Radio+Television Business Report

As advertisers wrestled to recalibrate their media spending in the pandemic, they didn’t overlook a “seismic shift” to Connected TV platforms. In fact, eMarketer estimates that “CTV” U.S. ad spending grew by 40.6% in 2020. Today, networks are continuing to place a greater emphasis on CTV within their upfronts.

What does this mean for broadcast TV and its clients? AudienceX COO Jason Wulfsohn shares his thoughts in an exclusive thought piece for RBR+TVBR.

By Jason Wulfsohn

The dynamics of the connected TV market fundamentally changed in 2020.

The sudden and significant audience growth in this channel has altered the trajectory of CTV advertising for the indefinite future.

For challenger and midmarket advertisers, it’s important to pay attention. As CTV grows and evolves, so too does the opportunity for brands with less formidable budgets to
strategically drive performance while tapping into the most powerful branding mechanism in the world.

With the lockdown of audiences in 2020, behaviors altered in many areas of their lives, which included spending a greater portion of their media time with streaming TV services. As advertisers wrestled to recalibrate their media spending in the pandemic, they didn’t overlook this seismic shift. eMarketer estimates that CTV U.S. ad spending grew by 40.6% in 2020 to more than $9 billion. That growth is accelerating this year, with CTV ad spend expected to hit $13.41 billion, and that figure is expected to go on to more than double by 2025.

Today, networks are continuing to place a greater emphasis on CTV within their upfronts. The majority of activity is occurring in programmatic channels, making CTV far more accessible to challenger and midmarket brands than broadcast and linear buys. This year, U.S. programmatic CTV ad spending will grow 54% to hit $6.73 billion, rising another 29 percent next year to $8.67 billion.

Big Brand Interest, Small Brand Advantage

The world’s biggest advertisers have started to get the message on the importance of CTV
within their overall media mix. However, many are still focused and heavily invested in linear broadcast advertising and are only shifting dollars toward CTV audiences at the margins of their spend activity.

For many big brands, CTV represents a way of incrementally extending their audiences beyond what they’re finding with the hundreds of millions they’re spending on linear. For challenger and midmarket brands, the CTV opportunity is quite different. These brands have largely been locked out of traditional TV advertising due to budget constraints. Limited linear TV inventory has typically been the playground of the world’s biggest brands and their correspondingly large budgets.

In this regard, CTV serves as the great equalizer for brands that can’t afford (and frankly don’t need) to buy into linear TV. By enabling smaller-scale buys that are targeted and addressable, CTV represents an asymmetrical solution that levels the playing field for challenger brands looking to drive performance in competitive markets. Even without broadcast-level budgets, these brands can drive share of voice where it matters most and do so in ways that integrate seamlessly with their online programmatic spend.

The CTV ad space will continue to evolve as bigger brands pivot their budgets in this direction, but the digital and programmatic nature of the opportunity—not to mention the growing audience and inventory opportunities—will continue to represent a significant competitive advantage for challenger and midmarket brands that embrace the opportunity. As a result, in the coming years, the competitive brandscape will evolve and diversify as well.

Those who want a preview of emerging category leaders need only tune into the CTV advertising space.

 

DO YOU DESIRE A DEDICATED PUBLICATION DEVOTED TO THE BUSINESS OF CONNECTED TV, INCORPORATING ‘FAST’ CHANNELS, SVOD and OTT? RBR+TVBR wants to know as we plan for the future today? Please share your thoughts with Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson via email at adam@rbr.com.

The National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) and ACA Connects (ACAC), which sponsor the Independent Show, have decided to moved forward with a virtual 2021 event.

This, the organizations say, offers members and vendors with an opportunity to convene as an industry in the safest possible manner amid lingering uncertainty over the appropriateness of large in-person events.

In a statement released Wednesday, ACA Connects Chairman Patricia Jo Boyers explained, “After thoughtful discussion, ACA Connects and NCTC decided to take the Independent Show online next month because of difficult planning issues despite strong enthusiasm for such an important industry event to take place in Minneapolis. It’s the correct decision, with broad support from both ACAC and NCTC members. I’m positive the online event will be a smashing success.”

Outside of her ACA Connects role, Boyers is President of BOYCOM Vision in Poplar Bluff, Mo., a small MVPD and key ACA Connects member.

