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For investors seeking a stronger EchoStar Corp. following its merger with Dish, the team at S&P Global Ratings may have put a damper on what they’ve been wanting from the company.

A rating action taken by S&P on Friday suggests that combining Dish with EchoStar, whose primary operating subsidiary prior to the merger was Hughes, “does not solve its financial problems.” But, it does improve EchoStar’s liquidity position.

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Omni Broadcasting has failed to convince the FCC to restore the license of WTKP(FM) in Port St. Joe, Fla.

The FCC staff had decided last summer that the license for WTKP had expired after an extended period of unauthorized operation.

Omni subsequently appealed by filing a petition for reconsideration. Omni had hoped to sell the station to Divine Word Communications and had applied last March to do so.

In December Albert Shuldiner, chief of the Media Bureau’s Audio Division, denied the petition.

The case began in 2015 when the station began using an alternate tower site during a landlord dispute. The case eventually involved a series of STAs, CPs and other applications. At one point FCC field inspectors observed the station operating from a third, unauthorized location 40 miles away, though Omni had not sought authorization to do so.

It all led the commission to rule last summer that in 2016–17 WTKP had failed to operate from an authorized site for at least a consecutive 12-month period, meriting automatic license expiration, and that it had failed to respond fully to the FCC’s questions about the situation. 

Omni appealed and listed at least nine reasons that the decision should be reversed. Among them was that it had  simply been trying to keep the station on the air; that its failure to provide certain documentation was not grounds for dismissal; that operation from a third site could have been licensed if it had asked for an STA; that it can’t afford full-time engineering staff or legal counsel, which led to the unauthorized operation; and that dismissal was counter to the commission’s policy to support minority-owned stations.

But Shuldiner wasn’t having any of it. 

“We are not persuaded by Omni’s attempts to excuse its actions,” he wrote, and laid out why he was rejecting each of the Omni arguments. 

Among other things, he wrote that the original ruling “correctly concluded that Omni had operated from an unauthorized location for more than 12 months resulting in expiration of the license. … Omni admits that it operated from the unauthorized Site C location for over one year … Omni also acknowledges that it failed to seek STA to operate from Site C. Our analysis need not go any further. The commission has consistently applied section 312(g) to cancel licenses when the station has operated from an unauthorized site for more than 12 months.”

But he said Omni also had failed to provide evidence that its operation at Site C was due to factors beyond its control. He said that applicants are solely responsible for complying with the rules, regardless of whether they are represented by counsel. And he wrote that “minority status alone does not warrant reinstatement under the equity and fairness provision” of the rules. 

The FCC summary of Omni’s appeal and Shuldiner’s further explanations is here.

[Related: “FCC Gives Birach AM Another Chance“]

The post No Luck for Omni Broadcasting in WTKP Appeal appeared first on Radio World.

Question: When the FCC considers a radio station’s application to move to a different location, what evidence would suffice to demonstrate that the proposed spot is a “licensable community”?

Is it enough that the area — let’s call it Horse Creek — is named on a map? That the licensee can show photos of a local elementary school, post office and fire station? That there is a Horse Creek Cattle Company Stone House and Ranch at the spot? 

This question isn’t just academic. The FCC has just rejected an application from KLLM(FM) in Wheatland, Wyo., owned by Michael Radio Co., to relocate its transmitter to a new site and change its community of license to Horse Creek, an unincorporated area closer to populous Laramie.

But White Park Broadcasting, which owns several stations of its own in Wyoming, filed an informal objection. It said Horse Creek is not a licensable community for allotment purposes.
Now the commission has agreed. It also issued a general public reminder to applicants regarding the types of online photos and other images often used as documentation in such cases.

The timeline

Michael Radio Co. originally had asked to change KLLM’s community of license to West Laramie, about 60 miles southwest of its current market of Wheatland. After the FCC sent a deficiency letter questioning whether West Laramie constituted a community for its allotment purposes, Michael amended its application to change to Laramie itself. But the FCC said retaining a fourth local service at Wheatland would be preferred over an 11th local service for Laramie.

In August Michael again amended the application, specifying Horse Creek, about 20 miles outside of Laramie.

It told the FCC that this move would provide a first local service there, and it provided materials to make its case that Horse Creek is a community.

