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Boon: Digital Media Is an Asset to Broadcast Radio
When exploited effectively, social media, YouTube and other digital media can be the best friends that broadcast radio ever had. That’s the lesson that was taught by Alex Poon, General Manager of Tech and Shared Services at Malaysia’s Media Prima, during his ‘Driving Audiences from Digital to FM’ talk at Radiodays Asia. This was a two day in-person/online conference staged at Malaysia’s Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur hotel September 6–7, 2022.
Digital Media and Radio Go Together Alex PoonPoon’s premise during his talk is that digital media can serve as a promotional vehicle for broadcast radio, while also improvising two-way communications between on-air talent and listeners.
Poon said 97% of radio listeners are listening directly on home, office or car radios, or indirectly through their computers, mobile phones and via apps such as AUDIO+, which hosts his company’s five radio streams. Of those listeners, 35% are spending more time interacting on radio stations via social media pages, he added, an increase that is strengthening their ties to the Media Prima brand.
It is for this reason that “we are friends with the digital platforms, not enemies,” Poon said. “Combining radio and digital improves the two-way connection and engagement with the listeners.”
Leveraging Social Media to Boost Radio ListenershipAccording to Poon, Media Prima’s five FM radio stations (collectively known as Media Prima Audio) collectively have about 20 million social media followers. This kind of following allows his radio division to grab attention by staging live concerts on Facebook, or by leveraging the marriage of a famous Malaysian celebrity online by announcing that one of her favorite songs would be played on one of Media Prima Audio’s FM stations tomorrow morning.
“This is how we actually drive the audience from digital back to FM,” said Poon.
Taking Advantage of YouTubeAnother way that Media Prima Audio uses digital to drive its radio listenership is by live-streaming its radio broadcasts on YouTube, where the company has some 976,000 subscribers. In this model, the company’s radio fans can listen to Media Prima Audios on FM in the car, then continue listening at work via YouTube.
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Encouraging Interaction via the AppMedia Prime Audio’s decision to consolidate its five station feeds onto the AUDIO+ app is making it easier for listeners to chat with its on-air-talent, in addition to accessing all of the company’s FM audio streams. Poon noted that litener interactions with on-air talent can be a challenge due to time constraints. But when the feedback has been sent to them via the AUDIO+ app, they can review and respond to it “any time that they want.”
Media Prima Audio is also happy to share its streams with potential competitors such as Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify, said Poon – because these sites offer the opportunity to extend his company’s reach. As a result, instead of being enemies, “we become frenemies,” he joked.
Online Radio Saves Data UsageIn his closing remarks, Poon pointed out that, for those who don’t have direct access to radio at work and have to go to the web for entertainment, online radio is the irmost economical choir when it comes to paid data consumption.
The reason? On an hourly basis, online radio “only consumes 21.6 megabytes of data,” he said. In comparison, “simply scrolling through social media pages for 60 minutes consumes about 100 meg.” Meanwhile, watching an online video at a resolution of 360 pixels consumes about 160 MB of data.
Poon urged all radio stations to communicate this data-saving fact to their online listeners. What he didn’t say – but is worth noting – is that encouraging people to take pocket FM radios to work with earbuds uses no paid data at all, which is the ultimate cost argument for tuning to radio everywhere.
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‘Luca’ To Lead KYW Programming As Rickert Takes Podcast Post
Audacy Corp.‘s hometown all-News radio station, with a longtime format brought to life by Westinghouse, has a new program director. There’s also a new assistant to the woman taking that role, and he’ll retain his role as the Director of Podcasting for the AM/FM combo.
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Do I Really Need IPv6?
This is Part 3 of a series about IT fundamentals. These articles are based on excerpts from the Society of Broadcast Engineers CBNT/CBNE Study Topics webinar series, designed to assist those seeking SBE certification and to provide others a broad overview of IT as used in broadcast engineering. (Read Part 1 and Part 2.)
The Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) is the most common Internet Protocol (IP) address in use today. With any mention of an IP address, an IPv4 address is assumed or simply an IP address.
The familiar IP address is defined in detail by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comment (RFC) #791 finalized in 1981.
