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Consent to Transfer Control of Certain Subsidiaries of Univision Holdings, Inc. and Petition for Declaratory Ruling
The Grand Finale: Chairman Pai Preps for Last Open Meeting
Serving as Chairman of the FCC has been the honor of a lifetime. And soon, my time in this position will conclude.
Those are the words of Ajit Pai, who will preside over his final FCC Open Meeting come January 13. The meeting won’t involve any new business, with Bureau, Office, and Task Force leaders summarizing the work their teams have done over the last four years in a series of presentations.
And, it could involve a lot of salutes to the man some detest for “killing net neutrality” while others highly admire for his wit, affability, love of the Kansas City Chiefs, and that oversized Reese’s coffee mug.
RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION: Chairman Pai, we hardly new you. But, in the time you served on the FCC, you proved to be a champion of local media. From tiny AM radio stations to the biggest TV stations, you showed you care — perhaps a lot more visibly than your predecessor. The radio and TV broadcasters of America owe you much gratitude, and we will miss you and that coffee mug of yours. And, who can we taunt when the Buffalo Bills advance to the Super Bowl? While our Editor-in-Chief met you once — by chance at Reagan National Airport and you returned to D.C. from a Boston event in November 2019 — you were pleasant, and took time to chat in that airport corridor. Be well, sir, and best of luck on your next role.
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American Tower Completes Its InSite Buy
American Tower Corporation has closed its acquisition of InSite Wireless Group.
The total consideration for the transaction, subject to certain post-closing adjustments, was approximately $3.5 billion, including the assumption or repayment of existing InSite debt, and was funded by a combination of cash on hand and revolver borrowings.
American Tower Chief Executive Officer Tom Bartlett said, “We are pleased to close this immediately accretive transaction and expect to quickly begin driving new leasing activity on these high-quality, well-located assets. As 5G densification initiatives in the U.S. accelerate and network deployments in international markets continue, we believe we are well positioned to generate attractive, sustainable long-term growth, including on these new sites, while playing a key role in enhancing mobile broadband connectivity.”
American Tower expects the assets acquired from InSite to generate approximately $150 million in property revenue and approximately $115 million in gross margin in 2021.
Kansas Civil Court Puts Great Plains UHF Into Receivership
One of Kansas’ only independent broadcasters has just seen one of its two UHF television stations placed into receivership.
It’s a channel that serves both Wichita and Hutchinson with a host of digital multicast networks including COZI TV, Estrella TV, Bounce, LIGHTtv and NewsNet.
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EMF Secures El Paso Translator Twins
In the border city of El Paso, an FM translator at 88.1 MHz and its sibling at 101.7 MHz have offered Christian talk and teaching programs tied to KELP-FM 89.3, a facility located to the north in Mesquite, N.M.
That’s changing. The nation’s No. 2 licensee by station count is buying them.
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With Yesteryear Philly Call Letters, Ritmo Turns On ‘WIFI’
On December 22, RBR+TVBR reported on a transaction that will see a reborn “Ritmo” offer Tropical programming to Hispanics across the Delaware Valley, courtesy of Miguel Amador and his Ritmo Broadcasting.
Ritmo also operates a Top 40 operation with call letters that pay homage to a pioneering hit music FM that once served Philadelphia, and a FCC filing now shows he’s buying the AM and FM translator used to power up WIFI.
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A Necessary Chapter 11 Emergence Spin Is Reclaimed by iHeart
Keeping it would have placed a reconstituted iHeartMedia over FCC local ownership limits.
As such, a Class C1 FM licensed to a Minnesota town that serves Grand Fork, N. Dakota, was placed in one of three trusts overseen by Barry Drake, the retired President/CEO of former Jacksonville-based radio station owner Backyard Broadcasting.
Now, just over two years later, iHeart is reclaiming this FM.
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FCC Teams Will Summarize Work on Jan. 13
Outgoing Chairman Ajit Pai will use his last FCC meeting on Jan. 13 to showcase the commission’s work over four years.
“Serving as chairman of the FCC has been the honor of a lifetime,” Pai wrote in a blog post. “And soon, my time in this position will conclude.” He departs on Jan. 20 as the new Democratic presidential administration comes in.
“The FCC’s monthly meetings showcase the agency’s highest-profile work. And by any metric, we have been more productive, more collaborative, and more transparent since January 2017 than at any time in recent history,” Pai wrote.
“At the 48 meetings held under my leadership, we’ve voted on a total of 286 items at our monthly meetings — an average of six (5.96, to be precise) items per meeting. That compares to a recent historical average of well under three. Of the votes on those 286 items, 205 (71.7%) featured no dissents and 253 (88.5%) were bipartisan. These figures are far higher than comparable figures from the four preceding years.”
Pai expressed pride in his efforts to increase transparency, for the agency to “show its work” by sharing ahead of time what the FCC would be voting on.
