For 24 years, he’d been associated with a group of radio stations today owned by Audacy Inc.
Now, he’s resurfaced across the street to become General Sales Manager of Steel City Media’s radio properties in the heart of Mid-America.
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With Audacy Inc. poised to report its fourth quarter 2021 and full-year fiscal health report on Wednesday (2/23), there’s bound to be a lot of attention from the investment community placed on just how the audio content creation and distribution company’s final three months of last year fared, dollar-wise.
Ahead of that earnings report’s release, financial blog Simply Wall St. took a moment to examine Audacy’s ownership structure. Could that structure “tell us something useful?”
Here’s what the bloggers found.
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What’s a Class D 1kw daytime-only Gospel station and its FM translator worth in the first quarter of 2022?
Here’s a Georgia deal that provides such an answer — and hope for similar broadcast facilities searching for a buyer.
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The FCC has been busily updating aspects of its political programming and recordkeeping rules. In particular, a January 25, 2022 Order revised the Commission’s definition of what a “legally qualified candidate for public office” is, while amending the political file rules.
Paul Feldman at Fletcher Heald & Hildreth has been monitoring when the effective date of the new rules will be, minus portions of the rules that require OMB approval.
He now has a date circled on his 2022 calendar.
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The NAB Leadership Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2023 Broadcast Leadership Training (BLT) program. Applications are being accepted through May 31.
The BLT program is designed to prepare senior-level broadcast executives to advance as group executives or station owners. Women and people of color are encouraged to apply.
Now in its 23rd year, BLT is an executive MBA-style program that teaches the fundamentals of purchasing, owning and operating radio and television stations. As the foremost executive training initiative for the broadcast industry, the 10-month program prepares aspiring broadcast station owners and executives with the working knowledge to further their careers.
The 2023 Broadcast Leadership Training program will consist of weekend sessions held in-person at the NAB Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The starting session will be held in September 2022.
Broadcast professionals from all areas of the industry, including general managers, experienced sales managers and seasoned department heads, as well as regional and corporate executives, are encouraged to apply. Fellowship opportunities are available for women and people of color.
For 2023 sponsorship and speaking opportunities, please contact Tim Dotson, NAB Leadership Foundation Senior director of Development.
INTRODUCING THE CLASS OF 2021
NABLF also announced the 2021 BLT class graduates, who completed the program in November 2021.
“These talented broadcasters join the long list of industry leaders with roots in the BLT program,” NAB Foundation President Michelle Duke said. ” We look forward to watching their careers grow from this success and witnessing the positive impacts as new and diverse leadership advances our industry.”
With this class, more than 350 participants have graduated from the program.
The 2021 Broadcast Leadership Training Class graduates are:
The 2021 and 2022 program sponsors include Beasley Media Group, Bonneville International Corp., Cox Media Group, Fox Television Stations, Futuri Media, Graham Media Group, Gray Television, Hearst Television, Legend Communications, NAB, The Nielsen Foundation, Meredith Corporation, Morgan Murphy Media, The E.W. Scripps Company, TEGNA, Univision Communications, and Paramount.
The 2022 class is currently underway, will attend the NAB Show in April and graduate in June. For more information about the NAB Leadership Foundation or the BLT program, please visit, nabfoundation.org.
Since March 2015, she has served as the News Director for the ABC and CBS affiliates serving Springfield, Mass., and has spent the majority of her career at nearby WFSB-3 in Hartford, a former Meredith Local Media property.
Now, she’s earned a promotion in Western Massachusetts.
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Nominations for the 13th Medallas de Cortez awards — the most respected honors in U.S. Hispanic radio — are now being accepted. If you know someone who is doing great work in Hispanic radio across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, don’t miss this chance to spotlight their efforts with a nomination.
The awards, sponsored by vCreative, will be presented at the Hispanic Radio Conference, June 22-23 in Miami at the Intercontinental at Doral.
Nominations can be made in seven categories:
Nominations are now being accepted. The deadline is April 22, 2022.
The Medallas de Cortez awards presentation is one of the most inspiring and memorable aspects of the Hispanic Radio Conference. By recognizing excellence in Hispanic radio, these awards pay tribute not only to some amazing and dedicated professionals in Hispanic radio, they serve to energize and encourage others to follow their footsteps.
