Industry News

Ron Gangwer, left, with Steve Tuzeneu

From our People News page: Connecticut station WIHS(FM) recently honored Ron Gangwer for his service to the station over 20 years.

Gangwer is program manager and an on-air host; he joined the staff of the non-profit Christian outlet in 2001.

Gangwer is a former sixth-grade teacher and school administrator. Steve Tuzeneu, at right in photo, is general manager of WIHS, the call letters of which stand for “We’re in His Service.”) The station is owned by Connecticut Radio Fellowship and emphasizes “live and local” content.

Send People News items to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

 

The post Gangwer Honored by WIHS appeared first on Radio World.

Radioline announced the launch of a radio app that’s compatible with the new premium Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro smartwatch. It said it is the first such app outside China.

“The application offers a wide range of content to listen, with real-time control of the mobile app from the watch, in a simple and elegant UI,” the organization said in a press release.

“With one touch, users can easily start /stop the program and save their preferred shows, podcasts or stations in the favorites. They can also control the volume and see the station or podcast name.”

The announcement was made by Xavier Filliol, COO of Radioline, and Rico Zhang, president of the smart wearable and health products line at Huawei Consumer Business Group.

Radioline, part of Baracoda Co., was founded in 2012 as an online radio service and now promotes itself as a global radio provider with access to 90,000 radio stations plus podcasts. Its content is distributed through a range of partners. Its content is consumed on devices such as smartphones, PCs, connected TVs and certain in-car digital products.

Radioline also recently partnered with Swisscom to offer an Android radio application on the latter’s blue TV Platform.

 

The post Radioline Adds App for Huawei Watch GT2 Pro appeared first on Radio World.

The controversial donation-based broadcast TV service provider that says it is a non-profit — thus avoiding retransmission consent negotiations — has debuted in two more markets in the U.S. Southeast.

One is a major banking hub and home to Bank of America. The other is home to the nation’s biggest collection of theme parks.

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According to MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson, “It should be clear that the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ravaged much of the world for the past 12 months, has accelerated the adoption of streaming services.”

And, as summer turned to autumn and fall turned to winter, Americans once again found themselves in front of their screens with few linear options — aside from live news and sports.

In contrast, Nathanson says, consumers had access to “an unlimited bouquet of
increasingly excellent streaming content choices.”

Is broadcast TV losing the content war to “SVOD”?

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Ross Video will host a Webinar on Tuesday (1/26) which will talk about new software-based audio solutions for broadcasters.

Orban and Nielsen partnered with Ross to add specific elements to this platform that bring a new set of tools to radio broadcasters.

This event is scheduled for 11am Eastern/8am Pacific on Tuesday.

It sees the Signal Processing Team discuss in detail Ross Video’s infrastructure products for Cloud Technologies, IP Networks and SDI Infrastructure.

The Ross team will also be joined by representatives Orban Labs and The Nielsen Company to discuss cloud-based signal processing infrastructure.

“The broadcast community, including radio, is moving steadily toward software-based solutions for the broadcast air chain,” says Orban VP/Business Development Mike Pappas. “The new softGear platform from Ross, which incorporates next-generation Orban processing along with Nielsen audio watermark encoding and Dolby audio, brings powerful tools to Radio broadcasters. It’s available now.”

Pappas adds that one launch customer “has ordered hundreds of channels.”

Product introductions and upgrades to Ross’ Signal Processing portfolio will also be shared on the Tuesday webinar.

To register, click here: https://www.rossvideo.com/live

 

Beasley Broadcast Group’s wholly owned subsidiary Beasley Mezzanine Holdings on Thursday (9/21) priced its offering of $300 million in aggregate principal amount of 8.625% Senior Secured Notes due 2026.

The size of the offering was increased by $20 million from the previously announced offering size of $280 million.

The Notes were offered to persons “reasonably believed” to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and outside the United States in compliance with Regulation S under the Securities Act.

Beasley expects to use the net proceeds of this offering to repay in full existing indebtedness under the company’s senior secured credit facilities and certain other indebtedness, with remaining proceeds to be added to the Issuer’s balance sheet and used for general corporate purposes.

Translation: It is a new debt for old debt transaction.

The Notes offering is expected to close on February 2.

Investors took a late afternoon liking to BBGI on Thursday. At 2:36pm Eastern, a big gain was seen, helping Beasley Broadcast Group experience a 11.3% gain on the day.

It brings the audio media company’s stock to a fresh six-month best.

With the Closing Bell on January 21, BBGI was at $2.27. It shed three cents in early after-hours trading on the Nasdaq Global Market.

Could it be tied to a debt swap announced Tuesday (1/19)?

It’s possible, as Beasley Broadcast Group wholly owned subsidiary Beasley Mezzanine Holdings intends to offer $280 million in aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes, subject to market and other conditions.

On a six-month chart, BBGI looks good.

On a one-year chart, it’s another story. In mid-June 2020, a $3.86 spike was seen — marking a short-lived jump for an undervalued issue.

One year ago, BBGI was $3.65. And, five years ago shares were $3.68.

The five-year high: $13.40, seen in late 2017.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — House  Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) has released the names of the Republican subcommittee leaders and subcommittee rosters for the 117th Congress. The six subcommittees and their Republican Subcommittee Leaders are:

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Tru Optik, a TransUnion company, announced today an agreement with Targetspot to offer advertisers audience-based targeting capabilities for streaming audio.

Tru Optik’s data management platform will be integrated into Targetspot’s tech stack, available starting February 2021.

Through this integration, buyers and sellers are able to identify and segment audiences across mobile and streaming audio devices, including smart speakers.

In addition, media companies and audio advertisers will be able to leverage Targetspot’s audio supply inventory with consumer and behavioral insights across streaming audio and podcasts.

“Mapped against Tru Optik’s patented Household GraphTM of more than 80 million U.S. homes, advertisers will have advanced audio targeting capabilities that result in precise, effective and cost-efficient advertising campaigns across mobile, smart speakers and even gaming consoles,” the companies boast.

 

In March 2018, The Mainstay Station Trust LLC came to fruition. It was created to take on four stations divested by Cumulus Media in order to complete its Chapter 11 reorganization plan.

The Trust is headed solely by noted broker Elliot Evers.

In October 2019, two of the four properties were spun from the trust. This followed the removal of a Missouri station from the trust, as Cumulus turned in the license for another property in the market.

Now, the last of the stations licensed to Evers is being sold.

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