Industry News

Paul Rogers has been promoted by iHeartMedia to area president for North Florida, which includes the Jacksonville market.

He succeeds Nicky Sparrow, who was recently named the senior vice president of multicultural sales for iHeartMedia Markets Group.

The Jacksonville cluster includes eight stations with music formats in English and Spanish: WSOL(FM), WQIK(FM), WJBT(FM), WWJK(FM), WKSL(FM), WFXJ(AM), Rumba 106.9FM and 107.3FM Planet Radio.

Rogers has been market president for Tallahassee and Panama City since 2017. iHeart’s realigned North Florida area now also includes those two cities.

Rogers will report to Division President Linda Byrd.

Send People News announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post iHeart Tabs Paul Rogers to Lead North Florida appeared first on Radio World.

On January 26, Nassau, Bahamas-based Honeycomb Investments Ltd. (now named the Global Media & Entertainment Investments Trust) snapped up a total of 9,631,329 shares of iHeartMedia stock.

This gave the entity 8.8% attributable interest in iHeartMedia, leading sleuths to connect one of the key individuals involved in the investment to one of the biggest commercial radio station owners in Great Britain.

Now, this company that boasts such brands as Heart, Capital, Radio X, LBC, Gold and Classic FM wants a greater stake in iHeartMedia. And, its Washington-based counsel has written to the FCC to advance regulatory approval for the purchase.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

The author is chairman of the European Digital Radio Alliance (EDRA). This is one in a recurring series of commentaries from and about WorldDAB.

The European Digital Radio Alliance is a joint initiative bringing together 25 members from 13 European countries.

Its members represent public and commercial broadcasters from across the continent, several hundred large and small radio stations along with a few hundred million listeners.

One of EDRA’s key priorities has been to promote digital radio, and ensure it is included in the new European Electronic Communications Code. Digital terrestrial radio is now compulsory for new passenger cars sold across Europe, and member states have the possibility to extend this obligation to domestic receivers.

[Read: Commentary: DAB+ Takes Center Stage]

In November, EDRA decided to adopt a manifesto in the face of digital developments, and raise awareness regarding radio stations’ growing dependence on certain digital giants, and the dangers that entails.

By putting their content on the platforms of these tech giants, radio stations become increasingly dependent on tech giants and enable them to act as gatekeepers. Therefore they are becoming the new digital competitors of our radio stations, weakening them as they attract more listeners, make limited national production investments, and reduce the pool of choice of consumer and radio stations’ exposure on digital platforms.

We firmly believe that the intervention of commercial third-party platforms, mediating the relationship between the broadcasters and the listeners, is detrimental to the level playing field which has existed in European countries until now.

At EDRA, we aim to promote together a radio distribution strategy based on a secure, direct route to reach audiences, independent of the technologies employed. In this context, we would underline the importance of broadcast distribution in maintaining continuity of service for public safety in emergency conditions.

We have outlined two strategies to face these challenges — the first one is to facilitate collaboration within our industry. While we continue to compete on content, we need to bring the industry together to maintain a strong basis for radio around Europe and stay attractive to our listeners.

We also need to secure direct access to our listeners by favoring common platforms that allow for the growth of radio — DAB+ digital radio being the obvious one — but also by develop attractive digital platforms that will allow us to step away from third parties who are less likely to invest in our economies.

The success of DAB+ is based on cooperation between radio stations, and we are seeing strong growth in DAB+ listening across several European markets as the migration of radio audiences to digital continues.

Digital distribution, both terrestrial broadcasting and internet, is inevitably the future of radio; it will continue to deliver listener benefits around supplementary data and flexible on-demand provision.

The post DAB+ — Radio’s Biggest Ally in Facing Off Digital Giants appeared first on Radio World.

The Mentoring & Inspiring Women in Radio (MIW) Group, a volunteer organization dedicated to developing management and leadership skills for women in radio broadcasting, is pleased to introduce the MIW Group Mildred Carter Mentoring Program’s Class of 2021.

A total of four candidates from the radio industry — within sales, marketing, programming, and digital disciplines — are selected annually for the MIW Group’s heritage mentoring program.

Now in its 20th year, this opportunity matches up-and-coming women in radio with female professionals recognized as leaders in all aspects of the industry. vCreative, the provider of media workflow solutions, is the lead sponsor of this year’s program.

The 2021 class is comprised of the following professionals:

• Lisa Kirkman, National Accounts Director for Ruby Radio in Northeastern Nevada
• Jenna Miller, Integrated Sales Manager (GSM) for Cox Media Group in Tampa
• Tonee Roper, On-Air Personality & Promotions Director for Neuhoff Media in Springfield, Ill.
• Ashley Wilson, Director of Country Programming for the Kentucky/Indiana Region, iHeartMedia

The MIW Group Mildred Carter Mentoring Program is named in the memory of Mildred Carter, who, along with her husband Andrew “Skip” Carter, founded the first African American-owned radio station in the U.S. in 1950, when they turned on KPRS-AM in Kansas City. Mrs. Carter ran the Carter Broadcast Group for many years, after the death of Skip Carter, before turning over control of the company to her grandson Michael Carter in 1987.

