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Fueled by a share of viral moments, the 96th Academy Awards are expected to again deliver a bump in viewership for the linear TV staple. With host Jimmy Kimmel back at the helm for ABC, the 2024 Oscars could potentially outpace the average of 18.8 million from 2023. With that, comes a successful payoff for a sold-out advertising slate, including an Academy first.

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The “Spring Forward” to Daylight Saving Time may have led to a groggy Monday for many, but the world’s largest association of Christian communicators is using the opportunity to again tell legislators to wake up on a proposed law to make DST permanent, saying it would have harmful implications for AM radio.

National Religious Broadcasters is protesting the Sunshine Protection Act, saying the nature of AM radio wave transmission, which changes from day to night, necessitates that stations adhere to FCC regulations requiring power reductions after dark to prevent signal interference. NRB argues the “morning drive” daypart between 6a and 10a is critical for audience reach and advertising income.

Should DST become permanent, AM stations would face reduced power and signal strength during the early hours up to 8a in the winter months, impacting listener numbers and revenue. NRB says this potential change adds to the hurdles AM broadcasters already confront, such as their exclusion from some new electric vehicle models.

With more than 120 AM stations among its members, the National Religious Broadcasters represents a body that values AM radio’s vital role in community service. An integral part of the AM For Every Vehicle Act is how AM stations are integral for delivering news, traffic updates, sports, talk shows, religious content, and emergency communications.

While there is perennial backing for adjusting timekeeping practices, historical attempts at permanent DST have been unpopular and problematic. The implications of such a change on sectors like radio broadcasting and the associated safety concerns, given the darker morning commutes, will likely continue to undergo examination.

As traditional radio works on securing its position in the dashboard, new data shows audio remains a cornerstone of the in-car experience, outpacing other digital amenities in modern vehicles. Audacy has unveiled findings from a series of four surveys conducted between 2021 and 2023 focusing on user engagement in the connected car.

The survey results highlight the evolving preferences of drivers who favor interactive and user-friendly dashboards.

Notably, AM/FM radio retains a stronghold in vehicular audio consumption, with two-thirds of drivers favoring it over music streaming services. Additionally, there’s a burgeoning interest in voice-activated features, with 45% of respondents eager to see them in their next car.

Safety and ease of use rank high among connected drivers’ priorities. The shift away from phone-based audio towards dashboard-controlled systems is notable, with a 10% increase in dashboard use and a 17% decrease in phone usage for audio functions from 2021 to 2023.

The studies also identified radio app and voice command users as ‘super users’ – avid listeners with particular habits and expectations. These users seek continuity in their audio experience, whether at home, on their phones, or in their cars.

In some great news for radio advertisers, app users are also more likely to engage with and respond to radio advertising, especially in significant expenditure sectors such as home improvement and financial services.

Advertisers are given a nudge to tailor their messaging to these super users, who are more inclined to research products, visit stores, and make purchases after hearing an ad on the radio compared to the general listening population.

More data from the Audacy studies on the connected car can be found here.

In November, SiriusXM announced Uncommon Creative Studio as its creative agency of record for the satellite broadcaster’s massive rebrand. Now the duo has debuted a new national brand campaign titled “Closer,” using the Academy Awards as its launchpad.

SiriusXM aims to attract new audiences while continuing to cater to existing subscribers by underscoring the emotional aspects of the company’s audio offerings. Sirius ended 2023 with a slight subscriber decrease, with a total of 34 million subscribers.

The addition of about 131,000 new self-pay subscribers in the last quarter was overshadowed by an annual drop of 445,000 in the self-pay subscriber count, settling at a 1.6% monthly churn rate.

The campaign’s launch features the short film A Life in Sound, by Emmy-winning director Kim Gehrig, which was featured during Sunday night’s 2024 Oscars broadcast in the US. The film was also distributed on Sirius’ social media channels.

