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A Bold Move For a Minn. FM

Radio+Television Business Report - Fri, 01/26/2024 - 15:57

It may technically not be a station sale, but it is indeed a transfer of control. And, there is money being transacted. As such, the FCC has received a filing from the owner of a 50,000-watt FM serving Olivia, Minn., that seeks its permission to transfer it from one licensee to another.

The people associated with the seller are the same as those behind the pending new owner.

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Categories: Industry News

Nebraska Radio Broadcaster Settles Unauthorized Owner Changes

Radio+Television Business Report - Fri, 01/26/2024 - 15:57

The owner of two FMs, an AM and an FM translator serving Norfolk, Neb., has resolved a matter with the FCC’s Media Bureau in which it was found to have engaged in three unauthorized transfers of control made prior to the filing of applications requiring Commission approval.

While there is a financial payment to be made, it will be going to the U.S. Treasury.

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Categories: Industry News

From Sales Exec To Station Owner In Golden State

Radio+Television Business Report - Fri, 01/26/2024 - 15:56

It’s an FM known for “the greatest Country in the world,” and serves rural Inyo County, including the U.S. 395 corridor towns of Big Pine and the station’s city of license, Bishop.

Great Country Broadcasting, its owner, put the station up for sale. It’s been purchased — by none other than the woman who heads up sales.

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Categories: Industry News

Gray Selects Its Q4 2023 Earnings Release Date

Radio+Television Business Report - Fri, 01/26/2024 - 15:56

Mark your calendars for Friday, February 23. That’s when Gray Television will share with analysts and investors its fiscal results for the final three months of 2023.

What can those who hold shares of NYSE-traded “GTN” expect to hear from the company’s key executives on an earnings call scheduled for 11am Eastern on that date?

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Italian Mountain Tower Adds DAB+

Radio World - Fri, 01/26/2024 - 13:30
The Roncà/Monte Calvarina Transmission Site (Photo courtesy Aeranti-Corallo)

Radio World loves to receive photographs that capture the allure of radio. Recently, we’ve put out multiple calls to our readership asking for pretty pictures of their facilities, and they did not disappoint! Want to share your own pics? We welcome all photos that capture the wonder of radio. Email them to radioworld@futurenet.com.

Roncà, Italy, and Monte Calvarina, a peak of the Lessini Mountains, are known for their wines. As of Jan. 24, 2024, They are also home to the latest DAB+ transmission site for the Radio Digitale Veneto consortium.

The site is between the cities of Verona and Vicenza with a commanding view of the valleys below. Aeranti-Corallo, which represents about 450 local FM radio stations across Italy, shared these photos of the site. Radio Digitale Veneto is a member of the association.

The DAB+ broadcasts, operating in VHF channel 8C, are still considered experimental, but 20 local stations are participating in the project. The Monte Calvarina single-tower site is also home to antennas for several FM broadcasts.

A Closer Look at the Antenna Bays on the Tower (Photo courtesy Aeranti-Corallo)

The post Italian Mountain Tower Adds DAB+ appeared first on Radio World.

Categories: Industry News

Nexstar Board OKs Dividend Hike

Radio+Television Business Report - Fri, 01/26/2024 - 13:08

According to the company’s founder and Chairman/CEO, its “strong free cash flow generation” continues to support its commitment to delivering increased returns to shareholders.

As such, Nexstar Media Group is increasing its quarterly cash dividend.

Nexstar’s Board of Directors has approved a 25% increase to its quarterly cash dividend, raising it to $1.69 per share beginning with the dividend declared for the first quarter of 2024.

The dividend is payable on Friday, February 23, to shareholders of record on Friday, February 9, 2024.

“The eleventh consecutive annual increase in our cash dividend, combined with our opportunistic share repurchase activity, reflects our continued confidence in Nexstar’s business model, competitive positioning and growth opportunities,” said Nexstar head Perry Sook.

While Nexstar intends to pay regular quarterly cash dividends for the foreseeable future, all subsequent dividends will be reviewed quarterly and declared by the Board of Directors at its discretion.

