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“The equity markets have transitioned from looking to buy COVID winners in early to mid-2020 to seeking re-opening plays post the announcement of new successful vaccines last November to this current amorphous period of aimless drift,” notes MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson. “In our world, the question is what should media and internet investors do now?”

Should they keep last year’s streaming trade on? What about that short-lived (and memorable) rotation into media stocks? Now that they’ve worked so well, are the moves in Facebook and Google over?

He offers his thoughts in an investor note distributed Tuesday.

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Urban One is the next media company to present its first quarter earnings report. And, it hosts a conference call Wednesday at 10am Eastern to share its performance with analysts and shareholders.

RBR+TVBR will have full coverage of the company’s financial results in the afternoon headlines e-mail.

The company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2020 earnings were nothing short of spectacular. Net revenue in Q4 rose to $113.5 million, from $105.85 million a year earlier. At the same time, operating expenses on a consolidated basis fell to $79 million, from $93.79 million. This was driven by lower programming and technical expenses and lower selling, general and administrative expenses.

This resulted in an operating income gain in Q4 2020, jumping to $34.53 million from $12.06 million.

General indices declined on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped by 1.4% to 34,269.16 and the Nasdaq slipped by just 0.09%, to 13,389.43.

How did radio and TV industry stocks fare? Action was mixed.

Aside from Saga’s big surge, Townsquare Media and iHeartMedia were softer. In contrast, Nexstar Media Group grew again.

 

Five days ago, Saga Communications delivered first quarter results that were less than stellar. Expense reductions were not enough to prevent Saga from seeing its net income dip to $758,000 ($0.13 per share) from $1.68 million ($0.28). However, Saga’s debt leverage ratio is 0.92, with just $10 million in long-term debt.

That could be particularly attractive to investors. It’s just one theory as to why Saga shares rocketed upward by 30% on Tuesday.

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On April 9, the FCC established a formal pleading cycle that seeks public comment on iHeartMedia‘s request to win Commission approval for greater foreign ownership and non-U.S. investment.

It is tied to the audio media giant’s petition for declaratory ruling seeking FCC approval of a stake in the company controlled through Bahamas-based Global Media & Entertainment Investments Ltd. by one of Great Britain’s wealthiest individuals.

Legal counsel for this person, Michael Tabor, have now responded to the Commission. In the filing, GMEI’s position is clear: the PDR represents iHeart’s desire to use the FCC as a “poison pill.”

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Gordon Smith addressed broadcast executives around the country Tuesday during NAB’s State Leadership Conference. The text of his remarks is below.

The president/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters highlighted its lobbying efforts on issues such as allowing stations to “fairly negotiate” for their local news content with big tech companies; opposing proposals to alter the tax treatment of advertising expenses; and supporting legislation to reinstate the diversity tax certificate.

He recalled how difficult the early months of the pandemic were, when “our own world seemed like it was collapsing around us,” and his pride in how broadcasters responded. Smith also talked about his plan to retire from a full-time role, and praised his soon-to-be- successor, Curtis LeGeyt.

He spoke online during the virtual event (watch the video here). Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel also addressed attendees and thanked broadcasters for their work in educating the public during the pandemic (watch here).

Here is the text of Smith’s remarks as provided by NAB:

 

As I was preparing for my remarks to you today, I thought back to the last time we were all together in person — February of 2020, for this very event. We were feeling victorious from several notable policy wins in 2019. We had ensured legislation permanently ending the perpetual cycle of STELAR, and we were well on our way to securing a majority of Congress as cosponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act.

At that time, we were starting to hear stories about COVID-19, but we were still a few weeks away from seeing our world, as we knew it, come to a grinding halt.

And that’s why last year’s SLC has a special place in my heart. It was the last time we were together in person.

But then, as we all know too well, the pandemic creeped into our lives…like a dark fog that pervaded everything, pushing our businesses and industry to the brink of catastrophe, of survivability.

And, I couldn’t help but draw parallels between the narrative of broadcasters’ journey over the past year to a movie, a 1946 holiday classic, my family and I often watch over the holidays, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

I’m sure many of you have seen “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring Jimmy Stewart in the role of struggling businessman George Bailey. If you haven’t, it’s well worth your time watching, but here’s a quick summary.

George Bailey is a good man who sacrifices the dreams of his youth to take over his father’s struggling savings and loan business in the small town of Bedford Falls. But one Christmas Eve he becomes despondent over misplacing an $8,000 loan and the possible impact of that on his family and business. Things began to spiral out of his control and he faces arrest…and a taint on his reputation as an upstanding citizen.

