Radio+Television Business Report

With more than 40 years of private equity experience, Thomas O. Hicks was “an early pioneer” of the “buy and build” strategy of investing, his Hicks Equity Partners LLC says.

For radio industry veterans, his name will forever be linked to iHeartMedia predecessor Clear Channel Communications.

Now, it is set to be connected with a country music and lifestyle cable TV network in addition to a TV network dedicated to showcasing equestrian sports.

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Bill Christian, President/CEO of Vision Communications, has attracted attention in recent years for various television industry projects — including the creation of a TV group serving Lafayette, Ind., from the ground up.

Now, Christian is agreeing to purchase a pair of low-power television stations licensed to a community in the Granite State.

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By Rosemary Ravinal

How often do you use these word whiskers and phrases in your public speaking and presentations?

Um. Ah. Well. I mean. You know. Like. Absolutely.

Whether on Zoom or in person, it is easy to lean on filler words or word whiskers, as they are often known. They become verbal crutches that we use either consciously or unconsciously when we are nervous, get rattled or are not sure about what we are saying.  They take up valuable time, cloud the meaning of what we want to say, and diminish our credibility.

Here are some steps on how to eliminate these pesky word whiskers.

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For some broadcasters, the economic pressures brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic were simply too grand to continue day-to-day operations.

In Panama City Beach, Fla., the licensee of an AM with an FM translator was so negatively impacted that it pressed the Stop button on “PLAY-FM.”

Now, a new owner is ready to resurrect the facilities. Only, it has different plans for what will air on the temporarily dormant station.

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A global provider of content protection technology products developed for the media and content owners, broadcasters and operators has tapped a seasoned industry executive as its new CEO.

He previously served as the chief executive of NBA China.

Taking the top spot at Friend MTS is Derek Chang.

He will be based in London.

“We are at the forefront of rapid changes in consumer behavior, new business models and technology, and will ensure that creators, owners and distributors worldwide will have the formidable tools necessary to protect their valuable content,” Chang said.

Founder Jonathan Friend made the announcement. He’ll now serve as Chief Product Officer.

Friend said, “As we continue to innovate with groundbreaking solutions that our valued customers and partners have come to expect, now is the time to transition to our next leader and we are thrilled to welcome Derek to the helm of Friend MTS. With deep expertise in the global sports and entertainment space, Derek brings invaluable insight to leveraging technology to create an impactful footprint for an ever-evolving media and content ecosystem.”

Prior to leading NBA China’s business, Chang was Head of International Lifestyle Channels for Scripps Networks Interactive and had served as EVP/Content for DirecTV.

He also held senior roles for Charter Communications, the YES Network and TCI Communications. Chang currently serves on the board of directors for Liberty Media Corp. and Isos Acquisition Corp.

Wedel Software has hired an Onboarding Manager for its new Adthos Platform.

It’s an individual with some 30 years of industry experience and has, by his own admission, held just about every radio station role within that time.

Not only that, but Rick Rowland says he’s also designed his own suite of radio software focused on “media readiness, commercial reconciliation and daily file readiness.”

Raoul Wedel, CEO of Wedel Software, said, “It’s fantastic to have a true radio professional like Rick onboard right from this critical starting phase. He’s focused a great deal of his career on optimizing log and reconciliation processes and proof of performance. We’re delighted to have someone join our team that shares our passion to finally do away with these issues.”

Rowland added, “I’m very pleased to be joining the team at Wedel and help to introduce Adthos, a groundbreaking and innovative solution that I know will bring many solutions to the industry.”

 

Many know him as the face of Wedel Software. Now, he’s the CEO of a brand-new ad sales platform for radio advertising called Adthos. Raoul Wedel joins RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson from the Dutch city of The Hague to share more about the new product release. How does Adthos from what is presently available in the marketplace? The Adthos Ad-Server is free … so how does Wedel make money? Get the no-nonsense answers to these questions in this fresh podcast, presented by dot.FM!

