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Content delivery company LinkUp Communications Corp. has acquired the majority of assets of Orbital Media Networks Inc.

“The acquisition includes the service agreements for a wide array of broadcast customers, including those who purchase space segment and other services from OMNi, and others who subscribe to the company’s XDS satellite and streaming platform,” LinkUp stated in the announcement.

“It does not include the Rocky Mountain News Network, nor OMNi’s two-way IP services.”

[Read: Workbench: Invasion of the Bees]

Terms were not announced.

OMNi has its roots in what was once called Clear Channel Satellite Services. It was created about seven years ago when iHeartMedia got out of the backbone transport capacity business and sold it to entrepreneur Sam Dibrell Jr.

Mark Johnson, president of LinkUp, was quoted: “Our knowledge and skills complement each other. While OMNi offers the best in innovation and technology with their content distribution facility, LinkUp is known for its quality service, tailored solutions and positive working relationships with the industry’s top manufacturers.”

LinkUp Chairman Karen Johnson said OMNi customers will gain more design and installation services while LinkUp customers will have access to a distribution platform that offers both satellite and streaming.

Target client markets include secular and faith-based broadcasters, universities and colleges, sports distribution and businesses.

Orbital Media Networks offered broadcast programming delivery via C-Band, Ku-band and terrestrial, satellite-based IP networking and internet services.

LinkUp is based in Panama City, Fla. OMNi is in Englewood, Colo. LinkUp said it plans to integrate its customer support with the Network Operations Center in Englewood in a process that will take three to six months.

 

The post LinkUp Acquires Most of Orbital Media’s Assets appeared first on Radio World.

It’s being called “the most comprehensive and in-depth source of econometric data and analysis covering the entire U.S. audio media industry for the 2019-2023 period by all three industry KPIs.

Here’s your first look at PQ Media’s “U.S. Audio Media Forecast,” which covers over 40 audio media platforms, channels and categories.

Business growth starts with great information. That’s what you’ll get November 16 at the Harvard Club in New York when you attend Forecast 2022. For full details, including the agenda and registration information, simply visit http://www.radioinkforecast.com.

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Radio appears to gain strength late in the season, compared to last year.

That’s the head-turning takeaway from James Fennessy and his team at Standard Media Index (SMI). 

How does this compare to other media SMI measures?

Economic Forecasting: Broadcast Revenue Trends and Expectations for 2022 With supply chain issues and hiring challenges the Q3 2021 earnings call conversation of choice for Wall Street financial analysts, all eyes are on the first half of 2022. Will automotive finally recover in the second half of 2022? Are certain brands seeing different issues? What about sports gaming? At Forecast 2022, a panel of experts will offer attendees an exclusive and provocative discussion about who is going to “show us the money” in the year to come. For more details and to register for this event, please visit www.radioinkforecast.com today.

 

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In a significant move that signals a likely lobbying victory for the NAB, the full FCC on Friday released a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted on November 4 that would allow digital multicast NEXTGEN TV channels to effectively be licensed in the same manner as their host station.

The matter is open for Comments and Reply Comments, with a schedule forthcoming based on the FNPRM’s publication in the Federal Register.

As Gordon Smith exits his role at year’s end as CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters and Curtis LeGeyt prepares to take the helm, what is the state of the broadcast industry from the Beltway view? Steve Newberry, who worked closely with both executives during his own tenure at the NAB, sits down with them in an exclusive Forecast 2022 chat covering legal, regulatory, and legislative initiatives under the leadership of the NAB that have impacted the broadcast industry over the past 12 years, how they will shape and define its future, and what challenges and opportunities lie on the horizon.

DON’T HESITATE ANY LONGER. ATTEND FORECAST 2022 BY REGISTERING NOW. Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

A steady stream this week of third quarter earnings reports from major U.S. radio groups has culminated with a rebound report from the country’s largest radio group.

iHeartMedia’s climb back to pre-COVID revenue levels continued at an accelerated pace in the third quarter of this year. The company’s third quarter earnings call on Thursday afternoon was highlighted by consolidated revenue growing nearly 25% year over year to $928 million. The company says it is confident it will be back to 2019 Adjusted EBITDA levels by the end of this year.

The broadcaster’s multiplatform group, which includes its 850 radio stations, saw Q3 revenue climb 19% year over year. iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman said during Thursday’s call “the strong recovery and growth potential of our radio business” added to the quarter’s revenue recovery.

