Industry News

In a major move that ignited its stock price immediately after Monday’s Opening Bell on the NYSE, Townsquare Media has announced that it is repurchasing at least 10 million of the 12.5 million shares of Class A and Class B common stock — and warrants — held by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P.

The strike price price reflects a 19% discount from Friday’s closing price. Given early trading today, that discount will likely be even greater come Tuesday.

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On November 9, sports data and iGaming affiliate platform QL Gaming Group (QLGG) officially became a sibling to KROQ and the Radio.com audio streaming platform, as Entercom Communications closed on its all-cash purchase of QLGG.

Now, Entercom has launched an audio network that includes broadcast radio stations and its Radio.com platform expressly for the sports gaming community.

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After more than 42 years of serving America from Michigan Avenue and the “Magnificent Mile,” a former integral piece of the Tribune Media family is fading to black.

Sunday, February 29, is the final day for WGN America.

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When you’re an engineer, the employer judges you by your skills and knowledge. Let’s talk about knowledge.

A good engineer does not need to know everything, just how to find the answer. In the old days we had tons of books to refer to (I still have editions of the “Audio Cyclopedia” and “Radio Handbook” on the shelves). Manuals from companies like Ampex and Scully explained the principles of how the products worked. Today we have the search engines — but who can really rely on the unedited and curated database?

The best answers will come from your teammates in arms: other engineers. This is why organizations like the Society of Broadcast Engineers, Audio Engineering Society, IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers are important.

At local meetings, engineers gather and learn from headline speakers on new and innovative topics. Then the magic happens. Groups form and the engineers start to trade war stories. During these discussions you will hear about the idiosyncrasies of various equipment, how non-ordinary scenarios were solved and where the job openings are.

Unfortunately, online Zoom meetings are not the best for this, but it is still happening.

Trade publications are fabulous when you can determine the difference between a good user report and sales hype. Learn which authors are good; you will eventually meet them throughout your career. Trade publications also let you know about current technologies and products, where to obtain the items and sometimes who is using them.

School is a great start for the engineer, but you should also take advantage of industry conferences and conventions.

Someday soon we’ll be able to attend major events in person again, where you’ll be greeted by huge exhibition halls. Yes, you get to see all the new and exciting equipment available for the right price. But you also get to meet salespeople and (if lucky) the designers of the gear you will depend on.

One thing to ask, because it is never obvious, is whether you can join their online user group. Sometimes the company hosts it, or it may be found on a common social media platform like Facebook. That’s a great place to read, ask questions, trade experiences.

Beyond the exhibit hall there are gatherings, technical sessions and standards meetings. The gatherings will be very broad and you can usually hear some notable speakers. The technical sessions will teach you about new technologies and techniques. Standards meetings will allow you to be part of the evolution of the technology.

Being a member of the organized technical community is essential. Going to conferences and conventions is great. Don’t be arrogant and think, “I don’t need to do this because I know everything.” (Yes, I have met such people.) You are never too old to learn, and technology is always changing. Don’t be ashamed to ask others questions; this is the only way to learn (Socrates agreed with this).

Remember: An engineer does not have to know everything, just how to find the answer.

David Bialik is a consultant who has held technical broadcast and streaming positions for companies like Entercom, CBS Radio, Bloomberg and Bonneville. He is co-chair of the AES Technical Committee for Broadcast and Online Delivery and a Senior Member of the SBE. Reach him at dkbialik@erols.com or 845-634-6595.

Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject field.

The post Nurture Your Personal Network appeared first on Radio World.

Three AM radio stations and an FM translator associated with one of those properties, used for the BIN: Black Information Network launched in 2020, are now officially owned by iHeartMedia.

A Notification of Consummation was posted Monday by the FCC on its LMS.

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The lone African-American controlled RADAR-rated radio network company in the U.S. is continuing its participation in the ratings service, thanks to a new agreement.

American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) inked a renewal agreement with Nielsen Audio. It allows AURN to continue its participation in RADAR, the Nielsen audio service offering commercial ratings.

AURN, controlled by Chesley Maddox-Dorsey (pictured), provides programming that it says “harnesses the creative energy, vision and power of African-American culture.”

“We look forward to continuing our relationship with Nielsen,” said Andy Anderson, President of Sales at AURN. “Utilizing RADAR, the gold standard in network radio measurement gives us a unique advantage in both the urban and general market radio arenas.”

Nielsen Audio SVP/National Audio Services Bruce Supovitz added, “American Urban Radio Networks holds a distinctive place with African-American listeners, and we are pleased that they have chosen to continue our relationship,” said . “Radio continues to draw a large audience among African Americans, with 91% of adults 18 and over listening each week. American Urban Radio Networks is a leader in the industry and continues to reach this large audience.”