Tightrope Media Systems is expanding its Screenweave mobile and OTT apps to bring community media organizations’ live channels and on-demand programs to an even wider range of viewing platforms.

Complementing existing Roku and Apple TV support, a new Screenweave app brings content from Tightrope’s Cablecast Community Media platform immediately to Amazon Fire TV devices. Screenweave apps for Android TV devices as well as Android and iOS smartphones and tablets will follow in the coming months.

Screenweave apps work with Cablecast broadcast automation servers and the Cablecast Reflect cloud-based streaming service to make public access, education, and government (PEG) channels available through OTT media players and mobile devices in HD quality. Viewers can browse categorized collections of VOD clips, search the station’s VOD library for topics of interest, and switch between the station’s live feeds.

Extending the Cablecast platform’s “add once, publish everywhere” simplicity, Screenweave requires no ongoing operational effort by station staff. After initial Screenweave configuration – adding the station’s branding, customizing metadata display, and defining content categories via keywords – new content added to Cablecast is automatically made available in dynamically-updated libraries across all OTT and mobile platforms.

“Community broadcasters need to reach their audiences whenever, wherever, and on whatever device each viewer prefers,” said Steve Israelsky, President of Cablecast Community Media. “OTT platforms have become crucial conduits for making content accessible to potential viewers who don’t have cable subscriptions. Meanwhile, although our responsive online templates already let stations offer content to mobile viewers through their websites, users often now prefer an app-based approach for everything from media consumption to online shopping. With the expansion of our Screenweave app family, our customers can effortlessly make their content available in intuitive apps on all of the most popular OTT and mobile platforms.”

Viewers can access content through the standard Screenweave app, which provides a central directory of all Screenweave-powered community media channels and automatically recommends the station located closest to the viewer when the app is first used. The viewer’s preferred station is remembered for subsequent app sessions, automatically going directly to the station’s branded portal. Stations can also upgrade to their own custom-branded, dedicated app, making it even easier for their audience to find the station in their platform’s app library.

Publishing through the community Screenweave app is free of charge for Cablecast customers with an active Cablecast Reflect stream delivery subscription, including up to three channels per station. Custom, dedicated Screenweave apps can be created by Tightrope’s professional services team at extremely competitive pricing – typically far less expensive than alternative offerings or the time and effort of customers doing their own development.

“With the standard Screenweave apps free for stations to use with our Cablecast Reflect subscription, there’s less reason for any PEG broadcaster not to make their content available on all of these OTT and mobile platforms,” Israelsky added. “Even for viewers who also have cable, Screenweave lets them add the community channel to their device’s home screen right alongside their favorite commercial media services, elevating it from being buried deep in a channel guide. Plus, once a station sets up Screenweave for one OTT or mobile platform, they’re instantly set up for the other five – plus any future Screenweave platforms we add. For example, our new Fire TV app launched with several hundred channels already available from our existing Screenweave customers – all with zero additional effort required on their part.”

The new Screenweave Fire TV app is available to viewers immediately, with the Android TV, Android mobile and iOS mobile apps slated for release in the coming months.

Nautel has announced the June 2021 topics for the Jeff Welton-hosted “Transmission Talk Tuesday” roundtable sessions, which have now been taking place for a full year.

These interactive discussion sessions have covered a broad range of engineering-oriented topics, providing an opportunity for engineers to learn and discuss ideas with their peers.

“When we started these sessions in June 2020, it was a way to stay in touch with our friends in the Radio community and keep ideas flowing through the pandemic lockdowns,” Welton said. “We had no idea that our online gatherings would still be in place a year later, or that they would remain as popular as they have been.”

Since the inception of the online seminars, an average attendance of over 100 people for each session has been seen.

Topics for June 2021 include:

“How Technology has Changed our Lives,” June 8.

Changes in technology have dramatically affected the way people work over the past 10 – 15 years. Welton will be joined by Jim Gray, Managing Partner for Optimized Media Group, and Matt Herdon, Product Manager for Nautel.