Categories: Industry News

Salem Moves Ahead With Sale Leaseback For Calif. Home

Radio+Television Business Report - Fri, 01/26/2024 - 12:59

As 2023 came to a closeSalem Media Group revealed that the company, in a move designed to further reduce its debt, agreed to sell its Regnery Publishing arm to Skyhorse Publishing for an undisclosed price. This followed the $30 million sale of Salem Church Products to Gloo LLC in October 2023.

Now, the purveyor of Christian-themed and conservative Talk content that in 2021 relocated to Irving, Tex., is selling its former Ventura County, Calif., headquarters, while entering a sale leaseback agreement.

As first reported on Friday morning by Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink, Stamford, Conn.-based Siena Lending Group on January 19 confirmed to Salem CFO Evan Masyr and General Counsel Christopher Henderson via electronic correspondence Salem’s decision to sell its building at 4880 Santa Rosa Road in Camarillo, Calif. And, Siena gave its approval to the sale, given its role as a major lender to Salem.

Indeed, Salem is a borrower of Siena, and 100% of the proceeds totaling $6,231,900 will be paid to it by Salem. This will offset a new $26 million three-year asset-based revolving credit facility established between Siena and Salem on Dec. 26, 2023. It marked a return to Siena from Wells Fargo Bank, which happens to have a branch directly across the street from the Camarillo building.

The buyer of the building is Greg Robinson, President of Big Brand Tire CompanyBig Brand Tire & Service centers can be found across Arizona, California, Nevada and Colorado.

Salem will not be vacating the building. Instead, it has agreed to a five-year leaseback agreement with Robinson, with annual rent of $500,000. This will ensure the company’s current building use continues.

As Siena agreed to the sale of Salem’s former headquarters, it also said yes to agreements to the Loan and Security Agreement agreed to between Siena and Salem. First, an increase in the Letter of Credit limit was seen, from $1 million to $3 million. Other financial covenants will come into effect following the sale.

Salem has been busily working to whittle down its outstanding debt. As of September 30, 2023, long-term debt stood at $152.61 million, with total liabilities of $339.15 million. Salem’s total assets were valued at $471.3 million.

Meanwhile, a January 19 change for its stock transpired as “SALM” began trading on the OTCQX Best Market. The company voluntarily delisted its shares from Nasdaq; Salem shares have not closed above $1 since the first week of May 2023.

 

 

 

Categories: Industry News

Butler Preparing For His Final APTS Public Media Summit

Radio+Television Business Report - Fri, 01/26/2024 - 12:01

WASHINGTON, D.C. — America’s Public Television Stations, the association focused on “ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system” and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people, is putting the finishing touches on its 2024 Public Media Summit.

As APTS will celebrate its 45th anniversary at the event, it will also serve as the swan song for the organization’s President/CEO, Patrick Butler.

This year’s event is scheduled for February 26-28 at the Salamander Hotel in Washington D.C. from February 26-28, 2024. It is located adjacent to the former FCC headquarters in the Portals, a few blocks west of the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station.

The theme of the 2024 Summit is “Partners in Public Service,” and APTS says it will be celebrating the work members stations are doing with government agencies and other partners “to serve the American people in some truly extraordinary ways.”

Set to appear at the Summit are several nationally known politicians: Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Senate Appropriations Vice Chair, will participate in a conversation with Margaret Hoover, Host of “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover.”

Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Shelly Moore Capito (R-W. Va.) will also be in attendance.

Additionally, all five voting members of the FCC — Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, and Commissioners Brendan Carr, Geoffrey Starks, Nathan Simington and Anna Gómez, will offer “special messages” for Summit attendees.

The Summit agenda includes a review of the prospects for increased federal and State funding for public broadcasting, exploration of the technological innovations revolutionizing the public broadcasting business, and an assessment of progress in bringing greater diversity, equity and inclusion to member stations.

Review the full 2024 Public Media Summit agenda on the APTS website.

