Radio+Television Business Report

In partnership with Telos Alliance, Grass Valley is releasing Telos Infinity VIP (Virtual Intercom Platform) on GV AMPP (Agile Media Processing Platform), a professional intercom tool for cloud-based media production workflows.

Infinity VIP on AMPP supports essential intercom functionality that is already well known to production professionals, including partylines, IFBs, groups and peer-to-peer communication.

This new cloud-based production functionality is being beta-tested by All Mobile Video (AMV) and will be live with an AMV customer later in the year..

“It’s critical to us that the maximum number of productions are able to get the most out of our industry-leading intercom solutions,” commented Scott Stiefel, Chief Operating Officer of Telos Alliance. “As a GV Media Universe Alliance Partner, our technology is now tightly integrated with AMPP, putting our intercom solutions in prime position for productions using the cloud-based platform. Through seamless access to our solutions, we look forward to gaining new customers as well as pleasing existing users looking to move as much functionality as possible to the cloud.”

Telos Infinity VIP on AMPP is a native SaaS solution tightly integrated from both an operational and commercial standpoint for a frictionless experience. The Infinity VIP on AMPP cloud server and virtual panel apps are available from the AMPP app store and deploy in the same way as any AMPP application.

AMV CEO Eric Duke commented, “Our beta trials of Infinity VIP on AMPP have gone incredibly well with our customers, and we look forward to Grass Valley building in all the functionality we need to take the fullest advantage of cloud production. This will make us more profitable, more flexible and most important of all, enables AMV to offer the best possible service.”

“The undoubted advantages of cloud-based production, even in a studio environment, means that the methodology behind GV AMPP is a hugely positive paradigm shift for the video production industry,” noted Grass Valley President/CEO Tim Shoulders. “Today, the concept of cloud production is widely understood throughout the industry; it’s now the job of the GV Media Universe to make available to production teams all the professional functionality they need through the cloud. The Telos intercom solution is a fantastic example of how this works to everyone’s benefit. Video producers get access to the latest tools wherever they are, Telos gains new users and we can enable customers, like AMV, the functionality they need to provide workflows that produce exciting content.”

With Infinity VIP on AMPP, operators supporting live productions from anywhere can access the application from any connected browser. The microphone and speakers from the connected phone, tablet, or computer allow operators to communicate with team members, while using the same device for performing their job functions using other AMPP-enabled solutions such as switching, audio mixing, replay, routing, and monitoring.

Usage monitoring is consolidated with other AMPP applications to provide a single billing experience. While providing the latest in flexible user interfaces, this new intercom solution also provides cloud connection for existing intercom hardware, providing all the benefits of a new cloud-enabled system while retaining existing intercom infrastructure and workflows.

Digital Nirvana, a provider of media monitoring and metadata generation services, is preparing for the release of the newest version of its AI-driven compliance logging and monitoring product.

MonitorIQ 8.0 integrates with its Media Services Portal. The update brings its Linux operating system and all included software up to their latest versions.

This helps to negate security vulnerabilities, and offers increased resiliency. Additionally, quicker navigation is seen. Plus, there is lower latency for live video.

Digital Nirvana’s MonitorIQ allows operators to record, store, monitor, analyze, and repurpose content quickly and efficiently with a minimum of clicks. “Natively recording content from any point in the video delivery chain, from production (SDI) to consumption (OTT and STB), MonitorIQ enables broadcasters to collect and use knowledge about their broadcast content to meet a wide range of regulatory and compliance requirements,” the company says. “Users can view live or recorded content across hundreds of channels from desktop and mobile devices in any remote location worldwide for instant recall of proof of performance, compliance, or ad placement.”

MonitorIQ is based on the Linux operating system.

Among other improvements touted by Digital Nirvana are improved video intelligence. This, it says, “means broadcasters can now identify ads on competitive channels, detect logos in high-value content, recognize faces from news sources or entertainment content, and generate closed captions or transcripts of clips from live or historical content or advertisements.”

The MonitorIQ 8.0 upgrade will be available starting in the fourth quarter at no cost to active customers. Digital Nirvana support will contact customers to schedule the upgrade process. More information about Digital Nirvana and its products and services is available at www.digital-nirvana.com.

Celebro Media, a provider of live TV services to broadcasters around the world, has partnered with Quicklink as part of their new global studio project.

Quicklink’s ST500 (Studio-in-a-box) solution has been chosen to provide contribution facilities across Celebro’s televisions studio spaces.

As part of the global studio project, Celebro plans to open 80 new television studios across the world over the next two years. This will complement their larger facilities in London; Washington, D.C.; and Los Angeles.

