Industry News

“America is getting out on the open road and time spent in vehicles continues to climb.” That’s Brad Kelly, managing director, Nielsen Audio, commenting on the results of a survey done by the company.

“More road trips, commuting to work, visits to family and friends and trips to stores means more listening to broadcast radio and an opportunity for advertisers to capitalize on America’s increasing consumer confidence as we emerge from the pandemic.”

The company just conducted a webinar about the results of its sixth Audio Consumer Sentiment survey, conducted in late June. It included discussion of its latest data about overall radio listening trends.

[Read: Nielsen Has Good News in May Numbers]

“Consumers 18 and older now show high optimism as the COVID crisis abates,” it found. “The survey looked at three segments reflecting attitudes about the pandemic: People who are ‘Ready To Go,’ those who ‘Proceed With Caution,’ and consumers who ‘Wait And See’ when it comes to resuming normal activities.”

During the peak of the lockdown, U.S. consumers were roughly equally divided among those three groups. In June of this year, the Ready To Go segment “reached a new high of 90%, of American consumers, reflecting rising optimism,” Nielsen Audio said.

It found most people starting to resume more normal activities, that towns are “emerging from the crisis,” stores working to get back to normal activities and more people saying it was safer than a month ago. “The study showed that 26% of consumers are spending more than an hour in their vehicles in June 2021 compared with 14% in April 2020. Heavy radio listeners are far more likely to spend more than an hour in their vehicle (40%) compared with total consumers (26%).”

Below are more highlights as provided by Nielsen in a summary of its webinar:

Vaccines — Two thirds of consumers have gotten the vaccine or plan to. Uncertainty with regard to vaccines in June is now half (13%) of what it was in March (26%) 2021. “Among those who have gotten the vaccine or plan to get it, 73% expect to resume MOST normal activities and 72% say they expect to resume ALL normal activities.”

Economic Outlook — With fewer restrictions and the rollout of vaccines, half (48%) of consumers anticipate an improved economy in the months ahead, which is two thirds greater than the 29% who say it will remain unchanged and twice as many as those who expect it to get worse (23%). “Consumer expectation about the economy often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, which bodes well for the recovery,” Nielsen said.

Employment — Two thirds of employed (67%) people now work outside the home vs. four in ten (39%) in April of last year. “This is a leading indicator of audience growth, since consumers spend more time with radio when they travel in vehicles to get to work.”

Public Transportation — “Each of our segments (Ready to Go, Proceed with Caution and Wait and See) say that their use of public transportation has decreased much more so than those who say it’s increased due to COVID-19. More than a third of the most conservative group (Wait and See) say their use of public transit has decreased compared with 6% who say it’s increased since the pandemic. Even among the most optimistic Ready to Go group, 25% say they use public transit less compared with only 5% who say it has increased. Since people still need to get places, decreased use of public transportation means more time in vehicles.”

Schooling — In October 2020, when Nielsen first asked about how children attend classes, there were more children attending virtual-only classes than those who attended in-person. “In June 2021, that pattern reversed itself. Now 38% of kids attend in-person classes compared with 14% who go to virtual only classes.” Also, in October 2020, nearly as many kids were getting to school on a bus as those who were getting rides from a family member or in a carpool. This changed significantly in June 2021, with twice as many kids driven to school (65%) versus those who took the bus (32%). “With more kids attending class in person and more getting to school in vehicles, there are more opportunities to listen to radio on the way to school. Nearly nine in ten consumers that the radio is sometimes or always on during the drive to school.”

Local Shopping — Nielsen asked consumers how they get the things they purchase. “In a good sign for retail, in June 2021, 82% say they shopped in-store which is a ten point gain since March 2020. However, online shopping has become a bigger factor in consumer’s lives than it was prior to the pandemic, with 77% ordering online and getting goods shipped to their home compared with 70% before the pandemic.” While stores are open, it said, the convenience of hybrid shopping remains with 32% buying at a local store and having it delivered, 38% picking up items in-store and 36% doing curbside pickup.