In addition to the film, SiriusXM has introduced an out-of-home campaign focusing on Hip-Hop, Country, and Sports captured by photographer and filmmaker Gabriel Moses. The campaign is targeted at New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, Boston, and Atlanta alongside digital content, including behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with SiriusXM hosts.

The “Closer” campaign will be expanded on in the months to come.

SiriusXM Chief Growth Officer Suzi Watford said, “At SiriusXM we are passionate about audio. Our ‘Closer’ campaign features powerful, emotive and iconic creative showcasing the role that SiriusXM plays in people’s lives and is a celebration of the power of audio.”

“As we look to connect with the next generation of SiriusXM listeners, we’re focused on telling stories of how we bring listeners and fans closer to what moves them. We’re extremely proud of how that message comes through in this campaign, and how we are able to reflect the stories we hear from listeners and their passion for what we do.”

Uncommon Creative Studio founder Nil Leonard commented, “A Life in Sound celebrates the real, universal, and uniquely human experience of being moved by the audio you love. One film. One woman. Dancing through the different chapters of her life. It is the truth of the SiriusXM experience captured in film. And as a creative studio, we were honored to have the opportunity to capture and share that magic.”

Audacy has appointed Judy Lakin as the new General Sales Manager for its Houston operations. With more than three decades in broadcast leadership, Lakin’s notable accomplishments include her tenure as President of Vista14 Advertising Agency along with roles at Cox Media Group and Clear Channel Radio.

Lakin is a Texas Radio Hall of Fame inductee and the 2023 Living Legend Award honoree from The Houston American Advertising Federation. She has also been awarded multiple Media Alliance Awards.

Her engagement extends beyond her professional career, as Lakin actively participates in executive boards and community services including the Houston Media Classic, The Snowdrop Foundation, and Made a Masterpiece, among others. Her community commitment is further demonstrated by her lifetime membership in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and her participation in the Salt Grass Trail Ride.

She will operate under the guidance of Audacy Vice President of Sales Alana Lujan.

Lujan praised Lakin’s diverse background saying, “Judy’s extensive experience in talent development, coupled with her recent involvement in business development, multi-media buying, and digital innovation, makes her a powerhouse addition to Audacy’s sales leadership team. With her expertise, Judy is poised to make an immediate and substantial impact. Here’s to an exciting journey with someone who will bring so much to the table!”

Lakin commented, “I am thrilled to join the exceptional leadership team at Audacy. The Houston market’s wide variety of broadcast and digital products makes me eager for what will come. The local sales team’s incredible skills and high energy is a tremendous plus to this opportunity.”

“Meeting voters where they are,” is the reasoning behind President Joe Biden’s multi-million dollar radio advertising push in battleground states, announced on Friday. The six-week push comes as former President Donald Trump also turns to the reach of AM/FM.

With Nikki Haley’s exit from the GOP Primary post-Super-Tuesday, it is all but guaranteed that the 2024 Presidential election will be a rematch of the hotly contested 2020 matchup between Biden and Trump. With both sides looking for an edge, President Biden’s camp is pouring $30 million in total ads and strategic tours across pivotal battleground states.

Besides radio, the campaign involves television and digital platforms, with a particular emphasis on the NCAA College Basketball tournament this month. The radio adds are targeting key multicultural demographics that were crucial to Biden’s 2020 win, including Black, Hispanic, and Asian American and Pacific Islander voters.

States involved include Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada.

Biden Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon told CBS News, “We know it was a close election in 2020. We know that we have an extraordinary amount of work to do to make sure that the American people are hearing from this campaign.”

Biden’s investment comes as former President Trump’s largest super PAC, MAGA Inc., is halfway through a radio campaign in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan targeting Black and Hispanic male voters. The ad campaign will run until the end of March, with a total expenditure of $380,000 distributed across the three states, per Axios.

The Democratic National Committee already spent six figures in traditional radio and print ads aimed at engaging Black, Latino, and Native American voters in Michigan alone. This strategic focus on AM/FM radio leverages its proven appeal among multicultural audiences, amid findings from numerous studies that underscore radio’s effective reach.

