A broadcaster in Texas is facing a fine for not filing license renewal applications for two FM translators on time.
Carlos Lopez is licensee of the translators in Conroe and South Padre Island. License renewal forms were due by April 1 but were not received at the FCC until late May.
[Read: Expired Licenses Lead to $7,000 Forfeiture for FM Translator]
The commission says Lopez didn’t provide an explanation, so it has issued a notice of apparent liability for $3,000, which he has 30 days to pay or challenge.
Because he did file before the licenses actually expired, and because the FCC isn’t aware of any other problems, it said it plans to grant the renewal applications once the forfeiture proceeding is completed.
The post Two Texas Translators Face an FCC Penalty appeared first on Radio World.
Al Shuldiner isn’t the only Media Bureau leader seeking to bolster the Commission’s coffers by handing out more Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture letters to broadcast stations for a failure to follow the agency’s rules.
Barbara Kriesman, the Video Division Chief who works alongside Audio Division Chief Shuldiner, has been plenty busy with her own NALs to over-the-air TV operators.
In fact, two were released today to none other than the biggest licensee of TV stations in the U.S.
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Ryan Seacrest, one of the brightest stars in iHeartMedia’s talent constellation, has signed on for a new contract.
Describing him as an “unmatched creative talent,” the company said: “The three-year contract extends through Dec.31, 2025, during which time Seacrest will celebrate 30 years as one of the most recognized and respected names not just within iHeartMedia, but throughout the entire media and entertainment industry.”
In the announcement, Seacrest called the decision a “no-brainer.”
The agreement was negotiated by Jeff Refold, COO/CFO of Ryan Seacrest Enterprises, and Jonathan West of Latham & Watkins. Its value was not announced.
iHeart noted that Seacrest started in radio as a teenager at WSTR(FM) in Atlanta before he went to Los Angeles. “Since then, Seacrest has built a reputation as one of media’s most trusted voices, cultivating a genuine connection — and powerful relationships — with consumers, advertisers, and America’s biggest stars, and is a true brand ambassador for iHeartMedia.”
He will continue to host and produce his morning drive show for iHeartMedia’s 102.7 KIIS-FM, the syndicated “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” and “American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest.”
iHeart says Seacrest is an important voice to its top management in planning major initiatives and tentpole events, and he will continue that advisory capacity.
In radio circles Seacrest also is known as a benefactor for children’s hospitals. His foundation builds broadcast media centers named Seacrest Studios in pediatric hospitals for patients to explore radio, TV and new media.
The post Seacrest Re-ups With iHeart, Calls It a “No Brainer” appeared first on Radio World.
This article originally appeared in the Feb. 8, 2017, edition of Radio World Engineering Extra and was posted on this website Feb. 9, 2017. If you like this content you should subscribe to Radio World Engineering Extra.
In two articles thus far (RW Engineering Extra, Aug. 10 and Oct. 19, 2016), we’ve traced the origins of electret condenser microphones to their externally-polarized ancestor, patented in 1916.
One hundred years later, modern materials and manufacturing have made electret condenser mikes cheap and plentiful — and with careful design electret audio performance can rival the best of their powered cousins. In this chapter, we’ll examine the anatomy of the circuitry following electrets and how they affect the sound output.
For our study, I picked a Neewer model NW-700 “Professional Studio Broadcasting & Recording Condenser Microphone,” which at the time of writing is listed at only $14.70 by the manufacturer, including a web shock mount and cable, shown in Fig. 1. Neewer was kind to let us share some of the NW-700 schematic, which we examine below.
Fig. 2: Inside the Neewer NW-700.As discussed previously, all condenser microphones generate a small voltage as their diaphragm changes capacitance in an electric field, when moved by sound pressure waves.
Externally-polarized mikes charge the diaphragm/backplate condenser through a resistor from a source of 40 to 200 volts, as shown on the left in Fig. 3.
Because the capacitance is very low (around 50 picofarad, ±30 pF), the resistor forms an R/C network that rolls off the low frequencies. The resistor must have a value of hundreds of megaohms to avoid a cutoff in the bass range.