Top weekly activities — The study looked at the top 10 activities consumers engaged in during the past week in June and compared it to April 2020. “There were big gains in activities that were restricted a year ago such as shopping for groceries at the store (84% in June 21 vs. 70% in April 20), getting together with friends and family (59% in June 21 vs. 18% in April 20), dining out (43% in June 21 vs. 2% in April 20), shopping for clothes (30% in June 21 vs. 6% in April 20), going to coffee shops (25% in June 21 vs. 7% in April 20) and planning vacations (15% in June 21 vs. 3% in April 20). Plus, there was a 10 point jump in driving in vehicles (77% in June 21 vs. 67% in April 20) as people have returned to the road.”

Listening to AM/FM Radio — Radio reached 122.1 million consumers in PPM markets during an average week in May 2021, which was an 8% Year-over-Year increase vs. May 2020. “Radio’s average quarter-hour (AQH) audience peaked at 7.8 million people in PPM markets in May 2021 which was a 20%  year-over-year gain vs. May 2020.”

 

 

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The individual who will direct the marketing strategies for each of the business units within FOX Entertainment, including the FOX broadcast TV network and free AVOD platform Tubi has been selected.

It’s the man who presently serves as EVP of Marketing for FOX Entertainment.

As such, it’s a promotion for Darren Schillace.

His duties extend to projects from Bento Box, FOX Alternative Entertainment and Blockchain Creative Labs.

But, Schillace’s responsibilities for FOX and Tubi are perhaps the greater focal point of his task list. They include on-air and off-air promotion, brand and program advertising, national media and promotions, digital marketing, strategic partnerships, music, social media, affiliate marketing and production.

He will continue to oversee FOX Entertainment’s strategy for its program development, Newfront and Upfront presentations.

With his expanded purview, Schillace’s direct reports will now include Natalie Bastian, who, as Head of Marketing for Tubi, was recently promoted to Senior Vice President.

The FOX Marketing team will continue to report to Schillace.

Under Schillace’s marketing campaigns, Call Me Kat, starring Mayim Bialik and featuring Leslie Jordan and Swoosie Kurtz in supporting roles, emerged as the pandemic-impacted seasons top new sitcom.

Before joining FOX in 2017, Schillace oversaw all marketing strategies for ABC’s primetime, late-night and daytime programming, spanning on-air promotion, off-network creative, digital marketing, social media, paid media, strategic partnerships and events.

From 2010 to 2012, he was VP of Consumer Marketing for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. Before that, Schillace posted his first stint with ABC, where he was VP of Marketing Strategy.

The Pennsylvania State University graduate joined ABC in 2003 from Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, where he handled marketing strategy for EPCOT and Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando. Schillace, who started his career working in production and design at Random House, also worked at a number of advertising agencies, including Ogilvy & Mather and TBWA Chiat/Day.

The affiliate boards of directors of ABC, CBS, FOX Television and NBC will once again meet during NAB Show, scheduled as an in-person event from October 9-13 in Las Vegas.

It’s another sign that the “premier event for broadcasters and the broader media, entertainment and technology industries” isn’t concerned about the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus or increases in positive virus cases tied to personal decisions not to vaccinate.

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The 2021 NAB Shows marks the 12th year the ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC affiliate boards have met in conjunction with the event.

“The challenging, changing times and events we have all experienced in recent memory have reinforced the critical importance of broadcasting, particularly accurate, trusted, relevant local journalism – and the vital need to not only preserve it, but to see that it thrives now and in the future,” said Mike Meara, President of NPG Broadcasting and chair of the ABC Television Affiliates Association. “NAB Show – with industry leaders and representatives all back live and in-person, and the latest, emerging technology on display – provides the ideal platform to explore how to ensure that happens. The ABC Affiliates look forward to seeing and meeting with one another, with our network partners, and with other broadcasters in Las Vegas in October.”

The CBS Affiliate Board Chair is Patrick McCreery, President of Meredith Local Media Group, which could be finalizing the sale of its television stations by the time the NAB Show commences.

McCreery said, “Broadcasters are excited about the future and are poised to capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead for our industry. That is why NAB Show is the right venue for the CBS Affiliate Board meeting — it is where industry leaders, innovators and influencers come together to not only reflect on the current state of our businesses but to discuss and lead the charge into the future. The last two years have shown us that local broadcasters and the trusted journalism we provide are essential to our communities, and no other event provides us with the tools, insights and networking to help us reinforce our commitment to serving our audiences.”

