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Gigi Sohn (image credit C-SPAN)

Add Consumer Technology Association president Gary Shapiro to the list of those strongly endorsing Gigi Sohn for the fifth seat on the Federal Communications Commission.

President Joe Biden resubmitted Sohn’s nomination to the Senate on Jan. 4 as the administration attempts to finally secure a Democratic majority after a year in a political 2–2 tie. (Nominations must be resubmitted to a new session of Congress unless they have been held over by the relevant committee, which Sohn’s was not.)

It will take that majority to tackle potential regulation of broadcasters and internet service providers, s9mething Republicans are unlikely to vote for.

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In a blog post as CTA kicked off CES 2022, Shapiro called Sohn a “pragmatic problem solver who understands what it takes to make innovation thrive.”

Support from Shapiro comes hardly out of the blue. He and Sohn were on the same side of several fair-use fights when she headed advocacy group Public Knowledge.

He pointed to her opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), which CTA also opposed.

“Good government depends on the leadership of good people — individuals who are committed to principles over partisanship, open to diverse perspectives and dedicated to acting in the public interest,” wrote Shapiro. “As the U.S. Senate considers a nominee for Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), I urge them to confirm a candidate who embodies these qualities: Gigi Sohn.”

Sohn also received the endorsement of a trio of Obama-era FCC Homeland Security Bureau chiefs this week.

She has already had a nomination hearing, but has yet to get a vote out of the Senate Commerce Committee, after which she would need full-Senate confirmation.

Some Republicans have taken issue with her tweets about Fox News and past positions on net neutrality, but others concede elections have consequences and respect her intellect and her integrity.

The post CTA’s Gary Shapiro: Confirm Gigi Sohn to FCC appeared first on Radio World.

The second retransmission consent breakdown in two months transpired on Tuesday evening for TEGNA, with Verizon FiOS joining Dish Network as MVPDs presently preventing its consumers from seeing the broadcast TV station owner’s offerings in lieu of a fresh carriage agreement.

With those negotiations as a backdrop, TEGNA has selected the final day in February for hosting a conference call to discuss its Q4 and full-year 2021 fiscal results.

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Until March 2017, Hector Villalobos owned and operated three FMs and an AM serving agricultural areas tied to the Monterey-Salinas market. At the time, one of those FMs was sold. Then, Villalobos in September 2020 sold the two other FM stations.

Now, the AM has been spun, marking his exit from ownership of stations serving the picturesque region of Northern California.

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Steve Koenig (Photo by John Staley)

“Innovation tends to accelerate and bunch up, and, as it is unleashed, it levels up society and makes life better. We have seen innovation this past season, and it is waiting for you at CES,” said Steve Koenig, vice president, Research, for the Consumer Technology Association, in his introduction to the “CES 2022 Trends to Watch” session the evening of Jan. 3. This annual rundown gives members of the media a look at the trends  shaping the industry, and previews some of the technologies that await them on the show floor.

The first trend Koenig mentioned was the increase in tech demand. The U.S. tech industry forecast is $505 billion dollars, a new high for the industry. Growth rates in 2020 and 2021 showed elevated annual growth for such a mature industry — hitting nearly 10 percent in 2021.

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So what are people buying? The CTA’s report shows that consumers are leveling up their tech, with people upgrading to 4K Ultra HD TVs and smart home products, such as doorbells and appliances. They are also investing in premium brands to create a better experience for themselves, as well as services such as connected fitness devices like Peloton. Premium content services are also growing with the average consumer subscribing to eight different paid services.

Koenig also mentioned that alongside consumers there is another group leaning into the tech sector — investors, who are heavily focused on tech startups. The evidence of this trend is here at CES, with 800 startups located in Eureka Park. The key funding areas for these investors are retail tech, financial tech and healthcare.

Of course, the industry is still facing some large challenges with supply chain issues and the chip shortage, but Koenig sees light at the end of the tunnel in both cases. For supply chain, shipping costs are coming down, but delays remain. “It will take the better part of 2022 before we unravel this challenge,” he said.

