Industry News

The 2022 Radio Mercury Awards nomination window is officially open.

Eighteen trophies will be awarded in 14 categories, and the final round judges have the option to award a Best of Show winner. All categories are eligible to compete for Best of Show. The Radio Mercury Awards will also bring back prize monies for all award winners.

In 2022, a classic Radio Mercury Awards category, “Creative Use of Sound Design,” is back on the slate and will recognize radio/audio work that utilizes sound design to creatively communicate its message. The Radio Mercury Awards is also expanding the campaign category with “Creative Radio Campaign by a Radio Station or Group,” which will award two winners to radio station-produced campaigns.

In addition, the Student-Produced Radio Commercial category has been brought back this year. Entries into this category are free for students.

The Call for Entry deadline is Wednesday, April 6. Finalists for the show will be announced in mid-May, and winners will be announced at the live Radio Mercury Awards, June 9 at Sony Hall in New York.

For more information regarding entry categories, guidelines, entry fees and deadlines, click here.

The NAB’s Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to “a broadcaster who has made a significant and lasting contribution to the American broadcasting industry.”

The 2022 recipient of the DSA: the man who led the NAB until his retirement at the end of 2021.

Former President/CEO and retired Senator Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) will join the ranks of Jim Henson, Alan Alda, Robin Roberts, Bob Schieffer, Michael J. Fox, Mary Tyler Moore, Ronald Reagan, Edward R. Murrow, Bob Hope, Walter Cronkite and Oprah Winfrey by receiving the honor from the organization he successfully ran for 12 years.

It is the NAB’s highest honor, and he’ll receive it during the 2022 NAB Show welcome session scheduled for April 25, in Las Vegas.

During his tenure, NAB played a pivotal role on a number of significant issues affecting broadcasters. This explains the decision to award Smith with the DSA. Under his tenure, the FCC’s broadcast television spectrum incentive auction transpired, along with the preservation and modernization of the music licensing and copyright system, the ongoing transition to the NEXTGEN TV transmission standard, reviews of media ownership rules and the increased dominance of tech platforms in the advertising marketplace.

“As the head of NAB for more than a decade, Gordon was instrumental in advancing our agenda to help radio and television stations thrive,” NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt said. “Gordon’s leadership, dedication and political acumen have enabled broadcasters to continue serving their local communities in ways no other medium can. It is an honor to present him with the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of the immense impact he has left on broadcasting in our country and around the world.”

With the release of its fourth-quarter 2021 financial results, Beasley Media Group is on a strong path toward returning to its 2019 growth initiatives. Growth across its Top Four advertising categories was strong, with significant year-over-year growth.

But, how was Automotive? Despite car and truck supply chain concerns, the dollars are up — with trends pointing to a robust third quarter.

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The first of the broadcast media industry quarterly earnings reports has arrived. And, for those in the radio business, C-Suite leaders may not be so pleased to see the Q4 2021 fiscal health report for Beasley Media Group.

While net revenue increased by 3.2%, a 66.8% decline in operating income was registered by the owner of radio stations and an Overwatch League eSports franchise. As such, Beasley’s net income declined by two cents per share from Q4 2020.

Why? Unfair comps that require a look to two years ago are in order.

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iHeartMedia Albany’s News Radio 810 and 103.1 WGY will celebrate the station’s 100th anniversary on Feb. 20.

WGY was founded by General Electric in 1922. Dame Media sold the station to Clear Channel, now iHeart, in 1999. “The Capital Region’s Breaking News, Traffic and Weather Station” will mark the occasion with a special broadcast and new podcast series.

According to a “list of firsts” on the station’s website, WGY was the first station in the state of New York; gave the first presentation of a radio drama in August 1922; was the first to broadcast at 50,000 watts (and at various times used two to four times that); aired the first World Series coverage, with WJZ; and made the first use of a condenser microphone.

