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The legal tug of war continues between the Federal Communications Commission and several broadcast organizations over the new rule about disclosing when programs are sponsored by foreign governments.

At issue is the FCC’s order, adopted last April, requiring that U.S. radio and TV stations disclose when foreign governments lease air time. All four commissioners voted yes, saying the change would ensure that audiences are aware when a foreign government or its representatives use the airwaves to persuade the public.

The National Association of Broadcasters, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters earlier had asked a federal appeals court to put a stay on the order pending judicial review. The FCC opposed their request.

[Related: FCC Denies NAB Stay Petition on Foreign-Sponsorship ID Rules]

Now NAB, MMTC and NABOB have filed a reply brief, reiterating their arguments that the FCC doesn’t have authority for this requirement under the Communications Act and the First Amendment, that it would be an undue burden and that broadcasters face imminent, irreparable harm unless the court pauses the FCC action.

They criticize the regulation for its “extraordinary reach and sheer pointlessness” and call it a “content-based compulsion of speech.” They repeated their arguments that a broadcaster would have to conduct an investigation of “every programming lease, even commercial and local programming (since virtually every lessee will deny, virtually always truthfully, that it or another person in the production or distribution chain is a foreign governmental entity, thus triggering the duty to investigate).” And they say the whole rule is in place to solve a “phantom harm never known to occur.”

Read the brief.

The post Broadcasters Again Push Back on Foreign Government ID appeared first on Radio World.

HONOLULU — SummitMedia LLC, owner of stations formerly part of the Cox Media Group family, has promoted its Local Sales Manager to the role of market President.

The elevation in duties comes amid widespread local media coverage of several high-profile layoffs across the Birmingham, Ala.-based company’s five radio stations serving O’ahu, higher elevations of Maui, and all of the Hawaiian Islands via Spectrum MVPD services.

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NEW YORK — One is a 10-year-old independent ad sales company connecting audio publishers, brands, and audiences. The other is a full-service network audio company offering sales, marketing, and affiliate products to some 4,000 affiliates that is a division of Gen Media Partners.

As of today, the two entities have forged an ad sales partnership.

With AdLarge and GMP’s G Networks combining sales networks, “a new dynamic and impressive ad sales powerhouse in network audio” has been created, the companies boast.

They also note that, in addition to continuing to represent top-tier content producers, AdLarge will oversee the management, sales, and fulfillment of the network audio ad sales inventory for both companies. G Networks will continue to offer and affiliate their programming and services through their existing affiliations team to radio stations across the U.S.

Warren Friedland, President of G Networks, comments. “AdLarge has a reputation for delivering innovative campaigns to help brands reach their media goals. AdLarge’s ad sales efforts coupled with our own extremely targeted networks will lead to a better return on investment for advertisers, brands, and agencies.”

Gary Schonfeld, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of AdLarge, adds, “This unique partnership will enhance our already robust ad sales networks, as well as generate greater critical mass and increased coverage of major markets. This is a win-win for the advertisers and the network audio community. The partnership with G Networks will greatly benefit the audio campaigns of our advertisers and agency partners.”

He was widely known in the advertising industry for his five years as Chief Marketing Officer of Sprint, now a part of T-Mobile. From today, he’ll be getting new recognition as the first CMO of Streaming at Univision Communications.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The NAB, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) and National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) late yesterday (1/10) filed a reply brief with the D.C. Federal Appeals Court in response to the FCC’s opposition to the group’s stay request of an FCC order mandating disclosures for foreign government-sponsored programming pending judicial review.

What do the groups have to say now on the matter?

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TORONTO — It’s been a not-so-dissimilar family battle to the storyline of acclaimed HBO comedy-drama Succession, which centers on a highly dysfunctional dynasty at one of the world’s largest media and entertainment conglomerates.

On Monday (1/10), the future of Rogers Communications entered a new chapter, as the company now under the control of founder Ted Rogers’ son, Edward, selected its new President/CEO.

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Lawo has announced the end of production of its DALLIS modular I/O system and related cards and components.

“Lawo AG presented the DALLIS platform to the public for the first time in 2002,” the company wrote in an email to customers.

“Since then, the DALLIS interface was Lawo’s highly respected primary I/O system due to its flexibility, modularity and quality. Over the years, DALLIS frames interfaced to Lawo audio products via three different backbone technologies, ATM, MADI and Ravenna, and has supported almost 90 different I/O card options.”

With the introduction of the A_UHD Core Phase 2 architecture in late 2020, DALLIS approached the end of its life as an I/O device.

