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Issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $3,000 to New Life Ministries, Inc., for failure to timely file a license renewal application for Station WXVI(AM), Montgomery, Alabama

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Responding to record cold in Texas along with related consequences such as loss of power for days, the Broadcasters Foundation of America is making one-time emergency grants of up to $2,000 each to qualifying individual broadcaster industry employees based in Texas.

Broadcasters Foundation of America Vice President Peter Doyle explained, “Broken pipes, power outages, displacement, and more have brought devastation to many of our colleagues. The foundation’s Emergency Grant Program is set up with a streamlined vetting process that allows us to move quickly and get checks to those in desperate need. We’re asking every broadcaster in affected areas to help us get the word out to those who may need our assistance.”

Those interested in seeking aid may visit https://broadcastersfoundation.org/apply-for-help. According to a release, once at the webpage, choose Emergency Grants on the right to get to the Emergency Grant & Disaster Information Request Form. According to the release the foundation has heard from employees of Tegna, Nexstar, Radio One, Entercom, Fox and others.

 

The post Broadcasters Foundation Offers Aid for Texas Broadcasters appeared first on Radio World.

Fry’s Electronics has gone out of business.

“After nearly 36 years in business as the one-stop-shop and online resource for high-tech professionals across nine states and 31 stores, Fry’s Electronics, Inc. … has made the difficult decision to shut down its operations and close its business permanently as a result of changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic,” it stated on its website.

“The company will implement the shut down through an orderly wind down process that it believes will be in the best interests of the company, its creditors, and other stakeholders.”

It said it began the wind-down today, Wednesday. “It is hoped that undertaking the wind-down through this orderly process will reduce costs, avoid additional liabilities, minimize the impact on our customers, vendors, landlords and associates, and maximize the value of the Company’s assets for its creditors and other stakeholders.”

It said it was reaching out to customers with repairs and consignment vendors to help them understand what this will mean for them and the proposed next steps.

One veteran engineering told Radio World, “These guys were a great alternative to RadioShack, especially out west!  A shame to see them go.”

The post Fry’s Electronics Closes Its Doors appeared first on Radio World.

With 99 watts of power from atop the famed Sutro Tower, this FM translator emits enough of a signal to cover all of the city of San Francisco, lower Marin County and East Bay communities including Richmond and Berkeley, Calif.

Now, its use as an outlet targeting Asians has been solidified thanks to a newly consummated transaction.

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The Media Financial Management Association (MFM) has revealed the speakers for its two-day Media Tax Summit, scheduled for March 2-3.

The virtual event will be held from 11am-1pm Eastern on each of those days.

The summit was formulated specifically for media tax professionals. Its focus is the specifics of how technological advances, the evolving workplace environment, and recent and proposed legislation have converged to transform the expectations for, and responsibilities of, the media tax department. MFM has assembled expert speakers to delve into each of these topics.

The event is co-chaired by Sinclair Broadcast Group SVP/Tax Paul Nesterovsky, TEGNA Sr. Director of Tax Sean Hetzler, and Dan McGuire, a Partner for State and Local Tax with KPMG LLP.

The Summit schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, March 2, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET

CFO Panel – Expectations for Successful Media Tax Department

Moderator: Dan McGuire, Partner, State & Local Tax, KPMG LLP

Panelists: Lucy Rutishauser, EVP & CFO, Sinclair Broadcast Group; Stephen P. Gibson, VP, CFO, The Washington Post; others TBA

Federal Stimulus and Relief Legislation – Media Industry Impacts

Moderator: Louis Lazar, Tax Partner, PwC

Panelists: Paul Nesterovsky, SVP Tax, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Andrew Prior, Tax Policy Services, PwC US

 

March 3, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET

 

Intersection of Tax and Corporate People Strategy

Moderator: Sean Hetzler, Senior Director, Tax, TEGNA Inc.

Panelists: Jean Nechvatal, Vice President, Human Resources, Tribune Publishing; Kristin Hansen, Director, Human Resources, Hearst Television; John Montgomery, Partner, KPMG

Trends, Opportunities, and Threats in State Taxation

Moderator: Duane Dobson, Director, Ryan

Panelists: Stephanie Do, Senior Tax Council, Council On State Taxation (COST); Alexandra Sampson, State Tax Council, Hearst; Alesia Lewis, Global Head of Tax, The Washington Post

“We are excited about the experts and topics we’ve assembled for our inaugural MFM Media Tax Summit,” said Mary M. Collins, president and CEO of MFM and its BCCA subsidiary, the media industry’s credit association. “Realizing 2021 will present unique challenges; our co-chairs have been deliberate in identifying media-specific challenges along with thought leaders to address them.”