“SNMP – How and Why,” on June 15.

Josh Bohn, President/CEO of the MaxxKonnect Group and Shane Toven, Senior Engineer with Educational Media Foundation, will join Welton to talk about interfacing SNMP managers with transmitters and other devices, and how to manage the data.

“STLs – Moving Signals from Here to There,” on June 22.

Josh Bohn will join Welton and Customer Service Technologist Alex Hartman to talk about different ways of getting audio and data from Point A to Point B, as well as thoughts on how the future will look for STLs.

“Tips and Thoughts for Contract Engineering,” on June 29.

Tom Ray, president of Tom Ray Broadcast Consulting, will join Welton to talk about the challenges faced by contract engineers and some of the “must do” business and planning items for contract engineers.

All sessions begin at noon Eastern and pre-registration is required. For more information and to register, visit Nautel.com/webinars/.

Sessions are also posted online for those who are unable to join the live chats.

As with traditional Nautel webinars, ½ SBE recertification credit is available for attending each session.

PILOT, NAB’s technology innovation initiative, will be accepting submissions for the PILOT Innovation Challenge through 5 p.m. ET on July 9.

The program will provide mentorship and promotion to winning proposals, along with an opportunity to demonstrate their products at NAB Show in Las Vegas, October 9-13, 2021.

This year’s challenge is seeking startups and growing companies providing solutions to some of the key challenges and opportunities facing broadcasters over the next two to three years.

The challenge is specifically seeking products or prototypes that are focused on the following areas:

• Edge technologies that drive new revenue opportunities for broadcasters, such as through geo-targeted content, location-based advertising, accurate audience measurement and augmented experiences;

• Technologies that enhance broadcast journalism to help viewers and listeners get more from their most trusted source of local news, including tools to better aggregate and verify crowd-sourced news reports, enhancements to news-gathering technologies such as drones, or avatar news anchors to deliver personalized updates on a myriad of topics; and

• In-vehicle technologies that deliver more value out of broadcasting, including technologies that enhance the in-car experience for radio listeners, as well as technologies that harness the mobile reception capabilities of the NextGen TV standard to deliver even more rich data services or back-seat entertainment.

“The Innovation Challenge offers a platform for developing technologies that will help broadcasters better serve their audience, while providing emerging companies a showcase for their cutting-edge products,” said PILOT Executive Director John Clark. “We are excited for this year’s program to explore the ideas and innovations that will open up new revenue streams, strengthen local journalism and enrich broadcasting’s relationship with the car.”

Individuals, teams, companies, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply subject to the Challenge’s official rules of participation. Up to 10 finalists will be selected by a panel of industry experts by early August, with up to three winning proposals being notified by September 1. Participants can review the judging criteria on the PILOT website.

Three winners will be selected to receive relevant mentorship, feedback, numerous opportunities to engage with broadcasters and a trip to the annual NAB Show, held October 9-13, 2021 in Las Vegas. They will be provided exhibit space in the “Startup Loft” to demonstrate their prototype to potential customers, investors and partners.

The deadline to apply is July 9 at 5 p.m. ET.

The Market President and Chief Revenue Officer for Townsquare Media in Texarkana has just earned his second internal promotion in the last 18 months.

As of June 7, Brian Sines will oversee Townsquare’s Lafayette and Lake Charles, La., local media clusters and drive strategic sales and content initiatives across the Southern Louisiana region.

Sines reports to Townsquare Senior Vice President Todd Lawley.

“When we promoted Brian to oversee Texarkana, we knew he would do an amazing job, but he has exceeded our very high expectations in building a best-in-class operation and fully leveraging the Townsquare playbook,” Lawley said. “Brian’s track record of strong leadership, strategic mindset and the ability to unlock value within the market makes him a perfect fit for the dominant platform of local assets in Southern Louisiana.”