One advantage an electret has is its intrinsic charge, which eliminates the charging resistor, as shown on in Fig. 3. Either way, a fixed charge is maintained across the capacitor.
For a charge Q, the expression is: = 0 x 0
0 is the capsule capacitance, and 0 is the capsule capacitance.
The output voltage change of a condenser microphone is expressed as the fixed voltage times the relative change in capacity:
where Ct is the variation in capacity due to sound pressure.
It is not unusual for electret microphones to have a rated output of –40 dB relative to 1 volt measured at sound pressure of 1 Pascal (Pa), which is 94 dB SPL. The signal level produced by an electret element under these conditions is calculated to be:
An orchestra may produce an SPL of more than 105 dB, but loud musical instruments such as horns and drums could easily produce a local SPL of 115 dB when closely miked. That is 21 dB above the reference 1 Pascal, which multiplies the output to:
This voltage is an average of the signal envelope — but the peaks of the waveform are greater. Assuming the ratio between the signal peaks and the average is 10 dB, the peak signal level could reach:
That is arguably a big signal for the transimpedance amplifier!
Fig. 3: The basic parts of a condenser microphone. Left, using an external power supply, and right, a self-charged electret with the impedance converter. (Click here to enlarge.)Let’s look at what may happen, beginning at the electret microphone as shown in the right diagram of Fig. 3. Nearly all electret microphone capsules have a junction-type field effect transistor (JFET) inside the case, to convert the extremely high impedance of the electret element to a useful value for the following circuitry.
Electric charges in JFETs flow through a semiconducting channel between source and drain terminals that is exclusively voltage-controlled. Unlike bipolar transistors, JFETs do not require a biasing current (although, as we will see they benefit from optimum terminal voltages). The JFET also has a potentially higher gain (transconductance) than the MOSFET, as well as lower flicker noise, making them well-suited to the microphone element’s weak signal.
CIRCUIT SIMULATION
To evaluate the microphone’s transimpedance amplifier and the following stages, I used circuit simulator software. It may be a little unconventional to do this study in software rather than with test instrumentation, but this came about because I was hand-drawing the internal circuits of several microphones and the simulator allowed me to check configuration of some unlabeled parts. (In one case, it helped me determine that a transistor’s emitter and collector had to be reversed and changed from NPN to PNP.)
The simulator I chose is Qucs, the “Quite Universal Circuit Simulator,” an open-source electronics circuit simulator software available on the Internet at http://qucs.sourceforge.net under GPL. Qucs supports a large list of analog and digital components with parameter values that can be applied to circuits to study DC voltages, AC performance, including noise and transient analysis, and more.
Fig. 4: Qucs circuit simulation of the impedance converter. (Click here to enlarge.)Starting with the transimpedance converter, Qucs demonstrates some powerful analysis. Fig. 4 shows the circuit with an AC voltage source in substitution for the electret condenser. Note that a 100 picofarad capacitor is placed in series to represent the element’s real capacitance. The AC has been set to a 1 kHz sine wave at 0.25 volts peak. The meter icon shows a series current of 1.6 milliamps through the 2.2 kohm resistor tied to the 2N3685 JFET drain when supplied with 5 volts.
Two test points: “in” and “D_out” are shown in the Qucs chart to the right. (This is a transient measurement with DC voltages, so the AC simulation is deactivated.) The input signal is shown in red, producing a 0.25 volt sinusoid. The output at the JFET drain is shown in blue, with some gain but also with a large distortion to the waveform. The waveform is inverted, and the negative half is distorted because the signal input voltage drove the JFET’s gate positive, and an N-channel JFET is linear only for a range signal voltages that are negative, relative to the source terminal.
