Industry News

A 3kw Class A FM serving the Fort Walton Beach and Destin areas of Northwest Florida is being sold by its court-appointed receiver.

The station is presently a part of “The Ticket Sports Network.”

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Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio, the 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to the advancement of female leadership in radio broadcasting, has opened the application window for the 2022 Mildred Carter Mentoring Program.

Established in 2002, MIW’s heritage annual mentoring initiative connects mentees with accomplished women recognized as leaders, mentors, and game-changers within all aspects of radio broadcasting.

Four candidates from the radio broadcasting industry – within the sales, marketing, programming, and digital disciplines – will be selected for the 2021 program.

For mentee criteria and instructions on how to apply, please visit https://miw.secondstreetapp.com/MC-Mentor-App-2022/

The deadline to apply is March 21, 2022.

Beasley Media Group CEO Caroline Beasley commented, “It is a privilege to be part of an outstanding initiative which reflects the values of our company in nurturing, supporting, and promoting the advancement of women to senior positions in the radio industry.”

Karina Cerda, EVP of Marketing & Insights for Entravision Communications, added, “We are very honored to join MIW Radio Group’s mission to champion the professional growth of women executives in our industry through the Mildred Carter Mentoring Program. Entravision is very passionate about encouraging, empowering, and supporting our future female leaders and we look forward to doing our part in spotlighting the merit of this vital program.”

Broadcasting, digital media and publishing revenue was up. And, total operating expenses were down. The result?

Salem Media Group’s Q4 net income roared ahead, year-over-year.

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He has his three FM stations back, for now. And, he continues to operate a Class B AM with 1kw during daylight hours from 2 towers and 300 watts at night from 3 towers.

Royce International Broadcasting, led by Ed Stolz, still faces the very real possibility of no longer operating the FMs he successfully wrestled back from court-appointed receiver Larry Patrick as part of a separate bankruptcy filing in a Nevada federal court.

All this time, the AM, serving Las Vegas, was immune to headlines and attention. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau just changed that.

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Network radio programmer United Stations, radio station owner Audacy Corp., and AccuWeather have extended — and expanded — their three-way partnership. It is thanks to a new, multi-year agreement that provides for the continuation of AccuWeather’s services on existing Audacy affiliates.

The new deal adds 14 Audacy stations to the list of AccuWeather outlets — including FM stations in New York, Detroit, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Memphis, and Buffalo.

Additionally, AccuWeather, Audacy and United Stations collaborated on the creation of the newly introduced “Social Plus” service as well as the “AccuWeather Weather Protection Plan.” Both are expanded weather services that provide affiliates access to weather forecasts and expert reporting from AccuWeather meteorologists before, during and after severe weather events along with social media posts on the affiliates’ social media platforms. These additional AccuWeather services and the enhancements that they bring to each affiliate were “key ingredients” in the renewal process as well as important components to fulfill the needs of Audacy’s FM stations.

In marking the renewal and expansion of the three-way partnership, Fred Bennett, Senior Vice President of Revenue Analytics and Networks at Audacy Corp., said, “Our local radio station brands are deeply embedded in each of their communities, and this partnership helps us solidify our commitment to delivering the kinds of information that they depend on and trust.”

AccuWeather’s Ken Prehl added, “Developing new and creative ways of delivering the best weather forecasts, warnings and data around is always energizing, but it becomes extra compelling when we are helping legendary radio stations continue to fulfill their fundamental roles as broadcasters. Weather is still ‘lean in’ content, and we are extremely excited and proud to extend this important partnership.”

United Stations Chief Revenue Officer Greg Janoff commented, “Our job is to bring together great content, essential services and the most powerful brands in radio so that our marketing partners are in the most impactful environment possible. When you are talking about brands like WINS, WCBS-AM, WBBM, and WWJ it’s an impressive universe, and now that we are adding major market FM stations to the mix, it’s a milestone moment for everyone involved.”

The Federal Communications Commission is making good on a commitment to promote radio service tailored to the needs of local tribal and rural communities.

For the Blackfeet Nation, formally known as the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, that undertaking has translated into the tentative selection of its application to build a new noncommercial educational (NCE) FM station in Little Browning, Mont.

The announcement comes after the closing of the November NCE FM new station application filing window available for the FM reserved band, Channels 201–220, which is 88.1 to 91.9 on the dial.

In November the bureau issued a public notice identifying 231 groups of mutually exclusive (MX) NCE FM applications. MX applications refers to situations where multiple groups have applied for the same or adjacent channels but only one application in the group can be successful.

Group 131 included the Blackfeet Nation as well as Holy Spirit Radio Inc., which proposed to construct a new station in Conrad, Mont.

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In considering two MX applicants, the Media Bureau said it used tribal priority criteria, service area population data and certifications provided by the applicants to make a decision.

In this case, it followed a threshold tribal priority process that guides the commission in ascertaining if any of the applicants in the MX group are a Native American tribe or Alaska native village proposing to serve tribal lands. It was in 2010 that the commission agreed to a series of policies to promote rural radio service with a key takeaway from that proceeding: It was in the public interest to prioritize tribes when reviewing AM and FM NCE applications and FM allotments.

“Because of their status as sovereign nations responsible for, among other things, maintaining and sustaining their sacred histories, languages and traditions, tribes have a vital role to play in serving the needs and interests of their local communities,” the commission wrote in its report and order.

If only one applicant in a group qualifies for the tribal priority, that applicant will be awarded the construction permit. The applicant must identify as a tribal applicant, propose tribal coverage and offer to provide the first reserved channel NCE service owned by a tribal applicant on those tribal lands. In its application, the Blackfeet Nation said it could meet those requirements.

The other applicant in the MX group, Holy Spirit, does not claim to be a tribe. As a result, the Media Bureau selected the Blackfeet Nation as the tentative selectee.

But the selection is a tentative one. The Media Bureau has created a 30-day window for receiving objection petitions before the application can receive approval. If the process moves forward from there, the bureau will dismiss the MX application of Holy Spirit and formally award the construction permit to the Blackfeet Nation.

The tribe, whose 3,000-square-mile reservation sits east of Glacier National Park and borders the Canadian province of Alberta, also operates station KBWG(LP) on 107.5 MHz in Browning, Mont.

The post FCC Tentatively Awards CP to Blackfeet Tribe appeared first on Radio World.

Since December 2019, he has served as VP/GM of one of the newest members of The E.W. Scripps Co. family. Starting Monday (3/7), he’ll become VP/GM of the company’s NBC affiliate and its “FLORIDA 24 Network” over-the-air station serving the Treasure Coast and Palm Beach County, Florida.

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It’s been a year since the company’s stock went ex-dividend. The 1-year target price set by analysts was last seen on November 5.

That said, the worst may be behind Audacy Corp. as its stock continues its climb from pandemic-era depths that seemingly continued up to February 22.

Since then, AUD shares are up by more than one dollar per share.

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Xandr has unveiled a new end-to-end technology platform solution for political advertising including its Invest DSP, Monetize SSP and Xandr Curate platforms in all 50 states.

Xandr’s “holistic approach for political” is comprised of multiple tools for advertisers and publishers to buy and sell political advertising programmatically.

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On Mar. 4, at 8:45 a.m. Central Europe Time (2:45 a.m. EST), around 150 stations across Europe played “Give Peace a Chance,” the anti-war anthem released by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band in 1969, simultaneously.

Based on an initiative from European Broadcasting Union Member Rundfunk Berlin–Brandenburg (rbb) station radioeins, the symbolic transmission was heard in more than 25 countries on public service broadcasters and commercial stations as a reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

“The horrors of the war against Ukraine are more apparent every day. Our solidarity, our humanity and our support are needed,” stated Patricia Schlesinger, chair of ARD, the German public service broadcasting organization, and director general of rbb. “It is a good signal seeing Europe’s radio stations join forces to remind us of that with this song. It is a source of strength and urges us not to look the other way.”

[Related: “Russian Broadcasters Leave EBU”]

Speaking on behalf of Ukrainian Radio, Yurii Tabachenko, executive producer for UA: Ukrainian Radio Channel One, said, “UA: Ukrainian Radio thanks its colleagues from the European Broadcasting Union for their support. It is extremely important that today Europe is united around Ukraine.”

EBU Director General Noel Curran said, “We know that throughout its hundred years history, the public have turned to public service media at times of war to inform and unite. This powerful call for peace through an iconic song will resonate with millions of listeners. This is what we do. I’m proud to belong to a community that, when the world has been fractured, can create moments to bring people together.”

The post European Radio Stations Call for Peace in Ukraine appeared first on Radio World.