Katz Local Vote data reveals the high political engagement and radio listenership among Hispanic and Black voters, illustrating the strategic rationale behind the both parties’ targeted advertising efforts.

With 73% of the 45.1 million Hispanic adults in the US showing high political engagement and an 83% voter participation rate among registered voters in this demographic, radio’s 85% listenership outperforms broadcast TV’s engagement levels. Similarly, the Black adult population in the US, totaling 33.6 million, exhibits strong political involvement with 86% registered to vote and 85% consistently voting.

Radio listenership among Black voters stands at 83%, surpassing the broadcast TV viewership rate, further emphasizing radio’s pivotal role in reaching and mobilizing these key voter groups.

The US’ biggest broadcast TV owner is fighting back after the Federal Communications Commission proposed a forfeiture of $720,000 over the renewal of consent for the retransmission of its stations in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Nexstar Media Inc. has formally requested the fine be lessened or dropped altogether after the FCC Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer alleged a breach of good faith in retransmission consent negotiations with Hawaiian Telcom Services Company, Inc. (HTSC).

Nexstar challenges the FCC’s decision, which involves six stations, on two fronts.

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Ahead of the 2024 Oscars, a major video streamer took advantage of radio’s audience reach. NBC’s Peacock, the streaming home of Best Picture winner Oppenheimer and nominee The Holdovers, leaped onto Media Monitors’ list of radio’s top national advertisers.

For the week of March 4-10, Progressive maintained its stronghold at the top, with a play count of 64,440, reflecting its consistent strategy in radio presence. At a distant second place, ZipRecruiter had a count of 39,786. Only a few hundred rotations separated the majority of the week’s top performers.

In a surprising reappearance in the top five, Pfizer finished third with 39,497 plays, as the pharmaceutical giant resumes its outreach efforts. The language-learning platform Babbel followed closely, securing the fourth position with 39,416 spots, suggesting a robust campaign to attract new learners.

As mentioned, Peacock rounded out the top five with 37,875 plays, indicating a push to capture more viewers for their streaming service surrounding the Oscars buzz.

Broadcasters may have won an early advantage in the fight against the Federal Communications Commission’s latest quadrennial review of local broadcast ownership rules. For the first time in two decades, the review will not be adjudicated in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

The National Association of Broadcasters joined Nexstar Media Group, Beasley Media Group, Tri-State Communications, and Zimmer Radio of Mid-Missouri in appealing the FCC’s stance, arguing that it fails to account for the increased competition from digital platforms and disproportionately affects smaller market operators.

From these appeals, a random venue lottery was conducted, settling on a court far from D.C.

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In this and other articles, Radio World is profiling how radio broadcasters are deploying AI. One company that has embraced these tools is NRG Media. Four of its executives took time to meet with me to discuss what they’re doing.

Headquartered in the Midwest, NRG provides content and digital marketing services through 36 radio stations to listeners and advertisers in Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.

One way NRG uses AI is to create videos for clients using Waymark technology.

Erica Dreyer

“Radio has always done a really good job at spec spots,” said Director of Integrated Media Erica Dreyer. “But creating video ads involves various steps, from storyboarding to filming and graphics. It’s time-consuming. Waymark simplifies this process, allowing us to fast-track video production. This helps our clients better visualize themselves on TV.

Digital Sales Strategist Andrew Warner likes that the process requires little from the client. “We just enter an advertiser’s website, then give the AI some direction about what the advertiser is trying to say.”

The tool will suggest videos, images, voices and text based on context. “It gets you 80% of the way to a really good spot,” Warner said. Then NRG can add, edit and tweak to bring the product to completion.

“Advertisers ask, ‘Gosh, how did you guys even produce this video in the first place?’ It levels us up,” Warner said. “Often it serves to open a conversation — though in many cases we’re also using Waymark to deliver fully produced videos, with further collaboration with the client. And the videos can be optimized for mobile, TV, whatever placement or format.”

NRG Director of Programming Jeff Winfield uses the tool to create promotional and social videos.