[Read: Betting on Sports, iHeartMedia Partners With DraftKings]

Specifically, broadcast revenue grew $79 million or 19.5% YoY, while networks added $8.9 million or 7.5% up from Q3 2020.

“Our strong results this quarter are further evidence of the success of our company’s continuing transformation — data-led, digital and podcast focused, along with the unparalleled audience reach of our broadcast radio assets — supported by the largest sales force and the only unified ad tech stack in audio advertising,” Pittman said in a statement that accompanied its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

For comparison sake the radio broadcasters said the multiplatform group’s revenue for the quarter was down 17% compared to Q3 in 2019, Pittman said, continuing the quarterly sequential rebound since the onset of COVID.

Digital continues to boost iHeartMedia’s revenues YoY, according the latest financial report. The digital audio group reported a 77% jump in revenue compared to Q3 2020, which includes a significant increase in podcast revenue. The broadcaster’s podcast platform boasted a revenue increase of $41.3 million over the same period a year before, which is an increase of 183.7%.

In January 2021 the broadcaster began reporting financial statements based on three reportable segments; the digital audio group, the multiplatform group and the audio & media services group, which includes Katz Media Group and RCS. Revenue from that final group decreased nearly 12% compared to the same quarter in 2020 in large part due to lower political advertising revenue this year, according to the SEC filing.

The company’s continued modernization efforts resulted in capital expenditures climbing to $101.3 million through the first nine months of this year compared to $58 million in 2020 through the same period. The company says the increase is due to its real estate consolidation initiatives.

“We expect cap ex to go down next year. This quarter we spent about $50 million in cap ex and the major increase was due to the downsizing of our real estate and becoming more efficient in that area,” said Rich Bressler, iHeartMedia president, COO and CFO.

iHeartMedia earlier this week announced a multiyear strategic relationship with DraftKings, making the sportsbook the official odds supplier for all iHeartMedia’s broadcast, digital, podcast and social media platforms. The agreement allows DraftKings to co-create and distribute long-form content with iHeartMedia using the company’s personalities.

[Read: iHeart, NPR Have Their Prints All Over Podtrac Rankings]

“This partnership builds on iHeartMedia’s industry leading sports assets, which includes partnerships with the NFL and NBA. We expect sports and sports betting to be a significant growth engine for us going forward,” Pittman said on Thursday’s earning call.

Radio groups have been aligning with betting apps and sportsbooks creating a new ad category for radio broadcasters with quickly growing revenue figures, according to analysts who follow the broadcast industry. iHeartMedia already has several radio stations with the moniker “The Gambler,” which are dedicated to sports talk and sports gambling. Bressler said during the investment call its Draft Kings deal is not exclusive and the broadcaster is open to other partnerships in the sports betting space.

iHeartMedia last week announced a $60 million voluntary buyback of its preferred stock. Pittman at the time said the repurchasing of stock demonstrates the broadcaster’s commitment to strengthening its balance sheet. As of September 30, 2021, the company was carrying approximately $5.7 billion in total debt.

 

The post iHeartMedia Q3 Report Shows Continued Recovery appeared first on Radio World.

The company’s shares were flirting with $167 in Friday’s trading on the Nasdaq GlobalSelect exchange. They bear a 1-year target estimate of $187.67.

For investors, getting in to Nexstar Media Group would involve purchasing the company’s stock at a record high, as NXST has surged from $57.73 in March 2020.

For Simply Wall St., snapping up shares today may still be beneficial. Why? Nexstar is going ex-Dividend next week.

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Although those days of storing boxes and boxes of paper public files on site at a station are gone, the rules requiring broadcast stations to maintain public files is a longstanding one — as it has been for more than 80 years — and is still in place.

So the Federal Communications Commission recent decision to hold two broadcasters to account for failing to keep their online public file up to date is a clear one. Pampa Broadcasters Inc. and Tackett-Boazman Broadcasting are both licensees of commercial radio stations who have decided to enter into individual consent decrees with the commission to resolve political file investigations. A full-power station’s political file is part of its public inspection file.

According to FCC rules, the political public file rule states that radio stations must provide information about public office candidates and advertisers who purchase broadcast time of a political nature. Stations must upload information about such requests to their online political files and those files must be made available for public inspection.

