Industry News

The National Association of Broadcasters is accepting entries for its annual NAB Crystal Radio Awards, which recognize outstanding community service efforts by radio stations.

NAB member stations can submit an online entry through NAB’s member platform, My NAB, describing their community service efforts for the 2021 calendar year. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 31.

Finalists will be announced in February, with award recipients being honored at the 2022 NAB Show, April 23–27 in Las Vegas.

Entry information is available on the award web page.

Last year’s recipients were KSL(FM), Salt Lake City; KRSP(FM), Salt Lake City; KSTP(FM), St. Paul; WBAP(AM), Dallas; WDRV(FM), Chicago; WFXE(FM), Columbus, Ga.; WJJY(FM), Brainerd, Minn.; WMMR(FM), Philadelphia; WSB(FM), Atlanta; and WWRM(FM), Tampa. Howard University’s WHUR(FM) in Washington received the Crystal Heritage Award.

The post NAB Crystal Radio Awards Open for Entries appeared first on Radio World.

The latest quarterly broadcast station totals have been released from the FCC.

And, when one compares the numbers to the end of the third quarter of 2021, one big takeaway is obvious.

There are more broadcast radio and TV stations licensed in the U.S. than on September 30, but still much fewer than the total seen at the end of Q2 2021.

The total number of AM stations declined again, and is now down by 37 from July 1, 2021. This includes the surrendering of licenses by Crawford Broadcasting in Portland, Ore., and Saga Communications in Norfolk in addition to December 2021 actions recently reported by RBR+TVBR.

The FM station count is also down, however, a rather disconcerting reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic has had its challenges on some operations.

Meanwhile, the incessant growth of FM translator and booster stations hasn’t ceased, again. There are 345 more of this facilities as of the end of Q3 2021 and 1,052 more when compared to the end of Q2 2018.

And, once again, there are fewer LPFMs, the latest numbers show.

For the TV industry, there are fewer low-power TV stations, the latest FCC data show. This is likely a result of channel-sharing tied to the FCC’s post-spectrum auction repack process.

BROADCAST STATION TOTALS AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2021
(Compared to Sept. 30, 2021)

TOTAL BROADCAST STATIONS:  33,467 (up 65)  

All comparisons below to the end of Q3 2021

AM STATIONS                  4509 (minus 10) 
FM COMMERCIAL             6676 (minus 6)
FM EDUCATIONAL            4204 (minus 7)
TOTAL                          15,389 (minus 23)

UHF COMMERCIAL TV      999 (plus 1)
VHF COMMERCIAL TV       374 (unchanged)
UHF EDUCATIONAL TV      266 (plus 1)
VHF EDUCATIONAL TV      119 (unchanged)
TOTAL                            1,758 (plus 2)

CLASS A UHF STATIONS   351 (minus 3)
CLASS A VHF STATIONS    31 (no change)

FM TRANSLATORS & BOOSTERS 8,886 (up 95)
(up from 7814 as of June 30, 2018)

UHF TRANSLATORS               2434 (down 31)
VHF TRANSLATORS               641 (no change)

UHF LOW POWER TV             1488 (plus 35)
VHF LOW POWER TV             440 (plus 2)

LOW POWER FM             2,069 (down 12)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On October 1, 2021, television stations located in Iowa and Missouri were required to file applications for license renewal for terms expiring on February 1, 2022.

Four low-powered television stations failed to file license renewal applications and their licenses.

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WOODBRIDGE, VA. — For one woman who turned on her TV set this morning and attempted to watch the CBS Morning News, a disappointing message appeared instead of the visage of Gayle King. She couldn’t tune to the local CBS affiliate, WUSA-9 in Washington, D.C.

What happened? Her MVPD service provider, Verizon FiOS, has just become the latest cable entity to fail to reach a fair and equitable retransmission consent agreement with a television broadcasting company. In this instance, it involves Tysons-based TEGNA.

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The U.K. government has authorized broadcast regulator Ofcom to renew two national commercial radio multiplex licenses until December 2035. Previously, the Digital One Ltd. multiplex was set to expire in 2023 and the Sound Digital Ltd. multiplex in 2028.

“Radio’s distinctive and much-loved format means it continues to be at the heart of people’s lives,” stated Media Minister Julia Lopez. “Today we are confirming plans to extend radio multiplex licenses until 2035 so our hugely popular stations can continue to reach audiences through digital radio networks and we can give broadcasters the certainty they need to invest in their future services.”

