood One, found that time spent listening to AM/FM radio changed relatively little — 79% to 76% — from 2019 to 2021. Compare that with a drop in listening to an audio service like Pandora, which saw its numbers fall from 8% in 2019 to 6% in 2021.

One area of growth? Podcasting, which almost doubled from 6% to 11%.

The report also found that in the car, AM/FM radio leads ad-supported audio across all age groups with AM/FM radio accounting for 84% and 88% of their time spent listening to ad-supported audio. By comparison, podcasts at best get 8% of listening and ad-supported streaming between 1% and 5%.

Ad-Supported Audio TSL by Demographic Group (Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group)

The analysis by Faison found that advertisers looking to reach people in their car with advertising should seriously consider those in-car ad-supported listening stats.

“When it comes to ad-supported audio in the car, AM/FM radio is the ‘queen of the road’ with shares in the mid to upper 80s across every buying demographic,” wrote Faison. “Looking at ad-supported audience shares in the car, even among persons 18–34, AM/FM radio’s share is a whopping 84% — 84 times larger than Spotify’s one share.”

Faison also noted the importance of considering online streaming. Over the past six years, the proportion of AM/FM radio listening occurring via online streaming has risen from 8% to 14%, with Nielsen finding that 10% of radio listening is to the AM dial.

“Currently, there is more radio listening occurring via the stream (14%) than the entire AM dial,” Faison wrote. “Smart advertisers should allocate 14 cents out of every dollar spent on AM/FM radio to the station stream.”

AM/FM Radio Listening: Over the Air vs. Streaming (Edison Research)

AM/FM radio also leads ad-supported listening on smart speakers with a 43% share, the report revealed. With 40% of U.S. homes now owning a smart speaker, AM/FM has been brought back into the home.

The report also revealed other key details, such as the fact that podcasts and certain online listening services seem to skew higher in larger markets when compared to other services.

Radio World invites industry-oriented commentaries. Send to Radio World.

The post Latest Share of Ear Report Indicates Radio’s Strengths appeared first on Radio World.