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Lazer Licenses, LLC enters into consent decree to resolve political file investigation

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Iliad Media Twin Falls, LLC enters into consent decree to resolve political file investigation

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One year ago, Beasley Media shares were priced at $1.45, and were on the rise from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic-fueled lows seen across Wall Street.

For Audacy Inc., its stock was at $2.24, and also on the rise.

Today, the stock for each of these radio station owners who seek to describe themselves as audio media content and distribution companies has retreated to prices that aren’t much better than they were in mid-December 2020.

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That’s what some began asking upon reading a filing with a Nevada Federal bankruptcy court overseeing the fate of three FM radio stations once licensed to Royce International Broadcasting, the company led by embattled radio station owner Ed Stolz.

The filing, made Monday (12/13) by the attorney for U.S. Trustee Tracy Hope Davis, contains language suggesting Stolz be given back control of three stations stripped from him by California Central District Court Judge Jesus Bernal.

The legal counsel representing the receiver Bernal handed control of the three FM properties to, Larry Patrick, says otherwise.

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In late November, RBR+TVBR reported about a group of plaintiffs that has sued four audio media companies in a Dallas Federal District Court, arguing that they should be held liable, in some way, for airing programming tied to “a known fraud recidivist.”

It turns out that RBR+TVBR‘s belief that one of the companies named in the suit shouldn’t have been there was accurate.

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He’s been an active buyer and seller of media properties across Texas for more than a decade. Now, Gerald Benavides has signed off on a deal giving him ownership of a FM station licensed to the city of Stanton.

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Clark Hurrell, president of Major Custom Cable, and Peter Milbery, president of Neutrik Americas

Neutrik Americas has acquired Major Custom Cable, a manufacturer of data and communication cables.

Among other things, the deal gives Neutrik Americas a U.S. manufacturing capability.

“Neutrik’s efforts to expand into new markets is enhanced by the acquisition of MCC. The Neutrik Group’s expertise as a manufacturer of connectivity solutions is now augmented by MCC’s leadership,” it stated. “This new level of shared knowledge and experience is expected to elevate Neutrik Americas’ ability to diversify.”

Neutrik Americas is part of the Neutrik Group. The announcement was made by Neutrik Americas President Peter Milbery and Major Custom Cable President Clark Hurrell.

[See Our Business and Law Page]

MCC has been both a customer and supplier of Neutrik in the past. “For more than a decade, Neutrik has pushed to expand into new markets with our ruggedized copper- and fiber-based locking, circular connectors,” Milbery said in the announcement. “The acquisition of MCC will help us accelerate this push to diversify into new markets. We are thrilled that we will now have U.S. based manufacturing in addition to our existing global manufacturing capabilities.”

A view of the MCC factory floor

Neutrik Group is based in Liechenstein; its Americas operation is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C.

Major Custom Cable was founded in 1990 and is based in Missouri, where it has an ISO 9001 registered facility with more than 50,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehousing space, according to its website.

Submit business announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Neutrik Americas Acquires Major Custom Cable appeared first on Radio World.

Since July 2020 he has served as President/GM of WGAL-8, the NBC affiliate serving the Lancaster-Harrisburg-Lebanon-York, Pa., market owned by Hearst Television.

Now, he’s likely singing the lyrics to a classic rock and roll tune by Wilbert Harrison as Sarah Smith readies for retirement.

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Broadcast media executives are well appraised of the mega magnets embedded in advertising-supported video on demand (AVOD) platforms serving U.S. consumers. But, just how many dollars have been generated in the 12-month period ending September 2021?

Kantar has the answer, and the figure is in the $3 billion range. One AVOD platform gets the majority of those dollars.

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On September 20, 1995, CBS officially completed its acquisition of what until December 11, 1994 was Detroit’s FOX affiliate, WGPR-TV. The transaction was messy, and saw the city’s African American leaders seek to block the sale of WGPR by the Masons, which made the station the first in the U.S. to be wholly owned by Blacks. Lansing-based real estate investor and broadcaster Joel Ferguson stepped in, ultimately failing in an attempt to buy it or at least form a partnership with CBS.

Twenty-six years later, what would become “CBS62” under the WWJ-TV call sign is a unique O&O for ViacomCBS. It hasn’t ever had its own local news department, with Graham Media’s NBC-affiliated WDIV-4 left to compete against The E.W. Scripps Co.’s ABC-affiliated WXYZ-7 and WJBK-2 — that former CBS affiliate which today is a FOX O&O that remains a key viewer magnet.

Thanks to Wendy McMahon and Adrienne Roark, this will soon change, finally making Detroit a local news hub for CBS.