Fig. 5: Added components to operate the JFET gate at a more suitable voltage; the calculated waveform shows reduced distortion. (Click here to enlarge.)One of the simplest ways to correct the signal voltage issue is by self-biasing, that is, raising the source voltage through as series resistor to ground, as shown in Fig. 5. R5 raises the voltage at the source terminal to 0.86V in this example, while a very large 1 gigohm resistor holds the gate voltage to 8.4mV. A bypass capacitor, C3, holds the voltage on R5 steady across the audio range. (These component values are for illustration and are not optimized.)
Self-biasing lowers the JFET’s distortion, and approximately doubles the gain in this example — but at the cost of a larger component count. Considering that electret microphone capsules often must be as small as possible, as well as low in cost, designers often forego these components. This illustrates a compromise for designers, but fortunately, high acoustic levels are probably not an issue in consumer applications, such as telephones, and they may be avoided to some extent in studio recordings by microphone placement.
Fig. 6: The audio path section of the NW-700 with a simulated electret microphone signal applied to the impedance converter and a phantom power supply. (Click here to enlarge.)Fig. 6 shows part of the Neewer NW-700 microphone (as I traced it, less the voltage regulator section). Similar circuit designs are used in the many low-priced “studio” microphones on the market. In this case, the electret capsule’s JFET, J1, is pulled up to a regulated DC line (approximately 8.5 volts) and connected through an R/C high-pass network to a transistor stage T1, with a biphase output. This furnishes a balanced differential output for external studio preamps.
On the right, the NW-700 provides the balanced output through an XLR connector at the base of the mike. To “power” our example, a 48 volt DC battery is assumed, which is connected through resistors to Pins 2 and 3 of the XLR connector. A resistor value of 6.8k ohms is a standard value for 48 volt “phantom” systems, although many preamps supply lower voltages and may use lower resistor values.
The phantom power is connected through an R/C bypass network to a pair of emitter-follower transistors, T3 and T4, which provide approximately unity gain and have a low source impedance to the lines. The common point of the two transistors is tied to the voltage regulator, which provides the regulated and filtered DC for the input stages.
Fig. 7: Output at XLR Pins 2 and 3 as determined by Qucs with a 100mV input at 1 kHz. (Click here to enlarge.)Qucs can provide a variety of AC systems analysis. In Fig. 7, a 0.1V (100mV) signal is applied through a 50 pF capacitor (simulating the assumed capacitance of a small-diaphragm electret element) to the JFET impedance converter. The output from Pins 2 and 3 of the XLR are charted as red and blue waveforms. The vertical scale is in volts, and the voltage offset, because of phantom power, runs at approximately 24.6V. In this simulation, there is slightly less output from Pin 2 than from Pin 3. However, this is unlikely to affect the noise rejection as that depends primarily on the common-mode rejection of the external preamplifier and not the normal-mode difference in signal between the lines.
IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE
Fig. 8: End-to-end frequency response from Pins 2 and 3; x-axis from 10 Hz to 20 kHz and y-axis in volts AC. (Click here to enlarge.)Qucs supports predicted frequency response of the system, as shown in Fig. 8. As shown by the “ac simulation” data on Fig. 6, the simulator was configured for a logarithmic sweep from 1 Hz to 20 kHz in 2001 steps. Fig. 8 shows the sweep displayed from 10 Hz to 20 kHz. The frequency response is shown on linear vertical scale in volts, so a difference between 0.25V to 0.5V is ±3 dB.
It is apparent that the response is effectively flat from 100 Hz to the top of the range, and is down approximately 3 dB at 30 Hz. Of course, this excludes the frequency response of the electret microphone, and we know from the previous part of this series [Oct. 18, 2017, issue] that directional small diaphragm capsules have an intrinsic frequency tilt that is generally uncorrectable below 100 Hz due to limitations in acoustic filter techniques. However, this rolloff is offset by proximity effect at closer distances, so pickup of voices and instruments at a foot or so is reasonably well-balanced, tonally.
Recordings made with the NW-700 are generally quite good. On symphonic recordings made on high stands, there is noticeable low-frequency rolloff, but this was easily compensated with equalization during post-recording edit. The noise level of the NW-700 is not as good as expensive microphones (those costing 10 to 100X more) but it is acceptable, even for orchestral recording.