Categories: Industry News

CMG Sends Viewers A Warning Of A Potential ‘Blackout’

Radio+Television Business Report - Fri, 01/26/2024 - 09:59

The broadcast TV station owner under majority control of Apollo Global Management is warning its viewers that one of the nation’s two direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service providers is planning to drop its stations from local channel lineups.

Call it a preemptive advisory that suggests a retransmission consent impasse could be just days away — again.

On Thursday evening, Cox Media Group issued a statement noting that it has called on DirecTV “to not block its customers’ access to breaking local news and weather, emergency information, live major sports and other entertainment programming provided by CMG’s local TV stations.”

That’s CMG’s way of saying that, as of now, DirecTV is not willing to agree to the terms presented by the TV station owner for a new retransmission consent accord. Indeed, CMG says that DirecTV “appears intent on pulling all of CMG’s local TV stations from its lineup, starting as early as February 2.”

By law, MVPDs including DirecTV and Dish are not permitted to provide broadcast TV signals to customers without a retransmission consent accord. That means that at 12:01am Eastern on February 2, CMG’s stations will go dark on DirecTV in the absence of a fresh deal.

The timing of the latest tussle between CMG and DirecTV is a reprise of tough negotiations seen three years ago, and comes right before the February 11 airing of Super Bowl LVIII on CBS.

As such, the telecast is threatened to be blocked to DirecTV subscribers in Seattle, where CMG owns CBS affiliate KIRO-7; in Dayton, Ohio, where CMG owns heritage CBS station WHIO-7; and in Jacksonville, Fla., as CMG owns CBS affiliate WJAX-47 in that market.

Commenting on the potential disruption for CMG’s stations, EVP Marian Pittman said,  “We’re dismayed that DIRECTV is trying to force a deal that would harm local journalism and broadcast stations. This hurts consumers who rely on our high-quality local news, weather, and entertainment programming.”

CMG also makes the claim that DirecTV’s strategy “stands to threaten the viability of local journalism at a time when broadcast TV stations are often the last source of local news, emergency information, and consumer protection left in their communities. While DirecTV aggressively tries to undermine the value of local broadcast stations, they know the truth. Local broadcast stations, including CMG’s stations, are consistently the most popular channels on DirecTV’s lineup.”

RBR+TVBR reached out to a DirecTV spokesperson for comment. As the DBS provider sees it, it is working with CMG to reach a new agreement “that will align the value and quality customers receive with the price they pay. Our request to Cox Media Group is simple, don’t force your viewers who are our customers, to pay an unwarranted rate increase for ‘free’ news, sports and entertainment that is widely available on local station websites, through an over-the-air digital antenna and direct-to-consumer streaming platforms.”

As CMG and DirecTV due it out over a new retransmission fee accord, individual TV stations owned by CMG including WSB-2 in Atlanta, its ABC-affiliated flagship property, are asking viewers to call 1-800-531-5000 to demand DirecTV keep the station on its lineup.

MVPDs have largely been critical of such tactics, assailing broadcast television stations for getting consumers involved in business negotiations.

 

Categories: Industry News

Applications

FCC Media Bureau News Items - Thu, 01/25/2024 - 19:00
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Pleadings

FCC Media Bureau News Items - Thu, 01/25/2024 - 19:00
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Actions

FCC Media Bureau News Items - Thu, 01/25/2024 - 19:00
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A Live Streaming Daily News Show, From An OTA Leader

Radio+Television Business Report - Thu, 01/25/2024 - 16:24

Privately held Block Communications has debuted a unique newscast-podcast format that can’t be seen on its FOX affiliate serving Kentucky’s largest market. Rather, it is an exclusive offering available to users of the station’s app, opening a new opportunity for both consumers and advertisers.

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Categories: Industry News

Attention, N.C. Broadcasters: Sports Wagering Is Coming

Radio+Television Business Report - Thu, 01/25/2024 - 16:15

North Carolina’s radio and television broadcasting stations could be in for a windfall of new advertiser revenue, as the State Lottery Commission on Thursday morning confirmed that approved, licensed sports wagering operators will be able to begin accepting online
wagers in the state in a matter of weeks.

