Industry News

It’s an unbuilt FM radio station licensed to a municipality right on the Pennsylvania/New York state line, with Lake Erie to its west.

Who’ll get to construct it? Not the company that had the winning bid in Auction 109 to put the facility on the air. That task, pending FCC approval, will go to growing broadcast ministry Family Life.

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Nexstar Media Group’s three C-Suite leaders — Chairman/CEO Perry Sook, President/COO Tom Carter and CFO Lee Ann Gliha — on Wednesday shared all of the details of the company’s Q4 and full-year 2021 earnings results in a conference call for financial analysts and shareholders.

The trio of executives offered commentary on the company’s health, including what ad categories performed well — and didn’t. There’s also intelligence on retransmission consent revenue, with Dan Kurnos of Benchmark Co. asking for more on the subject.

With Steven Cahall of Wells Fargo Securities also participating in the Q&A session, we offer this edited audio review of the earnings call in this RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast.Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Nexstar's Q4 2021 Earnings Call” on Spreaker.

Radio World Buyer’s Guide articles are intended to help readers understand why their colleagues chose particular products to solve various technical situations. This month’s articles focus on products for radio remotes and sports.

John Dinse and BJ DeGroot are ready to provide live courtside coverage.

WSCO(AM), a Wisconsin station that is part of the Woodward Radio Group, serves sports and talk programming to an audience that stretches from Green Bay to Oshkosh.

As part of its sports coverage, the station produces live play-by-play for Wisconsin major league, minor league, college and high school sports, as well as a sports morning show called “BJ and the Bear.” WSCO covers every game live for the Wisconsin Herd, the NBA G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks.

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In its search for a way to send audio from the arena back to the station, WSCO became familiar with ACCESS 2USB, a portable IP audio codec from Comrex that’s no longer available for purchase.

When Comrex released its latest model, WSCO decided to purchase a new ACCESS NX for courtside coverage of the Herd.

The station often uses a hard-wired internet connection, and intends to implement NX’s portable capabilities for live broadcasts of road games in the coming season. ACCESS NX’s attachable mixer allows them to feed in arena sound as well as maintain a private two-way connection with a producer at the studio.

The Comrex ACCESS NX

BJ DeGroot, assistant brand manager for WSCO/WHBY and co-host of “BJ and the Bear,” told Comrex, “It’s functional and reliable, and it’s changed the game for our live play-by-play broadcasting. As far as quality standpoint and ease of use is concerned, we have been so happy. If you’re looking to take your station to the next level, it’s the way to go.”

Info: http://comrex.com or email info@comrex.com.

The post ACCESS NX Changes the Game for WSCO appeared first on Radio World.

“The picture is bleak.”

That’s the assessment from IABM, which published results of its electronic components supply survey of global media technology companies.

The association said lead times are lengthening and component prices are rising significantly since its last survey nine months ago.

“Respondents also sounded the alarm on their financial positions if component supply problems persist for a further 12 months; there are very few signs that the situation will improve in the short-to-medium term,” it wrote.

STMicroelectronics IC microchips designed by ARM Ltd. in a storage tray at CSI Electronic Manufacturing Services Ltd. in April. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

IABM is a trade association for broadcast and media technology. [See a list of IABM member companies.]

It said 97% of technology vendors reported being significantly affected by component shortages, with 63% saying they are severely affected, up from 40% last April.

“The survey finds that lead times for components have increased by an average of 74% and component costs by 44%, resulting in a 26% impact on final product costs.”

[Previously: “Chip Shortage Hits Radio Technology Marketplace”]

The association expressed concern that 86% of respondents “reported facing moderate or severe impact on their financial sustainability if the issues persist for another 12 months.”

CEO Peter White said in the announcement, “With no early prospect of the component shortage problem being resolved, many media tech companies have responded by redesigning their products to mitigate issues with sourcing specific components, and/or stockpiling components where possible to keep their production lines flowing in the face of dramatically increased lead times.”

He also cited evidence of component price increases “which will either need to be absorbed by media tech suppliers or will feed through into increased end-product prices.”

The association recently launched a service that allows companies to list their excess stock; members experiencing shortages can use it to find supplies. “I have been surprised that not many companies have taken advantage of the BaM Stock Exchange so far; perhaps this is the moment for them to do so,” White said in the release.

The post Media Tech Firms Face ‘Bleak’ Components Outlook appeared first on Radio World.

The list of 50 finalists for the NAB Crystal Radio Awards is out.

The National Association of Broadcasters released the list, below. The awards recognize radio stations for outstanding commitment to community service.