He regrets some of the choices he has made in his life, but then his guardian angel shows him what his town would have looked like if had he never been born. Because of the choices he made throughout his life, he was rewarded with a loving family, great friends and strong ties to his community. And in the end, his community rallied around him and came up with the money to save his business. His community made everything right again.

I see the parallels of this movie to the beginning of 2020. Our legislative victories made us known as a force to be reckoned with on Capitol Hill.

But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, smashing our economics and livelihood…and just like George Bailey’s world, our own world seemed like it was collapsing around us.

And all of us at NAB felt the impact…all of our plans…our new building…if and when to hold our NAB Show…how to keep our staff safe… so much seemed to be out of our control.

We saw our members struggle to stay financially afloat. We felt their pain and empathized with the very difficult decisions they had to make.

But then, like the citizens of Bedford Falls, our members and our state broadcast associations rallied to work with us in support of our industry. While serving as a lifeline to our communities, we confronted the pandemic with strength and unity.

NAB focused its energy on fighting for much needed COVID-19 stimulus relief to help stations as they surmounted many challenges to continue their operations.

And local broadcasters across the country took on the mission of serving their communities with renewed energy to be there for their listeners and viewers during their greatest time of need.

Our industry overcame great financial obstacles to help our communities endure many difficult days, providing a source of comfort, hope and connection as we were required to distance ourselves from friends, family and colleagues.

Local stations have provided around-the-clock coverage on important COVID-19 updates, conducting in-depth reports and fighting misinformation to keep our communities safe.

As if a global pandemic was not enough, the summer brought increased turmoil for our nation, civil unrest and protests over social injustice and inequality, a fractious election, attacks on our democracy and on our First Amendment rights. Through it all, broadcasters were there to be the reassuring voice and to report the facts — they brought the stories taking place in cities across the country into our living rooms, despite the danger, they personally may have faced on the scene. Their resolve to bring truth to light could not be broken.

We ended last year with a major victory on Capitol Hill, ensuring COVID-19 stimulus relief for all broadcasters, including expansion of Paycheck Protection loans. And we secured regulatory relief, resulting in several extensions of deadlines, clarifications and exceptions to existing rules and policies that were beneficial to many stations.

And now, with the widespread deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine, local stations are sharing important information with America’s diverse and rural communities. Brighter days are certainly ahead of us and I can’t help but feel optimistic about what lies ahead for our industry and communities.

With local stations doing all that they can to encourage their communities to get vaccinated…the “life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands” as Winston Churchill once put it.

And if we can take a page out of George Bailey’s story…we can take comfort in the choices we have made to fulfill our mission as broadcasters and continue our work towards a winning path.

All of you are part of this brighter, better future for our industry. That is why we are immensely grateful for your participation in SLC. I know you’ve heard me say this before, but it bears repeating — each and every one of you can truly make a difference in our advocacy efforts.

As a former senator, I know how important it is for you to take your messages to members of Congress. And though you can’t meet with your legislators in person, what you say to your members, even virtually, still carries great weight.

You have all been in the trenches during this very difficult year…witnessing the challenges within your communities, while enduring financial difficulties and health concerns yourself. So, you are the ones who can really educate your representatives about the issues critical to your businesses.

Like George Bailey, all of you have at your core an overarching focus to serve the public good. I am grateful for the courage, conviction and commitment to making our world a better place every day.

And know this…your advocacy team at NAB is always hard at work to take on your fight so that you can always be there to support your communities.

We are sending a strong message to policymakers that we are focused on the issues that impact our industry.

That message includes garnering bipartisan support of the Local Radio Freedom Act, which opposes a performance tax on local stations and recognizes the critical role local radio plays in every community.

It includes urging legislators to cosponsor the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act to allow stations to fairly negotiate for their local news content as the overwhelming power of big tech threatens Americans’ access to quality journalism. We greatly appreciate Sen. Cantwell’s leadership on support for local journalism and look forward to working with her and others in Congress on this issue.

Our message also includes stopping proposals to alter the tax treatment of advertising expenses, including for specific types of products. This would ultimately make advertising more expensive for small businesses, threaten local jobs and have a devastating impact on local stations that rely on advertising revenue to survive — all during a post-pandemic economic recovery.

Finally, we are urging Congress to support legislation to reinstate the diversity tax certificate to ensure station owners are as diverse as the communities they serve. I enjoyed my conversation about this issue yesterday with Congressman G.K. Butterfield, who introduced this legislation in the House of Representatives.