For the chip shortage, the short-term solution is to squeeze out more product volume from existing facilities. The real fix for the problem, he said, is to build more chip-making facilities. “It will take time to build the facilities,” he said. “Once we have these new fabs, by the middle of the decade, we will also have a greater geodiversity of chip facilities.”

He concluded the presentation by looking at the current trends, which once again include 5G and AI, but now also include the metaverse.

“5G will provide the connected tissue for innovation in this decade,” said Koenig. “In 2022 we will start to turn from a consumer-centric focus of 5G to industrial IoT — increasing cloud infrastructure, digital transformation, and so on. And hand in hand with 5G is AI — AI getting better and better with new use cases.

“The metaverse is closer than you think, he continued. “The building blocks are here — cloud, 5G, haptics, volumetric video — now we have to assemble them into an experience. The next gen of the internet will create immersive experiences and over time — within 10 years — these experiences will become inextricably linked with our reality.”

An example of this can be seen in the Hyundai Mobis exhibit, located in West Hall, where users can create an avatar to test drive a virtual Hyundai.

The other trends to watch for at CES 2022 include Transportation, Space Tech, Sustainable Tech and Digital Health.

The post CES 2022: Trends to Watch Revealed appeared first on Radio World.

PILOT, NAB’s technology innovation initiative, is accepting submissions for its Innovation Challenge.

PILOT Executive Director John Clark called it a “showcase for the cutting-edge ideas and innovations that can transform how broadcasters do business and serve their communities.”

The program provides mentorship and promotion to winning proposals, along with an opportunity to demonstrate products to potential customers and investors at the NAB Show in April.

The challenge seeks products or prototypes that align with three focus areas:

“Create” is focused on content creation from pre-production to post, including tools and advanced workflow options for better storytelling.

“Connect” is focused on content distribution and delivery, ranging from cloud computing to new media infrastructure.

“Capitalize” focuses on reach and ROI, including technologies for creating new revenue streams and supporting the content economy.

Individuals, teams, companies, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply. Finalists will be chosen by early March, with winning proposals announced later that month.

The deadline to apply is Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. EST.

The post PILOT Opens for 2022 Innovation Challenge Applications appeared first on Radio World.

The National Association of Broadcasters is accepting entries for its annual NAB Crystal Radio Awards, which recognize outstanding community service efforts by radio stations.

NAB member stations can submit an online entry through NAB’s member platform, My NAB, describing their community service efforts for the 2021 calendar year. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 31.

Finalists will be announced in February, with award recipients being honored at the 2022 NAB Show, April 23–27 in Las Vegas.

Entry information is available on the award web page.

Last year’s recipients were KSL(FM), Salt Lake City; KRSP(FM), Salt Lake City; KSTP(FM), St. Paul; WBAP(AM), Dallas; WDRV(FM), Chicago; WFXE(FM), Columbus, Ga.; WJJY(FM), Brainerd, Minn.; WMMR(FM), Philadelphia; WSB(FM), Atlanta; and WWRM(FM), Tampa. Howard University’s WHUR(FM) in Washington received the Crystal Heritage Award.

The post NAB Crystal Radio Awards Open for Entries appeared first on Radio World.

The latest quarterly broadcast station totals have been released from the FCC.

And, when one compares the numbers to the end of the third quarter of 2021, one big takeaway is obvious.

There are more broadcast radio and TV stations licensed in the U.S. than on September 30, but still much fewer than the total seen at the end of Q2 2021.

The total number of AM stations declined again, and is now down by 37 from July 1, 2021. This includes the surrendering of licenses by Crawford Broadcasting in Portland, Ore., and Saga Communications in Norfolk in addition to December 2021 actions recently reported by RBR+TVBR.

The FM station count is also down, however, a rather disconcerting reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic has had its challenges on some operations.

Meanwhile, the incessant growth of FM translator and booster stations hasn’t ceased, again. There are 345 more of this facilities as of the end of Q3 2021 and 1,052 more when compared to the end of Q2 2018.

And, once again, there are fewer LPFMs, the latest numbers show.

For the TV industry, there are fewer low-power TV stations, the latest FCC data show. This is likely a result of channel-sharing tied to the FCC’s post-spectrum auction repack process.