Roll out has already begun with Miami and New York; Paris, Brussels and Moscow are next to open.

In these locations, Celebro Media chose Quicklink’s ST500 (Studio-in-a-box) to facilitate the contributions back to their MCRs in Washington or London.

The ST500 (Studio-in-a-box) is a compact unit with in-built lighting and camera that can be controlled from any remote location. The camera, lights and audio can be controlled from a
Chrome web-browser using the Quicklink Manager Portal.

In order to facilitate Celebro’s studio roll-out, it has partnered with Regus. As such, Celebro can easily open studios/bureaus at locations where a news event is happening, such as a sporting event or elections.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — PILOT, the innovation initiative of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), has announced two winners of the 2021 PILOT Innovation Challenge. Winners will receive relevant mentorship, feedback, travel support and exhibit space at the 2021 NAB Show, held October 9-13 in Las Vegas.

Individuals, companies, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations submitted applications to address the challenge focus areas which included edge technologies, broadcast journalism and in-vehicle technologies.

This year’s winners are as follows:

BeamOn – Beam Dynamics. BeamOn is a cloud-based product intelligence platform for broadcast stations. The platform bridges the communication barrier between product owners and manufacturers to help broadcast studios reduce costly downtime on set and extend equipment life cycles.

Reinventing Local TV News: Prioritizing Animation and Graphics – Northeastern University. Researchers at Northeastern have shown that animation and advanced graphics are effective ways to enhance broadcast journalism. Northeastern University’s team provides research data, a roadmap, expertise and ready-to-use templates for animations and graphics.

“We are delighted by this year’s Innovation Challenge submissions offering creative proposals for the broadcast industry,” said PILOT Executive Director John Clark. “The winning entries offered solutions that broadcast stations can immediately act upon and put into use right now. We look forward to bringing these award winners to Las Vegas and showcasing their innovative ideas at NAB Show.”

The Innovation Challenge is one in a series of PILOT initiatives that each support a facet of the full innovation cycle, including the ideation, validation and incubation of media and technology-focused ideas.

Cleanfeed, a collaboration tool for high definition, live audio and recording in a browser, is now offering enhanced studio tools to the marketplace.

The U.K.-based company says this amounts to improving the service for podcasters and broadcasters on a global level.

Cleanfeed’s products fulfill the need to broadcast or record in high-definition audio, straight from a browser.

There are enhancements to the existing Clips feature, and a new Player for longer cuts of audio.

The tools give podcasters and broadcasters the functionality of a professional radio studio, straight out of their laptop. Features now give users the opportunity to give their listeners and guests a finished production experience, including the ability to play intro and background music, host a panel show or quiz with sound effects, review music, have guests comment on interviews or even play voxes from the public.

Marc Bakos, co-founder of Cleanfeed, comments, “As business owners we are continually striving to take feedback directly from our users, as well as industry professionals, to ensure we are servicing our community with the best user experience possible. The new enhanced tools really reinforce that creativity is only ever limited by our imagination and we are excited about the possibilities that these features open for everyone who uses them.”

— RBR+TVBR European News Desk, in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Blonder Tongue Laboratories, a designer and manufacturer of telecommunications, fiber optic, video and data delivery technologies, has unveiled the updated Aircaster AQT8 series of transmodulators – including the Aircaster AQT8-QAM/IP and Aircaster AQT8-IP.

The company calls them “a comprehensive and flexible toolset to create custom IP and QAM channel lineups from any ATSC 1.0 off-air or QAM content source.”

The solution, it says, “is ideal for facilities looking to incorporate off-air video programming without paying additional retransmission fees for local cable or satellite services.”

Ted Grauch, President and CEO of Blonder Tongue Laboratories, notes, “Until now, off-air to digital rebroadcasting equipment have been single use or only offer one-to-one signal conversion. Creating new channel lineups as well as correcting channel metadata to be fully standards compliant has required a labyrinth of converters, splitters, amplifiers and more The Aircaster AQT8 reimagines what off-air rebroadcasting equipment can do in a single compact unit, enabling custom lineups of up to 64 channels, accessible to thousands of residential homes in the case of service operators, or hundreds of rooms and TV sets for hospitality, institutional and SMB use cases. It effortlessly creates and multiplexes a complete digital media service, while eliminating unnecessary fees and equipment.”

The Aircaster AQT8 transmodulators are ideal for any fiber optic or cable service operator as well as video integrators with small- and medium-sized business (SMBs) customers. Requiring 1 RU, the device can accept up to 8 ATSC 1.0 off-air or QAM sources, and simultaneously output a series of either Single Program Transport Streams (SPTS) and/or Multi-Program Transport Stream (MPTS), creating both a custom IP feed and/or QAM transmissions.