“For existing mc2, Radio and Routing installations that utilize DALLIS, there is a last-time buy window until June 30, 2022,” the company continued.

“Lawo’s service team will continue to support all DALLIS installations based on the final software release for each of the various products using DALLIS.” It noted that “due to increasing complexity in supply chain,” its support team will only be able to service DALLIS with components still in stock. “Supplies of replacement components will be limited to stock on hand. Limited numbers of products for replacement might also be available until end of stock.”

DALLIS stood for “Digital And Line Level Interface System.”

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

The post Lawo Ends Production of Its DALLIS Platform appeared first on Radio World.

Adams Radio Group has named Nick Brino as vice president and general manager of its stations in Tallahassee, Fla.

Brino is former market manager for Forever Media in Havre de Grace, Md. He also has worked for Cumulus and Salem Media, the latter as a general sales manager — in New York for WMCA(AM) and WNYM(AM), and in Washington for WAVA(AM/FM).

Brino replaces Jason Lamp, who is pursuing station ownership opportunities. The Tallahassee cluster comprises WXTY(FM), WWOF(FM), WQTL(FM) and WHTF(FM).

Ron Stone is CEO of Adams Radio Group.

Send People News announcements, particularly involving technology and senior management roles, to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Brino Joins Adams Radio in Tallahassee appeared first on Radio World.

Josh Reiss has begun his term as the new president of the Audio Engineering Society.

He succeeds Jonathan Wyner, who said Reiss “brings a deep knowledge of audio technology coupled with an appetite for innovation.”

“The field of audio engineering is changing fast,” Reiss wrote in his president’s message. “Machine learning is introducing changes to almost every facet of our lives, the music industry continues to undergo rapid innovation and professionals continually require training in new technologies and workflows.

“The AES understands and embraces this need to adapt. Handled well, these changes can bring new and better audio, as well as a more inclusive and diverse field, encouraging talent, creativity and innovation from all walks of life. However, to say that we have challenges would be an understatement.”

The society has posted the text of his president’s message.

Reiss is a professor with the Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary University of London.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

Over 15 years of involvement with the society, Reiss has been vice-chair of its Publications Policy Committee, co-chair of the Technical Committee on High-Resolution Audio, and a former governor of the society.

In 2007 he was general chair of the 31st AES Conference, “New Directions in High Resolution Audio,” and in 2009 he was general secretary of the 35th AES International Conference, “Audio for Games.” He served on the organizational team for several AES International Conventions, including the role of chair of the 128th. He also has won several AES honors.

He has published more than 150 scientific papers, authored the book Working with the Web Audio API and co-authored the books Intelligent Music Production and Audio Effects: Theory, Implementation and Application.

“As coordinator of the EASAIER project, he led an international consortium working to improve access to sound archives in museums, libraries and cultural heritage institutions,” AES wrote. “He is co-founder of the start-up company LandR, providing intelligent tools for audio production, and Tonz, providing neural network-based audio effects. Another start-up based on his team’s research, Nemisindo, has recently launched an online service for procedural sound design and the Nemisindo Action Pack of fully procedural audio plugins for sound effect creation in Epic Game’s Unreal Engine.”

The post Josh Reiss Begins Term as AES President appeared first on Radio World.

LOS ANGELES — It’s considered to be a leader in facility management software for the broadcast and media industries, thanks in large part to MediaPulse, which provides scheduling, automation, asset management, billing and cost recovery for broadcasters, media services companies and transmission facilities.

As of today, it is now owned by a San Francisco-based software-focused private equity firm.

Banneker Partners on December 30 moved ahead with its acquisition of Xytech.

Speaking of the transaction, Banneker CEO Richard Gallagher said, “When I created Xytech, my primary goal was to bring facility management into the next generation to help media facilities — both large and small — be more efficient and productive. For more than three decades, this has been Xytech’s focus, and we are proud of what we have accomplished.”

Gallagher cited Banneker’s investment focus on software products aimed at specific verticals and its willingness “to invest to scale operational delivery, product innovation and sales and marketing.”

He added, “It is the perfect partner for Xytech’s next stage of growth.”

Banneker Partners’ Kenneth Frank commented, “We see this as a strategic investment to accelerate Xytech’s ability to enhance their solution offering and operational delivery capabilities in this key market segment. We look forward to working alongside Richard and the rest of the management team to strengthen the company’s customer penetration and market reach.”

Xytech says its customers can expect “a seamless transition.”

— RBR+TVBR West Coast Bureau

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mark your calendars for today at 1pm Eastern.