If you are interested in a sample recording with this microphone, visit this link on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/john-kean-314785812/20160213-rachmaninov-3m26s
This 3.5-minute recording was made with the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra at the George Washington Masonic Temple auditorium in February 2016. It was recorded with a crossed-cardioid configuration in 24-bit/48 kHz sampling and transcoded to 16-bit/44.1 kHz in Audacity, with only LF equalization. The acoustics are not ideal, as the mics had to be placed on a low stand at the front of the seating area, but the recording gives you an idea of what the NW-700 can deliver.
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John Kean joined National Public Radio in 1980 after being chief engineer for a San Diego commercial FM station. In 1986 he joined Jules Cohen and Associates, and then Moffet, Larson and Johnson. He returned to NPR in 2004 to help establish NPR Labs and retired in 2015. Today he works with Cavell Mertz and Associates and performs audio consulting in private practice as Kean Consultants LLC.
The post Digging Deeper Into Electret Microphone Circuitry appeared first on Radio World.
One of the busiest broadcast media personalities in the world has committed to three more years of service to the nation’s No. 1 creator and distributor of audio content.
The new deal keeps Ryan Seacrest with iHeartMedia and in mornings at its KIIS-FM in Los Angeles through the end of 2025.
Under the agreement, for which financial terms were not disclosed, Seacrest will continue in his role as “one of the core personalities across all iHeartRadio platforms.”
Seacrest’s deal was negotiated by Jeff Refold, COO and CFO of Ryan Seacrest Enterprises, and Jonathan West at Latham & Watkins LLP.
This includes hosting the internationally syndicated On Air with Ryan Seacrest program, along with the current incarnation of American Top 40. He will also continue to work closely with Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman and President/COO and CFO Rich Bressler, “providing input into the company’s major initiatives and hosting several tentpole events.” This includes the two-day iHeartRadio Music Festival; New York City’s annual iHeartRadio Jingle Ball holiday concert; and, quite possibly, future trips to Cannes, such as his 2017 excursion.
In addition to those duties and his role as a co-host of LIVE with Kelly and Ryan, a Disney ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution production, Seacrest will continue as only the second morning host KIIS-FM has had in 40 years.
Seacrest has hosted the morning shift at KIIS since March 2004, taking over for Rick Dees. Dees exited the station a month earlier, and had been with KIIS since July 1981, moving from former Top 40 KHJ.
Now, Seacrest’s tenure will be extended to beyond 30 years, making it longer than that of Dees, who became a globally known air personality at KIIS some eight years after his novelty song “Disco Duck” put him on the Top 40 as a recording artist in fall 1976.
“Continuing my relationship with iHeartMedia was a no-brainer,” Seacrest said. “Thirty years speed by when you love what you do. I get to live out my dream every day by interacting with our listeners and hearing their stories. Thank you to Bob and Rich and the entire iHeartMedia team for continuing to support us and grow with us. And a special thank you to my on-air crew, the best team in radio, for making the show work seamlessly every day.”
Seacrest first arrived in Los Angeles by joining Lisa Foxx as the hugely successful afternoon co-host of KYSR-FM, then a Pop/Alternative known as “Star 98.7.” Before that, he was a popular air personality for Jefferson-Pilot’s WSTR “Star 94” in Atlanta, discovered by then-station head Tony Novia; Seacrest was a regular caller who, through perseverance, found his way into the studio and on the air.
Bressler added, “We are honored to continue working with Ryan, who has consistently delighted audiences both digitally and in-person with his knowledge, energy and trustworthiness. Ryan is truly unique in the world of entertainment, with a keen eye for business and the talent to match. His impact is unparalleled, and we congratulate him on nearly three decades as part of the iHeartMedia family.”
RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION: Congratulations to Ryan Seacrest for extending his iHeartMedia deal. He’s certainly integral to the iHeart machine, given his role as the host of AT40 and his syndicated On Air with Ryan Seacrest, which can be heard practically everywhere these days. That said, we wish iHeart would reconsider his role at KIIS-FM. Like the last years of Dees, his predecessor, the ad revenue may be decent. Like Dees, his predecessor, some of the ratings in particular demos may be good. But, Seacrest no longer fits what the biggest Top 40 station in the nation needs to be, unless KIIS wants to become a broad mass-appeal Hot AC and model itself after 104.6 RTL in Berlin, perhaps the most successful contemporary music station in the world. Seacrest would be best served, in our view, as the morning host of Hot Adult Contemporary KBIG “My104.3,” which could use a nice bump. It would complement Adult Contemporary KOST, with former Dees sidekick Ellen K, kicking butt in wake-ups. And, it would allow KIIS to send “97.1 NOW” off by playing Taps as the Audacy FM is rumored to be prepping a flip to Sports Talk. KIIS’s NEXTGEN morning host could be someone of the Olivia Rodrigo generation, one who knows the leads of “Cruel Summer” (not the Bananarama song but the Freeform limited series) and likely follows them on Instagram alongside Kaitlyn Dever. Seacrest’s star power notwithstanding, it’s time for KIIS-FM to bring in someone a 22-year old Latina can relate to — not their moms.
In late 2019, Richard French’s RNN and Ted Bartley‘s NRJ struck a deal that saw French’s broadcast TV company acquire 8 stations in a $81.2 million deal in which Moelis & Company served as the seller’s broker/financial adviser.
Now, RNN is selling one of those properties — a UHF station serving the Hawaiian Islands.
The buyer? Look no further than the ABC affiliate in the 50th state. It’s a deal that creates a duopoly for a man intent on creating the nation’s largest TV station ownership group.
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Townsquare Media, the “local first” company that uses digital media, programmatic solutions and its radio stations to best connect brands with listeners across small and mid-sized U.S. markets, has locked in the date it will release its Q3 2021 financial results.
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Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer of Westwood One and its parent, Cumulus Media, is well-known for being the radio industry’s biggest cheerleader. Every week, his blog posts illustrate the continued strength of a business that continues to lose dollars to digital media and lacks respect among many Madison Avenue decisionmakers.
Perhaps that will soon change, as he’s now taking the lead position of Cumulus’ newly created “audio media and creative advisory group for marketers and agencies.”
Introducing the Audio Active Group (AAG), described as a “natural evolution from a sponsor-focused research and insights group to a true comprehensive marketing advisory.”
How so? The Audio Active Group seeks to partner with clients to measure the impact of the entire audio campaign — not just the Cumulus/Westwood One investment.
It will specialize in audio creative best practices, media planning, strategic allocation within radio, and measurement of the entire radio investment.
“One-third of brands in audio today are new to the medium. As major brands discover audio, they have lots of questions about audio creative strategy, media planning, and campaign measurement, and we have a deep understanding of what audio campaigns can accomplish,” said Suzanne Grimes, EVP, Marketing for Cumulus and President of its Westwood One national radio arm. “Under Pierre’s deft leadership, we are the only company that measures the impact of the entire audio investment and uses our trove of creative-testing and campaign-effectiveness data to help guide clients’ media investments and creative strategy.”
The Audio Active Group publishes weekly audio insights, advertiser case studies, and sales videos: · The Audio Active Group’s weekly reports and the latest up-to-date audio insights are available here. · The Audio Active Group’s library of weekly sales videos is available here.During the 2020 Christmas season, a well-known brand of TexMex-style food products integrated some of its offerings into a Lifetime yuletide yarn. The products also found their way into one of Food Network’s top cooking programs.
Did those product placements translate to a bump in sales? TV measurement and analytics firm 605 and the company that handled the product integration agreements teamed up to find the answer.
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For two generations of Top 40 radio listeners, Saturday evenings may have involved tuning in to a syndicated program that was never shy to play a European dance track or take requests from those tuning in across the U.S.