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The Federal Communications Commission has just asked a big question: Should the legacy, audio-based Emergency Alert System architecture be redesigned?

That is one of a bunch of questions that the FCC has asked in a new notice of inquiry about EAS. As Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel put it, “We’re looking for all the good ideas here, both big and small, because we know first-hand they can make a difference.”

The commission took several steps regarding alerting at Tuesday’s meeting, and this big question came toward the end.

First, it issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that sets out proposed changes to improve visual messages that appear on television during nationwide tests.

“When EAS alerts are displayed on the screen, they have both an audio component and a visual component,” Rosenworcel wrote in a statement. “In other words, they feature both a recorded message and a text crawl. But because of the legacy television architecture of EAS, the audio component may not always match the visual text. This can mean that in some circumstances, less information may be conveyed to either those individuals who have access only to the visual component or to those who have access only to the audio component. It can cause real confusion.”

This is especially true for those with disabilities, she said.

[Related: “FCC Contemplates ‘Persistent’ EAS Alerts”]

“For starters, we propose to improve the script for visual text during nationwide tests of the legacy system. We also propose changes to our rules that would bring similar clarity to nationwide tests using the newer, internet-based common alerting protocol, or CAP.”

Also, because there is greater ability to include enhanced text with CAP alerts, the FCC proposes to require broadcasters to check to see if a CAP version of an alert is available when they receive an emergency alert over the legacy system. “Finally, we ask what additional steps can be taken to rethink the architecture of EAS and improve the functionality of the system as a whole.”

In addition to that NPRM, it opened a notice of inquiry asking about more dramatic changes to legacy EAS.

A draft version of these actions was published prior to the meeting, you can read that here; the long list of questions starts in paragraph 24 on page 13. It includes questions like “Is there a more functional compression or modulation scheme that could replace AFSK,” and “Can we take advantage of digital transmission standards like ATSC 3.0 and HDR standards to improve EAS’s capabilities” and “Would it make sense to use legacy EAS only for the EAN (i.e., national emergencies) and NPT (to test the legacy system’s performance in delivering the EAN), but require use of CAP for all other alerts?”

And then the NOI concludes with that big question we led with above.

The FCC wrote, “The legacy EAS is audio-based, and daisy chain-based, because a relatively small number of hardened, full-power AM radio stations can reach 90 percent of the continental U.S. population, potentially allowing the president to communicate to the public during a national emergency. The system is centered on the EAS Protocol because it allows for automated EAS operation on the EAS Participants’ parts, and it is the same protocol used for NWS alerts broadcast over the National Weather Radio system. When the commission adopted the CAP EAS rules in 2012, it kept the legacy EAS because of its resiliency in the face of a national emergency, and because there was no fully CAP-centric system in place — where EAS messages are inputted and outputted in CAP format rather than the EAS Protocol format — to replace it.

“Do these factors remain as true and relevant today?” the FCC wants to know.

“Can the EAS architecture be redesigned to achieve the resiliency and automation provided by the legacy EAS (including delivery of ‘live’ audio), but with the functionalities provided with CAP — such as a system where the alert is still delivered over-the-air using daisy chain distribution, but the alert is formatted in CAP, with ‘live’ audio enabled by an instruction in the CAP contents?”

It wants to know what burdens and costs that would raise, whether downstream processing would systems be affected, whether consumer and enterprise emergency radios would be affected, whether NWS alerts would be affected and much more.

Comments will be taken in PS Docket No. 15-94, and we’ll report on filing deadlines when we have them.

The post FCC Asks: Should Legacy EAS Be Redesigned Altogether? appeared first on Radio World.

In January, the Texas Association of Broadcasters marks a quarter century for its Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program. Through the ABIP, a group of broadcast engineering veterans review stations for FCC compliance using FCC self-inspection checklists as a guide.

“An ABIP review is an affordable way for a station to confirm its compliance with FCC regulations,” said TAB Vice President for Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Michael Schneider. “A number of stations have told us over the years that these reviews provide great peace of mind. They don’t want to miss something, and if they did, they want to fix the problem quickly. The TAB ABIP helps them do just that.”

Since Jan. 1, 1997, TAB inspectors have visited hundreds of Texas stations, reviewed station studio and transmitter facilities and certain station procedures for compliance, and helped stations avoid fines by identifying deficiencies and how to correct them.

“It’s not just a review of the online Station Public Inspection File. Inspectors assess transmitter and tower site issues like painting, lighting, fencing and signage, studio facilities, and a host of other areas including station technical and EAS logging,” Schneider said.