 

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Categories: Industry News

Fubo Moves Forward With GenAI-Based ‘Instant Headlines’

Radio+Television Business Report - Thu, 01/25/2024 - 15:56

NEW YORK — They are designed to help Fubo consumers make better viewing decisions in real-time, the publicly traded company says.

Introducing “Instant Headlines,” which FuboTV Inc. describes as “a pioneering beta feature that generates contextual news topics as they are reported live on air.”

The new Fubo offering surfaces current programming topics and highlights them — in 10 words or less — in a home page news carousel. The page continuously refreshes each channel tile in the carousel, updating the user on the current topic being discussed on that channel. From there, the user can click on the channel tile to watch the live segment.

Instant Headlines is available to Fubo users on FireTV and Android TV, and is currently integrated with select 24 hour news channels, including national networks and, in certain markets, local stations.

The feature may be expanded to other devices in the future.

Fubo also said it plans to launch a suite of news-focused product features and intends to make similar features available for sports and entertainment content.

“Fubo continuously pushes the boundaries of innovation, delivering to consumers market defining product features optimized for live TV streaming,” said David Gandler, Fubo’s co-founder and CEO. “We were the first virtual MVPD to offer 4K streaming and multi viewing, which we launched years ahead of our peers. It’s Fubo’s premium user experience, coupled with our aggregated sports-first content offering, that provides meaningful differentiation in a crowded streaming landscape. We believe tech advancements will continue to demarcate Fubo from other live TV streaming services – appealing to both consumers and advertisers alike – and will contribute strongly to our profitability goals.”

Categories: Industry News

House E&C Republicans To Probe Sports Media Rights

Radio+Television Business Report - Thu, 01/25/2024 - 15:55

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Member who chairs the Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chair want a clearer understanding of sports media rights in the U.S.

They hope to get answers in a hearing scheduled for January 31 on Capitol Hill.

House E&C head Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Bob Latta (R-Ohio) are calling the hearing “TV Timeout: Understanding Sports Media Rights,” and it is scheduled for the final day of the month at 10:30am Eastern, in Rayburn HOB Room 2322.

Why are Rodgers and Latta convening the hearing? “The media marketplace has rapidly evolved over the last decade to adapt to the shifting dynamics of the sports’ media rights debate and the rising influence of online streaming platforms,” they note. “The introduction of streaming services, in particular, has expanded the options for people to choose where, when, and what content they view, including live sports. We look forward to discussing this evolution and better understand the innovation and competition in this market and how it has changed the consumer experience.”

Perhaps the key word here is “disrupted,” and streaming services such as Peacock and Amazon Video gain exclusives, such as National Football League telecasts.

A witness list is forthcoming.

Categories: Industry News

A Weiser Look At Comcast In Q4: Powered by Peacock

Radio+Television Business Report - Thu, 01/25/2024 - 15:42

Comcast Corp., the NBCUniversal parent, on Thursday reported its Q4 2023 earnings results. The big takeaway as Brian Wieser, the respected media industry financial analyst who leads Madison & Wall, sees it?

OTT platform Peacock is powering NBCU, as the linear media assets are experiencing turbulence.

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Categories: Industry News

Morse Code Is Alive and Well at KPH

Radio World - Thu, 01/25/2024 - 15:17

Last Saturday, more than 150 listeners across the U.S., Italy, France and Japan huddled by their radios to decipher a series of Morse Code transmitted by the Maritime Radio Historical Society.

MRHS was formed on July 12, 1999, the date of the supposed last commercial Morse transmission in the U.S. Today, the group operates stations KPH, KFS, KSM and, on amateur frequencies, K6KPH. In addition to honoring the craft of maritime radio, KPH also hosts a number of events — most recently, an over-the-air cryptographic challenge.

A Quick History Lesson

During the Cold War era, “numbers stations” were frequently heard on the shortwave bands by radio amateurs and SWLs (shortwave listening). Using voice or Morse Code, these stations would broadcast encrypted messages in the form of five-letter groups of numbers.

