Radio+Television Business Report

With all eyes set on a big Q4 and 2022, Netflix Inc. has revealed when it will post its third quarter 2021 results and business outlook on its investor relations website.

With its shares trading close to $583 per share, Netflix is trading at near record-levels — still. And, that’s not likely to slow down.

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Nexstar Digital has given birth to a proprietary data-driven audience platform that gives advertisers “the ability to seamlessly purchase digital and linear advertising across Nexstar’s network of 199 owned or operated television stations, 120 local web sites and 284 local news and weather mobile apps.”

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MIAMI — A subscription streaming service that lets you watch live and on-demand TV from 85+ top networks has just added Univision, UniMás and Galavisión to its lineup — giving it a huge boost in its appeal to Spanish-speaking TV consumers.

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In anticipation of its October transformation from a MVPD-distributed offering with roots in the OTT space to a digital multicast network, the E.W. Scripps Co.-owned Newsy has unveiled a new programming lineup — and the news teams behind the shows set to air.

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Television stations carrying the “Big Four” TV networks, along with the local MyNetwork TV affiliate, serving the Cincinnati DMA have fired up their ATSC 3.0-powered NEXTGEN TV broadcasts.

The launch involves the E.W. Scripps Co.’s flagship station, and properties owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Deerfield Media, Hearst Communications and Gray Television.

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As 2021 comes to an end, so will the leadership of an iHeartMedia Area President who has contributed to the success of radio stations not only across New York’s Capital Region, but in the Mid-Hudson Valley and in the “Tri-State” zone including Sussex, N.J.; Port Jervis, N.Y.; and “a little bitty piece of Pennsylvania.”

Set for retirement is media veteran Kristen Delaney. Her last day will be December 31, 2021.

Delaney began her broadcasting career in 1989 as an Account Executive in Utica, New York, working at WRCK-FM “Rock 107” and WTLB-AM. In 1993, she shifted to WOUR-FM and WUTQ-FM in Utica, continuing in local sales. In 1996, Dame Media promoted her to LSM.

Three years later, with Dame Media’s sale of such stations as WGY-AM & WRVE-FM to iHeartMedia predecessor Clear Channel, Delaney moved to Albany to serve as GSM. In 2000, she was elevated to Director of Sales.

In 2006, Delaney took the Market Manager title, eventually adding oversight for Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Sussex, N.J., in 2011.

“Rarely do you see someone so inspiring and skilled at their profession as Kristen Delaney,” said Hartley Adkins, President for iHeartMedia Markets Group. “After almost 23 years with iHeartMedia, she still treated every day as a new adventure and those of us in her orbit all benefited. I applaud her in taking one more adventurous step to retirement. Kristen’s presence will be missed beyond words.”

Dan Lankford, Division President for iHeartMedia Multi-Platform Group, added, “It’s been a great pleasure working with Kristen. Albany’s years of success are a direct result of the hard work and dedication Kristen has to her profession.”

Commenting on her career, Delaney, who holds a Masters’ in Integrated Marketing Communications from Marist College, says, “It has been an incredible 32-year career in broadcasting and I’m so thankful for the last 23 years with iHeartMedia. It has been such an honor to entertain and inform our communities, connect our listeners to our advertisers, and raise much-needed funds for several organizations. Over the years, I have met and worked with so many incredibly talented people and formed friendships that will last for years to come.”

— Reporting by Adam R Jacobson, in Boca Raton, Fla.

Until now, consumers of Cumulus Media-owned radio stations that wished to stream any of the company’s AMs or FMs needed to do so via two commonly used apps.

As of today, the third widely used live audio streaming app has added all of Cumulus’ broadcast stations to its platform.

Audacy and Cumulus on Wednesday announced a content distribution partnership. This  brings Cumulus’ 413 radio stations and portfolio of podcasts to the Audacy digital platform, with access via the Audacy smartphone app and its Radio.com predecessor app available for WDVD-FM in Detroit; KRUZ-FM in Santa Barbara, Calif., and other Cumulus stations during the noon hour, Eastern time.

The Audacy.com website was still in the process of being updated as of this writing.