[Read: Consent Decree (Plus Good Behavior) Results in Reduced Forfeiture]

The reason that these files must be complete and up to date is that information in them directly affects the rights of opposing political candidates to request equal on-air opportunities laid out in the Communications Act. “[T]he disclosures indicated in the political file further the First Amendment’s goal of an informed electorate that is able to evaluate the validity of messages and hold accountable the interests that disseminate political advocacy,” the commission has said in the past.

Pampa Broadcasters Inc. filed license renewal applications for its three station but it was unable to prove that it was in compliance with the public file requirements for one of the stations, which includes KDRL(AM), KGRO(AM) and KOMX(FM) in Pampa, Texas.

The situation was similar for Tackett-Boazman Broadcasting. The bureau also suspended processing of the licensee’s applications because of Tackett-Boazman’s failure to certify compliance with its public file obligations for one of the stations, which includes KQBZ(FM) and KXYL(AM) of Brownwood, Texas, as well as KWYL(FM) of Coleman, Texas.

In both cases, the Media Bureau suspended processing of the broadcast licensees’ renewal applications and commenced an investigation into their public files. And in both cases, the bureau agreed to enter into a consent decree with the broadcasters, acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic “caused a dramatic reduction in advertising revenues which, in turn, placed the radio broadcasting industry … under significant, ongoing financial stress.”

Under terms of the consent decree, the bureau agreed to process the broadcasters’ pending radio license renewal applications if the broadcasters agreed to adhere to a compliance plan. That plan involves appointing a compliance officer to see that all terms of the decree as enforced including distributing a compliance manual to all employees, creating a compliance training program, submitting a compliance report and promising to report any instance of noncompliance.

 

The post Political File Slip Leads Two Texas Broadcasters Into Consent Agreement appeared first on Radio World.

For Washington, D.C., area residents, a trip to the beach may involve a drive east on U.S. 50 and an excursion to the beaches of Delaware. Among the towns popular with those in the National Capital Region is Rehoboth Beach.

It is here that a 41-year old FM that is presently “The Talk of Delmarva” is being spun. And, the seller is a “resort” … sort of.

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IBC says its convention in Amsterdam four weeks from now is a “go” and that attendees will not be required to wear masks once they’re inside.

“Following the update on COVID protocols from the Dutch government on Nov. 2, IBC is pleased to announce that its December event can go ahead in a safe and comfortable way,” it said in an announcement.

“As of Nov. 6, the public will be required to wear face masks in public areas where no COVID entry pass is used, including supermarkets, shops, libraries, theme parks and train stations. IBC Show will be exempt from these measures because it is organized within a perimeter where everyone must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test before entering the premises.”

So IBC2021 attendees will not be required to wear a face mask once they have entered the RAI and are inside the IBC Show bubble.

“Additionally …. bars and restaurants will operate between 6 a.m. and 12 a.m. Guests will be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test, the same evidence needed to access the IBC Show. There will also be no change in entry requirements for international travelers, which means the show will remain accessible for almost 100% of IBC’s usual audience.”

A resource guide on its website explains the documentation necessary for international travelers.

Chief Executive Michael Crimp said the latest announcement from the government “will not impact the IBC Show visitor experience but, rest assured, we will be delivering the gold standard in live event safety.”

Related: IBC exhibition protocols.

The post The IBC Show Is “Full Steam Ahead” appeared first on Radio World.

On October 13, RBR+TVBR first reported on the conclusion of Entravision Communications’ licensing agreement with Univision Communications, with Univision opting not to renew the pact at year’s end. As such, Univision will take over the operations of the UniMás and Univision stations serving Orlando, Tampa, and Washington, D.C.

On Friday, it became known that audience measurement services in those three markets will be delivered to Univision exclusively by a company that continues to fuel its desire to compete head-on with Nielsen in the U.S. broadcast TV marketplace.

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On Thursday, no less than eight broadcast media companies released their third quarter 2021 results. The day concluded with concurrent conference calls for analysts and investors from Entravision Communications, and from Salem Media Group.

With Friday’s trading underway, Salem shares were up. And, investors were pleased as the company known for its conservative Talk radio stations and its Christian-themed print and audio media content surpassed analysts’ estimates with its Q3 fiscal report card.