The 32-bit address provides some 4.2 billion (232) unique addresses. The address space is divided into five blocks or classes consisting of A, B, C, D and E expressed in the familiar doted-decimal format of four eight-bit octets or four bytes separated by a decimal yielding 192.168.1.1.
Class A, B and C are the most common addresses, with class D reserved for multicast use and class E for experimental use. Within class A, B and C address space additional reserved uses can be found such as private address blocks (often referred to as RFC 1918 space), loop-back and zero configuration address space (RFC #3927). At the end of the day, there are around 3.7 billion unique addresses useable for host assignment in the public internet address space.
Soon after adoption, it became apparent that the IP address space standard adopted was not going to be adequate to fulfill a rapidly growing demand.
In 1998, IETF RFC #2460 was issued. It outlined IPv6 as a solution to the demand for address space.
Lots (lots) of addressesIPv6 provides a 128-bit address yielding some 340 undecillion or 3.4 x 1038 unique addresses. I will leave it to your imagination to grasp the size of even 1 undecillion of anything.
In an IPv6 environment, the address allocation focus becomes allocation of networks or subnets rather than individual IP address, as one does with IPv4 addresses. Auto-configuration features within the IPv6 protocol suite handle individual host IP address assignment and configuration. There are no subnet masks to deal with and CIDR notation is used exclusively.
One of the challenges of implementing IPv6 is changing one’s mindset to subnet allocation rather than address allocation and accepting multiple addresses per host interface. At a minimum, an IPv6 host will have a global unicast address, a unique local address and a link local address.
Faced with 128 bits to represent in some form of an address, the IPv6 address is formatted as eight groups of 16-bits (also known as quads) expressed in hexadecimal and separated by a colon yielding:
2607:b800:faa:3:f1e2:65b7:5675:1984
The IPv6 address may be daunting at first glance. The IPv6 address can be simplified by breaking it down into three parts: the routing prefix, the subnet ID and the interface ID.
The routing prefix represents the left-most 48 bits of the address and is assigned by a Regional Internet Registry or a service provider. The next field is the subnet ID that the broadcast IT engineer allocates for the site. And the right-most 64 bits of the address is configured automatically by the host or manually in a specified format by the engineer.
IPv6 is far more than larger address space. It was an opportunity to reengineer the IP address scheme described in the original IETF RFC.
Improvements or enhancements were made in reducing the IPv6 header size with fixed length fields and a larger payload size yielding faster packet processing in routers.
Another important advantage is the elimination of the need for Network Address Translation (NAT) as each host device has a unique address restoring the end-to-end host-host communications model that IP was founded upon.
IPv6 adoption has been slower than many predicted. NAT and private addressing have allowed many networks to extend the life of IPv4 without the expense of upgrading the infrastructure to one supporting IPv6.
Carrier Grade NAT (or double NAT) is often found in internet service provider networks, which can create complexity and adds latency to real-time media packet flows.
As the broadcast IT engineer looks ahead, consider IPv6 to be included in your network designs. A dual-stack approach accommodating both IPv4 and IPv6 is supported and allows a gradual migration. Major and regional Internet Service Providers (ISP) support IPv6 today, and more and more broadcast equipment suppliers are supporting in their products, as all major operating systems have been IPv6-compliant for some time.
Studies have shown that IPv6 connections are noticeably faster when compared to an IPv4 connection. One such Akamai study demonstrated that IPv6 web sites load on the order of 15 percent faster than on IPv4. For the broadcast station distributing real-time media, the gains can be significant to the consumer.
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IPv6 is the future as the demand continues for internet-enabled host devices. The Internet Protocol was developed for Arpanet as a governmental research network.
Vincent Cerf is considered one of the fathers of the internet and headed the team that choose the 32-bit IP address scheme. He has stated, “Who the hell knew how much address space we needed for an experiment?”
The webinar on which this article is based, and many others, are available to anyone for a modest fee, with members receiving a discounted rate and free to those with the SBE MemberPlus upgrade. Consider joining if you are not a member at sbe.org.
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Three Key Debates Get National Exposure Via NewsNation
When it comes to the big November election races, voters choosing the next Texas Governor, United States Senator from Georgia, and United States Senator from Pennsylvania are perhaps getting the most national focus from pundits and the leadership of both the Republicans and Democrats.