You will hear more about our policy priorities during the Government Relations and Legal briefings later today, but I appreciate this opportunity to thank you for joining us today and for your willingness to help advocate our issues. Delivering a unified message to Capitol Hill is what makes us successful.

We can’t wait to reunite with you in person at NAB Show this October — as well as the Sales and Management Television Exchange and Radio Show all taking place in Las Vegas the same week.

There, we can continue to talk about the exciting future that lies before our industry and the opportunities we are prepared to seize.

Now, as you know, at the end of this year I plan to transition to an advisory role with NAB. It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve as president and CEO of this organization. But it’s time for me to spend more time with my grandchildren, return to my pea-picking roots in Oregon and continue to serve my church as a lay-minister. But this is not goodbye as we will still continue our work together for years to come.

I know that our industry will continue to achieve great success under the strong leadership of Curtis LeGeyt as the next NAB president and CEO. He is the right man for the job, and this is the right time for him to take the reins.

Working in the trenches with all of you these past 12 years, we have traversed the darkest valleys and reached the pinnacles of many victories.

All of you have made a profound effect on me, in my heart and soul. Just like you, my heart will always beat as a broadcaster. I will cherish the time we have spent together fighting battles for the sake of this great industry we all care so much about.

Indeed, it has been a wonderful life with all of you by my side.

The post “My Heart Will Always Beat as a Broadcaster” appeared first on Radio World.

NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith delivered remarks today at the association’s State Leadership Conference. The annual gathering of 500 radio and TV station owners and executives from all 50 states is designed to educate the broadcast industry to advocate on relevant legislative and regulatory issues.

This year’s conference is a virtual-only event and saw Smith delivered prepared remarks. They touched on his year-end retirement, and on the year that was for the broadcast media industry.

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A graphic from the report. Weekly listeners are using more platforms now but Apple, Spotify and YouTube still “have a strong hold.” (Click here to enlarge.)

Podcast listeners feel that podcasts are “under-commercialized.”

That’s one of the findings of a report from Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights, which since 2017 have periodically issued “podcast download reports” and have just done so for spring 2021.

This one was released to coincide with the IAB Podcast Upfront event, where its finding that listeners would tolerate more ads is likely to be well received. The report also said that “high CPMs” are justified based on the high “ad attentiveness” of podcast listeners.

[Read: Survey Says Podcast Demographics Continue to Diversify]

Results were announced by Suzanne Grimes, EVP marketing for Cumulus Media and president of Westwood One, and Jeff Vidler, president and founder of Signal Hill Insights.

They listed these highlights in a report summary:

• Among weekly podcast listeners, COVID-19 was a catalyst for yet more listening.
• Regular listenership is “growing across most podcast genres, suggesting that weekly podcast listeners are venturing out and listening to new genres.”
• Weekly listeners are enthusiastic about their favorites. Almost half reported listening to their favorite podcast within a day of a new release.
• “Pitching ad-free podcast subscriptions won’t win over listeners,” the study found. “Content is the main attraction for weekly podcast listeners. When choosing podcast subscription features, weekly listeners will pick exclusive content over an ad-free experience.”
• They called Clubhouse “a natural brand extension for podcast shows and hosts.” Awareness and use of Clubhouse was greater among weekly podcast listeners compared to the U.S. general population.
• Weekly listeners are using more platforms now, but Apple, Spotify and YouTube still “have a strong hold on being the most used podcast platforms and continue to grow at the expense of other competitors.”
• Podcasts are “unique, being one of the few mediums where listeners come for entertainment and learning, cultivating an engaged audience.”
• They found that listeners feel that podcasts are “under-commercialized.” Weekly listeners “are comfortable hearing ads and the more time they spend with podcasts, the more ads they will accept.”
• And they said high CPMs are justified based high ad attentiveness in podcasting.

The report is available for download at CumulusPodcastNetwork.com.

The post Are Podcast Listeners Open to More Ads? appeared first on Radio World.

Grace Broadcast Sales is releasing a series of audio vignettes designed to honor our nation’s Medal of Honor veterans as part of the company’s 30th anniversary celebration.

“Above & Beyond” is a collection of 20 one-minute vignettes created originally in 1991 to profile and honor Medal of Honor recipients. The features are formatted :50/:10, providing time at the end of each vignette for sponsor identification or taglines.