[Previously in Radio World: “Protect Your Most Valuable Asset: Your Station License”]

According to a list compiled by TAB ABIP Inspector Dick S. Pickens, the most common deficiencies identified through an alternative inspection include incomplete or unapproved station logs, no quarterly tower light alarm tests, no schedule of maintenance and calibration, various Public File violations, and EAS monitoring and logging deficiencies. TAB ABIP inspections do not include reviews of EEO compliance or of a station’s political file.

The TAB ABIP program, as in other states, is FCC approved. Stations found by the ABIP to be in compliance with FCC regulations can earn a three-year waiver from routine or surprise FCC inspections absent a complaint or tower safety issues.

Since 1994, state broadcasting associations have been able to partner with the FCC to provide ABIP services. A 2018 review of 15 years’ worth of ABIP records by the late Ken Benner, who spent some 24 years as an ABIP inspector, found that alternative inspections had helped stations avoid some $30 million in potential fines.

Schneider described the ABIP program as a win–win for stations and regulators, as well as the public.

“These independent reviews have helped broadcasters stay on top of their FCC requirements while allowing the Commission to reallocate staff and resources from field offices to other FCC policy areas,” he said.

“Public safety is also a top priority of the program, since a tower with faded paint or a lighting failure can be a hazard to aviation, and a breach in a tower’s fencing can lead to individuals trespassing on the site, potentially creating RF exposure issues or, with recent incidents of vandalism, knocking a station and its news and emergency information off of the air for an extended period of time.”

As with other programs, the COVID-19 pandemic did have an effect on the TAB ABIP, but looking ahead the demand for ABIP inspections is strong.

“We received far fewer orders for ABIP reviews after March of 2020. Many stations weren’t even allowing their own staff onsite. We still conducted inspections, however, following COVID-19 health and safety protocols,” Schneider said.

As stations reopen their facilities again to staff and the public, Schneider said there has been a “steady increase” in sign-ups for TAB ABIP inspections.

Comment on this or any article. Write to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Texas Broadcasters Mark 25 Years of ABIP appeared first on Radio World.

One month ago, a Fresno FM branded as “New Rock 104.1” briefly ceased transmissions due to complications tied to the long-running KNP Complex wildfire; Lotus Communications loaned the licensee a lower-power transmitter to resume on-air broadcasts.

Now, the licensee is seeing a change in interest, with a 8 1/2-year partnership between two local radio broadcasters headed for dissolution.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — PILOT, the NAB‘s innovation initiative, has launched the PILOT NEXTGEN TV Fellowship program with support from Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Structured like an early-stage start-up, the fellowship will focus on exploring capabilities of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard and developing a concept for a NEXTGEN TV product or service.

Alongside industry experts, fellows will gain “practical, first-hand experience” with NEXTGEN TV technology. The eight-month program will include product training, seminars and one-on-one coaching with NEXTGEN TV standard experts and AWS representatives. The fellowship will conclude with fellows presenting their projects at the 2022 NAB Show in April in Las Vegas.

The 2021 fellows are current Howard University students Mikaela Mosley and Sulaiman Bastien.

Mosley is a senior television and film production major and political science minor and serves as the GM and producer for Howard University’s Spotlight Network/WHUT-TV. Mosley recently completed an internship with Amazon Studios as a Drama Development intern.

Bastien is a senior television and film production major and computer science minor, with a concentration on directing and software engineering. He recently completed an internship with NEXTGEN TV promotional and rollout entity Pearl TV as an application developer.

Howard University is partnering with local broadcast television stations to bring NEXTGEN TV to local stations in Washington, D.C., with Howard University’s WHUT serving as the host station. Other participating stations include WJLA-7, WUSA-9, WTTG-5 and WRC-4.

Fellows will also participate in NAB Leadership’s Technology Apprenticeship Program (TAP). TAP is a complimentary career development program that is designed to train, inform and recruit the next generation of leaders in the broadcasting industry. Between these two innovative programs, fellows will be poised to launch a cutting-edge career as an engineer or technology professional in the broadcasting industry.

In November, Gray Television revealed its new local leadership slate, which outlined who would be leading a host of stations it was acquiring from Meredith Local Media. Among those changes was the move from Southern Arizona to Mobile, Alabama of Eric Duncan to take the GM position of FOX affiliate WALA-10.

Now, Gray has decided who will succeed Duncan in Tucson. It’s a market veteran with years of experience at the former Cordillera Communications.

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NEW YORK — The TV and cross-platform measurement and analytics firm founded by CEO Kristin Dolan has launched an independent media trading currency that the company believes offers an alternative to … you guessed it … Nielsen.

As 605 sees it, it is designed “to underpin advertising transactions between partners on the buy-side and the sell-side.”

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