According to the FCC summary, the evidence included a screenshot of the Wikipedia web page for Horse Creek; a topographical map marked Horse Creek; a photo of Clawson Elementary School; screenshots containing demographic information for the local Zip code; a photo titled “Horse Creek Post Office and Store;” screenshots of a Facebook page titled “Horse Creek; Wyoming”; a Google Maps photo of the Horse Creek Fire Station; a sign for the Horse Creek Campground in Shoshone National Forest; a screenshot of a Facebook page for the Horse Creek Honey food stand in Cheyenne; and Facebook and Google Maps photos of Horse Creek Cattle Company Stone House and Ranch (“described as a rental venue for weddings, business retreats and family vacations,” according to the commission summary).

A sign for the Horse Creek Campground in Shoshone National Forest was among the evidence submitted by the applicant.

But in its objection to the application, White Park argued that the elementary school is merely part of a regional school system serving all of Laramie County; that the fire station is not a local organization; and that the businesses bearing the “Horse Creek” name do not have physical locations in Horse Creek. 

It compared Horse Creek to West Laramie which, in 2010, the bureau ruled was not a licensable community. As White Park sees it, “There are absolutely no civic, cultural, religious, social or commercial entities in Horse Creek that serve to create any form of community.” It argued that if Horse Creek is deemed a community, “the commission will have eviscerated the allotment standards … and opened itself up to an unlimited number of allotment modification submissions.”

Michael defended its proposal by saying that incorporation is not a prerequisite for community status; that Horse Creek is a geographic location used by mapping, weather and real estate services; and that though Horse Creek provides no government services, its fire station and school are in the community, with Horse Creek addresses, and are intended for use by residents and businesses of Horse Creek. 

[See Our Business and Law Page]

The ruling

White Park prevailed.

“We find that Horse Creek is not a licensable community for allotment purposes,” Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner has ruled. 

His order walks the reader through the determination process.

“If a locale is not either incorporated or listed in the U.S. Census, the proponent of an allotment must show that it is a ‘geographically identifiable population grouping.’ The principal test for this is whether the ‘residents function as and conceive of themselves a community around which their interests coalesce.’”

He said this may be demonstrated by testimony of residents and/or other “indicia of community.” Factors that are frequently considered are whether the community is marked on a published map; whether it has a post office that offers residential service; whether it provides municipal services such as education, police and fire protection; whether it would more logically be considered part of another, more established, community; whether it supports commercial activity; and whether its name is used on businesses and other organizations. 

“The test to determine whether a specific location qualifies as a community … is a liberal one and takes into account the totality of the circumstances,” Shuldiner wrote.

Horse Creek is not incorporated or listed with the U.S. Census, and Michael didn’t provide statements from residents. So Shuldiner looked at map data, post office and Zip code information, governmental services and other parameters.

He agreed that Horse Creek is a physical place, based on the map data and the county fire authority. “Nonetheless, it is well established that a mere geographic location is insufficient to establish community status.”

While Michael claimed that there is a federal post office in Horse Creek, Shuldiner said that the post office closed in 2017 and that residents of Horse Creek now get their mail at a cluster box by vehicle from Cheyenne.  

“Although the 82061 Zip code area is designated as Horse Creek,” he continued, “this fact is of minimal value as an indicator of community status. As a routing tool used by the federal mail delivery system, a Zip code area may straddle towns, counties and even states.”

He noted that the elementary school and fire protection services are provided by a much larger county. In fact, “it appears that Horse Creek provides no governmental services at all.” And its minimal level of commercial activity does not support a finding of community status.

Taking all of that into account, Shuldiner rejected Michael’s application to change the stations community of license — “with no further opportunity for corrective amendment.”

Take care with pix

Shuldiner added: “We take this opportunity to caution applicants regarding the use of materials obtained exclusively from online sources.”

If an applicant to the Audio Division wants to use a website or information obtained online such as photographs, he said, it should make every reasonable effort to verify or authenticate the information provided.

This might include, for example, “making a site visit to the community it proposes to serve, obtaining a statement from an individual with personal knowledge of the facts alleged, or at the very least corroborating the information using another reliable online source. Importantly, any website used to support an application must be clearly identified with the site owner or publisher, title of the page, URL address, last date visited, and any other relevant information. If reviewing staff cannot identify or verify a submission, it will be excluded from our community status determination.”

Also, he said, petitioners and applicants must use the most recent 2020 U.S. Census data available when determining a community’s population in addition to the population served and overlap of service areas to communities and Urbanized Areas.

[Read the order.]

The post Sorry, KLLM … No Horse Creek for You appeared first on Radio World.