According to owner/creative director Rod Schwartz, “It’s the first series we created in 1991 and it remains a personal favorite and a favorite of many of our station clients also,” he said, suggesting that the inspiring stories of ordinary Americans thriving in extraordinary circumstances is a notable way for stations to celebrate this coming Memorial Day on May 31.

“‘Above and Beyond’ honors brave Americans whose gallantry and sacrifice earned our nation’s highest honor,” Schwartz said. The vignettes will be available on a first come, first served, market-exclusive basis.

Information, including a free demo and short promotional video, can be found here.

The post Programming From Grace Broadcast Honor Veterans for Memorial Day appeared first on Radio World.

Veritone says that its “AI-enabled media management platform,” Veritone Digital Media Hub, is getting “significant enhancements.”

According to a release, “these new features will assist current and future customers to rapidly curate and activate assets to increase content discoverability, operational efficiency and revenue opportunities in content creation.”

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

New tools include Annotation Tool for curating, searching, visualizing and validating media files in new ways; Data Export Tool for isolating desired segments and exporting them as JSON or XML; and Content Notifications for informing selected users when certain files have been uploaded to the system.

Veritone President Ryan Steelberg said the enhancements “will give current and future media and entertainment customers a new way to visualize, edit, and engage with their content and its associated data.”

He elaborated, “This will provide them with greater control over their content by increasing the accuracy of how their content is tagged, giving them more ways to export it, and helping them stay on top of what is currently available in their library, which will culminate into more licensing and revenue opportunities.”

Info: www.veritone.com

 

The post Veritone Adds to Digital Media Hub appeared first on Radio World.

Congratulations to Megan Clappe, who has just been raised to the cherished membership rank of Fellow by the Society of Broadcast Engineers.

As many of the society’s members know well, Clappe is director of SBE certification, which is such a key part of what SBE does for our industry.

“Megan’s daily duties include working with the SBE Certification Committee to operate and grow the SBE Certification Program, which includes implementing and maintaining certifications to match those needs,” the society said in its announcement.

“She coordinates testing with proctors, and all follows up after exams are administered. In all, she is tasked with keeping track of more than 5,000 certifications and recertifications.”

She also provides SBE member and chapter certification support, manages the SBE Awards Program; manages the SBE convention and expo presence; and oversees the SBE Store.

“During her employment as certification director, the SBE Certification Committee has introduced several levels of certification, including CBNE, DRB and ATSC3,” it continued. “The SBE Certification Handbook for Radio Operators has been updated at least twice, and The SBE Television Operator’s Certification Handbook has been updated once. The CertPreview practice test software has been redeveloped once and is slated for a second later this year during her time as director.”

Megan Clappe began her tenure at SBE as certification assistant and receptionist in 2003, working with Linda Baun, who was the certification director at the time. When Baun left in 2006 to work at the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, Clapp took the certification reins.

Sample comments about Clappe’s work, released by the society, include “quick to offer alternative ideas and processes … When the pandemic hit in early 2020 Megan was first to offer an alternative to face-to-face testing.” … “The flue that holds the program together.” “Dedication and determination” in helping launch ATSC3 certification. … “Her contribution to the SBE’s Certification program [is] conspicuous.”

Clappe will be recognized during the SBE Membership Meeting and National Awards Program in October in Las Vegas during the society’s national meeting.

We at Radio World salute Clappe too, and we thank the society for its constant efforts to celebrate engineers and advance their education. We are proud that the list includes several engineers whom I consider close friends of Radio World through their writing or other contributions to the RW community.

To date, 82 SBE members have been raised to the level of Fellow; they are listed at the bottom of this story. The honor is given to members who have made significant contributions to broadcast engineering or the society. Candidates are nominated by their peers.

From the SBE website, here is the list of SBE Fellows, living or deceased:

