Industry News

The author is co-founder of consulting firm P1 Media Group.

The year 2020 was like no other, a year we’d all rather forget. Coronavirus turned our world upside down.

But rather than dwelling on how COVID-19 decimated radio listening, revenue and personnel, we want to close out the year by sharing some of the amazing and extraordinary ways radio worldwide responded to the pandemic.

In mid-March when the lockdowns began, P1 Media Group felt compelled to do something, someway, somehow, to help radio. We knew there was no programming playbook for COVID-19, yet listeners all around the world were depending on us to keep them informed and entertained during this unimaginable time.

With P1’s global footprint we were beginning to see some very interesting ideas stations were executing in different parts of the world and had a feeling that if we could create a hub for stations to share and exchange these ideas, those ideas would spark more ideas and inspire more stations, and radio listeners everywhere would benefit.

It was our desire to use radio’s collective brainpower to help us through the pandemic that led us to the formation of the Facebook group “Coronavirus Radio Ideas.”

Thanks to the support of Benztown and Radio Days Europe, the Coronavirus Radio Ideas Facebook group took off like a rocket.

It quickly attracted several thousand members representing radio in more than 80 countries spanning six continents. Over 300 ideas were shared in the first months, covering everything from programming to podcasting, promotion to marketing, sales to social media and much, much more.

A laugh and a smile can be just what a listener needs to cope during challenging times and radio delivered its share of smiles both on air and online.

“The Kyle and Jackie O Show” from KIIS in Sydney, Australia created several amusing social media videos. One featured show producer Pete demonstrating social distancing on the sidewalks of Sydney with a homemade contraption that kept him six feet apart.

Another video revealed how parents could teach kids simple fractions while drinking wine.

CFOX in Vancouver, Canada produced a clever video — based on BBC nature series including an impeccable impersonation of the one and only Sir David Attenborough — called “Humans Are Emerging.”

ACE Radio Network in Australia created wonderful theater of the mind with an extremely well-written and -produced call of a fictitious horse of race, naturally called “The COVID Cup.”

Songs parodies also provided fun topical ways to cope with life during a  pandemic.

Retired morning man and Twisted Tunes genius, Bob Rivers, changed the Beatles classic “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to “You Gotta Wash Your Hands.”

FFN radio in Germany changed Camila Cabello’s hit from “Havana” to “Corona.” And in Seattle, the Fitz morning on show on 98.7 The Bull, transformed 90s Hip Hop song “O.P.P.”  to “We’ve got no TP” to promote their toilet paper giveaway.

COVID 19 closed the curtain on live concerts, so radio created new ways to bring live performances to listeners safely.

NRJ Radio in France held the “NRJ Music Tour at Home” while in Spain Europe FM showcased live performance through its “Home Festival.” And NRG Radio Kenya produced a massive one day fundraiser “We are One Africa Concert.”

Radio 7 in Hannover and the Local Media San Diego cluster produced drive-in concerts, where listeners were treated to live performances from the safety of their cars.

Some stations went to extraordinary lengths to honor our heroes on the frontlines.

Hospital workers in Cyprus were quarantined at hotels between long and grueling shifts at local hospitals. Mix radio threw those heroes a massive rave. iHeartMedia station Power 96.1 Atlanta took their nightly salutes for essential workers to the skies one evening, with skywriters creating a massive heart over downtown Atlanta. Z100 New York and Elvis Duran held nightly light shows set to music on the Empire State Building.

Yet stations didn’t recognize only the frontline heroes; the BBC in the UK staged weekly on-air sing-a-longs across their stations to raise the spirits of an entire nation.

Revenues were decimated due to COVID-19 and radio had to become more resourceful than ever to retain its advertisers.

There were stations offering one week of free ads or “run your schedule now and pay when you can” promotions, while others bundled hundreds of thousands of dollars in free airtime for clients and charities that needed it most.

In Dallas, Texas, iHeartradio called on the help of local billionaire Mark Cuban to provide insights and encouragement in a special five-station simulcast aimed at helping businesses.

Despite all the challenges we faced in 2020, radio found many ways to positively impact their local communities.

The NENT Radio Group in Sweden started “Listener Help,” a program that connected listeners in need with listeners willing to help. Listeners brought food, medicine and a smiling face to those who needed it most.

The Rolling Stones came to the aide of Fabulous 103 in Pattaya, Thailand, where the once-thriving tourist town was devastated by COVID-19, donating the proceeds from the song “Living in a Ghost Town” to feed the impoverished unemployed tourism workers.

Our global response to COVID 19 reaffirms radio is an amazing and remarkable medium with talented and creative content producers all over the world. Radio delivered the laughs and smiles, the essential information and the hope and reassurance we needed when we needed it most.

Get inspired and join the group at www.facebook.com/groups/coronavirusradioideas. View winners from the recent Global Coronavirus Radio Awards at https://p1mediagroup.com and click on Coronavirus Radio Ideas Winners.

The post Radio’s Global Response to COVID-19 appeared first on Radio World.

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 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.

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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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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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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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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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.

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.”

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.