John Garabedian‘s “Open House Party” was a fave from Poughkeepsie to Eureka, with its roots at iHeartMedia-owned WXKS-FM “Kiss 108” in Boston, where Garabedian first found success with the program.
Garabedian sold “Open House Party” to United Stations in 2012, and retired as host on January 28, 2017. But, he was still active in radio, thanks to his ownership of four FMs and two FM translators on Cape Cod.
That ownership is about to end, thanks to a deal brokered by Kalil & Co.
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On September 17, RBR+TVBR readers first learned about some of the key findings in the just-released study, “The Future of Audience and Revenue,” produced by Futuri, with the assistance of SmithGeiger. On September 24, a White Paper with further details from the study was released.
With many insights for radio and for television, we asked Daniel Anstandig, founder and CEO of Futuri Media, to summarize much of the 36-page report. He obliged and is our guest on the latest InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM.
Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Daniel Anstandig” on Spreaker.
SWANSEA, WALES (U.K.) — With the announcement this month of the cancellation of NAB 2021, Quicklink has announced a series of virtual NAB 2021 webinars.
They’ll occur on October 5 and 6, during which the Quicklink team will announce and give a first-look at the Quicklink Virtual Event Production Solution.
The product gives users “professional, high-quality guest contributions, build and create a professional production, and broadcast to multiple physical, digital and social destinations – all on your own hardware or cloud instance.”
Quicklink will also offer details on its Quicklink Manager remote contribution management platform.
The 40-minute live webinar will include discussions on language localization, contributor session termination, and triggered notifications.
Registrations will have access to watch live and receive an on-demand version after the events have taken place.
To register for Quicklink’s Virtual NAB webinars, click here.
TM Studios is welcoming an industry veteran who has been charged with representing the company’s radio industry products to clients across the Western United States.
It’s an individual with on-air experience at Smooth Jazz stations in Cleveland and Denver, and for Jones Radio Network and Dial Global.
Taking the position is Greg Allen.
“TM Studios presents the perfect opportunity for me to collaborate with stations all over the country,” Allen said. ‘Under the leadership of Greg Clancy, Dave Bethell and Chris ‘UK’ Stevens, TM is poised for great success. I look forward to partnering with our clients to solve their audio branding challenges while helping to increase ratings and revenue.”
Clancy, co-owner of TM Studios added, “We are thrilled to have someone with Greg’s passion and experience join our team.”
Allen is based in Cleveland, where he once was a host for WNWV “107.3 The Wave.” He later worked at the former KHIH-FM in Denver, under Adams Communications ownership.
TM Century in late 2020 was acquired by Reatro Ventures-owned Media10, joining the ARC Software family of products for Radio. ARC was developed by Sun Broadcast Group founder and former CEO Jason Bailey.
Simplifying cloud-based production.
That’s a key focus of a virtual technology portal that will serve as a primary connectivity point for learning about the latest enhancements to Evertz‘s BRAVO Studio cloud-based control room.
The scalable BRAVO Studio is a collaborative live switching platform that gives broadcast operators an environment that simulates a traditional control room, allowing users to produce shows in the cloud.
It incorporates web-based interfaces that can be accessed from anywhere.
And, BRAVO Studio allows staff to collaborate with any number of team members to produce live events from their own homes, regardless of the size or complexity of the projects they are working on, Evertz notes.
The platform encompasses such Evertz products as MAGNUM OS Orchestration and Control, which provide signal routing solutions.
Other useful functionality includes multiviewing, VUE user interfaces for operations and access to the DreamCatcher suite of live production tools.
Evertz will introduce the latest additions during its Evertz Connected 2021: Fall Edition. It is scheduled for October 1-15. Registration is free and is now open at connected.evertz.com.
In other product news, Evertz has integrated its Ease Live graphics engine into BRAVO Studio. “This means that program creators can deliver many more interactive options to consumers, allowing them to make bets, select players, view statistics, view highlights, or take part in quizzes – all of which will keep viewers engaged in the live production,” Evertz says.