It was regarded by some Inside the Beltway pundits and industry observers as the Christmas lump of coal from FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and her Democrat colleagues at the Commission. Under a federal court order, the 2018 Quadrennial Order finally arrived, on a party-line 3-2 vote that tightened television industry local ownership rules while keeping the FCC’s radio rules intact.

While this was hardly a surprise and the 2022 Quadrennial Order is still far from completion, the NAB has expressed its disappointment, saying the FCC has missed an opportunity to update “outdated, decades-old rules.”

In its member newsletter distributed Friday (1/5), the NAB noted how broadcasters were “deeply disappointed, though not surprised, that the FCC missed the opportunity to update the decades-old rules that hurt local stations’ ability to provide diverse and essential content to our communities” with the December 26 release of its 2018 Quadrennial Order.

At issue were the local radio rules, and the both the local TV rule and dual network rule.

The FCC made no changes to the long-standing numerical limits on the ownership of AM and FM stations in local markets.

The FCC also retained without change the current dual network rule, which prohibits combinations among the ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC networks.

The FCC retained the local TV ownership restrictions, which prohibit ownership of more than two full-power commercial TV stations in any local market and the ownership of more than one top-four rated full-power commercial TV station in any local market.

But, to the frustration of many across the broadcast media landscape, the FCC tightened the top-four rule to prohibit a broadcaster from acquiring a network affiliation and placing it on a low power TV or Class A station or on a multicast programming stream, if the broadcaster would be otherwise prevented by the top-four restriction from placing that affiliation on a separate full power station.

This latter act could result in a lawsuit from the NAB and television broadcasting companies, some in Washington suggest, which would block the enactment of this new rule. If that were to occur, however, it could further delay the 2022 Quadrennial Order, already 12 months late.

While NAB’s team led by Rick Kaplan continues to examine the details “of this lengthy order,” the association tells its members, “It is clear that the FCC fails to grasp the deep challenges local broadcasters face in the wake of unprecedented competition with Big Tech behemoths.”

And, the NAB reiterated its statement that broadcast stations remain “a critical source of information in every community across the country.” Plus, the NAB noted, “It takes significant resources to provide up-to-the minute news, emergency journalism and other services. No other medium has the responsibility, the ability or incentive to serve the public’s needs. To continue offering free, over-the-air service, broadcasters must be able to compete on a level playing field.”

 

Add another secular-to-religious radio station transaction to the long list of deals that have seen the conversion of commercially licensed properties to non-commercial facilities focused on spreading the word of God through songs of worship.

 

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“The Station of the Cross” Catholic Media Network can be heard in two Massachusetts cities by way of a Class C AM in one locale, and a daytime-only AM aided by an FM translator in another burgh.

And, pending FCC approval, the religious institution that operates the network will own these facilities outright.

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A docket 80/90 addition to the FM radio dial, serving such Alabama cities as Winfield, Brilliant, Lynn and Hamilton, is being sold.

What does this mean for the Oldies programming currently heard on this Class A facility?

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LOS ANGELES — Allen Media Group‘s free-streaming digital platform HBCU GO, offering programming linked to the nation’s 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), has signed a long-term media rights partnership with the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).

The ten-year arrangement grants HBCU GO cable, linear, streaming, broadcast, VOD, and pay-per-view rights coverage of all SIAC team sports through 2032 on a global level. Sports include regular season contests for football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and Olympic sports.

HBCU GO has also secured distribution for the SIAC sporting events on the CBS owned-and-operated stations in key television markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit, Sacramento, Miami, Tampa, and Pittsburgh.

“This is a historic moment,” said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of HBCU GO parent Allen Media Group. “The HBCU GO team is excited to partner with SIAC to distribute their conference games to a broader audience. We are committed to bringing the best of HBCU culture and sports to our global platforms.”

SIAC Commissioner Anthony Holloman commented, “Through this innovative streaming platform, we invite fans from around the world to join us in celebrating the indomitable spirit of SIAC sports and culture. This new era of digital engagement opens doors to boundless opportunities and ensures that every thrilling moment will be etched in the memories of our dedicated supporters. We extend our sincere gratitude to HBCU GO for their invaluable collaboration, and we can’t wait to share the excitement and passion of SIAC sporting events with fans everywhere.”

Listeners to a collection of Audacy Inc.-owned spoken word stations in the nation’s top markets will continue hearing news and information from CBS News Radio. It is thanks to a new, multi-year affiliation agreement with the audio content creation and distribution company.