The encryption methods used by number stations are widely believed to use a one-time pad (OTP) procedure: the simple addition (or subtraction) of a set of random numbers from the OTP to encode (or decode) the cleartext. Once used, the OTP key was never re-used and destroyed after use. “Number stations still offer a powerful advantage in our modern world: provably unbreakable security and complete anonymity,” says MRHS on its website. “All the recipient needs are the OTP, a shortwave radio and to be on the right frequency at the right time.”

KPH’s Crypto Transmission

On Jan. 20, KPH transmitted a coded message consisting of five-digit groups. The message was encrypted using typical Cold War numbers station cryptographic procedures. All KPH listeners were invited to try their hand at receiving and decrypting the message.

To recap the event, and to learn more about KPH, Radio World chatted via email with Bill Ruck, one of KPH’s passionate volunteers.

Radio World: Can you share a little bit about KPH’s history?

Bill Ruck: When the maritime business collapsed the [former KPH] licensee sold the license and shut down the transmitters. The founders of the Maritime Radio Historical Society went to Point Reyes National Seashore with a proposal to operate the station. They accepted the proposal and now we operate, maintain and interpret the station for visitors in partnership with Point Reyes National Seashore. It is now a National Park Service Historical Site and on its way — very slowly — to becoming a NPS Museum.

The transmit site for all MRHS stations is the original 1914 Marconi site in Bolinas, Calif. The receive site is the RCA point to point site built in 1930 at Point Reyes, Calif. KPH commenced receive operations at the Point Reyes site in 1946 when the station reopened after the war. (Photo credit: MRHS)

RW: How often does KPH hold events like this past weekend’s crypto transmission?

Ruck: It takes a lot of time to put this together but we really want to do a crypto event twice a year. This is our third crypto event. The first two used Enigma (German WWII system) encryption.

RW: What was your role with the event, and at KPH in general?

Ruck: While I really like to work on equipment lately I have mostly been “interpreting,” giving descriptions of what we do at KPH to visitors. Last Saturday, I explained not only the history of KPH but what we were doing, and kept the visitors from annoying the operators sending the five number groups.

Cypress Tree Avenue leads visitors to the historic KPH maritime radio receiving station, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, Calif. (Photo credit: Frank Schulenburg/Wiki)

RW: How and why did you get involved at the station?

Ruck: Long story. One of my high school friends worked for Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in downtown San Francisco part time at night. When he graduated he became the teletype operator at Point Reyes. I used to hang out with him while he worked and saw KPH in full operation about 50 years ago. Then, years later, a mutual friend invited me to join, not knowing my previous experience at KPH. It was too easy to get sucked in.

I have an active interest in the history of technology, especially radio, and to be involved in a radio station that dates back to 1905 is heaven for me.

Bill Ruck in front of one of MRHS’ Press Wireless PW-15 transmitters. “This is a WWII vintage transmitter that operates every Saturday,” says Ruck. (Photo credit: MRHS)

RW: What kind of programming does KPH do outside of these events?

Ruck: Every Saturday we broadcast marine news and weather in both Morse Code and teletype. There are a few, mostly historic, ships that have the equipment and operators to send messages in Morse. If you take a SS Jeremiah O’Brian San Francisco Bay Cruise (which is highly recommended) you can go to the ship’s radio officer, fill out a radiogram blank and watch as the radio officer sends the message to us. We then forward that message via email. We also send the JOB “Air raid Pearl Harbor. This is no drill” just because we can.

We also operate on amateur HF bands under the call K6KPH. Same thing — hand-sent Morse Code.

This is a picture of Position 1 at the Point Reyes receive site. Mike Payne is holding the microphone on the voice link to the Bolinas transmitter and Roy Henrichs is sitting down. Context: Position 1 has the senior operator controlling all of the transmissions from a total of 6 operating positions. (Photo credit: MRHS)

RW: How many volunteers help to keep the station running?

Ruck: We have about eight regulars and a few more that come by once in a while. We NEED more volunteers.

RW: Why is keeping the art of Morse transmissions alive important to KPH, and you?