KBFB(FM) Dallas, Texas
KBHP(FM) Bemidji, Minn.
KBLB(FM) Baxter, Minn.
KCLY(FM) Clay Center, Kan.
KDWB(FM) Minneapolis, Minn.
KIKV(FM) Saint Cloud, Minn.
KIRO(FM) Seattle, Wash.
KJR(FM) Seattle, Wash.
KMVP(FM) Phoenix, Ariz.
KNDE(FM) College Station, Texas
KOSI(FM) Greenwood Village, Colo.
KPEK(FM) New York, N.Y.
KRMG(FM) Tulsa, Okla.
KRWM(FM) Seattle, Wash.
KSFI(FM) Salt Lake City, Utah
KSNE(FM) Las Vegas, Nv.
KTAR(FM) Phoenix, Ariz.
KTMY(FM) Saint Paul, Minn.
KUPD(FM) Phoenix, Ariz.
KXKT(FM) Omaha, Neb.
KYGO(FM) Greenwood Village, Colo.
KYW(AM) Philadelphia, Pa.
KZFN(FM) Moscow, Idaho
WBAB West Babylon, N.Y.
WBAL(AM) Baltimore, Md.
WBZZ(FM) Pittsburgh, Pa.
WDAS(FM) Philadelphia, Pa.
WDNS(FM) Bowling Green, Ky.
WDSN(FM) Pittsburgh, Pa.
WEDR(FM) Hollywood, Fla.
WFEZ(FM) Hollywood, Fla.
WFLC(FM) Hollywood, Fla.
WGKB(AM) Milwaukee, Wis.
WGY(AM) Schenectady, N.Y.
WHIO(FM) Dayton, Ohio
WHKO(FM) Dayton, Ohio
WHQT(FM) Hollywood, Fla.
WIYY(FM) Baltimore, Md.
WJNO(AM) West Palm Beach, Fla.
WMBX(FM) West Palm Beach, Fla.
WMGK(FM) Philadelphia, Pa.
WMMX(FM) Dayton, Ohio
WNRP(AM) Pensacola, Fla.
WOKV(FM) Jacksonville, Fla.
WSUN(FM) St. Petersburg, Fla.
WTAW(AM) College Station, Texas
WTLC(FM) Columbus, Ohio
WTMJ(AM) Milwaukee, Wis.
WUSQ(FM) Hagerstown, Md.
WXTU(FM) Philadelphia, Pa.

Winners will be announced on April 26 at the NAB Show in Las Vegas.

[Read the list of last year’s winners.]

The post NAB Crystal Radio Finalists Are Announced appeared first on Radio World.

He’s been the Marketing Manager for the CBS affiliate serving Atlanta and the independent broadcast TV station branded as “PeachtreeTV” for the past several years and stayed with Gray Television following its merger acquisition with Meredith Corp.

Now, this local TV executive is being rewarded.

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The National Association of Broadcasters has announced the 50 finalists for the 35th annual NAB Crystal Radio Awards.

Winners will be announced on Tuesday, April 26 at the 2022 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

This year’s finalists are:

Ten Crystal Radio Award recipients will be chosen by a panel of judges representing the broadcast industry, community service organizations and public relations firms.

Since 1987, the NAB Crystal Radio Awards have recognized radio stations for their outstanding year-round commitment to community service.

Unique digital art. That’s perhaps the easiest way to describe what a non-fungible token, or “NFT,” is. It’s tied to cryptocurrency, and it’s hot.

The nation’s No. 1 creator and distributor of audio content understands this. Now, one of its top syndicated radio programs is partnering with OneOf on an exclusive NFT partnership.

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On its surface, it appears that the nation’s No. 1 licensee of broadcast television stations didn’t perform so well in the final three months of 2021. Free Cash Flow was down 26.2%. Adjusted EBITDA was off by 24.5%.

However, tough comps due to very strong Q4 2020 political ad dollars are at play here. So, ex-political, how did Nexstar Media Group do in Q4 2021?

It beat the Street.

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Dutch cable operator Ziggo is pulling the plug on its carriage of analog radio signals. The company is the last cable company in the Netherlands to offer analog radio as part of its service, but it is ending the service during the first quarter of 2022 to free up bandwidth.

According to Ziggo, only about 5% of its customers use its analog radio service. “In 2018, we started to discontinue the analog TV signal via cable, now it is analog radio’s turn,” the company wrote in its Dutch-language FAQ about the switchover.

To aid customers affected, Ziggo is offering a free FM antenna to replace the cable connection to their stereo system, or it suggests tuning digital radio stations via television or connecting a cable box to the stereo. The company is also offering for €50 (about $56) a DAB receiver that connects to an existing stereo system.

Ziggo carries more than 100 radio and audio channels via its television platform, including Dutch public and private stations, German and British public broadcasters, and German, French, and British international services.

Ziggo is the largest cable operator in the Netherlands, serving nearly 4 million households.

The post Ziggo Switching off Analog Radio via Cable appeared first on Radio World.