Registration is free for MFM corporate members, $200 for each of the first two attendees from a non-corporate industry member organization and complimentary for each subsequent media industry registrant. Others, including those who work for companies that offer products, goods, or services to the media industry, must pay either the member rate of $100 (if they are members) or the non-member rate of $250 (which includes a one-year trial membership) for each Summit attendee. No refunds or credits will be given after February 26, 2021.

Registered participants are eligible to receive up to four (4) CPE credits toward their certified public accounting (CPA) license. MFM is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors.

For more information, visit the MFM website.

Sinclair Broadcast Group on Wednesday was the latest owner of over-the-air television stations to release its fourth quarter and full-year 2020 results.

Sinclair’s performance was good: Earnings per share exceeded Wall Street analyst estimates, while revenue came in line with forecasts.

Why, then, were Sinclair shares down nearly 4% upon the release of the financial report card?

Sinclair Broadcast Group on Wednesday declared a $0.20 dividend payable March 24 to holders of Class A and Class B shares of record at the close of business March 10.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FCC today announced the winning bidders and the final bid totals in Auction 107— also known as the “C-Band Auction.”

Auction 107 net winning bids totaled $81,114,481,921 and gross winning bids totaled $81,168,677,645.  Twenty-one bidders won all of the available 5,684 licenses.

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Current IPAWS architecture is shown in an FCC graphic.

 

The Federal Communications Commission now has released more details about its plans for improving emergency alerting.

Among other proposed changes, state EAS plans would no longer be publicly visible on the FCC website, for security reasons.

As we’ve reported, the FCC has been instructed by Congress to review the current SECC system, explore internet alerting, gather information about false alerts and take other steps.

Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced this week that alerting will be on the agenda for the commission’s March open meeting.

[Read: “The FCC Will Explore Internet EAS”]

Now the 52-page draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry has been released.

The NPRM would:

• Propose rule amendments to combine the current non-optional class of WEA “Presidential Alerts” with FEMA Administrator Alerts into a new alert class called “National Alerts.”
• Propose to amend the annual State EAS Plan reporting rule to require certification that SECCs have held a meeting in the past year, propose to provide a checklist of required information for annual State EAS Plan reports, and propose to amend the commission’s rule for review and approval or rejection of annual State EAS Plan reports.
• Propose rules for the FEMA administrator or a state, local, tribal or territorial government to voluntarily report EAS or WEA false alerts to the FCC Operations Center.
• Propose a rule to require repeating EAS messages when certain authorized EAS alert originators want a message repeated, and to ensure EAS Participants are technically capable of repeating.

And the Notice of Inquiry would:

• Seek comment on whether it is technically feasible to deliver EAS alerts through the Internet, including through streaming services.
• Seek comment on whether and how to leverage the capabilities of the Internet to enhance the alerting capabilities of the radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers, and wireline video providers that currently participate in EAS.

Among the many items in the proposal is a stipulation that state EAS plans, which are currently accessible on the FCC website, would not be publicly available there except for names and some contact information of the SECC chairs.

This is because “disclosure of the plans, at least in form where each plan is one place and in a uniform and easily searchable format, could highlight potential vulnerabilities that malefactors could exploit, thereby potentially hindering emergency planning efforts.”

 

The post FCC Releases Details of EAS Proposal appeared first on Radio World.

Here’s some obvious news from Kantar: Total TV advertising declined in 2020.

But, just how bad was the carnage at broadcast television created by the COVID-19 pandemic?

There was none.

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Is it ensuring false information that can incite and create violence and insurrection is blocked from receipt by the American public, or is it an extreme violation of Freedom of Speech?

That’s the big question emerging from Capitol Hill, where Democrats and Republications in the House of Representatives have drawn a line in the sand on how “disinformation and extremism” can be prevented from dissemination by broadcast and cable media outlets.

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An “enterprise-wide partnership” that will bring Futuri’s growth products, including TopLine, TopicPulse, Futuri Streaming, and Futuri Mobile, to all SummitMedia stations, has been forged.

“Broadcasters that want to grow their content, grow their audience, and grow their revenue are at a huge disadvantage if they don’t harness technology to compete,” said Futuri CEO Daniel Anstandig. “SummitMedia knows this and acted on it to revolutionize their go-to-market strategy with listeners and advertisers. The SummitMedia leadership team is among the best in the business, and we’re honored to partner with them.”

Randy Chase, who recently succeeded the late Bill Tanner as EVP of Programming at Birmingham-based SummitMedia, added, “SummitMedia is committed to delivering the best content to our consumers and exceptional results to advertisers, and Futuri technology like TopLine, TopicPulse, and their other solutions give us an advantage in today’s highly competitive environment. Expanding our partnership with a best-in-class technology company like Futuri helps us evolve and innovate at a time when stasis is not an option.”