“We’re delighted with this opportunity to expand listeners’ ability to discover and connect with our stations and podcasts through the Audacy app,” said Cumulus Media SVP/Digital Operations and Business Development Larry Linietsky. “This partnership is in sync with our strategy of distributing our content through multiple platforms to make it available anywhere and anytime people want to enjoy it.”

Cumulus stations have been available via both the TuneIn and iHeartRadio apps.

“The addition of Cumulus’s expansive portfolio of leading radio stations enhances and bolsters Audacy’s position as the fastest growing digital platform for radio listeners,” said Audacy VP of Business Development Corey Podolsky. “Audacy looks forward to building on this initial partnership with Cumulus and will continue to develop new and innovative ways to super serve our listeners.”

It’s official. And, a formal announcement was released at 10:15am Eastern on Wednesday (9/15).

The National Association of Broadcasters won’t be moving forward with the NAB Show, a move that also cancels the co-located Sales and Management Television Exchange and the Radio Show, co-produced by the NAB and the Radio Advertising Bureau.

The NAB made the news public via Twitter shortly after 10am Eastern. State Broadcasters Associations’ received an email from the association sharing the news earlier in the day.

Making the announcement to the “NAB Show community” was Chris Brown, the NAB’s EVP/Managing Director of Global Connections and Events.

“For more than a year we have worked tirelessly to bring our industry together safely in Las Vegas at NAB Show,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, the pandemic and surge of the Delta variant has presented unexpected and insurmountable challenges for our global community. As we have always kept the best interest and safety of the industry as our priority, it has become apparent in the face of these challenges that we can no longer effectively host NAB Show or our co-located events in person.”

Brown continued, “We will not move forward with a show that delivers anything less than the excellence our community has come to expect and deserves from us.”

And, while there is disappointment in having to cancel the NAB Show — which was to begin in just 24 days — Brown says the organization “looks forward to converging at the 2022 NAB Show, April 23-27, 2022, to reignite our passion for our business and focus on a bright future ahead.”

LAST-MINUTE UNWIND

With just 24 days to go before the Sales and Management Television Exchange was to begin ahead of the NAB Show in Las Vegas, the organization has called off the conference. The decision comes following participation pullouts from such major exhibitors as Brainstorm, Ross Video, Panasonic and Canon.

Yet, as of Monday, companies actively working with broadcast radio and TV stations such as Marketron, Dielectric, GatesAir and ENCO, were eagerly preparing their booths and setting up meetings both on-site and off-site. The latest RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast featuring Marketron SVP of Product Jimshade Chaudhari, distributed Tuesday, offered much discussion on what the company had in the works for NAB Show attendees.

Now, Marketron — and many others — are now scrambling to unwind hotel reservations and airline tickets.

Will there be a virtual offering of any kind in lieu of the Las Vegas affair?

“Stay tuned for details regarding virtual options for accessing select 2021 NAB Show content through NAB Amplify,” Brown said.

“Person-level measurement” is a desire not only for those charged with media buying and planning, executing creative and overseeing the marketing efforts for goods and services across a multitude of categories, but it’s also an increasingly wanted data point for broadcast media.

That’s part of the reason why the VAB, among other organizations, is less than satisfied with the existing measurement tools available to TV.

Comscore has been working hard to satisfy this dissatisfied group of media and marketing professionals. On Wednesday (9/15), it revealed that it has “invented” what it calls “the next generation of personification methodology created to bring person-level measurement to its video products.”

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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has just announced $1.3 million in grants to expand the “Urban Alternative” public radio format to three noncommercial broadcast radio operations.

This will bring the number of markets with the unique format, which combines Hip-Hop and R&B music with public radio’s emphasis on local engagement, to seven.

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He’s held he role of Director of Political Advertising for Hearst Television since 2019 and for some four years has been Director of Sales for politically influential WMUR-9 in Manchester, N.H.

Now, he’s been promoted to the newly created position of Corporate Director of Sales.

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A “major evolution in response to the rapid digitalization of audio consumption” is about to take place for radio ratings across some of the biggest metropolitan areas in the world.

How so? Live streaming data is to be integrated into a new multimillion-dollar hybrid measurement system.