“For example, we have a sweepstakes starting next week with a bank sponsorship,” he said. “You choose licensed images that show cash winners or the idea of putting money toward a house, and then you generate a script to fit into a :15, :30 or :60.”

Jeff Winfield

A video is then created based on that script. “And you can regenerate it as many times as you want until you’re happy with the product, choosing male or female voices, speaking fast or slowly, with a deep voice or with an accent.”

NRG’s market team in Wausau, Wis., recently used Waymark to create a recap of a large fundraising event. “They uploaded pictures and created a really nice ‘thank you’ video that they could share across social media, showing the impact they made within the community,” Dreyer said.

But AI tools have spread across the NRG enterprise. They’re being used for radio copy creation, show prep, developing prospect lists and writing “valid business reason” emails.

“Our executives use tools like Grammarly. Our demand-side platform now has a robust AI component,” said Warner. “I’m sitting here looking at my Chrome extensions bar and I’ve got tools that will grab fonts for me or scrape images from social or pull color codes.”

The sales team uses ChatGPT to generate ideas about approaching clients. “We can equip sellers with a starter kit of conversation prompts,” said Director of Sales Enablement Phil Forrester. “It helps me raise the game of the seller. If I can go to ChatGPT and say, ‘Give me the top five things that a local pest control company would care about in trying to grow their business,’ I’m equipped to have a better conversation.”

The intention is not to have a salesperson just follow a script. “We really want this to be the seller’s voice, so again the AI is a way to get 80% of the way there, then 20% is personalization that makes it meaningful and gets to the desired result,” Forrester said.

NRG also creates websites. “One of the biggest barriers in building websites for clients is when you say ‘Give me copy to describe the product or service that you do,’ but then you wait for a month while they try to turn themselves into copywriters,” Forrester said.

“If we have a client selling water heaters, we have the ability to direct the platform with a prompt, ‘Give me a paragraph on water heaters directed at women 25–54 who are researching a possible purchase.’ And it will generate it. We can turn our customers into editors, not creators. We now give them content and let them react to it, which speeds up the process significantly.”

Phil Forrester

NRG recently told its general managers about Scribe, a Chrome extension that turns any process into a step-by-step guide.

“It enables us to create SOPs very quickly,” Dreyer said. “For instance, navigating through the complexities of streaming inventory includes numerous steps for the markets. With Scribe, I can easily document my screen as I navigate through each step. No longer do I need to type out instructions, take screenshots, and repeat the process. Instead, I simply work through the process while Scribe records my screen. In less than a minute, it generates a comprehensive guide detailing every step and click. This recorded process can then be easily shared with others, transferring knowledge within the organization.

“We’re continuously exploring additional AI applications,” she continued. “Recently, I had to conduct training for a market under a tight deadline. Being aware of the concerns likely to be raised by the staff and account executives, I leveraged this insight to tailor the prompts and create a personalized training session. AI is helping us save time in the things we’d be doing anyway.”

Like several broadcasters who spoke to us for Radio World’s latest ebook, NRG also is experimenting with AI on-air talent. “AI Tory” does overnights on KFMW, “Rock 108” in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, created with Futuri AudioAI.

AI Tori is heard on overnights on “Rock 108,” NRG Media station KMFW in Waterloo, Iowa.

“Overnights is a good place to start,” Winfield said, and their team has had fun with it, creating a striking avatar and airing promotions that feature AI Tory making mistakes.

Winfield said the deployment of the tool has prompted useful conversations internally.

“If I’m voice-tracking a weekend show and I flub a word, I can choose to scrub that and make it sound perfect, or I can leave it in and make it sound more like the dope I am on a regular basis. We’ve had these discussions about how that applies to AI. And there were some concerns from personalities wondering if this would be a corporate initiative to take jobs. No, not at all. We wanted to learn how to use it and see what it can do. To be able to utilize all of these different tools is to our benefit.”