The outcomes could have a large impact on the U.S. come 2023, and NewsNation, the Nexstar Media Group-owned MVPD-distributed network, is ensuring everyone across all 50 states and the U.S. territories has access to the debates for candidates seeking to win each of these three key races.
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The Top-Billing Radio Companies, and Stations, Are Revealed
BIA Advisory Services has revealed its Top 10 by revenue for both the nation’s radio broadcasting companies and for individual AM and FM radio stations in the U.S.
What station is No. 1? It is hardly a surprise, as it has been in the No. 1 spot for seven consecutive years and continues to be a spoken word Goliath.
At the top: WTOP, the Hubbard Radio all-News station heard on multiple FM frequencies across the Washington National Capital Region.
According to BIA estimates, WTOP magnetized some $70 million in revenues in 2021 — up 12.9% from $62 million in 2020.
This surpasses the overall growth rate of 10.3% that BIA forecast for over-the-air radio from 2020 to 2021, as the industry started to pull out of the pandemic slump.
WTOP is also the only Radio brand on this list to surpass its pre-pandemic revenue figure of $69.8 million in 2019.
With 103.5 MHz (formerly WGMS) its main over-the-air home, WTOP also serves Northern Virginia’s growing suburbs at 107.7 MHz and the Frederick, Md., region on 103.9 MHz (formerly WWVZ and, before that, WZYQ). Hubbard’s other service in the market is “Federal News Radio,” housed on WFED-AM 1500 — the original home of WTOP.
Together, WTOP and “Federal News Radio” attracted some 30.5% of the over-the-air revenue in the Washington, D.C. market in 2021 — 29.1% of which went to WTOP-FM.
What station was No. 2? It’s a storied iHeartMedia property that is the No. 1-billing music station in America — 102.7 KIIS-FM in Los Angeles.
Today the lone Top 40 station in the market, BIA estimates show KIIS-FM accounting for 9.1% of the over-the-air revenue in L.A.
However, the $43 million it took in during 2021 compares to pre-pandemic revenue of $59.9 million in 2019.
Taking the No. 3 slot, in terms of billing, is iHeartMedia sibling WLTW-FM “106.7 Lite FM” in New York. WLTW accounted for 8.7% of all over-the-air radio revenue in the New York market, attracting $34.6 million in 2021. That’s down from $44 million in 2019.
Showing the most year-over-year growth, according to BIA, is Audacy’s WBBM, the all-news radio station in Chicago. It moved from No. 5 in 2020 to No. 4 in 2021, growing its revenue by 14.5% to $34.0 million in 2021, from $29.7 million.
However, BIA notes that WBBM is down from $39 million in 2019.
Then, there is the disappearance altogether of Cox Media Group flagship WSB-AM & WSBB-FM in Atlanta. The News/Talk station, No. 4 in 2020, slid to No. 12 in 2021.
For 2021, iHeartMedia and Audacy dominate the Top 10. While Hubbard is at No. 1, the only other company to place in the BIA top 10 is Beasley Media Group, as its Sports WBZ-FM 98.5 in Boston is a billing monster.
BIGGEST HOLDINGS, LARGEST REVENUE
With 865 AM and FM radio stations, iHeartMedia sits in the top spot, with its properties across 150 markets capturing some $2.2 billion in revenue.
This is up from $1.97 billion with 865 stations in 2020, but down from $2.56 billion (tied to a total of 858 stations, making for a slightly unfair comparison) in pre-pandemic 2019.
The No. 2 revenue generator is Audacy, with its 231 AM and FM stations in 47 markets bringing in $1,345,000,000. This is up from $1.2 billion in 2020, but down from nearly $1.6 billion in a pre-pandemic 2019 when Audacy had four more stations in the mix.
“A distant third,” revenue-wise, is Cumulus Media. Its 407 AM/FM stations in 85 markets brought in $481 million. This is up from $470 million in 2020 (when Cumulus had 415 stations), but down from $531 million in 2019 (when Cumulus had 425 stations).
Hubbard Radio finished 2021 as the largest privately owned radio group owner.