Under the terms of the agreement, CBS News Radio will deliver its news coverage to 27 Audacy-owned stations, including WCBS-AM 880 in New York; WBBM-AM & WCFS-FM in Chicago; KYW-AM & WPHI-FM in Philadelphia; KNX-AM & FM in Los Angeles; and KCBS-AM & KFRC-FM in San Francisco, among other properties.

The agreement includes CBS News Radio’s top-of-the-hour newscasts, the CBS World News Roundup, breaking news, special events coverage, correspondent interviews and audio. It also gives the Audacy stations the ability to simulcast CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell telecasts as well as 60 Minutes and Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.

The Audacy deal comes as the nation’s top-billing radio station, WTOP Radio in Washington, D.C., on Thursday affirmed its relationship with CBS News Radio as its primary network news source. This came on word that WTOP Radio had aligned itself with ABC News Radio. That agreement positions the Compass Media Networks/Linkup-provided service as a secondary provider to the Hubbard Radio all-News giant, allowing listeners to again hear reports from ABC News correspondents including Jonathan Karl, Karen Travers, and former longtime CBS News Radio correspondent Stephen Portnoy.

Media Bureau grants Informal Objection and dismisses the KLLM(FM) modification application.

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In this letter to the editor, the author comments on Karl Zuk’s recent guest commentary “Lumos! Give Me Some Light!” Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

Long before the lightbulb ban, way back in the early transition days, I started buying incandescent light bulbs and managed to collect enough lamps for two lifetimes! I rather detested CFLs for their harsh light and RFI, plus they often melted down. These were just not for me. 

I have to admit now that the new LED numbers are much better. Selecting one, however, can be a little challenging as there are too many choices. 

Although I’m not a lighting engineer, color temperature has always been important to me in my career as well as in my personal environment. I much prefer the warm soft glow of an incandescent lamp, even a halogen.

Before I retired almost a decade ago, I spent nearly 45 years of my life with ABC in Chicago in the television engineering department. My experience began with quad machines, image orthicons, vidicons and vacuum tube distribution amplifiers and ended in the era of thumb drives, cameras with factory pre-registered solid-state imaging blocks and high-density processors. 

I don’t have any liking for the new stuff as there is nothing to tweak. Just point the camera at the white card and press a button. Color temperature? Who cares? It used to take a couple of hours to completely align a camera chain from scratch. I miss using my greenie!

All that said, a good article on how to choose the correct color temperature with the new LED lamps would be helpful. You could also compare the new lamps to the old incandescent ones. If your article pitched color temperature as an important but often-overlooked factor in creating a pleasant and productive workplace, even a magazine like Radio World might publish it! 

The author worked for WKS(TV) in Chicago. He describes himself as a “now-retired bum.”

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

The post Letter: Tell Us About Color Temperature appeared first on Radio World.

As expected, the nation’s leading multimedia company superserving Black consumers has regained compliance with the Nasdaq Stock Market’s Periodic Filing Rule.

Word arrived at Urban One on Thursday from Nasdaq that it is back on the exchange’s good list, now that it is caught up with the filing of quarterly reports on Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission through the third quarter of 2023.

While Urban One is now in compliance with the exchange’s filing rule, Nasdaq has informed the company led by Alfred Liggins III that it will be subject to a Mandatory Panel Monitor for a period of one year, or until December 29, 2024.

If, within the one year monitoring period, Urban One again fails to comply with the Periodic Filing Rule, the company will not be permitted to provide the Nasdaq Staff with a plan of compliance with respect to that deficiency, nor will the company be afforded a cure period.

Instead, upon the Nasdaq Staff issuing a delist determination letter, Urban One would then have an opportunity to request a new hearing with the initial Hearing Panel or a newly convened Hearing Panel if the initial Hearing Panel is unavailable.

Urban One trades as “UONE” and closed Thursday’s trading at $4.03 per share. Preferred shares are traded as “UONEK,” and these completed Thursday’s trading at $3.64.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The local commercial broadcast television and radio industry generates $1.23 trillion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 2.52 million jobs through direct and stimulative effect on the American economy.

That’s the key takeaway from a new study from Woods & Poole Economics produced with support from BIA Advisory Services.

The analysis examines broadcasting’s impact on the economy through direct employment, its ripple effect on other industries and as an advertising medium for messaging consumers. Radio and television stations’ influence on the national economy, as well as information by state, is provided in the study, which was shared by the NAB late Thursday.

“From trusted local and national news, live sporting events and popular network programming to critical emergency information, broadcasters provide the content Americans rely upon each day,” said NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt. “These local stations are also an engine for economic health and development keeping local dollars within our hometowns across the country. America’s broadcasters provide jobs, connect businesses with new customers through advertising and stimulate growth.”