With Greg Walden now retired as a Member of Congress and at the helm of brand-new K Street strategic advisory firm Alpine Advisors, the Ranking Member of the influential House Energy & Commerce Commission has become Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers, from the state of Washington.

She’s making her mark in fast fashion. And, she’s steaming mad at her Democratic colleagues for actions she and Communications and Technology Republican Subcommittee Leader Bob Latta (R-Ohio) believe put a threat to freedom of speech, and Freedom of the Press.

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One week ago, the wife of influential talk radio pioneer Rush Limbaugh announced that he had lost his battle with Stage 4 Lung Cancer.

With iHeartMedia offering The Best of Rush for the foreseeable future, is there an opportunity for other radio broadcasting companies — including Entercom Communications — to snag some of Limbaugh’s listening audience?

It’s a question presented by a top financial analyst to CFO Rich Schmaeling and CEO David J. Field during Entercom’s Q4 earnings call on Wednesday morning.

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During its “Stream On” event, Spotify announced that it plans to launch a Hi-Fi streaming plan offering lossless streaming in CD quality later this year in selected markets.

This announcement is significant. But, is it noteworthy and of concern to radio broadcasting companies in the U.S. and Canada?

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Until now, the Northern Virginia-based broadcast TV station owner once known as Gannett has been largely known for owned-and-operated stations including the CBS affiliate serving the Nation’s Capital and two digital multicast networks.

Now, True Crime Network and Quest are getting a sibling. And, it’s putting its focus on women — and perhaps LGBT audiences, too.

RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION: Is TEGNA too shy with who this new multicast network is really appealing to? C’mon, TEGNA — get out of the closet and say this offering is for the LGTBQ crowd. The name alone suggests it. [More below, for Members Only].

 

TEGNA Inc. this spring will officially launch its third multicast network.

Welcome to Twist, which TEGNA describes as “a women-oriented channel featuring lifestyle and reality programming.”

Initially, Twist will include home, food, and reality content, “much of it featuring exciting reveals – or twists – at the end of each show.”

Programming will be comprised of unscripted TV programs including Clean House, Top Chef Masters, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Dance Moms, Tabatha Takes Over, Tiny House Nation, and Flipping Out.

In a regular feature on the network, Twist will encourage viewers to submit their own videos of twists they’ve been thrown in life and how they persevered through them in a positive segment called “Share Your Twist.”

Brian Weiss, President/GM of TEGNA’s multicast networks, commented, “Twist will provide an exciting new viewing option for our female audience with content that has not been available through a multicast channel until now. The launch of Twist will enhance TEGNA’s leadership among non-fiction multicast networks, delivering the kinds of free content that over-the-air viewers crave.”

Carriage will be seen in 41 TEGNA markets. And, to bring it to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia, a newly reconstituted Univision Communications has agreed to add it as a digital multicast offering. Seven other Univision markets have committed to Twist.

Even more, Twist will be added to 31 stations presently owned by HC2 Broadcasting.

These arrangements will bring Twist to DMAs covering 70% of U.S. television households.

And, additional distribution agreements are expected to be announced by summer, TEGNA says.

A preview reel can be seen at www.watchtwist.com.

— Editing by Adam Jacobson, in Boca Raton, Fla.

RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION: Is TEGNA too shy with who this new multicast network is really appealing to? C’mon, TEGNA — get out of the closet and say this offering is for the LGTBQ crowd. The name alone suggests it.

For a generation of LGTBQ adults, Twist was a popular nightclub in the heart of Miami’s South Beach. And, some may recall its association with the “Men on Film” skit as seen on the FOX sketch comedy program In Living Color some 30 years ago.

Yes, some may believe it is stereotypical to simply assume Twist is LGTBQ friendly because of Queer Guy. But, all of this programming isn’t singularly enjoyed by women. And, given the disposable income and show preferences of the LGTBQ community, particularly among gay men, TEGNA could see bigger riches and, believe it or not, free promotion from any group that may protest its arrival.

Strictly catering to women is limiting and not exactly a slam dunk, revenue-wise. Just talk to Meredith Corp.’s national media leadership. By bringing a LGBTQ-friendly, if not laser-targeted, digital multicast network to life, TEGNA could only further bring over-the-air TV’s longevity story in a world where cord-cutting stories have been hijacked by deep pocketed AVOD, SVOD and OTT platforms in a place no different than podcasters were in 2018.

Be bold, TEGNA. Give viewers a new twist by fully realizing Twist’s audience potential.