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According to analysts polled by Zacks Equity Research, The E.W. Scripps Co. — a much bigger operation today than a year ago thanks to its merger with Ion Media — was expected to post earnings per share of $0.12 in Q3. That would have reflected an 84.2% year-over-year decline, impacted by fewer political ad dollars.

How did Scripps do?

Much better than those prognostications, thank you. But, it is hardly because of the company’s Local Media unit.

 

For exclusive perspectives, projections, and visions for the broadcast industry directly from The E.W. Scripps Co. President/CEO Brian Lawlor (pictured, top left), there’s only one place to be on November 16. That’s Forecast 2022, located at the Harvard Club in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Lawlor is appearing in an Executive Super Session, sponsored by Skyview Networks. It’s your chance to see him in person, alongside the industry’s biggest leaders.

Don’t hesitate: REGISTER NOW!!

 

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It’s perhaps the ugliest retransmission consent impasse seen in recent months. On Friday, TEGNA took things up a notch by going to the FCC by submitting a cross-complaint against Dish for what it says is “its failure to comply” with the Commission’s “Good Faith” rules.

TEGNA also assails Dish for making “material misrepresentations” about its retransmission consent negotiations to the Commission, and to the public.

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From our People News page: At MARC Radio, Jerry Butler has been promoted to market manager for its Gainesville/Ocala operation.

He had joined the company last year to lead its local sales effort. MARC has eight stations in northern Florida. The announcement was made by Dave Cobb, executive vice president.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

Before MARC, Butler was vice president of sales at Music Master and was on the faculty at the University of Florida.

Send People News announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com. We are particularly interested in announcements about engineers and executive leadership.

 

The post Butler Is Promoted at MARC Radio appeared first on Radio World.

It’s hardly a surprise. The third quarter of 2020 brought broadcast media an incredible amount of political advertising, boosting revenue to unprecedented heights across the broadcast TV landscape.

One year later, with fewer political ad dollars, losses are expected. But, how big the loss is has emerged as the key investor question. At Graham Media Group, the decrease was in the mid-single-digits.

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The author is senior development engineer for Wheatstone Corp.

There’s nothing like a little audio performance testing to cap off a hectic week at the station, especially if you don’t have to haul out the heavy (read “expensive”) equipment to do it.

There are two main things I like to test: the flatness of the frequency response and the distortion added by equipment in the air chain. For this, you’ll need clean test signals and a way to measure those signals after they’ve passed through the air chain.

Measuring Distortion
Obtaining clean test signals is fairly easy. Most audio editing systems have the ability to synthesize low-distortion sine waves and then save them to a file.

I generate and analyze test tones using some software tools written by Sebastian Dunst, available from http://softsolutions.sedutec.de. Note that a license is required to use these tools in a “commercial” environment.

I use the SoftSolutions Multisine audio generator to synthesize single or multiple sine waves of any length or audio level, stereo or mono, and store them as a linear WAV file.

Fig. 1 (Left): Two sine waves at 1 and 2 kHz, equal amplitude. Fig. 2 (Right): Undistorted spectrum of two sine wave signal.

Fig. 1 is the waveform that has resulted from adding a pair of sine waves at 1 kHz and 2 kHz, both at equal amplitude, to create a test signal. Then, with the SoftSolutions AudioAnalyzer software, I can analyze audio saved as a WAV file and display the distortion parameters I’m interested in.

Fig. 2 is the spectral analysis of the waveform from the above example. This would be what we’d see if we had a perfect air chain.

[Read the Complete Oct. 20, 2021 Issue of Radio World Engineering Extra]

If these two pure sine waves are fed through an air chain with no distortion (which isn’t possible, yet — all circuits add distortion), the analyzer would show only the original two signals. As the spectrum analysis shows, the rest of the audio spectrum would be clean — no other signals would appear above the bottom of the display.

But if there were distortion, what would it look like? It might appear similar to Fig. 3, showing many other signals in addition to the first two we started out with. The example is of a severe distortion problem — this air chain would sound horrible on the air!

Fig. 3 (Left): Severely distorted spectrum of two sine wave signal. Fig. 4 (Right): Waveform of 11 sine wave signal.

Frequency Response
The same tools we just used to measure the distortion within the air chain can also be used to measure frequency response.

