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The Media Bureau enters into a Consent Decree with Ashley Communications, Inc.

Public Notice announcing the agenda for the February 23, 2022 virtual meeting of the FCC's Communications Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC)

Issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $1,500 to Minds of Business, Inc., for failure to timely file a license renewal application for Station KMOB-LP, Clearlake, California

Full year 2021 radio billing stats for New York and Miami are being shared by Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS). 

Why? According to Miller Kaplan, one of their radio stations is the top-biller of the year, regardless of format or language, in la gran manzana. The same can be said in its home market of Miami.

Specifically, SBS’s flagship, Tropical WSKQ-FM “Mega 97.9” in New York, garnered the top spot in local total billing among all radio stations in the nation’s largest radio market, Miller Kaplan data shared by SBS show.

Spanish Adult Contemporary WPAT “93.1 AMOR” was No. 6 among all stations in 2021, in terms of billing, the Miller Kaplan data also show.

Meanwhile, SBS’s Spanish Adult Hits WCMQ-FM “Zeta 92” was the No. 1-billing radio station in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood market in 2021. Tropical/Reggaetón sibling WXDJ-FM “El Zol 106.7” was the No. 5 biller in Miami last year, Miller Kaplan data show.

SBS’s WRMA “Ritmo 95.7,” with a specialty “Cubatón” Latin Urban format, was No. 6 in billing in Miami during 2021, total market.

“These leadership rankings are a testament to our people, our brands and the vibrancy and loyalty of the tremendous audiences we have attracted and sustained in these major markets,” said SBS President/COO Albert Rodriguez, in prepared comments. “Our ability to surpass every radio station, regardless of language, in local total billings in the nation’s largest radio market speaks volumes regarding the strength of our content and marketing initiatives, as well as our importance among advertisers looking to target Latino consumers. Likewise, advertisers recognize our radio stations in Miami as key platforms for connecting with the fast-growing Spanish-speaking population in South Florida. We remain committed to building on our success and consistently serving our audiences with the best music, the most compelling personalities and the most exciting content in these major markets, while continuing to strengthen our multimedia platform spanning radio, television, digital media and live events across the nation.”

In Gotham legal circles, it is considered to be one of the City of New York’s top real estate law firms.

Now, it is playing a key role in getting broadcast license agreements at 1 World Trade Center consummated.

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Until now, Regina Davis and her Buma Group has served as the licensee of a low-power digital TV station serving Texarkana, the market straddling Texas and Arkansas.

Now, the property is being sold. And, it marks yet another LPTV deal for the company that last year merged with Meredith Corp. and acquired Quincy Media, Inc.

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In September 2021, RBR+TVBR first shared the news of a proposed sale involving a Class A FM radio station with a signal blanketing a one-time Spring Break destination that remains a popular winter burg.

The deal, brokered by Jay Meyers’ Broadcast Management & Technology, has now closed.

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Following Tuesday’s Closing Bell on Wall Street, Shari Redstone and Bob Bakish had a big announcement to make. ViacomCBS was no more, as the company changed its name to Paramount.

That led Michael Nathanson, the respected Senior Analyst at MoffettNathanson, and colleague Robert Fishman to pen an investor note that asks the tough questions about now-Paramount’s finances for both today and tomorrow.

“Despite the big announcement … we are left with a similar question as we had last year: will the company be able to grow EBITDA and Free Cash Flow again to match prior levels?”

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The NAB on Wednesday (2/16) filed a 56-page letter as part of an ex parte brief with the FCC that the nation’s chief lobbying organization for broadcast media says “corrects numerous misstatements and mischaracterizations by other parties about the Supreme Court’s media ownership decision.”

That unanimous decision put the wheels in motion on the end to the local cross-media broadcast ownership prohibition.

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The ANA 2022 Media Conference is scheduled for March 2-4 in Orlando, and it is presented by A+E Network.

With in-person and virtual sessions on the agenda, the leading advertising and marketing industry advocacy group is this year partnering with the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters to give the diversity discussion an added boost.

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Next Wednesday, the two biggest audio content creation and distribution companies in the U.S. will each release their fourth quarter fiscal results.

For leader iHeartMedia, a pre-market call will be scheduled — a potentially good move for a company that in the past used a Thursday after-market time slot to evade press coverage of a blemish-filled report.

At 10am on February 23, Audacy Inc. will take the spotlight. For the former Entercom, the fiscal report card comes with its stock at a far lower price than it was a year ago.

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The Federal Communications Commission has issued a monetary forfeiture to a Texas LPFM licensee for failing to file a license renewal application on time.

The $1,500 fine is to Holy Spirit Oil Filled Ministry, licensee of low-power FM station KERC(LP) in Kermit, Texas.

FCC rules require stations to file for renewal application at least four months before their license expiration date, which for Holy Spirit was April 1, 2021. The Media Bureau said an application was not filed until May 13 and the licensee hasn’t explained why.

Soon after the bureau sent a notice of apparent liability for forfeiture and gave Holy Spirit 30 days to pay or reply. To date, the bureau said, the licensee has done neither.

The bureau has now determined that Holy Spirit willfully violated the rules and it confirmed the $1,500 forfeiture.

 

The post Texas LPFM Issued Forfeiture for Late-filed Application appeared first on Radio World.

iHeartMedia has announced a partnership with Sounder, an audio intelligence platform.

The media company said it will use Sounder’s Audio Data Cloud to provide podcast creators with AI and machine learning tools “to help them gain critical, real-time insights to accelerate growth and improve monetization.”

It also is making a financial investment in Sounder, as the lead investor in the company’s Series A round. Sounder was founded in 2019 by former executives of Google and Spotify.

iHeart said approximately 750 of its original podcasts use Sounder technology. An important aspect of the announcement is what is called “brand safety” — a means for advertisers to spend on the iHeartPodcast Network’s content confidently.

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“The brand safety solution enables iHeartMedia’s marketing partners to buy across a wide array of creators with the assurance that the content adheres to industry safety standards,” iHeart stated. “The technology will quickly expand to also allow advertisers to customize their brand safety guidelines, unlocking new and more diverse publishers to provide even more effective ad placements.”

Chief Data Officer Brian Kaminsky was quoted saying, “It’s critical that we learn from the challenges advertisers have had with video and social media to deliver safety tools and controls that allow brands to customize their campaigns and ensure that their ads will be delivered at scale in a brand-safe environment.”

He said the partnership also provides “brand suitability tools” that align brands with relevant content and creator sentiments.

Sounder explained these tools on the company’s blog: “Through our brand safety and suitability solution, we can analyze a publisher’s audio content and identify any segments that might not meet the industry safety guidelines. … Knowing a publisher’s audio content is safe and suitable increases the rate a publisher can charge. Brands, too, are eager to share their messages on audio so long as they know their brand identity isn’t at risk.”

The announcement was made by Joe Robinson, iHeartMedia’s president of corporate development and ventures, and Kal Amin, CEO and co-founder of Sounder.

Kal Amin said, “While podcast advertising is growing fast, it’s still a nascent business when compared to traditional radio advertising.”

Submit business announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post iHeart Pursues “Brand Safety” With Sounder Deal appeared first on Radio World.