Arqiva owns Digital One, while Sound Digital is co-owned by Arqiva, Bauer Media Group, and Wireless Group Ltd.; both multiplexes are operated by Arqiva. Some 45 stations are carried between the two multiplexes, including on Digital One Absolute Radio, Capital and talkSPORT and on Sound Digital Jazz FM and Virgin Radio.

The government stated that renewing the multiplex licenses via a Legislative Reform Order will provide long-term continuity for national commercial stations to broadcast via DAB.

The post U.K. DAB Multiplexes Renewed to 2035 appeared first on Radio World.

On Wednesday, December 29, Max Media‘s WVHT-FM “HOT 100” in Norfolk was cheerfully promoting on Twitter its syndicated nighttime program, on until midnight. A day later, the host took to Twitter to note he was “just sitting in my radio studio taking phone calls.”

Today, the host is no longer available to take calls, and he’s no longer heard on HOT 100 or any affiliates. Westwood One, the national radio arm of Cumulus Media, has killed The Zach Sang Show.

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Comscore has brought to market what it’s heralding as “a true single-source unified cross-platform measurement solution.”

Once one wades through the marketing language in the company’s announcement, the goal from Comscore is for the new product to become the unified way people use Comscore (similar to audience measurement giant and rival Nielsen’s approach with ONE) to get holistic audience measurement.

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Happy New Year!

In this issue, Gary Stigall reports on the test of a hybrid FM radio/Next Gen TV signal in San Diego.

Alan Jurison comments on where virtualization may take our industry.

Fred Jacobs warns against complacency about radio’s position in the dashboard.

And Dan Slentz puts a streamer’s product to good use.

Read it here.

The post Read the Jan. 5, 2022 Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.

About the Broadcasters Foundation of America
The mission of the Broadcasters Foundation of America foundation is to improve the quality of life and maintain the personal dignity of men and women in the radio and television broadcast profession who find themselves in acute need. For more than 70 years, the Foundation has provided financial support to those broadcast industry professionals who have faced life-altering circumstances. We reach out across the country to provide an anonymous safety net in cases of critical illness, advanced age, death of a spouse, accident, natural disaster, or other serious misfortune. The Broadcasters Foundation of America is a 501(c)(3) public charity based in New York City, and it is the only charity devotedly exclusively to helping broadcasters in dire need. The staff consists of four full time employees and one part-time employee. The Board of Directors of the foundation is made up of high-level Broadcast professionals who have achieved tremendous success in radio and television and want to give back to the Broadcast community.

Expectations (report to the Co-Presidents)
• Commit to 3 days a week, ideally in office, some flexibility open for discussion
• Oversee cash flow for grants, general ledger activities, insurance, and payroll functions
• Provide monthly income statements, balance sheets, and other financial reports, for monthly Executive Committee and quarterly Board of Directors meetings
• Review and approve event contracts throughout the year
• Preparation of monthly and annual budgets
• Provide appropriate information to external auditors and assist in final preparation of year-end financial statements

Qualifications:
• Minimum of 4 years of general business accounting
• Understanding of SAGE accounting system strongly preferred
• Not-for-profit background preferred
• Proficiency in payroll processing (ADP) and financial statements
• Ability to converse with management M-F, 9a-5p EST (flexibility to be discussed)
• Ability to communicate with high profile board members

Salary is negotiable.
References will be checked, and a background check completed prior to hire.

Broadcasters Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Interested in learning more? Contact Tim McCarthy tim@thebfoa.org

Royal Media Services, based in Nairobi, Kenya, recently upgraded the broadcast studio infrastructure for its Radio Citizen station with a new 12-fader Lawo crystal console.

The move follows successful installations of Lawo mixing consoles and IP infrastructure at other RMS radio stations. Project management and installation were handled by Lawo system integrator Byce Broadcast.

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

RMS, Lawo and Byce Broadcast began their relationship in 2017 with the installation of their first Lawo mixing console; crystal consoles are now in service at Radio Citizen’s sister stations Ramogi FM, Inooro FM and HOT96, all also headquartered in Nairobi.

“It is exciting to watch as Royal Media Services sets the pace for the adoption of broadcast IP technology in Kenya,” says Cynthia Odari, head of business development for Byce Broadcast. “RMS were our very first client in Kenya, and we thank them for their continuing trust in us and in Lawo.”

Send news for Who’s Buying What to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Royal Media Services Upgrades Fourth Station to AoIP appeared first on Radio World.