The study found that direct employment from local commercial broadcasting, which includes jobs at local television and radio stations as well as in advertising and programming, is estimated at more than 314,000 jobs, generating more than $55 billion annually in economic impact.

Broadcast television accounts for over 193,000 of these jobs, as well as more than $34 billion in GDP, while broadcast radio generates 121,000 jobs that result in more than $21 billion in GDP.

“Industries as varied as telecommunications, public utilities, manufacturing, transportation and retail trade provide inputs into the production of local television and radio broadcasting,” the study said. “When measured with a technical input-output analysis an additional 99,000 jobs are supported in other industries because of the goods and services requirements of local television and radio broadcast stations.”

The study also examined the ripple effect employment in broadcasting has on local economies through the consumption of goods and services by industry employees. Local broadcasting has a ripple effect on other industries of nearly $139 billion in GDP and more than 784,000 jobs, the report concluded.

“The income from local television and radio broadcast jobs flows through the economy creating additional jobs and income in various economic sectors,” the study notes. “A job in local television and radio broadcast stations multiplies itself by helping create jobs in construction, farming, mining, state and local government and all other economic sectors. The workers in the industries supplying goods and services to local television and radio broadcast workers in turn consume goods and services.”

Local broadcasting’s largest impact on the American economy stems from its role as a forum for advertising of goods and services that stimulates economic activity, Woods & Poole found. The study estimated local broadcast TV and radio advertising generated $1.03 billion in GDP and supports 1.42 million jobs. More than $630 billion in GDP and 875,000 jobs are attributed to the stimulative effect of broadcast television, and nearly $400 billion in GDP and over 540,000 jobs are attributed to radio.

“The primary role of broadcast television and radio is reducing the cost of product information through advertising,” the study reads. “In this way, broadcast television and radio stations have their most significant impact on economic growth. Reaching all United States households, local broadcast television and radio stations provide consumers with highly valued marketplace information and businesses with immediate economic and competitive intelligence.”

A Class C3 FM serving Wheatland, Wyo., will not be permitted to change its community of license and move to a new transmitter site. The decision from the  Commission comes after an informal objection was submitted by another broadcast group suggested the move couldn’t happen, as the locale was not a licensable community for allotment purposes.

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A supplier of cable and satellite direct-to-home communications equipment and an innovator of telecommunication systems for Internet Protocol TV, OTT and Digital Terrestrial Television services has officially brought to market the first certified and security verified device for reception of NEXTGEN TV signals.

And, it is available from the online portal of one of the nation’s biggest retailers.

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The Senior Counsel to the Chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has joined the office of Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr, to serve as his new Legal Advisor.

Arpan Sura is taking the position.

To Carr, Arpan “is a true lawyer’s lawyer as well as an experienced advisor on a range of policy issues,” he said. “His wealth of experience on wireless, satellite, consumer protection, media, technology, and litigation issues will be a tremendous asset to the office. I look forward to drawing on his advice and counsel.”

In his former role at the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Sura focused on spectrum policy, emerging technologies, and infrastructure matters.

Before joining the Commission, Arpan spent more than a decade representing clients in the telecommunications and technology sectors, most recently as Counsel in the Communications, Internet, and Media practice at Hogan Lovells.

Radio affiliates of Skyview Networks will be given access to elections results and maps from The Associated Press as part of an expanded agreement, which took effect on Monday.

Affiliates who opt to use AP’s elections data will have the opportunity to design their own visualization dashboard for what best suits their needs. They will have access to live vote count maps, declared winners, and delegate counts in every major party primary and caucus event in the 2024 presidential race.

“We are pleased to bring AP’s gold standard election data to radio affiliates through Skyview Networks,” said Sara Trohanis, AP’s VP for Americas Revenue and Strategic Partnerships. “AP has counted the vote and declared winners in every U.S. presidential election since 1848, and we look forward to providing accurate, trusted results to the world once again in 2024.”

Jeanne-Marie Condo, president of network partnerships and chief revenue officer of Skyview Networks, “Our newly extended agreement with The Associated Press lifts our network opportunities to new heights. AP’s expansive portfolio of news coverage and short-form inventory is a beacon for advertisers seeking the highest of standards in network reach.”

Skyview Networks President/CEO Steve Jones added, “As part of our renewed agreement with AP, we’ll be collaborating on additional opportunities to grow the audio segment of their diverse and global business so that more of their valuable services are available to radio broadcasters and audio consumers.”