Meanwhile, TelevisaUnivision finished 2021 as BIA’s top-billing Spanish language broadcaster, according to its data and how it compiles total revenue for radio broadcasting companies.
Who Are the Top-Earning U.S. Radio Groups?
BIA Advisory Services has released a fresh list of the top U.S. radio ownership groups by revenue. To no one’s surprise, iHeartMedia remains on top.
With 865 AM/FM stations in 150 markets, iHeart brought in an estimated $2.2 billion in 2021, BIA found.
“This is up from $1.97 billion with 865 stations in 2020, but down from $2.56 billion (only 858 stations) in pre-pandemic 2019.”
Here is the list; the story continues below. (There’s a link to the list of top individual stations at the end of this story.)
Audacy, the former Entercom, was No. 2 in 2021. With 231 AM/FM stations in 47 markets, it brought in $1.345 billion, up from $1.2 billion (also 231 stations) in 2020, but down from nearly $1.6 billion in pre-pandemic 2019 (235 stations).
“A distant third, revenue-wise, is Cumulus Media Holdings Inc. with 407 AM/FM stations in 85 markets bringing in $481 million. This is up from $470 million in 2020 (415 stations), but down from $531 million in 2019 (425 stations).”
Hubbard Radio owns the top-billing station WTOP(FM) but has only 54 stations in 10 markets, yet it wins 4th place at $252 million. BIA noted that Hubbard is the largest privately held company on this list.
Other stats: Seven of the top 10 are publicly traded, three are privately held.
TelevisaUnivision is the top-billing Spanish language broadcaster.
Bonneville International owns the fewest number of stations in the fewest number of markets, while number one iHeartMedia owns the most stations in the most markets on the list.
(Read the list of top-billing individual stations for 2021.)
The post Who Are the Top-Earning U.S. Radio Groups? appeared first on Radio World.
WTOP Again Leads Top Billing Station List
WTOP(FM) in Washington continues to blow away all other U.S. radio stations when it comes to bringing in revenue.
The Hubbard Radio station in the national capital again holds the No. 1 position in BIA Advisory Service’s list of top-billing U.S. stations.
Here’s the chart with BIA’s estimates for 2021 revenue; our story continues below the chart. (And for a list of top-billing companies, see link at bottom.)
The research firm notes that WTOP has held the top spot since 2014.
“BIA estimates that WTOP(FM) pulled $70 million in revenues in 2021, up 12.9% from $62 million in 2020. This surpasses the overall growth rate of 10.3% that BIA forecasts for over-the-air radio from 2020 to 2021, as the industry started to pull out of the pandemic slump.”
BIA said WTOP is the only station on the list to surpass its pre-pandemic revenue figure of $69.8 million in 2019.
“Hubbard Radio LLC garnered 30.5% of the over-the-air revenue in the Washington, DC market in 2021 … 29.1% of which went to WTOP(FM). Number two ranked KIIS-FM in Los Angeles accounted for 9.1% of the over-the-air revenue in Los Angeles with $43 million (down from pre-pandemic revenues of $59.9 million in 2019). And Number 3 ranked WLTW in New York accounted for 8.7% of the market’s over-the-air radio revenue with $34.6 million (down from $44 million in 2019). Both KIIS-FM and WLTW are owned by iHeartMedia Inc.”
Audacy’s WBBM(AM) in Chicago moved up from No. 5 to No. 4 and had the most year-over-year growth of any station in the top10, growing 14.5% from the year before, though still below 2019.
“Last year’s Number 4 station, WSB(AM) in Atlanta, Georgia, owned by Cox Media Group, Inc. fell off the list and landed at No. 12.”
Seven of the top 10 are FM stations and three are AM. Hubbard and Beasley Media Group each had one station in the top 10, while iHeartMedia and Audacy each had four.
“Four stations program a news format, one is sports, and one is sports/talk, while the remaining four have music programming,” BIA noted. “Five of the top ten are in New York, while two are in Los Angeles and there’s one each in Washington, Chicago, and Boston.”
BIA also released a chart of the top-billing radio ownership groups, with iHeart again leading the list; read that here.
The post WTOP Again Leads Top Billing Station List appeared first on Radio World.