Ruck: For almost 100 years maritime radio was the only contact between a ship at sea and land. Until the 80’s this was almost all hand-sent Morse Code. Gradually, several technologies took over and today a ship sends email via satellite. We honor the men, and some women, that were radio officers at sea.

I tell visitors “We do the radio equivalent of a Civil War re-enactment.” There is no money in hand-sent Morse Code anymore, but by keeping the single operational Coastal Marine Station in the U.S. on the air — even if only Saturdays — is living history. While the KPH project is well known in our limited circles, my goal is to get the word out as much as possible.

So, What Was Transmitted?

Here’s the Numbers message as sent (both CW and RTTY):

CQ CQ CQ DE KPH KPH KPH
CQ CQ CQ DE KPH KPH KPH
NUMBERS MESSAGE FOLLOWS
=
447 447 447
=
14408  22398  89277  37674  58289
07722  15378  84975  30552  61128
69986  02108  68467  10079  92331
32982  54092  37446  22905  15340
17129  81152  39418  67073  25414
81456  43361
=

And here is the cleartext:

CURRENT OP  COMPROMISED.  ABORT.
TRAVEL   IMMEDIATELY  TO  ISTANBUL VIA SWISS  PASSPORT.
CONTACT AGENT  MAX.   DANGER,  INSIST   ON   MOSCOW    RULES.
BURN   AFTER   READING.

One of the event’s participants followed orders and sent the below video to KPH.

Visit KPH’s website for more information on its history and future events.

Submit business announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Morse Code Is Alive and Well at KPH appeared first on Radio World.

Categories: Industry News

FCC Plans to Fine Five Radio Pirates in Florida

Radio World - Thu, 01/25/2024 - 14:36
A logo for Touche Douce from Facebook.

The Federal Communications Commission is ramping up its pressure on a person it describes as “one of the longest-operating [radio] pirates in the Miami area.”

It has proposed the maximum allowable penalty, about $2.4 million, against Fabrice Polynice for allegedly operating a pirate station known as “Touché Douce” over 22 days in 2023. In a notice of apparent liability, it said Polynice had also been issued forfeiture orders in 2013 and 2018.

This is the fifth multimillion-dollar penalty proposed by the FCC since the PIRATE Act significantly raised maximum fines in 2020. Only one to date has progressed to a final forfeiture order, involving Radio Impacto 2 in New York; there has been no further word about that one being paid or collected.

The FCC also has proposed four smaller fines in the Miami area.

Penalties of about $358,000 each are proposed against Brindley Marshall, Wilfrid Salomon and Cameron Brown. “All three individuals have been operating pirate radio stations for years and have received multiple warnings to cease their unauthorized broadcasting,” the commission wrote. The dollar figure is the maximum penalty for three days of alleged violations in 2023.

The FCC also proposed a forfeiture of $120,000 against Abdias Datis.

“These operators were not just using the public airwaves unlawfully, they were increasing the risk for harmful interference of authorized users,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement. “That is unacceptable.”

The NALs were approved unanimously by the FCC commissioners.

In each case, the people named have an opportunity to respond and counter the allegations before the FCC confirms a forfeiture.

The Miami notices are a result of the commission’s first sweep of the Miami area under the PIRATE Act. The commission must conduct regular sweeps of five cities where pirate radio is most common.

Rosenworcel described the field regional management and agents in the Miami field office as “a team on the front lines of enforcing our rules governing the public airwaves.”

The FCC this week also issued an update to Congress on its pirate radio enforcement efforts in the past fiscal year.

The post FCC Plans to Fine Five Radio Pirates in Florida appeared first on Radio World.

Categories: Industry News

Gómez Reveals Key Staff Members

Radio+Television Business Report - Thu, 01/25/2024 - 14:08

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The newest FCC Commissioner on Thursday named her Chief of Staff while revealing who will serve as a legal advisor for media and technology, and for both wireline and space issues and for wireless, public safety and consumer protection matters.

Anna Gómez also has a new executive assistant.

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