Featuring an internal active splitter, the Aircaster AQT8 enables users to create a full lineup of up to 64 channels and distribute them across a facility, eliminating the need for countless digital converters, external splitters, and legacy one-to-one solutions.

Additionally, Aircaster AQT8 includes the following features:

· Pass Through Mode, which directly maps the demodulated RF port content in MPTS format to IP output

· Encrypted QAM input and IP/QAM output allows for MPTS or SPTS formats while preserving the source MPEG tables (PAT, PMT, PSIP, VCT, and MGT)

· Virtual channel mapping via a simple interface, where users can change the packet identifier (PID), program number short name, major/minor channel (PSIP) and overall channel lineup

· Signal testing and GUI-based remote monitoring and control via any web browser can greatly improve quality while drastically reducing truck rolls

· Emergency Alert System (EAS) control to override standard inputs and distribute an alert signal to an entire MDU facility

For more information, please visit: https://www.blondertongue.com/.

RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION

As the radio industry slid into the Labor Day weekend, ahead of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), the NAB and a group of nine radio broadcasting companies each submitted comments with the FCC that essentially offer the same plea to the Commission.

They want a further loosening of the radio ownership rules, one that would allow one single company to own every AM radio station in a market, regardless of its size. They want one single company to be able to own every FM radio station in a market under No. 74 in rank. They want a company to be able to own up to eight FMs in markets No. 1-No. 74.

The reasons are replete with finger-pointing toward Facebook and Google, and Amazon, too.

But, is it fair? Given the consolidation the industry has seen in the last 30 years, are we ready to see more when the argument is clearly about dollars, and not about consumers?

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The NAB isn’t the only party with a deep interest in the FCC’s 2018 quadrennial review of its broadcast ownership rules.

No less than nine radio station licensees, along with a very well-known broker, have teamed up in offering joint comments that reiterates what many in the industry have desired for years: “modernization” of its cross-ownership rules.

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The NAB is launching a Diversity Symposium at the upcoming 2021 NAB Show in Las Vegas. It’s a two-part program that will cover strategies for developing and fostering corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in the media industry.

The just-announced Diversity Symposium takes place on Sunday, October 10, and is scheduled from 11am-2:30pm Pacific. It will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center and is open to all NAB Show attendees.

“The value of this new program cannot be overstated,” said Michelle Duke, NAB’s chief diversity officer. “The last year has made it clear that businesses need to take a more active role in creating and developing more inclusive and diverse workplaces, and we are excited for the role NAB has to lead a culture of change.”

The symposium will kick off with a Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) Roundtable, focused on how to develop diversity programs for media organizations. CDOs from The E.W. Scripps Company, iHeartMedia and TEGNA will join the conversation led by Duke.

Other sessions focused on developing a corporate DE&I strategy include:

• Building Effective ERG’s (Employee Resources Groups) and DE&I Committees
• Supplier Diversity: Developing a Strategy that Benefits Your Organization and Your Community

The symposium will then pivot to cover fostering diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and within the media industry at large. Two sessions will explore the impact of diverse leadership on the bottom line, and how intersectional identities can change reporting, news coverage and production.

Diverse leaders from across the industry will participate in the session titled “More Than a Seat at the Table: The Impact of Inclusive Leadership and Sponsorship.” iHeartMedia’s Senior Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Yesenia Bello, Allen Media Group-owned KITV-4/Honolulu President/GM Jason Hagiwara and Cox Media Group Director of Sales Angelina Rosario will discuss leadership as individuals in groups that are underrepresented in media and the positive impact of creating an active culture of inclusion at their organizations.

The Sept. 3 announcement of the Oct. 10 symposium further solidifies a schedule of events designed for a five-night stay in Las Vegas, with events on October 9 for broadcast engineers and IT professionals and the Sales and Management Television Exchange bookended by the Radio Show. NAB Show events largely begin October 10 and conclude October 13.

The NAB Show is the largest convention and expo to be staged since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

Jeff Winemiller and his Lowcountry 34 Media has engaged in a series of transactions in recent months involving low-power television stations.

On Thursday (9/2), he moved forward with the sale of six LPTV construction permits.

The buyer? The company co-led by Pat LaPlatney and Hilton Howell Jr.

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The Broadcasters Foundation of America has selected the soon-to-retire President/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) as the recipient of the 2021 Lowry Mays Excellence in Broadcasting Award.

The honor is bestowed annually on an individual in broadcasting whose work exemplifies innovation, community service, advocacy, and entrepreneurship.