Beebe Upped To Area Role for iHeartMedia
The woman who presently serves as Market President for iHeartMedia‘s Indianapolis station group has been given a promotion.
This will put her in a regional role for a newly formed territory that includes three Kentucky markets and four in South Carolina.
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A Big Christian Broadcaster Selects A Marketing Chief
She currently serves as President of Latin World Entertainment Licensing, previously managed her own retail/licensing consulting business leading product and retail development for a variety of children’s entertainment properties, and before that worked at Twentieth Century Fox.
Meet the new Chief of Marketing at Hope Media Group, the recently formed religious broadcasting organization comprised of the Way Media and KSBJ Christian-themed radio operations.
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Skyview Wins Ad Sales Role For ‘Bob & Sheri’
Starting January 1, 2023, Skyview Networks will serve as the ad sales partner for the longtime Adult Contemporary and Hot AC-focused syndicated radio program hosted by Charlotte-based Bob Lacey and Sheri Lynch.
Network Audio Sales for “Bob & Sheri” will be fully handled by Skyview, with access to digital and podcast opportunities included in the ad sales partnership.
“The team at Skyview Networks truly shares our passion for creativity and innovation,” Lynch said. “They are absolutely all in. It’s an exciting partnership and I’m thrilled at this opportunity to learn and grow while serving our audience, affiliates, and advertisers in new, dynamic ways.”
Jeanne-Marie Condo, President of Network Partnerships and Chief Revenue Officer for Skyview Networks, added, “Known and respected in the audio space for their proven success and genuine connections with listeners, the program and podcasts continue to grow and deliver on all levels for audiences and advertisers,” commented “We are thrilled to work withBob & Sheri and are proud to showcase the program as part of our influencers and integrations platforms in our upcoming 2023 Upfront show.”
“Bob & Sheri” can be heard on “flagship” Hot AC WLNK-FM “107.9 The Link” in Charlotte, owned by Urban One. It is independently syndicated.
For details on affiliation, please contact Tony Garcia at tony@bobandsheri.com.
A Motor City Morning Engine Gets Key To National Rollout
NORTHVILLE, MICH. — They rule the roost in wake-ups at Beasley Media Group‘s Active Rocker WRIF-FM in Detroit. They’re also heard at the company’s WRXK “96 KRock” in Fort Myers-Naples; WPBB “98.7 The Shark” in Tampa-St. Petersburg; and at WBOS-FM in Boston.
Now, non-Beasley stations have access to Dave & Chuck the Freak, thanks to a syndication agreement that has just been finalized.
Handling the syndication is Key Networks, which will put the program featuring co-hosts Dave Hunter and “Chuck the Freak” and an ensemble cast including Lisa Way, Andy Green, James Campbell, Jason Watson, and Al Beck in other markets.
Beasley Chief Content Officer Justin Chase explains, “We have been self-syndicating Dave & Chuck the Freak for the past few years,” said Beasley Media Group Chief Content Officer Justin Chase. “The show characters have made a deep connection with audiences in our markets. Now that we have a proven model for success, we’re excited to share it with other broadcasters who want a winning show on their stations”
Dennis Green, Chief Operating Officer for Key Networks, added, “Key Networks continues to bring the best talent to the syndicated marketplace … We already have stations ready to come on board and shake up mornings around the country.”
Agenda Announced for Diversity Council September 22, 2022 Virtual Digital Skills Gap Symposium and Town Hall
Application for Review and Motion for Stay of Sound of Hope, NFP, filed against Edgewater Broadcasting Inc.'s Application for Construction Permit to Modify Station W256CL, Park Forest, Illinois, Application File No. 20171229ABE
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Public File Dates for Broadcast Licensees Affected by Hurricane Fiona Extended to Monday, November 14, 2022
Saga Does It Again: Another Dividend Bump, Plus A ‘Special’ Bonus
Some radio broadcasting companies suspended their quarterly cash dividend 2 1/2 years ago, with no indication from the executive leadership team as to when they’ll resume.
At Saga Communications, which recently saw the untimely passing of its CEO, Ed Christian, not only is a quarterly cash dividend still in place, but it’s being hiked — again.
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