[Read More Stories About the History of Radio]

Anniversary events kick off Feb. 20 with a live celebration of the brand’s history beginning at 1 p.m. Hosts and news anchors, past and present, and other guests will be on hand. A retelling of the radio drama “The Wolf” will be presented live from the Kenmore Ballroom in Albany, N.Y., [preceded by a lecture from Chris Hunter from the Museum of Innovation and Science. Music by the Musicians of Ma’alwyck chamber music ensemble will also be featured.

WGY kicked off its centennial year with a new podcast series, “Wireless: 100 Years of WGY.” The podcast, which features candid interviews with many familiar WGY voices, launched Jan. 31. It is hosted by WGY News Anchor Mike Patrick with new episodes released weekly.

Program Director Jeff Wolf was quoted in the announcement saying that leading the station into its next 100 years was an honor. “We’re looking forward to highlighting our first 100 years and commemorating important events in history throughout 2022.”

John Cooper, senior vice president of programming for iHeartMedia Albany, said WGY has had an impact on his life since the early 1960s. The anniversary of service to the community is an “amazing milestone,” he said.

“WGY became a trusted source of information that helped me begin and develop my business career,” said Howard Greiner, Area President for iHeartMedia Albany. “It is very meaningful to be a part of this celebration with great people, past and present, at WGY.”

For more information about the weekly podcast and the event at the Kenmore, visit the station’s website.

The post WGY Celebrates 100 Years appeared first on Radio World.

The IBC Technical Papers Committee has extended the deadline for its 2022 call for papers.

Proposals are now due by 12 noon EST (17:00 GMT) on Feb. 16, and the 300-word synopses must be submitted online.

[Previously: “IBC2022 Conference Opens Call for Technical Papers”]

“This year the competition is high. We are looking for original, non-commercial research on solutions to real-world problems faced by the international broadcast and digital media industry,” stated the committee.

For examples of the sorts of articles being sought, the committee recommends looking at 2021 technical papers currently available via IBC Digital.

The post IBC Paper Submission Deadline Extended appeared first on Radio World.

He’s the creator of the world’s first stereophone. Now, audiophiles and broadcasting industry professionals are paying tribute to the musician, inventor and entrepreneur who in 1953 launched an electronics company originally designed as a TV rental business for hospitals.

John C. Koss, the founder and Chairman of Koss Corporation, died on December 21, 2021. He was 91 years old. News of death first became widely known last week.

Five years after launching his business, Koss, at the age of 28, teamed with business partner Martin Lange Jr., by introducing personal listening to the world.

How so? They developed the world’s first high fidelity “Stereophone.” This product, the SP/3 Stereophone, sparked the creation of the global stereo headphone industry. 

Today, Koss remains a family-run operation, with Michael J. Koss serving as Chairman/CEO. “Dad loved music and the experience of a live performance,” he said. “Like many legendary entrepreneurs, our founder channeled his passion to create a revolutionary product. Today, it’s clear that his innovation changed the way the world listens to music.” 

After introducing the SP/3 Stereophone, Koss developed the Pro/4 Series, which became a recording industry standard — and the official headphones of Air Force One. He went on to help standardize the plug and headphone jack we take for granted today.

By the 1980s, an era when the SONY Walkman dominated personal listening, John Koss pushed his company to develop “portable” headphones for on-the-go listening. The result was the Koss Porta Pro, a collapsible headphone that remains available today.

Outside of Koss Corporation, John Koss was important to Radio. In the 1970s, he purchased the original Classical WFMR-FM 96.5 in Milwaukee, saving the format in the market.  He owned the facility until 1983; today it is WKLH. The sale prompted WFMR’s call sign and format relocation to 98.3 MHz.

Citing increased advertiser demand and its desire to achieve more growth as “a streaming-first, data-driven media company,” VIZIO has added two individuals charged with key roles tied to the expansion of its direct-to-device advertising business.

Now serving as VP of Product Management is Oscar “Oz” Lang. He formerly served as the head of product for Adobe’s Advertising Cloud TV business.

Also new to VIZIO is VP of Product Engineering Ben Sullins, most recently SVP of Engineering with SpotX.

Concurrent with their arrival, VIZIO has opened a “Tech Innovation center” in Denver. It is home to 140 of VIZIO’s engineering and tech specialists focused on the innovation of VIZIO’s software, ad products, and entertainment ecosystem.

“Since our IPO last year, we have been heavily investing in engineering and software to scale our Platform+ operations and build out our in-house ad tech team,” said David Rudnick, Senior Vice President of Product Engineering at VIZIO. “This investment will not only provide unique opportunities and measurable outcomes for advertisers, but it also helps us drive better consumer experiences.”

He continued, “Consumers are rapidly shifting to the Smart TV experience, and because we own the hardware, software, and data, we are able to innovate in ways that others can’t. With continued momentum on the Platform+ side of our business, which is a function of better personalization and engagement on SmartCast, we are driving interest with brands, advertisers and content partners to work with VIZIO.”

VIZIO Ads’ direct-to-device offering has doubled the number of participating unique brands and tripled its average revenue per advertiser in the last year. Additionally, VIZIO Ads’ 2022 upfront commitments exceeded $100 million, a fourfold increase over 2021, including enterprise-level buys from six major agency holding companies and encompassing a number of top advertising categories in traditional TV such as automotive, insurance and retail.

LED video processing products manufacturer Brompton Technology has moved forward with the beta release of its Tessera v3.3 software features, a move designed to optimize the performance of LED panels to further streamline professional workflows.

New features include Operating Modes, and Per-Batch PureTone.

Additionally, the Tessera SX40 and S8 now have a preset to support the ACES AP1 color space, as used by ACEScg.

Lastly, in collaboration with Mo-Sys, Brompton has added support for the company’s StarTracker camera tracking system when using panels fitted with the Tessera R2 or Brompton’s new Tessera R2+ and an SX40 or S8 processor with Frame Remapping.

The new Tessera R2+ receiver card has the same SO-DIMM form-factor as the R2. R2+ is backwards-compatible with all existing R2-based panel designs, but brings additional data pins and capability to support new LED drivers.

Operating Modes enables a single panel type to have multiple Operating Modes, each with a slightly different configuration for the panel. Different Operating Modes can therefore prioritize different aspects of visual performance, such as maximum frame rate, low brightness performance, bit depth or effective refresh rate, among others.

Additional Operating Modes can be created by Brompton engineers working closely with the panel manufacturers. Once activated, users can switch panels between Operating Modes via the processor, depending on the requirement of each event or project.

In the new Tessera v3.3 software PureTone has been extended to allow each individual batch of panels to be measured separately to generate a PureTone profile specific to that batch. To create a profile, a PureTone profiling kit is required, which incorporates a sensitive colorimeter. A single LED panel is measured within a dark room to generate the profile, which can then be used with all the panels in that particular batch.

Meanwhile, the Tessera SX40 and S8 now have a preset to support the ACES AP1 primaries, used by the ACEScg color space that is increasingly the choice of CG artists. This avoids the need for a color space conversion in the source device.

ACES AP1 will be automatically recognized by the processor when received over HDMI 2.0, or alternatively, may be manually selected on the processor. The user can also reference the ACES AP1 color gamut within Brompton’s dynamic calibration tools.

Nominations are now being accepted for the Radio World “Best in Market” and “Best of Show” Awards for spring 2022.

“All signs point to the NAB Show returning to an in-person format this year,” said Editor in Chief Paul McLane. “None of us knows exactly what the new normal in convention-going will be like, of course, but it will be so good to see old friends and make new connections again. Meanwhile companies that don’t plan to exhibit can participate in the award program through the Best in Market option.”

The “Best of Show” awards, from Radio World and other brands at its parent company Future, are chosen from companies that exhibit at the NAB Show in April and that submit nominations. The “Best in Market” is open to any company.

Participating brands include Radio World, Mix, TVTech, B+C, Sound & Video Contractor, NextTV and TVBEurope. Each publication announces its own winners’ list.

All nominees and winners will be featured in a post-convention Program Guide distributed to our readers. (Here’s a look at last year’s guide.)

The nomination page includes answers to frequently asked questions. Deadline for entering is April 8.

The post Nominations Open for Best of Show/Best in Market appeared first on Radio World.