This time we’ll use the same software tools to generate a test signal that has many sine waves. By then sending this complex signal through the air chain and then looking at it on the analyzer, we’ll be able to see if the sine waves (at different frequencies) are coming back at equal levels.

Fig. 4 is the waveform of a test signal made up of sine waves at 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240 and 20480 Hz. In a perfect air chain, the analyzer would show all of the signals at their original and equal levels after passing through the air chain.

Fig. 5 (Left): Spectrum of undistorted 11 sine wave signal. Fig. 6 (Right): 11 sine wave spectrum through an air chain with some problems.

Fig. 5 shows that all of the signals are present and that they all reach the same audio level. This represents “flat” (good) frequency response.

What would the analysis look like if there were a loss of low frequencies due to, for instance, dried out electrolytic capacitors in some part of an analog signal path?

It might look like the next display, shown in Fig. 6. Note how the signals at lower frequencies are quite a bit lower compared to the mid and high frequencies. This station would have a “weak” bottom end, no matter what they tried to do with the audio processing.

[Subscribe to Radio World Engineering Extra]

There are many tools available, both hardware and software, that can be used to quantify the quality of the station’s air chain. Remember that it is not important which tools are used but rather that they are used to check occasionally to see if the station’s air chain is healthy.

If the air chain isn’t up to snuff, it doesn’t matter what audio processor, transmitter, STL or exciter the station has, because the on-air sound can never be better than that of the weakest link.

The post Audio Performance Testing on the Cheap appeared first on Radio World.

The Federal Communications Commission agreed to renew the license of an Alabama FM translator station — but only on the contingency that it enter into a consent decree and agree to make a $13,000 penalty payment.

After getting the green light to begin operating FM translator W299BX at the same site as its primary station WARB(AM) in Dothan, Ala., back in 2015, Alabama Media LLC had both stations go quiet for nearly 10 months in 2015 and 2016. Then in September 2016, the translator began operation from a recently constructed tower located nearby, with WARB following suit a few days later. Two months after that, Alabama Media moved three of its four full-power stations to this new so-called Dothan Tower.

[Read: Florida Licensee Faces $3,000 Forfeiture After Late Filing Penalty]

And while the broadcaster filed modification applications to relocate its full-power stations, it inadvertently failed to file a modification application for the translator.

A complaint was filed by broadcaster WOOF Inc. soon after, saying that Alabama Media did not have approval to operate the translator at that site. WOOF operates 99.7 WOOF(FM) and 560 WOOF(AM), both in Dothan, Ala. Two days later, Alabama Media filed a modification application and requested special temporary authority (STA) to operate at the new site.

The Media Bureau responded (note that the decision took nearly 2.5 years, into March 2017) and granted both the modification application and STA. The bureau also found that Alabama Media was liable for a monetary forfeiture of $18,000 for several violations: unauthorized operation, originating programming without authorization, failing to notify the FCC of its intent to discontinue operations for 10 or more days, failing to obtain approval to discontinue operations for more than 30 days and failing to file proper forms needed when relocating a translator. The bureau gave Alabama Media 30 days to pay the full amount or submit a written statement seeking reduction.

In April 2019 Alabama Media responded and asked the bureau to reduce the forfeiture, saying it could not afford to pay that amount since the company has operated at a net loss for the past four years. As a smaller broadcaster, Alabama Media said, it does not have access to lines of credit or other readily available funds. And besides, the broadcaster said, a reduced forfeiture is all the admonishment it needs to deter any future misconduct.

But the Media Bureau was not persuaded. “[T]he mere fact that a business is operating at a loss does not by itself mean that it cannot afford to pay a forfeiture,” the bureau said in its order. The bureau ruled that financial hardship in this case is not enough to approve a reduction of the $18,000.

But something did sway the bureau to decrease the forfeiture: Alabama Media’s track record as a rule-following licensee. “[W]e find that a reduction from the forfeiture amount proposed in the [notice] is appropriate given that Alabama Media does not have a history of prior offenses.”

As a result, the bureau entered into a consent decree with Alabama Media in which the broadcaster admitted to the charges laid out by the bureau and agreed to make a $13,000 civil penalty payment. The bureau also denied the earlier objection raised by WOOF since the licensee did not show how Alabama Media’s continued operation of the translator would be against public interest.

 

The post Consent Decree (Plus Good Behavior) Results in Reduced Forfeiture appeared first on Radio World.

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