Evertz is based in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
Sierra Wireless‘ 5G New Radio (NR) module has been integrated by AVIWEST, a provider of live and recorded video contribution systems, into its mobile video encoders.
This, the companies say, is designed to help broadcasters remotely stream HD video from live sporting and other events.
The encoder with 5G module has already been used by broadcasters to live stream video from the Tokyo Olympics, as well as professional football and basketball tournaments to remote video production facilities.
The benefits: Simplified operations and lower production costs, Sierra Wireless promises.
“5G will fundamentally transform live video production, making it simpler and less expensive, while eventually enabling new, more entertaining, immersive, and exciting viewing experiences with additional mobile, Point of View (POV), and other cameras,” said Ronan Poullaouec, CTO at AVIWEST. “With the Sierra Wireless EM9191 module, AVIWEST’s mobile video encoders can use 5G networks to stream high-definition video from live events to broadcasters’ production facilities, allowing these broadcasters to realize the cost, simplicity, and other benefits of 5G-powered remote video production today.”
The EM9191 module for the broadband edge is currently available globally, from Sierra Wireless’ global network of partners. For more information, visit: www.sierrawireless.com/products-and-solutions/embedded-solutions/5g-iot/ www.sierrawireless.com/EMSeries To contact the Sierra Wireless Sales Desk, call +1 877-687-7795 or visit http://www.sierrawireless.com/sales.A company widely known for its radio imaging, voiceover, programming, podcasting and jingle services has inked an agreement with a web design and development company serving radio for 20 years that will extend its tech platform to Benztown clients.
Envisionwise presented by Benztown delivers to users three technology products that deliver and maintain station websites, Alexa Skills and Text Messaging services for radio: LinkedUpRadio, Pivot Radio and TextMeMan.
Stations can activate one, two or all three products, with the convenience
of one log-in for multiple stations. Envisionwise presented by Benztown also offers
continuous live concierge support.
“The platforms are scalable and give stations more capabilities for less money, with no long-term commitments with both cash and barter options,” the company says.
LinkedUpRadio is a custom-designed website platform that allows individuals or groups to manage all station websites, ads, content, and social networking in one system, with no coding or special skills required.
LinkedUpRadio websites are designed for radio stations housing blogs, image sliders,
schedules, photos, and custom forms, among other items. “A variety of premium add-ons
available for unlimited digital revenue opportunity,” Benztown notes.
Pivot Radio develops custom Alexa Skills for radio stations that integrate with Amazon
smart speakers. Benztown comments, “Stations can schedule pre-rolls and outro advertisements while managing the Alexa voice and the visual display graphics through a simple admin interface. Pivot Radio handles all development, submissions and establishes an Amazon Alexa skills store presence for each station’s skill. Custom banner graphics are
provided help promote skills and analytics are available to share with station advertisers. Pivot Radios newest skill feature provides an opportunity for stations to take client requests over Alexa.”
Lastly, TextMeMan connects stations directly to listeners through texts for contests, giveaways, song requests, and local updates, including news, events, and advertising promotions. Listeners can receive both SMS or MMS messages, with options to opt in and out at any time.
The iHeartMedia owned radio network focused on news and insight for African American listeners has struck a content distribution and marketing agreement with a Detroit-based entity focused on Black consumer needs.
BIN: Black Information Network, the 24/7 network that launched in June 2020, will see Real Times Media (RTM) share and distribute news created by the iHeart entity under the direction of Tony Coles.
The deal also allows iHeartMedia to source and distribute news stories from RTM publications across BIN radio stations and sites.
In return, RTM will source and distribute BIN news, entertainment and sports stories and place BIN’s audio widget on their digital properties. Opportunities for iHeartMedia to convert RTM stories into audio reporting also will come from the agreement.
Real Times Media is the parent company to The Atlanta Daily World, Atlanta Tribune: The Magazine, The Chicago Defender, The Michigan Chronicle, and The New Pittsburgh Courier, all of which focus on African American audiences.
BIN can be heard in 32 markets.
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