To learn more about how other radio companies are using AI-based tools in 2024, read “Artificial Intelligence in Radio,” a free 39-page ebook.

[Read More Radio World Stories About Artificial Intelligence]

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In this letter to the editor, the author comments on Radio World’s recent feature “A Radio Engineer’s Best Friend,” where we highlighted the furry friends of our readers and fellow engineers. 

I don’t have a picture, but … a very long time ago at KJAZ I kept getting complaints about “hum in the microphone.”

So I’d go in late at night and double check everything and could not find the hum. The air staff thought I was just blowing them off.

One day I dropped by in the afternoon and the DJ said “I’m hearing the hum again.” This time I could hear it, too. It was coming from the station cat, “Jive.”  The console was a Gates Stereo Yard, full of tubes, and nice and warm on the top. Jive liked the warmth and was laying on the console directly behind the microphone — an RCA 77DX. Jive was happy and purring.

The air staff learned to chase Jive off of the console before a break.

— Bill Ruck, San Francisco

Bill offers a little backstory: “In the early 70s I was on active duty in the Navy stationed at NAS Alameda. KJAZ was in Alameda too, so it was easy to drop by the studios. KJAZ was a jazz station at that time and ‘Jive’ was a very appropriate name for a jazz station’s cat.”

[Check Out More Letters at Radio World’s Reader’s Forum Section]

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With the publishing of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on March 7 in the Federal Register, the FCC has announced when comments and, subsequently, reply comments are due for the public to chime in on PS Docket No. 15-94 — designed to make it easier for emergency managers to send alerts to those who do not understand English over the nation’s broadcast airwaves.

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The Media Bureau affirms the dismissal of the application of Blueberry Radio for a new LPFM station at Liberty Township, Ohio

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The road ahead for Audacy will soon become clearer once the company receives regulatory approval from the FCC to exit bankruptcy following its financial reorganization. That’s when a new Audacy board will be installed and a decision will be made on CEO David Field’s future.

The new ownership group — including the banks that took a major haircut to reduce Audacy’s $1.9 billion debt down by nearly 80% to $350 million — will take control of the board, analysts say. A new board could be in place by Audacy’s annual shareholders meeting, which is typically held in May, though no date for this year’s meeting has been announced. 

When the annual shareholders meeting does take place, it will include the holdover secured creditors and Soros Fund Management, which swallowed up $415 million of Audacy debt during the reorganization, becoming the broadcaster’s largest shareholder.

[Related: “Bankruptcy Court Approves Audacy’s Reorganization Plan“]

Craig Huber of Huber Research Partners says, under terms of the Chapter 11 reorganization, Audacy’s senior debt holders swapped that debt for an ownership stake. The new owners could choose new leadership for the C-suite.

The chances of Audacy retaining Field as CEO “are extremely low, in my opinion,” Huber said.

A new management team could be led by someone who knows digital and broadcast, Huber says. “Somebody who has and could do both ideally, but that’s easier said than done.”

Field blamed a “perfect storm of macroeconomic challenges” for the bankruptcy first reported in early January, but Audacy has been swamped with debt since the 2017 acquisition of CBS radio that brought with it $1.5 billion in new debt, analysts say. 

Trimming expenses will likely be the focus of whoever takes over at Audacy, Huber says.

“Cost-cutting for sure, and a lot more than outgoing management did. Major cost-cutting, which includes headcount reductions unfortunately,” Huber told Radio World in an email.

Audacy recently named Dave Pugh as senior VP/market manager for the company’s Seattle cluster. Pugh will remain in his current role as senior VP/market manager for Audacy’s Phoenix group of stations. Pugh succeeds Jack Hutchinson who previously had announced his retirement from the company.

Huber says he expects to see more downsizing of staff as the broadcaster emerges from Chapter 11 reorganization. There also will likely be more “centralized developing of content, a sell-off excess real estate where they can and lease back what’s needed, etc.,” Huber said.