Sines commented, “I am very excited to join the incredibly dedicated teams in Southern Louisiana. They have done such an amazing job of leading the area through some very difficult times and continue to lead every day, super serving the communities and our business partners. I couldn’t be more excited to be joining these high performing teams in Cajun Country.”

Sines has been associated with Townsquare Media since 2014, when he became Director of Sales in Cedar Rapids-Iowa City. From 2001-2008 he was with Clear Channel Communications, rising to Market Manager in Burlington, Iowa after holding GSM duties in Madison, Wisc., and, before that, in Des Moines.

Urban One, the African American-focused multimedia company that’s growing its casino assets, is seeing renewed interest from investors of late.

It’s the casino business that’s likely exciting them, with the company’s stock rising 36% on Monday in more likely positive reaction to news a Richmond gaming complex is coming to fruition.

On volume of 17.17 million shares against an average of 3.44 million shares, UONE roared ahead by $4.65 per share to close June 7 at $17.71. In early after-hours trading, shares were down by six cents.

That’s the best performance in one year for UONE, which exploded in growth during June 2020 as investors responded to pledges of increased ad budgets for Black-owned media in the wake of social injustice protests tied to high-profile deaths of African Americans at the hands of law enforcements.

Related stock UONEK was up 18.1% to $6.45.

What’s prompted investors to snap up Urban One shares?

It’s very likely a direct response to the announcement by McDonald’s USA that it is moving forward with what it calls “bold new investments to further reflect its diverse customers, crew members and communities in its marketing.” It’s a four-year effort, and women-owned and LGBTQ+ platforms are also poised to benefit.

That said, the jump is undoubtedly a reaction to the news that a panel of City of Richmond, Va., officials has given an affirmative nod to Urban One’s casino project. This ends a evaluation of various development plans requested by the municipality.

It’s now up to voters to decide on Election Day 2021 in a referendum, pending an OK from Richmond’s City Council.

Specifically, Richmond’s Resort Casino Evaluation Panel recommended that the ONE Casino + Resort — which will have branding in line with Urban One’s “ONE” nomenclature — moves forward as the city’s preferred casino gaming operator at a proposed site in South Richmond. The Evaluation Panel’s recommendation is supported by the city’s Mayor, Levar Stoney.

Commenting on the decision, Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins III said, “ONE is thrilled the Richmond casino selection committee has chosen the best project with the best location and best team to develop a world-class entertainment destination in Richmond’s Southside. Urban One and our diverse group of local investors are fully committed to creating good paying jobs with profit-sharing for employees, pathways to successful careers, and generating significant new tax revenues that can improve Richmond’s schools and fund community programs and infrastructure.”

Stoney formally introduced the casino project May 24 to City Council.

Per legislation approved by the Virginia General Assembly, City Council was asked to petition the court so that a referendum on casino gaming in the City of Richmond can take place during the November 2, 2021 election.

It appears that spot radio isn’t the only way one big home athletics brand seeks to gain more customers.

The latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Cable report shows an increase in play count that’s certainly worth noting.

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A Class B AM serving Kansas City, simulcast on an FM translator covering the Kansas portion of the metropolitan area, is being spun.

The buyer is a non-profit dedicated to serving the Hispanic population in the region, one of America’s top emerging Latino markets.

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It’s always nice when a new ad category takes shape at broadcast media. Radio may have found one, and the pandemic could’ve played a role.

In a silver linings story, Peloton has emerged as an active user of national radio to help attract more users.

As shown in the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report, the home athletics brand has surged to become the third-largest brand at Spot Radio by play count.

Only Progressive and Indeed, heavy users of radio for months, are ahead of Peloton.

The activity from Peloton puts it far ahead The Home Depot, which is taking a post-Memorial Day break in its heavy spot activity.

Also new this week: Mattress Firm, as the home update shopping season starts.

He has been a researcher and writer for the Senior VP of News at Sinclair Broadcast Group for the past three years.

