Industry News

Four individuals, including a child, have died as a result of a helicopter accident that led to the collapse to a radio tower in Houston, crippling broadcasts for two TelevisaUnivision FMs. The FAA is investigating; the FCC may be next. According to KTRK-13, the red aviation obstruction lights at the top of the structure "have a history of not working."

Public media stations in Hawaii, Kentucky, Missouri, and South Dakota will receive a total of up to $1.7 million from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to upgrade their equipment to provide enhanced emergency alerting. With these grants, CPB has awarded funding to 35 public media stations in 19 states via the NGWS grant program.

The FCC’s Privacy and Data Protection Task Force has unveiled additional partnerships between the agency’s Enforcement Bureau and state partners on privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity enforcement matters. 

Thank the return of National Football League match-ups and NCAA college football games for bringing significant consumption gains for media companies in September, with Disney reclaiming the top spot in Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge for the month.

The two-way pact begins within the next week. Eligible SiriusXM subscribers will begin with those who are "Platinum VIP," with additional tiers gaining ESPN+ access in November.

The Mike Hulvey-led Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) has finalized its new slate of officers and directors, approved unanimously last week during its Fall Board of Directors meeting in Maryland. Named Chair of the RAB Board is the Chief Operating Officer at Townsquare Media. 

In March, Joyce Slocum died after a long illness, leaving Texas Public Radio with a leadership void. Now, San Antonio-based TPR has announced who its next President/CEO will be. Getting the role is the VP of Community Engagement and Strategic Initiatives at KPCC-FM, which broadcasts as "LAist" to Southern California.

TelevisaUnivision's third-quarter 2024 performance in the U.S. bested that of Mexico. It is thanks to retransmission consent revenue gains, and big political ad dollar growth. This positions new CEO Daniel Alegre, who has a tech background, in a positive spot as further monetization of digital assets appears likely for the Hispanic media Goliath.

Real-time graphics and live production specialist Vizrt has appointed a Chief Commercial Officer to bring together its commercial teams in one unified organization. Earning the role is a six-year company veteran.

ZTransform, which has in recent years built out studio and office space for broadcast stations including KNKX in Seattle, has a new Senior Design Engineer. He has led engineering teams on projects for CNN, Amazon, Facebook/Meta, Time Warner Cable, Seattle Mariners, Carolina Hurricanes, NFL Network, and Microsoft Studios.