[Related: “Audacy to Sell Boston Real Estate for Cash“]

George Soros, the liberal philanthropist whose foundation is run by son Alex, is likely to become a force to be reckoned with as the largest shareholder. Huber says he thinks if Soros seeks to radically shift the programming direction of the company, as some analysts have suggested, he’ll have to tread lightly. 

“Soros will need to be careful changing the content dramatically on the radio stations … listenership typically gets dramatically worse when making huge changes to radio content people are used to. People are creatures of habit with radio and TV,” Huber said.

Audacy common stock has continued to trade over-the-counter under the symbol “AUDA” throughout the reorganization process. The shares are expected to be canceled and receive no distribution as part of Audacy’s restructuring, according to the company. 

A list of Audacy’s unsecured creditors as of Mar. 7, 2024, obtained by Radio World, included Sound Exchange, SESAC Rights Management Inc., Radio Music License Committee and Wide Orbit. It’s unclear how much the unsecured creditors are owed.

The post Audacy Prepares to Emerge From Chapter 11 Bankruptcy appeared first on Radio World.

The Denver radio station owner and parent of regional sports network Altitude has promoted two individuals as part of what it is calling “a corporate-wide restructuring.”

This sees longtime Kroenke Sports & Entertainment executive Mike Neary become EVP of Business Operations and Development while the President of the Los Angeles Rams NFL team, Kevin Demoff, is now President of Team and Media Operations.

KSE Vice Chairman Josh Kroenke commented, “When my father [Stan] established KSE, it was with the vision of creating a global sports and entertainment organization which has championship standards across the board. As my father and I take KSE into this next chapter, we are thrilled to add to our executive team Mike and Kevin, two accomplished and passionate leaders both with a long history as part of the KSE family, to help us evolve our organization and better connect our properties not only here in Denver but across the world. Between transformative developments around our venues, the future of fan engagement through dynamic media offerings, and winning more championships, the future of KSE is bright and Kevin and Mike will help us set the standard to deliver for our community and our fans.”

As President of Team and Media Operations, Demoff will oversee operations of all KSE teams including the Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL), Colorado Rapids (MLS), and Colorado Mammoth (NLL), as well as operations of all KSE Media properties including Outdoor Sportsman Group.

Demoff is adding this responsibility to his role as Rams President. He will be based both in Los Angeles and Denver.

“I am honored and humbled to take on this role with KSE and I am grateful to Stan and Josh for this opportunity,” said Demoff. “I am excited to work with so many talented teammates who have helped KSE become the most influential sports and entertainment company in the world. With the goal of sustaining winning cultures and organizations that transcend the field, court, or ice, we will collaboratively build a best-in-class experience for our fans in Denver, Los Angeles, and around the globe.”

Neary will oversee operations of various KSE companies and venues, notably Ball Arena, DICK’S Sporting Goods Park and the Paramount Theatre.

 

Summit Technology Group has introduced a suite of products called PostMaster Metadata Handling. 

“PostMaster is a comprehensive suite of software and platforms designed to streamline the ingest, maintenance, transport and encoding of Program Associated Data (PAD) metadata,” the company says.

“With a scalable and robust architecture, PostMaster revolutionizes the way broadcasters handle metadata, enhancing efficiency and accuracy in content distribution.”

PostMaster encompasses three tools. Firstly, PostMaster Cloud Connect ensures reliable and powerful transport of PAD metadata across even challenging networks.

“With PostMaster Suite’s Cloud Connect, broadcasters can bridge the studio to transmitter site RDS encoders without the need for static IP addresses or port forwarding, simplifying the data transmission process.”

PostMaster MetaLogger enables broadcasters to provide PAD metadata to content affiliates regardless of automation systems or distribution method. 

“This cloud- or file-based solution allows broadcasters to store metadata securely and handle program delays with ease.” It integrates with any distribution method and offers integrations to accommodate various playout systems and media asset management solutions.

With PostMaster Metadata Sync, broadcasters can synchronize metadata between automation platforms, across multiple markets and among various formats. This feature enables collaboration and ensures consistency in metadata across various systems.

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