Now, he will be that C-Suite executive’s Chief of Staff — a position that appears to be unique to Sinclair.

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ORLANDO — At first glance, it seems like all is functioning normally for the website of Cox Media Group Classic Rocker WMMO-FM, which serves Central Florida.

“Desire” by U2 is playing. A “First Responder Fridays” nomination form can be filled out and submitted. The “Listen Live” button is ready for a push. Once it’s pressed, an “audio temporarily unavailable” message appears. Still.

“You may be offline,” it reads. “Please check your connection and try again using the Retry button.”

The problem isn’t that of the user, however. WMMO, like all of CMG’s radio and TV properties, have fallen victim to a ransomware attack — a cyber nightmare that began late last week.

It’s just the latest in a string of incidents involving radio broadcasting companies. What would you do if your operation is next?

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TORONTO — On March 10, the latest PPM top-line radio statistics for Canada’s largest media market were released by Numeris, the nation’s measurement services company.

Among all of the radio stations appearing in the report, a Rogers Sports & Media AM that 28 years ago today dropped its 20-year-old Top 40 format for all-News was the No. 2 radio station by cume, and again one of North America’s most-listened-to stations on the AM dial.

That ratings supremacy has no bearing on branding, however, and the growing trend of optimizing advertising and marketing opportunities in a cross-platform, national manner.  As such, “680 News,” along with four other Rogers-owned all-News stations, are getting a name change once autumn brings fall foliage to full tilt.

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Its two TV stations have gained international recognition for their roles as pioneers in the advancement of ATSC 3.0-powered NextGen TV in the U.S.

Now, those stations’ owner has re-evaluated its access to local TV ratings data, which in recent years has seen an exclusive relationship with Nielsen.

That’s about to change.

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At 12:26am Eastern on June 6, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral.

It was a successful launch, carrying a SiriusXM satellite into space.

While that was successful, Sirius XM Radio Inc. has a whole other kind of launch ready for takeoff — and this one is on Wall Street.

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LONDON — Global, the Media & Entertainment group that seeks up to 49.9% equity interest in iHeartMedia, has selected a North America CEO for its digital advertising platform, DAX.

It sees the internal promotion of a U.S. media industry veteran and the shift of the person currently in the chief executive chair to “a key advisory position with the company.”

Matt Cutair is relinquishing his role as DAX US CEO, a position he has held since the 2017 launch of DAX US.

DAX US launched in 2017, following Global’s purchase of AudioHQ, where Cutair was co-founder and CEO.

With the change, Les Hollander (pictured) has been promoted from Chief Growth Officer to CEO/North America at DAX.

This consolidates North American operations for DAX, with Hollander overseeing the U.S. and Canada.

Hollander took his most recent role for DAX North America in May 2020. In that time, Hollander re-aligned the U.S. and Canada markets for growth as DAX added NPR, Wondery and Sounder to its roster of digital audio publishers.

Hollander will continue to report to Guy Jones, Product of Data and Digital Director for DAX. Jones is based at Global’s Leicester Square headquarters.

Hollander is a digital audio advertising veteran with over 30 years of expertise. He joined DAX from Spotify, where he was responsible for building the organization’s digital audio monetization business through direct, programmatic and automated channels, as Head of Global Audio Monetization.

Prior to joining Spotify, Hollander was a VP of Ad Revenue at Pandora and held senior management positions at Gannett, CBS Radio, and, interestingly, iHeart predecessor Clear Channel Communications. Hollander also co-chaired the United States IAB Audio Committee from 2016-2020 and has sat on several industry boards throughout his career including the Mobile Marketing Association.

Hollander commented, “In the past year, despite major disruption to the industry, we have collaborated with our colleagues in the U.K. to demonstrate innovation in streaming, podcasting and voice activation as well as signing some fantastic new partners. At a time when audio is thriving and we’re seeing a huge shift in consumer habits; I’m looking forward to this opportunity and the next stage of DAX’s growth.”