Entercom VP of Agency Partnerships Lindsay Adams, Chair of the 2021 MIW Group Mentoring Committee and a 2006 graduate of the program said, “The pandemic created such a demand and need for mentoring to aid in career development and advancement. The sheer quantity and quality of candidates desiring to develop their careers in audio tripled this year. Given the challenges we have all faced over this last year, the program will prove to be even more valuable to our 2021 mentees who highly reflect the excellence we’re seeing in applications. Let the mentoring begin!”

To read about these amazing finalists and former mentees visit: https://www.radiomiw.com/mentees

SAN FRANCISCO — A former FCC appellate lawyer has joined Davis Wright Tremaine’s San Francisco office as a partner in the technology and communications practice, where she will focus on matters before the California Public Utilities Commission, the FCC, and on other appellate and regulatory matters.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

MIAMI — One of the nation’s biggest Spanish-language media companies has secured a long-term agreement for services from the nation’s dominant source of radio industry ratings and audience listening estimates.

It’s a multi-year renewal that allows Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) to continue to benefit from Nielsen Audio audience measurement data in five PPM markets where the company owns radio stations, and the diary-based Puerto Rico marketplace.

Also benefiting from the new Nielsen deal is SBS’s national radio arm, AIRE Radio Network.

The agreement also allows SBS access to Nielsen Scarborough and the nationwide dataset are included.

SBS owns 17 radio stations that collectively reach a third of the U.S. Hispanic population.

JACKSONVILLE — On March 12, iHeartMedia promoted a 20-year sales veteran to the new role of SVP/Multicultural Sales for its Markets Group.

We now know who is succeeding Nicky Sparrow in her former role as the head of iHeart’s North Florida station group, headquartered in this fast-growing metropolis home to financial services and the U.S. Navy.

Taking the role of Area President for North Florida is Paul Rogers, which sees him assume oversight for a newly configured North Florida region for iHeartMedia that includes not only Jacksonville but also Florida’s state capital, Tallahassee, and Panama City, on the Panhandle in the Central Time Zone.

Rogers reports to Division President Linda Byrd, who has worked with Rogers for more than 35 years. She says, “His integrity, judgment, professionalism and competitiveness are what any manager would look for in a market leader. He is the perfect choice as a successor, and I have no doubt that he will take this area to the next level.”

Byrd also thanked Sparrow “for the great work she has done in getting Jacksonville to where we are today” and congratulated her on her new role within iHeartMedia.

Rogers, in essence, is adding Jacksonville to his current responsibilities. He’s been Market President for Tallahassee and Panama City since 2017, and before that served in multiple local, statewide and national roles for iHeartMedia while working in Jacksonville for 18 years. He began his career at WLAK-FM (now WLIT-FM) in Chicago in the late 1980s.

“I am beyond excited by this new challenge and to be given the opportunity to finally lead the Jacksonville market where I have spent so much of my career and where I still have family, many dear friends, teammates and customers,” Rogers said. “We have a strong and diverse staff, and so many of iHeartMedia’s leaders and many of our industry’s greatest air personalities have come from this area. But mostly, it’s a chance to once again work with Linda Byrd, who’s been my mentor for my entire career.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The trade association that represents the interest of local TV station owners and management on a national level, similar to how the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) works with AM and FM radio stations, has renewed its agreement with “a trusted partner for planning, transacting and evaluating media across platforms.”

BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON FACEBOOK!

As such, Comscore will continue to provide the TVB with local, network and digital audience information including Comscore’s Advanced Automotive Demographics segments.

“Comscore provides TVB, and all Comscore clients, with the measurement solutions that are most capable of delivering stable and predictive audience insights to help clients drive their businesses successfully.” said Steve Walsh, a Comscore EVP.

In a year full of challenges, some radio station owners continued to see COVID-19 related impairments in the fourth quarter of 2020. Others have rebounded strongly, thanks to hefty political dollars and a strong digital story.

For Townsquare Media, CEO Bill Wilson and EVP/CFO Stu Rosenstein have perhaps the best recovery story in the local media industry. Why? Digital fueled the growth, setting the stage for a most impressive fourth quarter finish that crushed even the best forecasts company numbers-crunchers came up with last autumn.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

Tonee Roper, a worldwide air talent and Promotions Director for Neuhoff Media’s radio stations serving Springfield, Ill., is one of four candidates selected for the MIW’s 2021 Mildred Carter Mentoring Program.

Roper is the guest on the latest RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast, presented by DOT.FM.

She spoke one-on-one with Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson, and engaged in a lively conversation about the importance of radio as a Thirtysomething seeking career longevity in an industry maligned by many as one that’s dying.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Tonee Roper, Neuhoff Media” on Spreaker.