Only, this effort doesn’t involve Nielsen. Rather, it’s an innovation coming to Australia, courtesy of industry advocacy group Commercial Radio Australia and global research firm GfK.

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He was nominated by the readers of the Radio + Television Business Report as the eighth-ranked Top Local TV Leader in 2020 and appears on the soon-to-be released 2021 list.

Now, this head of a dominant station owned by The E.W. Scripps Co. is saying goodbye to his longtime colleagues. Why? He’s just been named the VP/GM of the FOX and MyNetwork TV stations serving the Charlotte market, owned by Nexstar Media Group.

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Until recently, a 3,500-watt Class A facility with a broadcast tower in the city of Oak Brook, Ill., could barely penetrate the Loop and much of the city of Chicago.

Despite the efforts of Richard Jakle to attract progressive rock listeners in the 1970s, lure Adult Standards lovers throughout the 1980s, and cruise across the 1990s with satellite-delivered Adult Contemporary programming, Educational Media Foundation reached a Time Brokerage Agreement in March 2011 for the facility.

Today, EMF owns the station, which carries the WAWE-FM call letters. And, for the first time ever, it fully reaches Chicago’s most populous zones. Thank GeoBroadcast Solutions for making it happen.

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ATLANTA — On the northeast corner of the I-285 spur, adjacent to Norcross, is the town of Doraville, Ga.

It’s home to a movie and television production facility developed five years ago that just happens to be next to an entertainment-centric studio and community development dubbed “Assembly.”

That proximity is what led one of the biggest broadcast TV station ownership groups to buy the film facility, Third Rail Studios, in a multimillion-dollar deal that closed on Tuesday.

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Gray Television has completed its purchase of Third Rail Studios from The Integral Group for $27.5 million.

And, it will be a key component to Assembly, presently under development at the former site of a General Motors Assembly Plant.

Gray says the location is “conveniently located” inside the I-285 perimeter.

With no traffic, it’s about a 25-minute drive from CNN Center in downtown Atlanta. MARTA Gold Line service to Doraville is available to, and it offers a direct 75-minute connection to Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport.

Integral purchased the property in 2014 and master developed the site before selling to Gray in March 2021.

Since it opened its doors in 2016, Third Rail Studios has gotten attention for its stages, mill and support spaces, and production offices; Gray says it will serve as an anchor for the future multi-studio site.

For the past few years, Netflix has produced a number of feature-length programs at
Third Rail Studios, including “Ozark.” Recently, Apple leased a significant amount of space within Third Rail Studios to help fulfill its production needs.

Gray CEO Hilton H. Howell calls Third Rail Studios “a pioneer in bringing film and television production to the Atlanta community. We are excited to join forces to create an entire
studio city to serve Georgia’s booming media industry and we are thankful for all of the work already completed at Assembly and proud to usher in the next chapter for the historical site.”

Development plans for Assembly include studio space, mixed-use development, as well as entertainment areas that will be a go-to destination for the Atlanta community. The first phase is expected to be finished by fall 2022.

Gray isn’t a stranger to sound stages: the company is a majority investor in Atlanta-based Swirl Films, which will occupy one of the stages on the property. Gray also owns video
production companies Raycom Sports, Tupelo-Raycom, and RTM Studios, the producer of PowerNation programs and content. Furthermore, Gray launched Circle Network with Opry Entertainment in January 2020.

Gray Television, pending FCC approval of its Meredith Local Media transaction, will soon become the second largest local broadcaster in the United States. Gray will own
television stations serving 113 markets that reach approximately 36% of U.S. television households.

On July 29, 2008, the nation’s two subscription-based satellite radio companies officially completed their merger. Washington, D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio and New York-based Sirius Satellite Radio were now one. And, in retrospect, it saved satellite radio’s fiscal failures as deep debt eventually shifted to profit pops as Sirius XM fought traditional radio while acquiring streaming audio pioneer Pandora in the coming years.

Today led by CEO Jennifer Witz, Sirius XM Holdings has come a long way in 13 years. Now, it is contemplating a move that may eventually end the Sirius legacy of the satcaster, technically speaking.