BROADCAST STATION TOTALS AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2021
(Compared to Sept. 30, 2021)

TOTAL BROADCAST STATIONS:  33,467 (up 65)  

All comparisons below to the end of Q3 2021

AM STATIONS                  4509 (minus 10) 
FM COMMERCIAL             6676 (minus 6)
FM EDUCATIONAL            4204 (minus 7)
TOTAL                          15,389 (minus 23)

UHF COMMERCIAL TV      999 (plus 1)
VHF COMMERCIAL TV       374 (unchanged)
UHF EDUCATIONAL TV      266 (plus 1)
VHF EDUCATIONAL TV      119 (unchanged)
TOTAL                            1,758 (plus 2)

CLASS A UHF STATIONS   351 (minus 3)
CLASS A VHF STATIONS    31 (no change)

FM TRANSLATORS & BOOSTERS 8,886 (up 95)
(up from 7814 as of June 30, 2018)

UHF TRANSLATORS               2434 (down 31)
VHF TRANSLATORS               641 (no change)

UHF LOW POWER TV             1488 (plus 35)
VHF LOW POWER TV             440 (plus 2)

LOW POWER FM             2,069 (down 12)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On October 1, 2021, television stations located in Iowa and Missouri were required to file applications for license renewal for terms expiring on February 1, 2022.

Four low-powered television stations failed to file license renewal applications and their licenses.

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WOODBRIDGE, VA. — For one woman who turned on her TV set this morning and attempted to watch the CBS Morning News, a disappointing message appeared instead of the visage of Gayle King. She couldn’t tune to the local CBS affiliate, WUSA-9 in Washington, D.C.

What happened? Her MVPD service provider, Verizon FiOS, has just become the latest cable entity to fail to reach a fair and equitable retransmission consent agreement with a television broadcasting company. In this instance, it involves Tysons-based TEGNA.

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The U.K. government has authorized broadcast regulator Ofcom to renew two national commercial radio multiplex licenses until December 2035. Previously, the Digital One Ltd. multiplex was set to expire in 2023 and the Sound Digital Ltd. multiplex in 2028.

“Radio’s distinctive and much-loved format means it continues to be at the heart of people’s lives,” stated Media Minister Julia Lopez. “Today we are confirming plans to extend radio multiplex licenses until 2035 so our hugely popular stations can continue to reach audiences through digital radio networks and we can give broadcasters the certainty they need to invest in their future services.”

Arqiva owns Digital One, while Sound Digital is co-owned by Arqiva, Bauer Media Group, and Wireless Group Ltd.; both multiplexes are operated by Arqiva. Some 45 stations are carried between the two multiplexes, including on Digital One Absolute Radio, Capital and talkSPORT and on Sound Digital Jazz FM and Virgin Radio.

The government stated that renewing the multiplex licenses via a Legislative Reform Order will provide long-term continuity for national commercial stations to broadcast via DAB.

The post U.K. DAB Multiplexes Renewed to 2035 appeared first on Radio World.

On Wednesday, December 29, Max Media‘s WVHT-FM “HOT 100” in Norfolk was cheerfully promoting on Twitter its syndicated nighttime program, on until midnight. A day later, the host took to Twitter to note he was “just sitting in my radio studio taking phone calls.”

Today, the host is no longer available to take calls, and he’s no longer heard on HOT 100 or any affiliates. Westwood One, the national radio arm of Cumulus Media, has killed The Zach Sang Show.

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Comscore has brought to market what it’s heralding as “a true single-source unified cross-platform measurement solution.”

Once one wades through the marketing language in the company’s announcement, the goal from Comscore is for the new product to become the unified way people use Comscore (similar to audience measurement giant and rival Nielsen’s approach with ONE) to get holistic audience measurement.

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Happy New Year!

In this issue, Gary Stigall reports on the test of a hybrid FM radio/Next Gen TV signal in San Diego.

Alan Jurison comments on where virtualization may take our industry.

Fred Jacobs warns against complacency about radio’s position in the dashboard.

And Dan Slentz puts a streamer’s product to good use.

Read it here.

The post Read the Jan. 5, 2022 Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.

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