The author is executive director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. NFCB commentaries are featured regularly at www.radioworld.com.

As you likely saw on a screen near you, a flurry of activity has been the calling card of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Appointments and executive orders were only the beginning. However, one cannot stress enough how radio must be a focus. Not only can radio be a player in the many initiatives the new administration is set to launch, but it also needs the president and vice president’s attention.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: Off-Air]

Our relationship with audiences as Biden takes office that may prove to be most crucial to our place in Americans’ lives. As political divisiveness hits levels rarely seen in the nation, what can the new administration do to engage radio? A few things, really.

Ensure greater investment in rural, locally staffed, educational media. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is not likely to be on the chopping block like it was when former President Trump tried unsuccessfully several times to gut it. And though CPB does a great job, the new administration is seeing the decline of local news and culture sources that all Americans are witnessing. Biden’s team must put attention on how real radio in communities — radio that is not voicetracked from elsewhere and able to respond to rural needs and emergencies, radio whose service is rooted in education — survives amid the pandemic.

Help streamline filings. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, at points criticized for his deregulatory zeal, resigned Jan. 20, making way for Jessica Rosenworcel, to be named acting chair. It’s probable that Pai’s legacy of simplifying the multitude of filings we do will continue after his departure. While it is important not to decimate rules that protect the public and its interest in an inclusive broadcast space, the new administration can certainly support smoothing out the processes that can be onerous, especially for rural community broadcasters.

Put vaccine education dollars into radio. The new administration would be wise to learn on radio for efforts around coronavirus as well as vaccine education. Pres. Biden has made COVID-19 response a cornerstone of his first 100 days. Such a drive will require a massive education campaign placing radio at the center. Even as more polls find little trust in media, radio’s bond remains steady. Pew Research and other pollsters say Americans remain skeptical of the vaccine, and they’ll need to be persuaded through expert interviews and information radio stations can effectively deliver.

Ask radio to educate about extremism. With white supremacy a potent topic on the American agenda, the new administration may consider how radio can help Americans understand and address issues locally. We in media can also reflect on how we can better contribute to cohesion instead of handing the microphone to the worst among us. A new study slams TV news for amplifying the voices of hyperpartisans to shore up ratings, but not because they widely represent Republicans or Democrats. Give credit to executives at Cumulus Media, who warned its hosts to stop spreading conspiracy theories that have buoyed the latest tensions. However, the more the new president can do with radio in the form of public education, the better off the country will be.

The Biden administration should look at radio’s position of trust in communities. The new president’s vision can be strengthened by prioritizing our content service for this new chapter of U.S. history.

The post Community Broadcaster: How Biden Helps Radio appeared first on Radio World.

The author writes on radio from Stockholm.

In “DAB Advocates Celebrated Growth in 2020” and “Assembly Highlights Advances for WorldDAB,” WorldDAB President Patrick Hannon claimed that 2020 was a good year for DAB+. I am disputing that. Slanted or exaggerated information about DAB have circulated over the years. Unfortunately, such information has indiscriminately been accepted by publishers in Europe and the U.S. The journalistic mission should be to uncover fake news within the media industry.

Many might not realize that WorldDAB is an organization with the purpose to promote the “Digital Audio Broadcast” brand introduced 25 years ago in the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden. Such a resourceful lobbying body will, of course, never tell us the full story complete with all the inconvenient facts regarding DAB. So, beyond the information barrage by DAB stakeholders, there are a lot of claims to question and investigate.

WorldDAB made some successful lobbying for an EU Communication Code requirement that car radio receivers in new passenger cars — not buses and trucks — must be able to receive “terrestrial digital radio. “But it is NOT a requirement “to receive DAB+.” This would be contrary to EU competition rules as there are also other system brands for terrestrial digital radio, e.g. the DRM system (established in India), HD Radio (used in the United States), Chinese CDR and the emerging global technology 5G Broadcast. In fact, the European Union has not recommended or defined DAB or any other system as standard for terrestrial digital radio. And probably never will.

Where are the DAB listeners, really? Introducing DAB in a country does not mean that listeners will abandon FM and broadband. Except for the U.K. WorldDAB has not presented any DAB listening figures. It is estimated that less than 1% of the world’s population today listens to DAB radio. In most countries “digital radio” is not DAB, it is radio on the internet.

After the fiasco in Norway the DAB stakeholders are smart enough to report only ”digital listening” which includes both DAB and on-line. Big attempts are made to hide the truth. But the Norwegian radio listener is not happy with the national transition from FM to DAB.