The awards are named in honor of Raoul Cortez, who founded KCOR — the first Spanish-language station in the United States — in 1946. Nominations are open to anyone, Hispanic and not, who is involved in Hispanic broadcasting. The goal is to make sure everyone dedicated to this segment of the industry has an opportunity to be recognized for their contributions to excellence in radio.
SPONSORS Platinum Sponsor Medallas de Cortez Sponsor Corporate Sponsors Participating Sponsors Media PartnersA top Consumer Technology Association executive says the global technology market remains stout and that consumers are adopting new tech at an accelerated pace — all of which has implications for radio and audio companies.
Steve Koenig, vice president of research, says the future of tech innovation is healthy and fueled by demand from consumers for breakthroughs that add convenience and simplicity to their everyday lives.
He spoke after the conclusion of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
Among the announcements and debuts at the convention, the biggest headline was probably the simple fact that the convention was held in person.
But key trends showcased at CES included artificial intelligence and 5G, which Koenig believes will serve as the “connective tissue” for innovation and as the building blocks of the metaverse, this year’s buzzword.
Koenig said there’s plenty happening in audio.
“There was a lot of innovation [at CES] across the audio spectrum — featuring listening products, but also a variety of innovations that will impact the future opportunity of audio and, by extension, broadcast radio,” he said.
“A lot of innovation in personal audio, what we’re seeing in true wireless ear buds, for example, and in home theater and home audio. Smart speakers have populated and in some ways democratized listening around the house, since people tend to have several of them in dens, kitchens and bedrooms.”
‘Screenification’ in cars
Koenig also says the “visual element” is fast becoming a focus for audio products.
“In a lot of the vehicles shown at CES, there was a premium on monitors. For instance, Togg [a Turkish automaker] had a dashboard that was one giant screen, similar to the Mercedes-Benz Hyperscreen we have seen before,” he said.
He calls this the “screenification” of the automobile, and those bigger and additional video screens for both the front and rear seats have crucial import.
“Radio broadcasters need to utilize that space, because a lot of others are. Streaming audio and other connected services coming into connected vehicles utilize that screen real estate for drivers and occupants.” He said this development spotlights the importance of the metadata carried by many broadcast and streaming signals.
He sees the role of radio evolving as it adds various dimensions. “It is similar to what has happened to Next-Gen TV. It could be shopping, maps or other services that accompany the traditional broadcast service. I see this happening for radio broadcasters, which will increase opportunities for sponsorship and advertising deals. In the end, it’s a deeper engagement with the consumer.”
Broadcast radio’s familiarity to consumers is a strength, he said, but radio faces does face challenges as entertainment becomes more immersive.
“Broadcast radio is a very accessible and familiar medium, of course. We don’t track engagement, but what I can say is that consumers enjoy a mosaic of audio sources. Obviously podcasts and streaming music collections are growing in popularity; but still I think a lot of people enjoy radio.”
He declined to say whether he thinks broadcasters are doing enough strategically to adapt to increased competition, specifically in the dashboard. But he believes radio has a lot of options to amplify its business model and enhance the media experience for consumers.
“They have to engage with a variety of different partners, whether it is automakers or other possibilities. But there is a chance to remake radio and align it with a more visual element and add appeal to consumers.”
The mobility sector at CES had more than 200 companies in the new West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, including automakers with self-driving cars and electric vehicles. Many vehicle exhibits exploited interior technology touting audio and video with additional media displays, Koenig said.
Broadcast radio was represented in the transportation section by Xperi’s exhibit of DTS AutoStage, its hybrid radio platform that merges IP connectivity and broadcast reception, promising a richer user experience similar to the offerings of digital pure-play services and satellite radio.
DTS AutoStage “is one of these market plays that is trying to deliver what consumers are asking for,” Koenig said. “Consumers endorse options and abhor complexity. So a platform or system to allow them to partake in a variety radio and audio streams across their interest areas will resonate.”
Consumer behavior
Supply chain issues and computer chip shortages were topics of conversation at CES, Koenig said, but much of the focus was on artificial intelligence, including how it can learn the behaviors of consumers across the audio ecosystem. He said companies are leveraging AI in more applications and every economic sector, from manufacturing to entertainment.