This year, it is going to Gordon Smith, the former Republican U.S. Senator from Oregon who will be replaced by Curtis LeGeyt as the NAB’s head in January 2022.

Smith will be presented with the award at the Broadcasters Foundation Annual Breakfast, scheduled to coincide with the 2021 NAB Show. The affair is scheduled for October 12 at 7am in the Brahms Room of the Encore Hotel in Las Vegas.

Smith joined the NAB as its leader in November 2009. Prior to joining NAB, he served as senior advisor in the Washington offices of Covington & Burling LLP.

The Lowry Mays Excellence in Broadcasting Award salutes its namesake and is underwritten by The Mays Family Foundation. Past recipients include Ajit Pai, Bill Clark, Eddie Fritts, Cathy Hughes, Mel Karmazin, Jeff Smulyan, Dick Wiley, and others. 

There’s a new New York Yankee hero to add the list of legends associated with the Major League Baseball team.

Who knew that it would be a sportscaster whose widely known among English-language sports fans in Philadelphia who calls Yankees games en español while in the Bronx?

Rickie Ricardo is being lauded for rushing to the aid of the Yankees’ lead play-by-play announcer, John Sterling, late Wednesday, perhaps saving him from rising floodwaters associated with the remnants of Hurricane Ida.

Ricardo is the Spanish-language radio play-by-play voice of both the Yankees and the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, and is a host on Sports Talk WIP-FM 94.1 in Philadelphia, the Audacy-owned station.

Ricardo and Sterling were at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night, before rain and wind associated with Ida’s remnants arrived in the New York Tri-State Area, creating a late-night mess sparsely covered by local TV stations until the morning.

Sterling, 83, was in New Jersey, stranded on a road that had flooded. Cell phone reception was poor, and some 10 attempts were made for Ricardo to reach Sterling; Ricardo had called upon learning of how terrible the weather had become while also driving to his home in the Garden State.

Ricardo shared on WFAN Thursday morning what transpired from that point.

“He answered the phone and I said, ‘John, it’s Rickie. Where are you? … John is trying — in the dark because the lights are out — to describe to me where he’s at. He goes ‘Oh I’m in front of this Chinese restaurant on the corner of this bagel shop.’ And he’s in his car and the water’s rising.”

Ricardo sprang to action, and raced over the George Washington Bridge to find him. Suzyn Waldman, Sterling’s game-time partner, called Ricardo to give him the exact location: the unfortunately appropriately-named River Road in Edgewater, just south of the bridge and facing Columbia University on the opposite side of the Hudson River.

Ricardo got there. When he found Sterling, some 25 cars were stranded. The water had reached the tires of his automobile. Ricardo rolled up his pants, got out of his vehicle, waded through the flood waters, and got Sterling out safely into Ricardo’s Jeep.

“Finally I get John settled into my Jeep and he’s kind of shell shocked and I don’t blame him,” Ricardo said on WFAN.

The adventure didn’t end. Sterling’s home was just one half-mile away, but getting there proved difficult. With local law enforcement officers assisting, that trek took about an hour but was ultimately successful.

For Michael Kay, also associated with Yankees broadcasts, a trek home to Connecticut proved impossible, due to major flooding in the Bronx that turned the Major Deegan Expressway near Van Cortlandt into a deep river. Kay ended up spending the evening at his alma mater, Fordham University.

— With reports from Twitter and the New York Daily News.

He’d be celebrating five years at Gray Television‘s dual CBS/FOX-affiliated broadcast station serving the Mankato, Minn., market this month.

Sadly, the local leader’s brief battle with cancer ended Thursday, Sept. 2, leading those who worked with him at KEYC-12 and at Gray to mourn his loss.

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LOS ANGELES — For some, she’s fondly remembered as promoter “Bobbi Flekman” in the 1984 cult classic This is Spinal Tap. Most people know her as “The Nanny.”

Now, she’s succeeding Gabrielle Carteris as President of SAG-AFTRA.

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Fran Drescher has been chosen by the union’s national membership to fill the role, while Joely Fisher will serve as the next Secretary-Treasurer.

Their two-year terms began immediately upon the certification of the ballot count on Thursday (9/2).

It was a tight race, with Drescher seeing a strong competitor for the role that Carteris announced in June she’d relinquish. She’d been SAG-AFTRA President — and a highly vocal one — since her election in April 2016. In the election for president, Drescher received 16,958 votes, followed by Matthew Modine with 15,371 votes.

For the post of secretary-treasurer, Fisher received 18,547 votes, followed by Anthony Rapp with 13,593 votes.

A total of 122,154 ballots were mailed. