Industry News

The E.W. Scripps Company has appointed three media industry veterans from ION, Katz and Newsy to roles supporting distribution of its new national networks business.

All roles are effective upon the close of Scripps’ acquisition of ION.

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PLYMOUTH, WISC. — A “pure play system integrator” led by CEO Dennis Klas has joined the organization charged with bringing next-generation television signals — and the data capabilities its implementation will bring to broadcast TV — to fruition.

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LG Electronics has made “a significant investment” of nearly $80 million in a company dedicated to “make TV an even better advertising medium for brands, agencies and networks.”

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On August 6, 2020, the FCC voted in favor of an order that eliminates the radio duplication rule for AM stations … and FM stations. This marked a change from just three weeks earlier, when the Commission signaled it would uphold the rule for FM stations.

The move was pushed by the NAB. The FCC’s Republican majority said eliminating the radio duplication rule “will help struggling stations stay on the air; afford broadcast radio licensees greater flexibility to address issues of local concern in a timely fashion, particularly in times of crisis; assist with format changes; facilitate a potential voluntary digital transition in the AM service; and ultimately allow stations to improve service to their communities.”

That failed to satisfy REC Networks, the musicFIRST Coalition and the Future of Music Coalition.

On November 30, 2020, the groups teamed to file a Petition for Reconsideration of the Report and Order. Their big beef? The sudden re-inclusion of FM stations in the R&O.

For REC, musicFIRST and the FMC, eliminating the rule for FM stations will lead to a reduction in programming diversity and “encourage corporate radio owners to hoard spectrum.”

NAB General Counsel and EVP/Legal and Regulatory Affairs Rick Kaplan disagrees with that assertion. He laments that their arguments “exhibit a complete misrepresentation of the business fundamentals of the radio industry and the intense competition radio faces, and a total lack of understanding of the market value of AM/FM radio spectrum.”

There’s more: the NAB sees musicFIRST and FMC file in Commission proceedings concerning radio “not because the companies and organizations those groups represent care about the proceedings at issue, but rather to retaliate against broadcasters for those groups failing to convince Congress to enact a tax on radio stations when they play (promote) record labels’ music on terrestrial radio stations.”

This set up the basis for the NAB’s request that the FCC deny the groups’ petition as it “does not raise issues not already considered and rejected by the Commission.” Further, Kaplan states, the three groups “also fail to mention – let alone grapple with – the incredible growth in audio diversity since the radio duplication rule was created.”

How so? “Since 1992, more than 15,000 additional full-power and low power radio stations have launched service, the growth of online streaming music services has shattered expectations, and satellite radio has reached more than 34 million subscribers,” Kaplan says. “All of these outlets provide a broad range of programming options.”

While the Republican-led FCC passed the R&O, it didn’t come without the concerns of Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. In fact, his concerns could have given rise to the Petition for Reconsideration.

“I have concerns that today’s decision will undoubtedly make it easier and more cost-effective for large station groups to hoard local stations without any obligation to provide significant programming that meets local community needs,” Starks said in August. “Moreover, I fear it will reward ownership consolidation and thus will likely exacerbate an already huge disparity in the number of media outlets owned and controlled by people of color and women, which often translates to a lack of locally relevant and diverse programming that addresses local needs and interests.”

The Federal Communications Commission is co-hosting a virtual summit for applicants looking to research and find jobs in the technology sector.

A group of experts and participants will touch on new career opportunities in the tech sector, the best way to build a strong, competitive résumé, and how best to interview for and land a job. The summit, A Road Map to Tech Jobs, is set for Jan., 15, and will run from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

[Read: NAB Foundation Launches Diversity Resource]

The summit is focused on improving diversity in the tech sector and is co-hosted by the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment and the FCC’s Media Bureau. The goal is to reach a group of diverse high school and college students. Registration is encouraged and gives registrants the opportunity to submit questions in advance for speakers’ consideration. The event will be open to the public via a live feed from the FCC’s web page at www.fcc.gov/live and on the FCC’s YouTube channel.

Visit this link to complete registration.

The post FCC to Host Summit on Finding Jobs in the Tech Sector appeared first on Radio World.

The Mentoring & Inspiring Women in Radio (MIW) Group has opened the application window for the 2021 Mildred Carter Mentoring Program.

Established in 2002, the MIW’s heritage annual mentoring initiative connects mentees with accomplished women recognized as leaders, mentors, and game-changers within all aspects of radio broadcasting; vCreative is sponsoring the program for the second consecutive year.

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

The deadline to apply is January 29, 2021.

For mentee criteria, and instructions on how to apply, please visit https://miw.secondstreetapp.com/Mildred-Carter-Mentee-App-2021/ .

To view a sampling of past Mentees visit: https://www.radiomiw.com/mentees

Entercom Vice President of National Partnerships Lindsay Adams, chair of the mentoring program and a 2009 Mentee, calls the mentoring program “instrumental in providing guidance, leadership, and bridging connections within the industry. From personal experience, I can attest it’s an invaluable experience that helps shape and curate career paths and potential.”

The MIW Group Mentoring Program is named in the memory of Mildred Carter, who, along with her husband, Andrew “Skip” Carter, founded the first African American owned radio station in the U.S. in 1950, when they turned on KPRS Kansas City, Missouri. Mrs. Carter ran the Carter Broadcast Group for many years after the death of Skip Carter, before turning over control of the company to her grandson, Michael Carter in 1987.

EUREKA, CALIF. — In May 2006, Cox Communications completed its sale of cable television systems serving customers in West Texas, a portion of North Carolina, various communities across the middle of the U.S., and the California markets of Bakersfield and Eureka-Arcata.

The buyer? Cebridge Connections, with majority investors Oaktree Capital Management and Goldman Sachs. Once the deal closed, Cebridge changed its name to Suddenlink.

Nearly 15 years later, ex-Cox customers in one of those DMAs could, ironically, soon lose access to broadcast TV stations owned by Cox Media Group.

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According to Atlanta-based CMG, today majority-owned by Apollo Global Management, SuddenLink may soon make what it calls “an anti-consumer decision” by dropping channels serving viewers in Tulsa, Memphis, Spokane, and the smaller markets of Greenville-Greenwood, Miss.; Alexandria, La.; and Eureka-Arcata, Calif.; in the absence of a new retransmission consent agreement.

Specifically, the stations potentially impacted by a retrans impasse between Suddenlink and CMG are FOX affiliates KAYU-28 in Spokane, WHBQ-13 in Memphis and KOKI-23 in Tulsa; ABC affiliate KLAX-31 in Alexandria; and the ABC, FOX, NBC and CBS stations serving Greenwood and Greenville, Miss.

However, it is the Humboldt County, Calif., stations that present an ironic twist for Cox. Fifteen years ago, it owned the MVPD. The stations it owns today, dominant NBC affiliate KIEM-3 in Eureka and CBS sibling KVIQ-LP 14, came to CMG in late 2019 after Brian Brady’s Northwest Broadcasting was sold to Apollo, ahead of its Cox deal. In 2005, KVIQ was a Clear Channel-owned property using Channel 6, picked up in 2002 from Ackerley Group. KIEM was owned by Pollack/Belz Broadcasting.

Is a “blackout” imminent, with the tiny Greenville-Greenwood, Miss., DMA imperiled yet again from receiving nearly every local network affiliate?

Perhaps. Alternatively, CMG is opting to strike first with a consumer warning, a move that could point fingers at Suddenlink before it can place blame on Cox for possibly short-changing customers of the MVPD, which is owned by Altice USA.

Paul Curran, CMG’s EVP of Television, said, “Our country continues to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic and, during these uncertain times, it is more important than ever that our viewers know their trusted local stations are there for them, providing the news and information they need to make decisions for their families. CMG stations take pride in being trusted and vital resources for our communities, and we will fight to continue to fulfill this responsibility.”

As of mid-afternoon Wednesday (1/6), Suddenlink had not offered a public comment regarding the possible impasse with Cox Media Group.

— Reporting by Ethan Hunt. Additional reporting by Adam Jacobson, in Boca Raton, Fla.

The author worked at KWTX(AM/FM) in 1975–79 as an announcer, DJ and board operator. He is a personal collector and preservationist of Central Texas broadcasting memorabilia.

This is one in a series featuring radio station memories and early histories.

Once the home of the “Golden Sound of Beautiful Music,” KWTX-FM has now been entertaining Central Texas listeners in one form or another for 50 years.

Its inaugural broadcast was Dec. 7, 1970. The new Waco FM station at 97.5 MHz was owned and operated by KWTX Broadcasting Co., the licensee of KWTX-TV (Channel 10) and KWTX(AM) (1230 kHz). All local radio and TV programming originated from the company’s Broadcast Center at 4520 Bosque Blvd. in Waco.

The KWTX transmitter and tower were located along I-35 near Lorena, Texas, a few miles south of Waco. The station transmitted at an effective radiated power of 71 kW. Programming was sent from the Waco studio to the transmitter site by a microwave link licensed by the Federal Communications Commission as Auxiliary WAL 23.

Throughout the 1970s, the station aired easy-listening music in stereo with limited interruptions from 6 a.m. to midnight. Instrumental selections from albums by Percy Faith, Montovani, Ray Conniff, Ferrante and Teicher, Andre Kostelanetz, 101 Strings, plus many other similar musical artists were broadcast to listeners throughout Central Texas.

The station also carried national news on the hour from the Mutual Broadcasting System. The local FM announcers gave the time and temperature on the quarter-hour and a short headline news report and weather forecast every half-hour.

Dave South, former KWTX radio program director and Texas A&M play-by-play sportscaster, recently recalled a few of the obstacles faced before and after the first broadcast.

“We put the station on the air with a very limited music library,” South said. “I had gone to Dallas a number of times begging the record distributors for any help they could provide, which wasn’t much.”

However, the station received programming help from an unexpected source. South received a letter from a man in Europe asking if the radio station played easy-listening music. The man’s father was an orchestra leader who had recorded 10 or 12 albums.

“He sent those albums to me,” South said. “We played just about every cut on each LP, and that increased our music library by 30 to 40 percent.”

South said station management would come into the control room occasionally and draw a line with a red grease pencil through album cuts they didn’t want to hear again.

“Lots of red circles became a part of our lives in FM,” South said.

On-air announcers also had to cope with working inside a small confined space, sometimes for up to six hours. The FM control room wasn’t much larger than a closet and crowded with equipment and storage shelves.

South said that it was often difficult to find someone willing to work long part-time hours for not much money — and who liked to listen to slow instrumental music.

“Our only full-time announcer was Clarence Garnes,” South said. “Clarence was a former radio guy and had a great voice. He was in his late 70s and smoked like a chimney. He didn’t make much money, but that was OK with him, because he was retired, and his wife had a good job at Baylor University.”

Many FM radio hosts brought “Beautiful Stereo Music” to Central Texas listeners for over a decade until the format changed in the early ’80s to personality DJs playing contemporary hits 24 hours a day.

A few noteworthy changes to KWTX-FM have occurred since. A new broadcast tower and transmitter facility was built near Moody, south of Waco, in 1979. FM power increased to 100 kW in 1986.

KWTX AM/FM/TV moved to a new facility at 6700 American Plaza in 1987. Both radio stations were sold to Gulfstar Communications in 1996, and are now owned by iHeartMedia.

Today, KWTX(AM) “NewsTalk 1230,”  KWTX-FM “97.5 FM #1 Hit Music,” and other Waco iHeartMedia stations are located at 314 West Highway 6.

The post Remembering the Early Days of KWTX-FM appeared first on Radio World.

In the 49th State, it is known as GCI. That’s the Liberty Broadband-owned MVPD that, as of Jan. 1, discontinued carriage of “FOX Alaska,” “ABC Alaska,” and “The CW Alaska” on a newly launched “skinny bundle” offering designed to discourage subscribers from fleeing to such services as Hulu and YouTube TV.

It is pointing fingers at the broadcast TV station owner providing the three signals. Naturally, the broadcaster feels otherwise.

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The NAB says the FCC did the right thing last summer when it eliminated the radio duplication rule for FM as well as AM stations. It is slamming opponents who want to overturn the decision, calling them cynical and retaliatory.

In August, the Federal Communications Commission eliminated the rule that restricted duplication of programming on commonly owned stations that operate in the same service and geographic area. However, it unexpectedly did so for FM stations as well as AM, a late change that was criticized at the time by Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks.

Subsequently, REC Networks, musicFIRST and Future of Music Coalition formally asked the FCC to overturn the decision in regards to FM stations. Among other things they basically accused the National Association of Broadcasters of pulling a fast one by seeking to change the terms of the issue at the last minute.

The opponents reminded the FCC that it had proposed and circulated a draft order applying only to AM stations and explicitly retaining the rule for FMs.

“In its Final Order, however, without warning or justification, the commission reversed course, eliminating the Radio Duplication Rule in its entirety,” they argued in November.

They said the elimination of the FM portion of the Radio Duplication Rule would “invite a reduction in diversity of programming, while encouraging corporate radio owners to hoard spectrum.” They believe the economic fallout of the pandemic should not be used as a justification because it is ultimately a temporary situation that could be dealt with through waiver requests, whereas the rule change will have lasting consequences.

And they said the FCC’s “sudden about-face” regarding FM violates federal law on administrative procedures. They said that on the day before the sunshine period, the general counsel of the NAB called senior aides to Republican Commissioners Pai and Carr to argue that the FM rule should be eliminated.

The effect of the timing, they said, “was to ensure that petitioners would not be able to speak to anyone at the commission about the matter on an ex parte basis prior to the commission’s vote. The timing of these actions is an affront to the stated purpose of the commission’s ex parte rules, namely to ‘ensure the fairness and integrity of its decisionmaking.’”

They laid out legal reasoning why a second round of public comments should have been held instead.

Now the NAB has replied formally to the commission.

The association says the critics’ arguments about competition “exhibit a complete misrepresentation of the business fundamentals of the radio industry and the intense competition radio faces, and a total lack of understanding of the market value of AM/FM radio spectrum.”

NAB slammed them as retaliatory: “Once again, we see musicFIRST and FMC file in commission proceedings concerning radio not because the companies and organizations those groups represent care about the proceedings at issue, but rather, to retaliate against broadcasters for those groups failing to convince Congress to enact a tax on radio stations when they play (promote) record labels’ music on terrestrial radio stations.”

The broadcast group also argued that the petition raises no new issues.

“The FCC correctly determined that, even absent the radio duplication rule, radio stations have no incentive to limit their appeal to listeners or advertising revenues by simulcasting the same content on multiple stations in the same market,” NAB wrote.

“To the contrary, the FCC explained that the best way for stations to reach the widest audience possible and maximize profits is to provide distinctive programming on their various stations, which is exactly the practice of broadcasters with multiple stations in the same market.” They said the opponents had not named one instance where a station has taken advantage of the repeal in the way the critics worry about.

NAB said these opponents also disregard the competitive incentives that broadcasters have to provide “diverse, distinctive content.” It said they “insist on demonstrating their consistent misunderstanding of what it takes for radio stations to survive in today’s hyper-competitive audio marketplace …  Both musicFIRST and FMC appeared blissfully unaware of how difficult it is for radio stations to endure in this environment, never mind serve the public interest effectively.”

It said the explosion in audio choices provides consumers with “nearly limitless content diversity.”

NAB also said eliminating the rule provides FMs the ability to “quickly repurpose programming on commonly owned stations,” especially when they need to share critical information during an emergency. There was no reason to retain the rule and force stations to incur the time and expense of pursuing a waiver. Eliminating the rule also could help stations to facilitate a format change on a sister station or more efficiently cover a specific issue of local interest, for a limited period of time.

“Finally,” NAB wrote in its conclusion, “the entire point of the FCC’s media regulation modernization initiative is to modify or eliminate regulations that no longer serve an important purpose. … [T]he rule is a perfect example of an unnecessary regulation that can needlessly hinder broadcasters’ ability to efficiently serve Americans, particularly during crises.”

The debate comes at a time of transition at the FCC, with an incoming Democratic presidential administration and the expectation of a new chairman soon. Chairman Pai will oversee his final FCC open meeting this month. Pai has said that regulatory transparency is one of the hallmarks of his tenure.

The deadline for comments on the opponents’ petition was Monday. Replies must be filed by Jan. 15.

The post NAB, Critics Duel Over Radio Duplication Rule appeared first on Radio World.