In neighboring Sweden DAB broadcasting still exists, but there are extremely few listeners. Why should they?

Since 1995 82 million DAB/DAB+ receivers have been sold in the world. This should be put into the perspective that there are more than 6 billion FM receivers and now more than 2.5 billion smartphones. The sale of standalone receivers is decreasing while the smartphone/connected car will be the only future radio listening platform to challenge FM radio.

The BBC, a pioneer of the development of DAB in the 1990s, now regards the internet as the most important platform for radio and television of the future. BBC is already successfully testing 5G Broadcast in Scotland.

Attempts to include DAB in smartphones have not been successful. A DAB receiver consumes more energy than a corresponding FM receiver. This is a decisive reason for the lack of a global consumer market for DAB. The prospects that DAB will become a major radio listening platform in the U.K. or elsewhere are slim. So why even go on trying?

There are no signs of DAB ever being accepted in the world’s 11 largest nations among them China, India, United States, Brazil, Russia, Mexico and Japan, which together muster half the world’s total population.

Today most standalone receivers sold including in-car radio are capable for both FM and DAB. In Sweden a new car is a connected car. In a well-covered mobile broadband country this provides superior diversity and sound quality for radio online also in your car.

FM is still available as a robust emergency alert system (EAS) in most countries (except Norway). Finland has recently passed a national law requiring FM for all new cars.

Some countries will go for other digital systems for terrestrial radio such as DRM and HD Radio with better geographical coverage than DAB. These systems use current frequency bands for FM (VHF II) as well as shortwave and mediumwave (HF). Investing in short-range DAB transmitters will be too expensive outside metropolitan areas. This is already on the agenda in Australia, India, Brazil and Russia.

FM will probably be retained for decades in most of the world’s 220 countries and territories. Norway occupies a world-unique position as the only country where FM has been replaced by DAB for its national network (FM is retained for local radio). Switzerland might follow suit 2023. In Australia DAB is established in metropolitan areas, but AM and FM will be retained. Among the countries that have previously tested DAB and/or declined public investment at national level are Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Portugal, Spain, Latvia, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Ireland and New Zealand.

Some digital technologies are short-lived. Remember the CD, the DAT cassette. And watch out; Switzerland last year closed its terrestrial digital television network.

During the quarter-century that DAB existed, the chances of a market breakthrough were significantly greater in the 1990s than today. Then the internet did not exist as a major media platform and DAB could attract with improvements as more channels than FM. Today, the system cannot offer the radio listener any competitive added value when mobile and fixed broadband are already established everywhere. And with FM retained as a global standard.

DAB tried to kill FM, but from behind came internet and killed DAB. There is a lot to learn from this. I look forward to read in-depth reports also based objective sources.

The post Is There Any Good Year for DAB? appeared first on Radio World.

Normally this is the time of year when technologists at the National Association of Broadcasters are finalizing their agenda for engineering and IT presentations at the spring NAB Show.

Those efforts have been pushed back, with the convention now scheduled for October. But Radio World checked in with NAB Vice President, Advanced Engineering David Layer for an update on the organization’s technology initiatives at the beginning of 2021.

He has been vocal recently about the coming impact of hybrid radios — radios that combine over-the-air and internet connectivity — and the consequent need for FM and HD Radio stations to register with RadioDNS. He expanded on that theme during this interview.

Radio World: How will COVID-19 impact how NAB funds technology initiatives going forward?

David Layer: I expect that in the near term we will be focusing our funding on technology initiatives prioritized by our board as we adjust to the new financial realities created by the pandemic.

RW: What are the highlights of current NAB PILOT projects?

Layer:  On the radio side, PILOT continues to work with Xperi and Hubbard to do a variety of all-digital AM radio tests, using of course Hubbard station WWFD, 820 kHz, Frederick, Md.

RW: What kind of tests, specifically?

Layer:  Possible test areas highlighted by Xperi and Hubbard in their most recent experimental authority application, filed in June of 2020, include expanded testing of the use of an HD2 multicast audio service — creating a second audio service in addition to the main program services, including experimentation with different audio bitrate sizes used, and audio formats, including parametric stereo. Also, the addition of different data services alongside data services already deployed now; testing of emergency alerts services and new advanced alerting services; testing the performance of MA3 vs. analog in different all‐electric vehicles; testing changes to the MA3 waveform by reducing the power level of the unmodulated pilot carrier level; and conducting building penetration tests of the MA3 all digital system vs. analog, and the MA1 hybrid system.