Thanks when global tech trade association ITI will host FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks for a virtual discussion devoted to modernizing digital infrastructure in the U.S.

The Democratic Commission plans to share how the U.S. government can work with domestic industry to ensure effective and timely deployment of infrastructure funding.

The event, part of ITI’s Bridge for Innovation series, will also feature industry leaders and ITI member companies from Cisco, Corning, Equinix and Qualcomm.

“The passage of the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act brings with it billions in new investments in the U.S. for expanding broadband and closing the digital divide, improving our cybersecurity defenses, enhancing government digital services, and much more,” ITI notes. “But how can this funding be allocated to ensure that the largest infrastructure bill in recent history is delivering its full benefits to all Americans?”

That’s a question Starks plans to address.

The event will also feature industry leaders who will discuss modernizing digital infrastructure and providing secure connectivity to all Americans. Panelists will include Alissa Cooper, VP and CTO for Technology Policy for Cisco Systems; Jon Lin, EVP & General Manager of Data Center Services for Equinix; Dr. Durga Malladi, SVP & GM of 5G, Mobile Broadband & Infrastructure for Qualcomm Technologies; and Jason Zelley, Market Development Manager of Carrier Networks and Emerging Accounts for Corning Incorporated. 

Additional details and registration information are available here.

You’ve likely heard of Tesla vehicles and perhaps the Nissan Leaf, in particular if you’ve spent time on Maui. Introducing the Lucid Air luxury electric vehicle.

For owners of a Lucid automobile, there’s one added dashboard benefit that’s on the way. And, it comes courtesy of a new arrangement between Lucid and a Nielsen-owned smart radio platform.

“Innovative and intuitive audio features” are on the way to Lucid Air vehicles, courtesy of Nielsen’s Gracenote. “By integrating Gracenote’s Smart Radio data and technology solutions, Lucid’s elegant entertainment interface will seamlessly connect drivers and passengers to audio content from a range of sources to optimize the in-car entertainment experience,” Nielsen boasts.

Specifically, Gracenote’s Radio Station ID will be employed in-dash across all Lucid vehicles.

This serves to simplify radio station selection and enable browsing lists and station categories, Nielsen’s Gracenote notes.

Gracenote powers the connected car experience for over 120 million cars on the road today.

— RBR+TVBR West Coast Bureau

WASHINGTON, D.C. — PILOT, NAB‘s technology innovation initiative, is now accepting submissions for the PILOT Innovation Challenge through 5pm Eastern on Monday, January 31. The program will provide mentorship and promotion to winning proposals, along with an opportunity to demonstrate their products at the 2022 NAB Show.

This year’s challenge is seeking startups and growing companies providing products that help address some of the key challenges and opportunities facing broadcasters over the next two to three years. The challenge is specifically seeking products or prototypes that align with three new focus areas of the 2022 NAB Show associated with the content lifecycle.

These areas are:

• “Create”: Focused on content creation from pre-production to post, including the latest tools and advanced workflow options to elevate storytelling.

• “Capitalize”: Focused on reach and ROI, including next-generation technologies creating new revenue streams and fueling the content economy.

• “Connect”: Focused on content distribution and delivery, from cloud computing to new media infrastructure.

“The Innovation Challenge presents a showcase for the cutting-edge ideas and innovations that can transform how broadcasters do business and serve their communities,” said PILOT Executive Director John Clark. “This year’s program aligns with NAB Show’s focus on the three main pillars of today’s content ecosystem as we provide renewed opportunities to help broadcasters evolve and adapt.”

Individuals, teams, companies, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply subject to the Challenge’s official rules of participation. Up to 10 finalists will be selected by a panel of industry experts by early March, with up to three winning proposals being announced the week of March 28, 2022. Participants can review the judging criteria on the PILOT website.

Winners will be selected to receive relevant mentorship, feedback, numerous opportunities to engage with broadcasters and a trip to the annual NAB Show, held April 23-27, 2022 in Las Vegas. They will be provided exhibit space on the NAB Show floor to demonstrate their prototype to potential customers, investors and partners.

To apply please click here.

MIAMI BEACH, FLA. — South Florida has the Brightline high-speed rail service. Now, its beach cities have Breezeline to add to the mix.

No, it’s not a new train service, although Miami Beach could use one to connect it to downtown Miami. Rather, it is the new name for the nation’s eighth-largest cable operator, today owned by Canadian multimedia company Cogeco.

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With this Public Notice, the Media Bureau seeks to refresh the record on proposed rules intended to make closed captioning display settings readily accessible to individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing