Industry News

“As many people are not attending CES, NAGRA is scheduling virtual meetings to share their news.”

That’s the somber news from the portable audio recorder company based in Switzerland, as the rapid increase in cases of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus has increased the threat of lower attendance to the upcoming event.

The choice of a virtual session or an in-person meeting may become standard for all CES 2022 attendees, as the Las Vegas mega-conference’s chances of even being held at all are now in question.

For NAGRA, interested CES attendees that wish to go with a virtual meeting can use this link: Book NAGRA meeting (Virtual, Zoom)

For those attending CES, one can book a meeting with NAGRA at its meeting suite by using this link: Book NAGRA meeting at CES meeting suite

The highlights of NAGRA’s showcase at CES 2022 include:

• The Future of Home Network Security: With extensive and proven experience across cybersecurity, IoT and pay-TV, NAGRA combined multiple innovations across Kudelski Group segments to introduce NAGRA Scout, the industry’s only consumer- and broadband service operator-friendly intelligent home network security solution.

• Game Over for Gaming Pirates: With the shift to online streaming platforms and pre-release short-form content, the gaming industry is being threatened by content pirates. As a partner to some of the world’s largest media providers, NAGRA’s trusted, proven and comprehensive anti-piracy approach, solutions and services can address the emerging gaming piracy threat.

• Empowering Video Operators to Drive Value with New Audiences: Video service providers are looking for innovative, easy and proven ways offer targeted content and advanced features and functions that meets consumers’ growing expectations. With an increasing need for aggregated solutions that migrate their services from pay-TV offering to digital entertainment hub, NAGRA is working with several customers worldwide to help them realize new opportunities, attract new audiences and deliver value-added propositions.  In the U.S., NAGRA is delivering a turn-key solution for regional providers that delivers all the features and benefits of a Tier-1 service – without the hefty price tag and with the option to incorporate hyper-local content. Recent examples include NAGRA’s work with Jackson Energy Authority, 1Tennessee and IPVconnect.

• The Cost of Piracy is Adding Up! The pandemic has accelerated the shift to streaming services – and in parallel has also increased the risk of piracy.  Whilst some in the industry believe complying with content owner requirements is sufficient, the evidence suggests that having a clear anti-piracy strategy ahead of releasing content in a multi-channel distribution model is a smart approach.  NAGRA’s recent publication “Piracy has no Boundaries: Protecting Revenue in the Era of PVOD” focusses specifically on how this affects the PVOD market and our showcased solutions offer a range of pragmatic solutions to fit all requirements.

• Leadership, Vision and Insights: André Kudelski, Chairman & CEO of the Kudelski Group, will be sharing his expertise on the media technologies that will impact the future of the entertainment industry at this year’s Variety Entertainment Summit at CES.  The panel discussion, “Planting the First Flag – The Future of Entertainment Exploration and Innovation” will take place January 6 at the Aria at 3:55 p.m. PT.

The nation’s dominant audience measurement and consumer data analytics firm has said it will reveal “a major step” toward its single cross-platform measurement product by showcasing its newest offering — “deduplicate ad measurement.”

It gets its debut under the Nielsen ONE Alpha banner at CES 2022 in Las Vegas.

Alpha is the first iteration of Nielsen ONE, a company spokesperson says. It will continue to evolve with new feature additions, enhancements, and model improvements leading up to the launch of Nielsen ONE in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Joining in the launch are The Walt Disney Company and MAGNA, in addition to “several agencies, advertisers and publishers” as Nielsen ONE Alpha participants from both the buy and sell sides of the industry.

“There’s a critical need for the evolution of measurement to truly reflect audiences and engagement, and Disney is uniquely positioned to help define and develop that roadmap,” said Julie DeTraglia, Head of Research, Insights and Analytics, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution.

Nielsen ONE Alpha will be specific to ad campaigns, unveiling what the company claims is “the first cross-platform measurement system of its kind that offers both comparability and audience deduplication across all screens (linear TV, connected TV, computer and mobile).”

Nielsen continues, “Media buyers and sellers will for the first time have the most holistic view of their ads across consumer delivery systems and platforms in a harmonized and holistic manner—crucial as the linear and digital landscapes continue to rapidly converge. The deduplicated ad measurement metrics account for age and gender information.”

Nielsen COO Karthik Rao added, “All our hard work this past year has positioned us to take this significant step in fundamentally changing the game and providing the industry with what it wants, needs and deserves. We are on track to deliver our single cross-platform measurement solution in the fourth quarter of 2022, as planned and in a manner that will support the $100 billion video advertising ecosystem. The Alpha launch serves as a clear proof point in our ability to deliver and we are working closely with a diverse group of clients on this important step. In fact, Nielsen ONE will bring together all the intelligence we have to date in order to help clients capitalize on consumers’ rapidly shifting media habits.”

Tightrope Media Systems, developers of the Cablecast Community Media broadcast automation, playout and content publishing platform, has hired a “PEG” media executive as the new Vice President of its Cablecast business unit.

In this newly created position, Dana Healy will oversee Cablecast sales and operations. She will also work closely with the marketing team to connect with all Cablecast customers on an ongoing basis. Healy will start the new role on January 3, 2022.

“As a user of Cablecast products for many years, I can see how passionate they are about their customers and the market,” she said. “I’m excited to be joining a company that truly believes in going above and beyond for their users, and proud to serve the PEG community alongside colleagues so dedicated to preserving community media. I look forward to chatting with customers about PEG strategies at upcoming trade shows and industry events.”

Cablecast Community Media President Steve Israelsky commented, “Dana’s skills and experience make her a perfect fit for this key leadership role. Having worked within community media organizations for over two decades, she has unique insights into their needs and the challenges they face in the evolving media landscape. We are constantly striving to improve our engagement with our customers and the PEG market at large, and we’re thrilled to have Dana join our team to help us achieve these goals.”

— Brian Galante

How big could political advertising be for local advertising in 2022?

It could very well make next year a banner one for linear and digital media focused on local consumers, newly revised data from BIA Advisory Services show.

In fact, BIA believes its total estimate for 2022 will be $11.8 billion than its previous forecast.

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Local radio revenue in the United States will increase 16% this year from its pandemic trough of 2020, and should continue to climb in 2022 though at a slower rate of about 6%. That’s according to projections from BIA Advisory Services.

The research company released this chart showing recent and projected local revenue from radio’s over-the-air and digital platforms.

After the obvious ditch in 2020, BIA thinks radio local ad revenue will edge up to $12.79 billion this year and $13.54 billion in 2022. That’s still shy of where it was in 2019.

BIA projects that the digital portion will be 16% next year compared to about 14% three years before.

More broadly, BIA increased its 2022 U.S. local ad forecast across media to $173.3 billion, up from an earlier estimate of $161.5 billion.

“The 2022 forecast indicates an 11.4 percent increase over 2021 due to faster than anticipated growth in digital advertising and a strong political year,” it said in its announcement.

SVP and Chief Economist Mark Fratrik called 2021 “a year of fluctuations,” with strong growth in the first half, then a stall when the Delta variant emerged. “We’ve taken pandemic concerns plus inflation and supply chain issues into account to prepare our local media estimates and, overall, we are bullish on ad revenue for 2022.”

Over-the-top (OTT) will grow about 57 percent this year, “surpassing the growth of mobile as consumers continue to embrace various streaming services on their TV screens.” Mobile, direct mail and PC/laptop continue as the top paid media channels for 2022.

Local television is slated to grow about 28 percent in 2022, boosted by political ads.

BIA also said political spending is expected to be “very large” next year.

The post Local Radio Revenue Projected Up 16% This Year appeared first on Radio World.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senators Roy Blunt and Ron Wyden have come together to propose legislation that, if passed, would strengthen spectrum rights for some low power television (LPTV) stations.

In particular, the “Low Power Protection Act” would open up a filing window qualifying LPTV stations to apply for and receive Class A status. The NAB is supportive of this bill.

“Local television stations play a unique and critical role in their communities, keeping viewers informed, entertained, and alerted in an emergency,” said Blunt. “The Low Power Protection Act would help ensure smaller stations, especially those in Missouri’s rural areas, are able to continue providing coverage that people depend on. I appreciate Senator Wyden’s partnership in this effort and the strong support the bill has received from local, state, and national broadcasters.”

The bill came on a day when Springfield, Mo., became the latest market to rollout NEXTGEN TV. Among the stations using the ATSC 3.0-powered technology is Gray Television’s low-powered ABC affiliate serving the market.

“Low power television stations provide diverse, locally-oriented broadcasting in small communities across Oregon, especially in rural and remote areas of our state,” said Wyden. “I’m proud to join my colleague Senator Blunt in introducing this common-sense, bipartisan bill to empower LPTV stations that serve their communities.”

LPTV stations usually provide locally-oriented or specialized service in their communities. However, LPTV is currently considered a secondary broadcast service by the FCC. As such, LPTV licensees are not granted protections from harmful interference or displacement, and must accept harmful interference or displacement from full power television stations.

In 1999, in an effort to protect LPTV stations from harmful interference or displacement during the transition from analog to digital broadcasting, Congress passed the Community Broadcaster Protection Act (CBPA). The law created the “Class A” station status, and opened a one-time filing window for stations to apply. CBPA directed that Class A licensees be subject to the same license terms and renewal standards as full power television licensees, and that Class A licensees be accorded primary status as television broadcasters as long as they continue to meet the requirements set forth in the statute.

Blunt and Wyden’s Low Power Protection Act would require the FCC to open a new filing window during which qualifying LPTV stations could apply for and receive Class A status.

Class A status would protect LPTV stations from being bumped off-air by harmful interference. That, in turn, “will help ensure they are able to continue providing local coverage, and allow them to better protect existing investment and incentivize further investment in their stations and communities,” the senators say.

Frank Copsidas, Founder and President of the recently formed LPTV Broadcasters Association, says his advocacy group strongly endorses the bill.

“It is an essential, meaningful initiative to serve the public interest,” he said. “The Act is cited as ‘The Low Power Protection Act’ and a key word is ‘protection.’ Much attention has been given to encouraging support for local journalism and jobs, and protecting television stations for the viewers they serve. Secure, trusted local news and culturally diverse content is the foundation of the programming that our members uniquely broadcast on a daily basis. Simply stated, this bill allows LPTV stations to grow to the next level in serving the public interest with both protection of broadcast coverage area and the ability to secure crucial small business financing. The LPTV Broadcasters Association on behalf of its members around the country is committed to seeing this legislation be passed.”

The NAB also took a moment to applaud the bill’s introduction, as it would offer “some community-oriented low power television stations a long-overdue opportunity to gain important interference protections. Millions of viewers across the country rely on LPTVs for local news, weather, community affairs and emergency information, particularly in rural areas and smaller markets. This legislation would ensure Americans’ access to these vital stations and provide assurance that their signals can remain on the air. Broadcasters thank Sens. Wyden and Blunt for their efforts to help LPTVs and their viewers, and we support swift passage of this bill.”

The state broadcasters associations of Oregon and Missouri also support the bill as does the National Hispanic Media Coalition.

For NHMC President/CEO Brenda Victoria Castillo, “Negative portrayals of the Latinx community and the perceptions that come from them are often due to the appallingly low levels of Latinx broadcast and media ownership. Low power television (LPTV) broadcasters tend to provide more unique and diverse programming directly to Latinx and marginalized communities, but often find their frequencies assigned to larger operators that disregard diversity. NHMC is proud to support the Low Power Protection Act–a solution that promotes media diversity by empowering LPTV broadcasters as Class-A licensees.”

— Additional reporting by Adam Jacobson, in Boca Raton, Fla.

Four broadcast TV stations serving Southwest Missouri have become the first in the market to offer local viewers NEXTGEN TV stations.

The launch of the ATSC 3.0-powered signals involves Nexstar Media Group’s local stations in Springfield, Mo., and the Mission Broadcasting property Nexstar operates.

The Springfield market launch includes Mission-owned CBS affiliate KOLR-10; Nexstar-owned FOX affiliate KRBK-TV and MyNetwork TV affiliate KOZL-TV; and Gray Television‘s KSPR-LD 33, the market’s ABC affiliate.

KOZL is the “lighthouse” station for the NEXTGEN TV signals.

BitPath, which is developing new data broadcasting services, led the planning process
and deployment efforts across the four television stations.

Eleven engineers who developed recommendations for loudness in internet audio streaming and on-demand applications are being honored by the Audio Engineering Society.

The inaugural AES President’s Award, which recognizes group collaborations, went to David Bialik, Rob Byers, Jim Coursey, Eelco Grimm, Bob Katz, John Kean, Scott Norcross, Robert Orban, Shawn Singh, Jim Starzynski and Alessandro Travaglini.

They were honored for technical achievement in drafting TC document TD1008: “Recommendations for Loudness of Internet Audio Streaming and On-Demand Distribution.”

“This award recognizes that contributions to the goals of the AES are often made collaboratively in groups,” the society wrote in its announcement. “The President’s Award may be given to a group of individuals in recognition of diligent and significant joint efforts on behalf of the Audio Engineering Society — those efforts making substantial contributions to the science or application of audio engineering.”