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Of the big regional religious radio broadcasting operations, the Houston-based entity devoted to “keeping Him close by” has emerged as a force in the Lone Star State.

It’s expanded well beyond its home market, and is now ready to enter two new Texas locales.

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Travel along Interstate 81 between the Tri-Cities of Tennessee and such Virginia locales as Harrisonburg, and you’ll travel through the Blue Ridge region that’s a key part of the Appalachian Mountains.

And, it is an Eastlan-rated market, last updated just two weeks ago. With local broadcasters dominating, a new Virginia-based licensee has emerged as a station owner, thanks to a deal signed September 3.

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The 2021 NAB Show is coming soon. While some big companies including Ross Video have opted not to move forward with attendance at this year’s convention and expo, others including Marketron are excited about interacting with broadcast media executives for the first time since spring 2019.

In this InFOCUS podcast, presented by dot.FM, SVP of Product Jimshade Chaudhari chats with RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson on what NAB Show attendees that swing by Marketron’s booth can expect in the way of safety and interaction, and what products Marketron is ready to put the spotlight on — including one new offering of interest to radio and TV.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Jimshade Chaudhari, Marketron” on Spreaker.

Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned Dielectric has literally changed how FM broadcast antenna manufactures validate directional pattern studies for new FM broadcast antennas.

In fact, the company’s research played a key role in the recent FCC filing of a Petition for Rulemaking, written with leading broadcast consultancy Merrill Weiss Group, that could be approved within weeks.

The new rule, Dielectric says, paves the way for the first directional FM pattern verification rule change in 58 years — a rule change that passes the torch from physical to AI-driven simulated modeling.

Merrill Weiss, principal of Merrill Weiss Group, offered his expertise on existing FCC rules while assisting with the writing and filing process.

The inspiration behind Dielectric’s effort is to provide FM broadcasters with a more efficient and economical antenna modeling process. FM broadcast antenna manufacturers today build physical models and collect measured data to verify antenna patterns – a time-consuming and burdensome process. Dielectric’s petition proposes that the FCC allow FM antenna manufacturers to transition to computer-based antenna modeling using computational methods – an approach widely used in other broadcast products. In fact, this technique has been used for TV station antenna modeling since 2017.

“This is simply long overdue,” Dielectric VP of Engineering John Schadler said. “FM is the only FCC service that still requires a physical range measurement, and anyone who has worked with range measurements knows that accurately measuring radiation patterns is extremely difficult. Simulated pattern verification is much more economical with less chance of error — it just makes sense.”

The clearance to leverage simulated antenna modeling will also result in better accuracy for broadcasters. “3D high-frequency simulation will, in many ways, yield results that are superior to traditional range measurement proofs,” Schadler added. “Since simulations are done in a true free space environment, any issues with the range or anechoic chamber and with the surrounding environment are eliminated, resulting in more reliable azimuth patterns and H/V ratios.”

The use of software also eliminates the lengthy set-up and take down time of models, as well as the need for a technician to adjust the model and take data points by hand. This removes mechanical tolerances and human error affecting the data. Another advantage of designing in a virtual environment is that the geometry can be completely optimized and not compromised by time, materials and tolerances.

Schadler adds that since the start of Repack in 2017, Dielectric has shipped more than 1,000 TV antennas using a virtual-only design process, which has both accelerated design timelines and eliminated the traditional physical design process. Many of these designs have been field verified, further supporting the accuracy of computer simulations.

“It is safe to say that it would have been essentially impossible to design, manufacture, test, and install this many antennas to successfully complete the Post-Incentive Auction Spectrum Repack, in the minimal time allowed, without the use of virtual simulation,”  Schadler said. “Another fallout of Repack is that we created a new crop of engineers – HFSS computer simulation super users. ANSYS HFSS is 3D electromatic simulation software tool for designing, simulating and evaluating high-frequency components. New opportunities such as FM pattern studies will take advantage of our engineers’ new expertise.”

HFSS software can make small changes to completely optimize radiation patterns and not be constrained by time and material. This replaces the time-consuming trial-and-error procedures that engineers and technicians have lived with for nearly six decades.

— Brian Galante