The 2021 Independent Show had been planned for Oct. 5-6 in Minneapolis; while the event had included a streaming registration option as a convenience for ACAC and NCTC Members who were unable to attend in person, this will now be the exclusive congregation point for attendees.

The decision to host the 2021 Independent Show online will not alter the meeting dates. The event agenda will remain as is, too.

“COVID-19 and the Delta variant have been a moving target. While our plan was to finally meet in-person, it has become more and more clear that it was not the responsible thing to do,” said NCTC CEO Lou Borrelli. “Nevertheless, the online show to me is a can’t-miss program, and I greatly look forward to seeing friends and members on the big screen.”

ACAC President/CEO Matt Polka (pictured, top left) joined NCTC’s Borrelli in endorsing the move to an online show given the current health environment. “We felt that transitioning the entire event to virtual was the best option and in the best interest of our members and vendor partners,” Polka said. “But let’s look at the bright side: We are going to keep all the great content we had planned as well as offer a few fun surprises for those who are registered for the virtual conference.”

Meanwhile, the NAB Show is moving full steam ahead with a full agenda of in-person events at the Las Vegas Convention Center — just days after the Independent Show concludes. The NAB is as of today only offering a smattering of NAB Show digital options; it is believed that the Radio Show is an in-person only event with no events streamed.

The Independent Show is an annual forum created to focus attention on the key public policy issues facing independent video and broadband providers and on other industrywide topics of concern and interest. 

LONDON — Video software provider Synamedia has integrated a range of its video offerings with Android TV and has extended its Infinite cloud TV platform to support Android TV devices.

Using Google’s Broadcast Stack for hybrid set top boxes (STBs) powered by Android TV, Synamedia has developed pre-integrated solutions including user interfaces, watermarking and broadcast/OTT security, Clarissa business insights, and Synamedia Iris addressable advertising.

As Synamedia notes, video service providers “can now pick and mix from these pre-integrated services to build an Android TV solution that best meets their needs, while also having the option to use the entire bundle for a complete end-to-end package.”

Synamedia is also working to define new interfaces and integration points for advanced features so that operators can select products for their hybrid Android TV tools.

Google’s Broadcast Stack, launched in October 2020, is designed to accelerate the reach of the Android TV operating system by providing the video technology providers with clarity and direction about how hybrid services can be deployed rapidly and economically. “Operators can take advantage of Android TV’s proven functionality and well-defined upgrade path, as well as having the flexibility to add custom features for their particular needs,” Synamedia says.

In October 2020, Entravision Communications took a big step toward becoming a digital-first multimedia organization by acquiring a majority stake in a digital advertising company serving over 2,000 brands and agencies each month across the U.S. and Latin America.

Now, Entravision has acquired all of the outstanding shares in the company, making it a wholly owned unit.

Entravision now owns 100% of Cisneros Interactive. That’s because the Santa Monica, Calif.-based company with television and radio properties focused on the U.S. Hispanic consumer moved forward August 31 in acquiring the 49% of Cisneros it did not own.

“With this full acquisition, Entravision will further position the combined platforms and service portfolio to be one of the largest premier global digital advertising solutions companies,” the company said.

Over the past decade, through growth and acquisitions, Entravision’s digital marketing offerings have expanded significantly. Entravision’s Digital business is now the clear revenue driver, far exceeding Entravision’s television and radio profits, respectively.

With the full ownership of Cisneros Interactive, along with Entravision’s most recent acquisition of MediaDonuts, which added digital capabilities in 7 countries in Asia, digital now comprises 73% of consolidated revenue as of the most recently reported quarter ended June 30, 2021. Digital Segment revenue improved over 1,000% year-over-year to total $130.2 million for the second quarter 2021.

The digital business focuses on several key areas, including Top Tier global audience and media representations; programmatic technology; digital audio solutions advertising and branding; and mobile performance solutions. Cisneros Interactive maintains unique sales partnerships in 17 Latin American countries, including partnerships with Facebook, Spotify and LinkedIn. The company also offers digital audio solutions and services through representation of a vast audience reached through 350 publishers.