The society held an online ceremony last week honoring all of its recipients.

Its highest technical award, the AES Gold Medal Award, was presented to Richard Factor and Tony Agnello “for making the world sound better — and often weirder — through the continuous development of signal processors that inspire users and delight listeners.” Factor is co-founder and chairman of Eventide Audio, Agnello is managing director.

AES Fellowship Awards were presented to Ian Dennis, Mark Ethier, Paul Gallo, Leslie Gaston-Bird, Alexey Lukin, Doug McClement and Valerie Tyler.

AES Board of Governors Awards were given to Aníbal Ferreira, Valerie Tyler, Joel Brito, Paul Womack,  Jonathan Wyner, Ruud Kaltofen, Bert Kraaijpoel, Michael Fleming and Bill Crabtree.

Those and other award announcements can be viewed on the AES YouTube channel. The awards ceremony program with recipient bios is online.

The post Loudness Recommendations Are Honored by AES appeared first on Radio World.

Gordon Smith isn’t the only radio industry leader saying farewell to his longtime role come January 1, 2022.

The current CEO of Salem Media Group is stepping aside and will transition to the newly created role of Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Who will succeed Ed Atsinger III as Salem’s Chief Executive Officer? Look no further than its President of Broadcast Media.

With Atsinger’s transition, Salem’s Board of Directors has appointed David Santrella to become Chief Executive Officer.

There’s more shifting in the Salem C-Suite: David Evans, Salem’s President of Digital Media and Publishing, is being promoted position of Chief Operating Officer.

Meanwhile, the current Chairman of Salem’s Board of Directors, Stuart W. Epperson Sr., will resign and transition to the position of Chairman Emeritus on January 1.

As such, son Stuart W. Epperson Jr. will join the Board of Directors, filling the vacancy created by his father’s departure.

“These changes reflect the Board’s ongoing succession planning and are designed to provide leadership continuity as the company continues to execute its strategic initiatives,” the company says.

Since founding Salem in 1974, Atsinger, along with his brother-in-law, the elder Epperson, has grown the company from a single radio station into a multimedia company specializing in Christian and conservative spoken word content.

To be certain, Atsinger will continue to be engaged full-time and focus more of his attention on macro strategy and planning, M&A, external relationships, government affairs and leadership development. “This will allow the company to continue to benefit from Mr. Atsinger’s decades of experience and skills,” the company said on Monday afternoon.

“I am pleased to serve as Executive Chairman and to oversee the succession to the next generation of leadership of our company,” Atsinger said in prepared comments. “I am looking forward to working with the executive team to continue Salem’s vitally important mission of serving the media needs of the audiences interested in Christian content and public policy programming with a traditional conservative focus.”

Atsinger continued that, in his view, Salem is “well-positioned for continued growth into the future.” As such, he said, “now is the right time to take the next step in implementing our long-term leadership transition.”

He concluded, “Most of all, I am blessed to lead our talented and dedicated team. I am extremely proud of Salem’s employees and personalities who create and distribute the content that allows us to serve our loyal and dedicated audience of listeners, readers, and now viewers. It is this talented team that has allowed Salem to become the business it is today. Building and expanding this platform over nearly 50 years has been and will continue to be the focus of my life’s work.”

Commenting on his promotion, Santrella said, “I am deeply honored to have been appointed as Salem’s next CEO. I look forward to working in close partnership with David Evans to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities that exist in today’s media landscape, to further the mission of our company and to grow our business. I am blessed that I will have Ed alongside me in my new role.”

Evans added, “I am looking forward to working together with Dave and the rest of our talented leadership team as we further combine traditional media and digital media in new transformative ways. We have a substantial and passionate audience that accesses our content and brands in many ways and we’re focused on ensuring they can enjoy it and engage with us across multiple platforms.”

The senior Epperson, who has served as Salem’s Chairman of the Board of Directors since going public, said, “Our Board of Directors has engaged in thoughtful long-term succession planning, and today’s announcement demonstrates the strength of that process as well as the depth of talent at the executive management level to drive the company’s continued growth and success. I am confident that David Santrella and David Evans are perfectly qualified to continue working with Edward and the rest of the management team to build on our success and drive Salem into the next phase of its growth.”

What is the status of the implementation of the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019 (TVPA)?

The Media Bureau would really like to know, and is inviting comment from “interested parties” in regard to the latest in a series of Congressional actions that have revised the Communications Act of 1934 with the intent to “encourage competition and establish parameters for the carriage of television broadcast stations by multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs).”

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