Patricia McRae, president of KHQ Inc. and Cowles Montana Media, chairs the FOX Television Affiliate Board of Governors.

Emily Barr, President/CEO of Graham Media Group, is the NBC Affiliate Board of Directors chair.

As previously announced, signature NAB events including the Sales and Management Television Exchange (SMTE), October 8-9, and the Radio Show, will co-locate with NAB Show in Las Vegas for the first time.

With the promise of a large, demographically diverse audience, the Games of the XXXII Olympiad — the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics — are forecast to bring in record-high advertising revenue.

In fact, Kantar believes the ad dollars will be more than 20% higher than the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

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There will be no blackouts of Spongebob, CBS2 News or BET fare for subscribers of Charter Communications’ Spectrum MVPD services across the U.S. — including New York and Los Angeles.

The continued carriage of ViacomCBS’ portfolio of broadcast, entertainment, news and sports networks on Charter Communications’ Spectrum systems is now assured.

The freshly signed deal between Charter and ViacomCBS, announced Thursday morning, also includes licensing ViacomCBS’s Paramount+, Pluto TV, BET+ and Noggin for future distribution to Spectrum customers.

“We are pleased to have reached a new deal to deliver ViacomCBS’ expansive portfolio of popular brands and premium programming for Spectrum audiences to enjoy, plus greater choice in how they consume our content,” said Ray Hopkins, President of U.S. Network Distribution at ViacomCBS. “Charter is a valued partner, and we look forward to deepening our long-standing relationship.”

Added Tom Montemagno, EVP of Programming Acquisition for Charter, “These comprehensive agreements with ViacomCBS recognize the fast-changing pace of the subscription video business and provide us the flexibilities to adapt for the benefit of our customers while also furthering our strategic interests in the advanced advertising realm and aggregated video store concept with the addition of the streaming apps.”

ViacomCBS and Charter also will expand their existing collaboration around addressable media and advanced advertising.

Others terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

Fig. 1: The dimmer circuit schematic showing the filtering capacitors.

Rob Atkinson, K5UJ, is an engineer out of Saint Charles, Ill., and one of the many readers who enjoy the DIY projects we feature from time to time in Workbench.

Fig. 1, a spectral picture at 0.00% illumination.

He writes in to say that he admires Frank Hertel’s ingenuity in home-brewing the LED dimmer circuit that we told you about in the May 26 issue. However, as a ham Rob is concerned about the RFI that variable square waves cause and that there was no mention of RFI mitigation measures in Frank’s submission.

Rob points out that any kind of control circuit based on square waves can be a terrible spectrum polluter, especially if the leads to the device being controlled are long and unshielded. His concern is that these ideas often end up on the internet, where they are repurposed by unsuspecting shortwave or medium-wave hobbyists.

Frank Hertel responded: “Since hams sometimes work with receiving weak signals” — which, by the way, Frank does when measuring distant AM and FM signals — “I can relate to Mr. Atkinson’s concerns.”

Frank says Rob is right. See Fig. 1, the dimmer schematic. The 555 Timer IC does produce a fairly square wave output, so filtering is important. However, the 6.8K resistor that is in a series with the 555’s output to the MPF102 MOSFET’s gate is bypassed to ground with a 1 MFD (nonpolarized) capacitor and does a pretty good job of turning the square wave into a semi-sine wave (non-symmetrical shaping).

Fig. 3 (left), ’scope showing 0.00% illumination. Fig. 4 (right), output at 20% illumination. Note the non-symmetrical sine wave, shaped by the filter caps.

Finally, an additional damping filter capacitor, the 100 MFD capacitor at the D718 emitter to ground that connects to the LED light fixture, does a bit more filtering.

Frank realizes that he could have fabricated a more sophisticated output filter network, but he found that any emissions from the dimmer circuit were consistent with the emissions of commercial dimmers and commercial dimmable LED lamps, so that is where he decided to leave it, as you see in the schematic.

Fig. 5 (left), ’scope measurement at 70% illumination. Fig. 6 (right), spectrum at 100% illumination.

In these scope photos and spectrum analyzer shots, the probe is connected across the 555 output/LED fixture at different LED intensities.