Entravision Chairman/CEO Walter Ulloa commented, “This joint venture has been a great addition to Entravision, with impressively strong performance, leadership and culture. Digital revenues have surged over the past three quarters since our majority investment in Cisneros Interactive, and we plan to continue to invest in expanding our global footprint, management and digital service tools.”

With four months remaining of 2021, it is abundantly clear that the “normal” workplace pre-pandemic is a thing of the past.

For PR veteran and “Zoom expert” Rosemary Ravinal, this means video conferencing will become a fixture of workplace culture to varying degrees. “Your professional future may depend on how well you navigate the virtual environment.”

It’s time to get serious, folks.

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For about 5 1/2 years, she was the Local Sales Manager for TEGNA-owned WFAA-8 in Dallas-Fort Worth, the market’s ABC affiliate. She joined the station as an account executive in July 2009 after holding various sales roles for Cumulus Media, CBS Radio, and iHeartMedia predecessor Clear Channel in the Dallas market.

Now, this former radio industry sales leader is taking a key sales and partnership post with the esports and entertainment company that Gray Television invested $28.5 million in during this company’s March 2021 Series C fundraising round.

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More than two years ago, America’s “Big Four” broadcast television networks united in seeking to stop a streaming service from bringing over-the-air channels to their users without the requisite retransmission consent agreements.

On August 31, a New York Federal District Court finally offered a glimmer of what could be a rough ride ahead for the David Goodfriend-helmed Locast. He declined to honor a request from the controversial donation-based service for summary judgment in the case, which focuses on copyright infringement. Why? Its non-profit argument may be full of holes.

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NEW YORK — Gen Media Partners has created a strategic task force designed “to champion the power and influence of certified minority-owned and -targeted radio stations to advertisers and agencies.”

It will advocate on behalf of multicultural-owned and -targeted radio stations “and demonstrate multicultural radio’s remarkable power to connect with audiences.”

SVP/Hispanic Platforms and MC Initiatives Ann-Marie Figueira will lead the initiative.

“Our goal – our job – is to make sure advertisers and their agencies look beyond the large-scale companies and include independent, certified minority-owned and -targeted radio groups in their plans,” explains Kevin Garrity, Chief Executive Officer of Gen Media Partners. “We’re already seeing a receptiveness to learning more about these stations and their effectiveness at reaching multicultural audiences with content that is relevant to their specific lifestyles, tastes, and cultures.”

GMP represents 1,176 radio stations in 168 markets, and claims to reach 95% of the U.S. multicultural population.

— Renee Cassis

DAYTON, OHIO — For 25 years, he’s been a face of the newscasts at a Nexstar Media Group-owned NBC affiliate serving the Miami Valley of Ohio.

Come Thursday, he’ll be saying goodbye to viewers.

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Westwood One executive Pierre Bouvard has written a blog post that offers a rosy picture of just who listens to podcast, and what their disposable income portrait shows.

The median age of the podcast listener? It is 34, compared to 48 for AM and FM radio.

Bouvard also says the podcast audience is pretty upscale.

As first reported by Streamline Publishing’s Podcast Business Journal, Bouvard’s assessment of podcast listeners offers some robust findings.

Bouvard notes that not only are your listeners making decent money, they are educated.

“[Some] 53% of persons 18+ who have listened to an audio podcast in the past 30 days are employed in a white-collar occupation,” Bouvard says. He also notes that 39% hold management positions and 55% have a household income of $75,000+, making this group an audience advertisers want to reach.

Read Bouvard’s entire post HERE.

A Northern Virginia AM some 45 minutes from the Nation’s Capital has entered into a Consent Decree with the FCC to resolve a Public File violation.

It’s another learning lesson for other licensees about the importance of avoiding procrastination.

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Until now, it has been a Spanish Adult Hits station under the branding “La Suavecita” and an affiliate of ESPN Deportes Radio.

As RBR+TVBR first reported Monday, that’s about to change, with a different multicultural group the new target audience.

Now, details regarding the deal price and specifics are known, thanks to a Form 314 filing with the FCC.

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If your radio or TV broadcast station is looking for ways to thrive well into the future, you need to be selling diverse advertising solutions, says Christian Kligora, the SVP of Client Success at Marketron.

“With digital ad spending in the U.S. projected to hit $278.53 billion in 2024, up from $152.25 in 2020, the writing is on the wall: digital is a must,” he says in a thought piece provided exclusively to RBR+TVBR.