“It’s now routine for the agency to publish the exact text of commission meeting items three weeks in advance of any votes being cast; to include a one-page fact sheet describing in plain English what each item does; and to post a monthly blog from yours truly introducing the agenda in a hopefully-engaging way.”
And for the January meeting, Pai said he has invited FCC bureaus, offices, and task forces to prepare presentations highlighting their accomplishments over four years.
“Three weeks hence, the spotlight properly should shine on them.”
The post FCC Teams Will Summarize Work on Jan. 13 appeared first on Radio World.
A NEXTGEN TV Service to Deliver TV, and Radio, in Seattle
Television viewers in the largest TV market in the Pacific Northwest can now get a taste of the future.
And, it includes broadcast radio.
Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary ONE Media 3.0 has combined both television and radio services for delivery in Seattle, thanks to ATSC 3.0 technology and the NEXTGEN TV voluntary rollout now underway.
How is broadcast radio involved?
Using radio content from Sinclair’s over-the-top service STIRR, the audio channels will be available for free immediately to anyone with a NEXTGEN television set connected to the internet.
But, what over-the-air radio is included? Sinclair’s press release, interestingly, references “radio channels” that are actually Stingray-produced music channels as found on Hotwire’s Fision cable TV service.
Intriguingly, Sinclair did not even reference its lone radio properties: News KOMO-AM 1000 & FM 97.7; Hot AC KPLZ-FM “Star 101.5”; and Talk KVI-AM 570.
However, Sinclair confirms that the Broadcast App developed by ONE Media 3.0 “is the centerpiece for delivery of these new services.”
Piloted by ONE Media 3.0 in Nashville, NEXTGEN radio services, branded as “STIRR XT,” are what’s now available in Seattle.
In Sinclair’s words, “The new technology brings a new ‘age of radio’ into the listening environment of NEXTGEN viewers by utilizing NEXTGEN-enabled TVs and mobile devices to expand the reach of audio services. Combining these Internet audio services with over-the-air radio is next on the horizon for the Seattle market.”
While it did not offer one set of call letters as part of this new service, Michael Bouchard, ONE Media’s VP of Technology Strategy, said, “This breakthrough technology lays the groundwork for our future plans of enhancing the reception of terrestrial over-the-air radio services throughout the country, as NEXTGEN TV is deployed by broadcasters everywhere.”
One Media 3.0 Highlights Radio in NextGen TV
Radio is part of the content pitch that Sinclair Broadcast Group is using as it highlights a new TV service in Seattle based on the NextGen TV standard.
Sinclair’s One Media 3.0 subsidiary described the benefits for viewers in that market: “Consumers can now begin receiving both television and radio programming in the new format,” it stated in a press release.
The “radio” content is online audio, but the company also indicated it plans to integrate OTA radio soon.
“Using radio content from its over-the-top internet service STIRR, the audio channels will be available for free immediately to anyone with a NextGen television set connected to the Web,” it said Wednesday.
“Included among the radio channels will be Stingray Hits List, Stingray Hot Country, Stingray Latin Hits and a dozen others. The new service coincides with the launch of seven television stations using the new digital standard.”
Sinclair has been a big advocate of the ATSC 3.0 standard, highlighting its video quality as well as mobile delivery and the ability to combine wireless broadcast content with content from online. One Media 3.0 developed its broadcast app to take advantage of that.
“Piloted by One Media 3.0 in Nashville, NextGen radio services, branded as STIRR XT, are now available in Seattle,” the company said.
“The new technology brings a new ‘age of radio’ into the listening environment of NextGen viewers by utilizing NextGen-enabled TVs and mobile devices to expand the reach of audio services. Combining these internet audio services with over-the-air radio is next on the horizon for the Seattle market.”
It quoted VP of Technology Strategy Michael Bouchard saying the technology “lays the groundwork for our future plans of enhancing the reception of terrestrial over-the-air radio services throughout the country, as NextGen TV is deployed by broadcasters everywhere.”
The STIRR radio channels and some STIRR video channels are available to anyone with a NextGen TV connected to the internet.
The post One Media 3.0 Highlights Radio in NextGen TV appeared first on Radio World.
Gray Goes Ahead With ‘Good Faith’ Complaint In Frontier Spat
BRADENTON, FLA. — Gray Television has moved forward with the submission to the FCC of a formal Good Faith Complaint against Frontier Communications in response to the MVPD’s failure to reach a new retransmission consent agreement tied to one of its legacy systems for an ABC affiliate serving Sarasota and Manatee Counties along Florida’s Gulf Coast, and two stations in South Carolina.
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Sarasota House Member Contacts FCC Over Frontier/Gray Impasse
BRADENTON, FLA. — The Republican U.S. House of Representatives Member representing Florida’s Sarasota and Manatee Counties has reached out to the Federal Communications Commission to express his concerns over the failure of Gray Television and Frontier Communications to reach a new retransmission consent agreement for one of its legacy systems and the primary ABC affiliate for this portion of the vast Tampa-St. Petersburg-Lakeland DMA.