• Jay Adrick
• Cris Alexander, CPBE, AMD, DRB
• Ronald L. Arendall, CPBE
• John H. Battison, P. E., CPBE
• Frederick M. Baumgartner, CPBE, CBNT
• Linda Baun
• Terrence M. Baun, CPBE, CBNE, AMD
• Ralph Beaver, CBT
• Lawrence V. Behr, CSBE
• Edward B. Bench
• Raymond C. Benedict, CPBE
• James T. Bernier Jr., CPBE, CBNE
• Glenn G. Boundy
• Richard W. Burden, CPBE
• James A. Butler, CPBE
• David Carr, CPBE, 8-VSB
• Leonard J. Charles, CPBE
• Al Chismark
• Megan Clappe
• John Collinson, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, CBNE
• Gerry Dalton, CBRE, CBNT
• Sterling E. Davis
• Bradley L. Dick, CPBE
• Dane E. Ericksen, P.E., CSRTE, CBNT, 8-VSB
• Richard A. Farquhar, CPBE
• Ellis Feinstein
• Howard M. Fine
• Robert W. Flanders
• Clay Freinwald, CPBE
• Douglas W. Garlinger, CPBE, CBNT, 8-VSB
• Frank Giardina, CPBE
• Robert I. Goza, CPBE
• Charles Hallinan
• Ted Hand, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB
• Gary S. Hartman, CPBE
• John J. Heimerl, CPBE
• Albin R. Hillstrom
• Robert Hoffman, CPBE
• Ralph Hogan, CPBE, DRB, CBNE
• James E. Hurley, CSBE
• Christopher D. Imlay, CBT
• Roger E. Johnson, CPBE
• Wallace E. Johnson
• Robert A. Jones, CSBE
• Edwin T. Karl, CPBE
• Harold Kassens
• William D. Kelly
• Charles W. Kelly Jr.
• Glenn H. Lahman
• Arthur Lebermann, CPBE
• James Leifer, CPBE
• Paul E. Lentz, CPBE
• Robert W. Locke, CPBE, CBNT
• Vincent A. Lopez, CEV, CBNT
• John M. Lyons, CPBE
• Joseph J. Manning
• Jerry Massey, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB, CBNT
• Jack E. McKain, CPBE
• James C. McKinney
• Edward J. Miller, CPBE
• Charles T. Morgan, CPBE
• Peter K. Onnigian, CSBE
• William Orr, CSBE
• Wayne M. Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB, CBNE
• Troy D. Pennington, CSRE, CBNT
• John L. Poray, CAE
• Leo W. Reetz
• John W. Reiser, CSRTE
• Frederick M. Remley, CPBE
• Gino Ricciardelli, CPBE
• Joseph A. Risse, PE, CSBE
• Edward J. Roos, CPBE
• Richard A. Rudman, CPBE
• Charles Sakoski, CSBE
• Martin Sandberg, CPBE
• Christopher H. Scherer, CPBE, CBNT
• James B. Schoedler
• Joseph L. Snelson, CPBE, 8-VSB
• John W. Soergel, CPBE
• Donald J. Strauss, CPBE
• Barry D. Thomas, CPBE, DRB, CBNE
• Doyle D. Thompson Sr., CPBE
• Robert A. Van Buhler, CPBE
• Lewis D. Wetzel, CPBE
• Jerry C. Whitaker, CPBE, 8-VSB
• Larry J. Wilkins, CPBE, AMD, CBNT
• Benjamin Wolfe
• James C. Wulliman, CPBE

The post Megan Clappe Is Named an SBE Fellow appeared first on Radio World.

Big retailers aren’t exactly plentiful when it comes to spot TV advertising.

However, one nationally recognized department store chain opted to use broadcast TV to perhaps drum up some Mother’s Day register ring-ups.

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It’s always exciting to see activity from a new advertiser, or an entirely new category, at Spot Radio.

The latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio chart delivers, with a new entrant representing the ride-share industry now actively using AM and FM stations to attract customers.

Now at No. 8 is Uber, which is engaged in a larger multiplatform marketing effort to win back riders as the pandemic eases in many parts of the U.S. Uber is present with some 32,479 spot plays.

That tops GEICO, which appears to be in a soft cycle with respect to advertising against Progressive. Of late, the latter auto insurance specialist has been omnipresent across audio, with its humorous voiceover artist intent on saying “bulbous walrus” one of the more entertaining commercial campaigns of late.

Not to be confused with V/O babble, Babbel — the online language-learning tool — remains strong at Radio, with some 46,568 spins detected for the week of May 9.

Here’s this week’s Spot Ten Radio report in full. It includes promotional spots airing on stations owned by Media Monitors parent iHeartMedia, which should be subtracted by readers who seek fully-paid advertiser data for their own sales department needs.

If you think this is just another streaming CTV/OTT puff story, you’re wrong.

Amagi serves broadcasters with advanced cloud-based automation, playout, and delivery. And, Amagi’s products enable the creation, distribution, and monetization of channels such video services as streaming, OTT, and, of course, traditional broadcast.

Mike Woods joined Amagi right before the pandemic in February of 2020 as SVP of Product. In this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM, Woods shares how Amagi is working with broadcast media companies and how the broadcast TV station owner can benefit, rather than fret, over lost dollars and audience to fast-growing digital video delivery platforms.