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LOUISVILLE, KY. — Viewers of the local CBS affiliate, owned by Hearst Television, now have the option of watching an additional hour of local news in the morning.

As of September 7, a 60-minute 9am newscast will air on the station.

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Every day, public relations professionals and hired research professionals seemingly release a new report that gushes over the continued growth of Connected TV, OTT platforms and “FAST” channels.

Here’s some sobering news for that camp, which may be a good bit of info for broadcast TV: the churn rate for four top OTT services in April was big.

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The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has presented the Mark Richer Industry Leadership Medal to the former Oregon Senator who will be retiring as President/CEO of the NAB at the end of 2021.

Sen. Gordon Smith earned the honor for his “outstanding leadership” of the National Association of Broadcasters, where he has served as a “steady advocate for the broadcasting industry who has taken every available opportunity to promote ATSC 3.0 since we first started this important work on next-generation broadcast standards,” ATSC President Madeleine Noland said.

Named for the former ATSC president who led the organization for two decades spanning both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0, the Mark Richer Industry Leadership Medal recognizes an individual or team “that demonstrates exemplary leadership in advancing the mission of ATSC and epitomizes the vision, tenacity and leadership qualities that were the hallmark of his leadership.”

Richer, who retired two years ago, presented the award on August 26. However, Smith was in Wisconsin, meeting with broadcasters at the state broadcasters association’s annual conference. As such, his appointed successor, NAB Chief Operating Officer Curtis LeGeyt, accepted the honor for Smith.

Smith became the NAB’s leader in 2009, “just before the technology we later termed ATSC 3.0 became a major focus of our organization,” Noland said. “Smith understood the value that next-generation television could bring to the broadcasting industry and he was instrumental in promoting the potential to NAB’s board and membership.”

The ATSC on Thursday also awarded its highest technical honor, the 2021 Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award, to Alan Stein, Vice President of Technology at InterDigital.

Stein currently heads InterDigital’s Visual Standards Team, where he manages a global team of senior technology experts who participate in major video standards organizations.

By Brian Galante

The recent FCC spectrum repack moved nearly 1,200 U.S. TV stations to new UHF and VHF frequencies, freeing spectrum for wireless broadband while leaving less for broadcasters to share.

Despite limited transmission resources — and new challenges that come with these changes —  CP Communications continues to successfully deliver RF coordination for major sporting events and other live programming.

It was business as usual this summer for ABC’s coverage of the NBA Finals in Milwaukee and Phoenix, but the MLB All-Star Game in Denver was more challenging because there were multiple events and networks. “Every time you add a network, you add more RF,” said Loren Sherman, a RF coordinator and field technician. “That made the All-Star Game a little more difficult to coordinate.”

When tasked with RF coordination of wireless transmission of video and audio for an event, CP assigns various entities to specific frequencies within the spectrum for the duration of an event. The purpose is to avoid interference with established spectrum users in the area, such as broadcast stations, as well as other temporary spectrum users that cover the event.

“I think what makes us unique, unlike most frequency coordinators, is that we also operate the gear,” Sherman explained. “We’re not just passing out a number and giving it to people. We understand how the gear operates, so we provide frequencies where the gear can work harmoniously with other pieces of gear. We’re one of the few that do both and we do both well.”

CP technicians coordinate RF frequencies with specialized software while working closely with venue and local SBE coordinators. CP’s biggest challenge is finding enough spectrum for everyone when there’s simply less spectrum available. To accommodate all media clients during high-profile events, CP relies on receiving special temporary authority, or STA, from the FCC to use parts of the spectrum that are not normally available.

“If we’re going to use STAs, then we need time,” Sherman said. “We might start planning for something like the Super Bowl a month or two in advance, depending on how many two-way radios we need to coordinate everything.”

While RF coordination is similar for indoor and outdoor events, Sherman said he can usually get more frequency options in an indoor venue. “The venue will often provide protection from digital television stations,” he said. “Maybe they’ll attenuate that signal enough that it becomes a usable piece of spectrum inside that building. But outside, it is what it is.”