PILOT and Xperi also launched in October a collaboration focusing on radio implementation using Android Automotive, a new operating system that several auto OEMs have plans to deploy. We are working with Xperi and an international array of broadcasters to help build an engaging radio experience, continue to evolve the user interface and expand the hardware abstraction layer — the code that links the software and hardware in dashboard receivers.

RW: Can you summarize current activities of work groups of the NAB Radio Technology Committee?

Layer: Two projects initiated by the NABRTC’s Next Gen Architecture working group are now in the testing phase and were discussed publicly for the first time during the 2020 Radio Show.

The first is the development of the Nielsen Audio Software Encoder, a software implementation of Nielsen’s Portable People Meter encoder that can now reside within an audio processor. Early tests of this new encoder were conducted by Nielsen using AM radio stations. Additional tests are planned on FM stations in the coming months.

The second project in conjunction with Xperi is focused on improving and simplifying the inclusion of Emergency Alert System messages into HD Radio multicast channels. Broadcast equipment manufacturer 2wCom is producing a “capture client” device and shipping in small quantities to broadcasters involved in this project for on-air testing as a last step towards full production.

RW: You mentioned NAB’s work on developments involving hybrid radio. How significant are the recent iHeart/Audi announcement and Radio.com/DTS Connected Radio partnership?

Layer: These recent announcements have been very exciting — 2020 will go down as the year when automotive hybrid radio arrived in the U.S. With consumers now purchasing vehicles with hybrid radios, it’s vitally important that FM and HD Radio broadcasters register with RadioDNS, the not-for-profit organization that develops standards used by hybrid radio manufacturers for accessing broadcaster content over the internet.

All FM and HD Radio broadcasters should do two things to ensure that their stations are taking advantage of the hybrid radio receivers in Audi and BMW vehicles: first, create a Service Information (SI) file, which contains the basic metadata information needed by the hybrid radio receiver and second, register their stations with RadioDNS.

RadioDNS does not charge any fees for this registration. Broadcasters can do these things themselves, or they can enlist the aid of service providers, some of which can assist broadcasters in these tasks free of charge. NAB and RadioDNS co-produced a tutorial back in July to help broadcasters do these things. It’s available for free on-demand right now.

RW: What do you think about the uptake or lack of it for all-digital AM, now that FCC allows that option?Are broadcasters poised to take advantage of it?

Layer:  One of the best things to happen in 2020 for radio broadcasters was the adoption by the FCC of the all-digital AM Report and Order, establishing the all-digital AM service in the U.S., which broadcasters elect to use voluntarily.

I expect the uptake to be slow at first and to accelerate over time as the number of consumers with HD Radio receivers increases, thereby increasing the number of potential listeners.

RW: The pandemic has pushed the adoption of “work from home” strategies by broadcasters. Do you expect that to continue?

Layer: Anecdotally that would seem to be the case. I think it’s widely acknowledged that the pandemic has accelerated acceptance of “work from home” by the broadcast — and other — industries. There is no reason to expect that broadcasters won’t continue to make use of remote working.

RW: Are there any other technology trends broadcast engineers at the station level should be tracking?

Layer: I’ll take this opportunity to once again urge FM and HD Radio broadcasters to register with RadioDNS and develop their service information (SI) file. Now is the time for radio broadcasters to support these modern radio receiver technologies — the automakers are watching. Radio broadcasters’ level of support right now will no doubt be a factor in the future development of car radios by automakers.

RW: Can you tell us about any new NAB educational opportunities for broadcast engineers?

Layer:  The NAB Leadership Foundation hosts a Technology Ambassador Program, and NAB updates educational opportunities at nab.org/education. We’re also excited to convene the industry in October at NAB Show, which will collocate with Radio Show and AES.

The post At NAB, a Focus on Hybrid and the Dash appeared first on Radio World.

The COVID pandemic may freeze some activities but the audio world hasn’t completely stopped.

One example is the Audio Engineering Society and its new president, Jonathan Wyner who started his term on Jan. 1.

[Read: 2021 AES Show Will Co-Locate With NAB]

Wyner is a familiar face to AES leadership having spent 30+ years in various roles including board of directors, board of governors and on numerous society committees.

As an audio professional, he has been a professional musician, audio engineer, author, technology developer and educator at Berklee College of Music.

“The AES is the most varied international assemblage of experts, thought leaders, researchers, manufacturers and practitioners of audio in the world,” said Wyner. “During our recent fall event we had attendees from 82 countries. Each of us has our individual interests and goals for our work, but a passion for audio ties us together. There are so many interesting and exciting developments taking place in the world of audio.”

Wyner takes over from previous president, Agnieszka Roginska.

The post AES’ Prez Wyner Starts Term appeared first on Radio World.