 

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Mike Woods, Amagi” on Spreaker.

Veritone says it has made “enhancements” to its cloud-native, AI-enabled media management platform, the Veritone Digital Media Hub.

Why does this matter?

While COVID-19 has created additional challenges for content creators during the production process, remote collaboration, compatibility with their existing applications and the ability to extract increased value from their existing content will remain even in a post-pandemic world. Veritone Digital Media Hub’s new features – including an annotation tool, data export tool and content notifications – are designed to meet these challenges by prolonging the lifespan of existing content by easily searching and identifying segments in both archived and newly produced content, the company says.

Powered by aiWARE, these new features, Veritone notes, “will assist current and future customers to rapidly curate and activate assets to increase content discoverability, operational efficiency and revenue opportunities in content creation.”

New enhancements to the solution include:

• The Annotation Tool, which offers new ways to curate, search, visualize, and validate cognitive and structured data for a media file by tagging and saving descriptive information against a segment of content. This new feature will support customers with multiple use cases, including licensing and monetization.
• The Data Export Tool, which gives users the flexibility to narrow down a specific moment within a media file, a time range, or an entire data set by seconds, frames, or timecodes, and easily export this data as both JSON and XML output files.
• Content Notifications that deliver a customized email alert for new content ingested into the platform, informing users of the type of content that has been uploaded.

“Our enhancements to Digital Media Hub, coupled with the power of aiWARE, will give current and future media and entertainment customers a new way to visualize, edit, and engage with their content and its associated data,” Veritone President Ryan Steelberg President. “This will provide them with greater control over their content by increasing the accuracy of how their content is tagged, giving them more ways to export it, and helping them stay on top of what is currently available in their library, which will culminate into more licensing and revenue opportunities. Additionally, these new capabilities have piqued the interest of our state and federal government customers too, and we look forward to expanding the value of Digital Media Hub into those markets as well.”

For more information on Veritone’s Digital Media Hub, visit: https://www.veritone.com/applications/digital-media-hub.

A new DAVID IV 719N FM/HD Radio Broadcast Processor with Network Interface has been added to the lineup of tech products available from Inovonics.

The company says it provides eased internet access for set-up, control, and increased networking capabilities to the DAVID IV 719 processor.

There is no price increase for the new 719N processor model.

“Adding the Network Interface to our popular 719 processor really gives it two very important features,” Inovonics President/CEO Ben Barber says. “One, the Web GUI can be controlled from any web enabled device; and two, adding SNMP makes remote management and control a breeze.”

The 719 DAVID IV processor was originally launched in 2011.

The New DAVID IV 719N model adds an intuitive, menu-driven Web interface for remote set-up, monitoring, and control.

UPGRADE PROGRAM: Inovonics will provide Free upgrades to 719 users that purchased their processors from January 1, 2020 to May 2021 (transport not included). For those with 719 processors purchased before 2020, there will be a $500 upgrade fee + transport to convert their 719 units to the new 719N model.

For more information about price and availability, please contact Inovonics Sales Department a 831-458-0552 | Email: sales@inovonicsbroadcast.com

BOCA RATON, FLA. — Xytech, the facility management software maker serving broadcast media, has appointed Rob Evans as Product Manager for Broadcast and Transmission Products and Linda Staudenmaier to the role of Director of Professional Services for ScheduALL users.

The appointments follow the closing of Xytech’s acquisition of ScheduALL from Net Insight.

A veteran of ScheduALL, Evans has more than 25 years of experience in broadcast media. He transitions from ScheduALL, where Evans served as a Senior Product Architect, researching complex client environments, and designing contribution and distribution scheduling solutions for video transmission.

“I’m excited to put my industry knowledge at the service of the Xytech community and look forward to show ScheduALL customers our upgrade path,” Evans said. “The industry we serve continues to change rapidly and we have to be nimble and innovative to stay relevant.”

Staudenmaier joins Xytech from production platform The Switch, where she served as Vice President of Enterprise Applications, Software Development and IT. Before that, she spent more than 10 years as the Senior Implementation and Professional Services Manager at ScheduALL.

“I’m thrilled to join the Xytech team during such an exciting time of growth,” Staudenmaier said. “As the leader in its space, Xytech sets the pace when it comes to resource management for media and broadcasters. My extensive background in software and experience working with top-tier broadcasters will be put to good use. I look forward to continuing assisting users through their ScheduALL journey.”

Staudenmaier will be based at the Plantation, Fla. office, and report to Xytech’s Stefan Nied, ScheduALL’ s Managing Director.