Different outdoor locations yield different results. Denver was “fairly difficult” to coordinate, Sherman said, based on the amount of DTV signals in the region. In contrast, Milwaukee has fewer DTV stations and limited interference with signals from nearby cities. However, CP’s message is that they have the experience, crew and technology to handle even the most challenging RF coordination jobs.

“We were nowhere near the amount of frequencies we coordinated in the 2019 NBA Finals, though some of that goes to the cities you’re in,” Sherman recalled. “Phoenix and Milwaukee are not the same as Toronto and Oakland. It depends on the area. Go to New York City – there is a lot of DTV filling the spectrum, and New Jersey’s right there, too. So now you have two large communities with DTV, and that’s going to fill the spectrum more.”

Inovonics has moved forward with a new firmware update for its remote monitoring
receivers for FM & HD Radio.

Those encompass the company’s INOmini SiteStreamers, models 635 & 638.

The latest firmware update adds RDS Radio Text Alarm features and modifies LED Header displays to the Web Interface.

Inovonics recommends that users download and install the new firmware updates at their earliest convenience.

It is recommended to Download the Hardware Profile before updating.

The new firmware can be downloaded by finding each relevant product page at www.inovonicsbroadcast.com.

Logitek Electronic Systems has moved its manufacturing facility to a new location in Houston.

The company is now located at 5403 Bissonnet Street, Suite B, Houston TX 77081.

Logitek’s prior location, a short distance away in Houston, “was showing its age,” said Logitek President Tag Borland. “We had been there for over 20 years and it was an ‘analog-age’ facility. With our more efficient manufacturing methods and space-saving console designs that take up less room on the floor, combined with the fact that we haven’t been making VU meters for quite some time, we found that we could work just as well in a more streamlined space.”

Logitek has been in the broadcast audio space since 1979. It is first company in North America to offer a router-based digital console for Radio. Today, Logitek makes Networked Audio Consoles that run on Audio over IP technologies. Logitek’s  mixIT and Helix touchscreen-controlled consoles, as well as the virtual console Helix Studio, offer  networking options including AES67, Livewire, Ravenna, Logitek JetNet and optional Dante.

Logitek’s phone numbers remain the same as before: 713-664-4470 or toll-free at 1-800-231-5870.

 

Newly launched digital audio boutique Price Brothers has been tapped for creative and production services by voice dialogue platform Instreamatic.

A spinoff of long-time radio ad shop Oink Ink, Price Brothers was formed to meet the need for creative solutions for brands growing increasingly interested in new digital tools such as interactive audio.

“We’d been developing campaigns in the digital space for four years now and decided to carve-off a new entity that would focus solely on initiatives like dynamic audio &
interactive, as well as podcasting,” says Price Brothers co-founder Dan Price. “We wanted to position ourselves as the guys already doing great creative by the time brands would
eventually become comfortable implementing the new technologies.”

One of those new technologies is interactive voice ads from Instreamatic served on voice-activated devices. It enables listeners to personally engage with audio ads in an interactive dialog. And it was Price Brothers’ early work with the platform that caught the eye of the developers of the technology. Simon Dunlop, CMO at Instreamatic says, “In approaching the creative for this innovative new audio advertising format, Price Brothers was able to quickly grasp its storytelling power and deliver outstanding ideas and production for us and really bring the format to life.”

As creative partner to the platform, Price Brothers will be called-upon when brands wish to elevate their interactive concepts. It’s all about the experience, says Price. “I think a lot of early users aren’t used to testing the limits of the tool. They set up their ads to react in a certain way based on a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response from the listener. We look for ways to involve the listener; we make him or her a participant in the dialog and even drive how the experience unfolds. That’s true engagement.”

Not only has Price Brothers already created several campaigns for Instreamatic using voice technology, they’re currently developing work promoting the platform itself, set to be
served on iHeartMedia digital channels later this summer. Price is particularly excited by that assignment. “This is the exact type of work we’d hoped to be enlisted for back when we first had the idea for the new shop,” he says.

Stas Tushinskiy, CEO & Co-Founder at Instreamatic, echoes the sentiment. “The Price Brothers were among the very few producing really smart Interactive ads right from the beginning.”

Since May Price Brothers has also completed an ambitious dynamic audio effort for long time client Staples and continues to produce the podcast “The Pod Spotter.”