The Enemy of LEDs
San Francisco contract and project engineer Bill Ruck was interested in Frank’s dimmer circuit interesting, but even more so in the super-flexible silicone wire used. At Amazon.com, type “B07K9R9LBV” in the search field to find this 22-awg silicone electrical wire. Frank used 22 gauge but other gauges are available.

Here’s the super-flexible silicone wire that Frank Hertel used.

Bill inquired because most of the “zip” red/black cables that he has seen are relatively stiff. He points out that most LED fixtures have a built-in regulated current switching supply. If the fixture just had a current limiting resistor, it would dim gradually.

Bill related a personal experience in which he replaced his circular kitchen “dome” fixture with LEDs. It turns out the two round “Circline” fluorescent bulbs are no longer manufactured by GE, so Bill bought a “2600 Lumen 30W Super Bright Cool White LED” from MJPA (Item #31327 OP at mjpa.com) with the appropriate power supply. He then used the fixture can to build a LED-based lamp.

The lamp worked great for about six months, then failed. This time, he spaced the LED assembly below the ceiling with an extension box. This, too, failed in time. The repair saw Bill adding heat sinks around the LEDs.

The moral to the story? Heat is the enemy of long-life LEDs! Next time, Bill will rebuild the fixture and put the heat sinks on the outside of the can to better dissipate the heat.

John Bisset, CPBE, has 50 years in the broadcasting industry including 31 years writing Workbench. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance and is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award. Workbench submissions are encouraged and qualify for SBE recertification. Email johnpbisset@gmail.com.

 

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Studio Float IsoRafts vibration isolation products

Studio Float is offering IsoRafts, a new line of wood and silicone vibration isolation products.

Intended to be an inexpensive sound-absorbing solution, the line is centered around simple “blocks” constructed from wood and silicone, which reportedly provide accurate predictive acoustic performance. The line is geared towards studio designers and builders for private or commercial production/performance venue projects.

According to Studio Float, IsoRafts are intended to make a space more acoustically efficient, and are to prevent sound from leaking into adjacent areas, in turn isolating a facility from the outside world.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

During a facility’s construction phase, the IsoRafts get attached directly to the side of studs and joists using standard fastening techniques. The aim is to decouple floors, walls and ceilings from a main structure, effectively “floating” them and preventing sound transfer between spaces.

Three types are available: Deck IsoRafts (for floors) are available in three sizes ( 2-inch, 3-inch, 4-inch) and height options of low 1-1/4-inch height profile or high 2-1/4-inch profile for handling underfloor cabling. Meanwhile, Wall IsoRafts feature a 1/4-inch offset to provide an air gap, and Ceiling IsoRafts are available for use with hanging acoustical panels or with a threaded rod insert. The Wall IsoRaft may also be use in a ceiling application.

All IsoRaft products are designed and built in Hanover, Mass., and tested at Riverlab Acoustical Laboratories in Illinois. Prices per IsoRaft range from $7.65 to $11.70.

Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

Info: https://studio-float.com

 

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To facilitate regulatory approvals for its approximately $2.825 billion purchase of Meredith Local Media, announced on May 3, Gray Television agreed to divest an ABC affiliate  “to an independent third-party no later than the closing of the Meredith acquisition.”

At the time, RBR+TVBR asked if it was Allen Media Group.

It is now known that this guess was the correct one.

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Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation, the owner and operator of Adult Alternative WYEP-FM and NPR Member station WESA-FM, has appointed a Vice President of Broadcasting.

It’s an individual who has been associated with the stations for nearly two decades: Mike Sauter.

Terry O’Reilly, President/CEO of Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting, commented, “WYEP and WESA share a common goal: to be leaders in the service they provide in music and journalism, respectively. We’re thrilled to take this next important step for our organization, by placing Mike at the helm of our broadcast operations and programming.”

Sauter joined Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting in 2004 as WYEP’s Program Director. He was promoted to station manager in 2019. He began his career in 1984 in Ithaca, N.Y., and his career includes a run as an air personality at WHTG-FM in Monmouth-Ocean, N.J.

 

MESA, ARIZ. — As the first market in the U.S. to experience NEXTGEN TV when it launched in 2018, audiences in the Phoenix area have been among the first to experience the next generation of digital TV broadcasting.

Now, there is an expanded roster of stations using the ATSC 3.0 digital broadcast TV standard available for viewing.

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