“AI is getting better so it can do more things. There are a lot of flavors of AI for consumers across different devices, from smart speakers and your phone to your new car. AI will learn behavior and knows what a person likes to listen to and it gets to a point where it is predictive. AI can learn patterns and help tech goods anticipate what the consumer expects.”
Autonomous automobiles open up a new world for media entertainment and productivity, Koenig said. The extension of that is the range of opportunities via screens through internet connectivity in the car cabin.
“When you consider how these technologies will allow consumers access to entertainment and content via the cloud, things will really start to get interesting,” he said. “Cloud computing and online gaming [in the car] will also be possible.”
CTA believes consumers maintain their appetite for new technology thanks in part to the “season of the pandemic,” Koenig said.
“We have seen historically high demand for consumer technology the past two years. By spending more time at home and needing to bolster work productivity, school and education and entertainment, consumers are leveling up their tec — smart home devices and smart phones. Smart doorbells. You can also include services like connected fitness and online ordering for groceries and even telemedicine. The level of adoption of new technology by households has been at an all-time high.”
Koenig projects that consumer spending on hardware, software and services in the United States will reach $505 billion, a 2.8% growth over 2021.
“Once consumers get a taste for these things, they tend to spend more on them. Why? Because it is delivering value and convenience and making life better.”
And then there’s the metaverse.
“The metaverse isn’t something we build and then we have it,” Koenig said. “To me it’s the next generation of the internet, with enhanced connectivity that will deliver increasingly immersive digital experiences through virtual reality. And these next-generation experiences will over time become inextricably linked to our physical reality.”
Comment on this or any article. Write to radioworld@futurenet.com.
The post Visual Component Growing in Importance appeared first on Radio World.
iHeartMedia plans to use cloned voices to translate and produce podcasts, hoping to reach new markets.
It announced this week that it will use technology from AI software company Veritone for this purpose.
“iHeartMedia will leverage Veritone’s AI platform to make more shows across the iHeartPodcast Network available in multiple languages, helping to expand their podcast market,” they said in the announcement. “The first use case is to translate iHeart’s marquee podcasts for Spanish-speaking audiences.”
[Related: “Veritone Ramps Up Synthetic Voices”]
They quoted Veritone President Ryan Steelberg saying, “iHeartMedia will not only be able to scale to new markets with localized language translations but retain the brand value of their top talent’s voice, which is fundamental in podcasting. We are also partnering to develop synthetic voices for advertising and engaging content while reducing time-to-market and production costs for radio, podcasting and the metaverse.”
The companies said iHeart voice talent will be able to authorize Veritone’s synthetic voice solution to produce more podcasts, ads and additional audio in multiple languages “with the same energy, cadence and uniqueness of top talent.”
[Related: “Create Synthetic VOs Just by Typing”]
The post iHeart Will Use Voice Cloning to Amplify Podcasts appeared first on Radio World.
EarPeace has collaborated with NPR to create a line of custom branded earplugs based around newly patented EarPeace PRO earplugs.
EarPeace PRO features a contoured design that conforms to the natural shape of the ear canal, featuring a tuned acoustic mesh filter intended to replicate the sound signature. Recently granted a second patent for the proprietary earplug design their utility patent, PRO aims to handle the mismatch between the shape of the ear and plug better. The earplugs use less material to expand in the ear canal, minimizing unwanted bunching and slit leaks. According to the company, the plugs’ oval, offset wave-shaped design permits the filters to perform at peak capacity.
“EarPeace are among the best earplugs out there and have used them literally at over a thousand shows. My ears thank you,” stated Bob Boilen, creator/host of NPR’s “All Songs Considered” and “Tiny Desk Concerts.”
“Unless I’m mixing and recording at the Tiny Desk, I’m using hearing protection at concerts. EarPeace has been one of my go-to brands for years. Do your future self a favor and protect your ears,” said Josh Rogosin, Tiny Desk audio engineer and technical director for NPR Music.
The post NPR, EarPeace Team Up for Hearing Protection appeared first on Radio World.
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