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In a formal letter dated Dec. 22 addressed to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, House Member Vern Buchanan expressed his concern “at the sudden blackout of a local news station in my Congressional district.”
Addressing the December 18 removal, by law, of Gray Television-owned WWSB-7 in Sarasota on Frontier FiberOptic TV, a.k.a. FiOS TV by Frontier, channel lineups in the absence of a new retransmission consent agreement, Buchanan says Frontier “abruptly deleted the local ABC station,” and instead began carrying WFTS-28 in Tampa on the cable channel previously home to WWSB.
“My constituents deserve an explanation as to why this happened,” Buchanan asks.
While Buchanan recognizes that both WWSB and WFTS are ABC affiliates within the same DMA, he points out that WFTS airs programming that is akin to less than 50% of WWSB’s weekly programming schedule.
As such, Buchanan concludes, “I urge the FCC to take any appropriate action to help ensure that Frontier acts in the public interest and that Gray Television receives fair and equitable treatment in their efforts to provide local news, sports and entertainment to my constituents.”
A Legacy TV Services Provider Sparks The Latest Retrans Spat Gray Television is dealing with a retransmission consent feud focused on a single Sunshine State property. The MVPD at the center of the dispute, which has led to the latest “blackout” of a free-to-air TV station? Frontier Communications. And, it’s a complex matter involving legacy customers to a grandfathered service.NEXTGEN TV For Nexstar, In The Mile High City
Two of Nexstar Media Group’s broadcast television stations serving the Mile High City and surrounding area, DMA No. 16, are now serving the market with NEXTGEN TV signals.
As such, Denver-Boulder becomes Nexstar’s 12th market in 2020 to begin offering ATSC 3.0-powered broadcasts to those with TVs capable of receiving them.
And, Denver is the second Top 20 market where Nexstar owns stations to gain NEXTGEN TV accessibility.
The stations offering NEXTGEN signals are FOX affiliate KDVR-31 and The CW Network affiliate, KWGN-2, a former Tribune Media property (hence its WGN call letter reference).
And, like Nexstar’s other ATSC 3.0 television stations, FOX 31 and The CW 2 will participate in the BitPath broadcast data network launching in 2021.
Nexstar EVP/Chief Technology Officer Brett Jenkins says, “Not only does NEXTGEN TV deliver important upgrades for our viewers and advertisers, it also enables us to
begin exploring new opportunities to use this very efficient and effective content and data distribution technology to meet the challenges of today’s evolving digital world.”
This will see Nexstar likely roll out 32 more NEXTGEN stations across 20 markets in 2021.
“When we finish our 2021 deployments, approximately 33% of all television households reached by a Nexstar television station will receive a NEXTGEN TV signal,” Jenkins says.
Following today’s launch, the Nexstar owned or operated stations that have converted
to NEXTGEN TV this year include WFLA-8 in Tampa, DMA No. 13; and its stations in Portland, Ore.; Raleigh-Durham; Nashville; Salt Lake City; Austin; Las Vegas; Oklahoma City; Norfolk; Mobile; and Springfield, Mass.
DHD Notes Recent AoIP Projects
From our Who’s Buying What page:
DHD Audio highlighted several uses of its technology in 2020. The company said it saw “an accelerating transition to IP technology throughout the broadcast audio business sector” this year.
It participated with Thum + Mahr in the integration of a DHD Audio platform into the new Cardiff headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales, and said the system is being used across the radio division. “The DHD environment comprises four independent audio clusters, serving as an adaptable infrastructure. Every area of the studio is able to broadcast autonomously.”
It said Radio Cottbus in Germany relocated to digital studios in August after 18 years at its former site. It is now one of Germany’s most modern media centers. The main control console is equipped with three DHD SX2 fader modules; audio signals are transmitted via Dante Audio over IP.
The DHD Assist app running alongside an RX2 audio mixer.French language public broadcaster RTBF opened new studios in January at its regional center in Mons; the radio infrastructure is based on a DHD XC2 platform.
VRT regional channel Radio 2 Antwerpen inaugurated studios based on a modular structure in an open office environment, with a DHD 52/XC2 core serving the main on-air studio. And it said Studio Hamburg MCI chose DHD mixing consoles for Germany public radio station NDR Kultur.
DHD also announced a firmware update for broadcast audio mixing consoles, routers and control interfaces. “The latest firmware additions expand the capabilities of version 9.1 which we announced in Q1,” said International Sales Manager Christoph Gottert.
“That update included support for Unicode character sets such as Chinese, Russian, Japanese and Korean, Snapshots app and Labels app, enhanced log-in, hot configuration and refinements to the DHD REST API. We have now introduced two additional web apps — the Assist app and System app — plus an advanced SNMP interface.”
The post DHD Notes Recent AoIP Projects appeared first on Radio World.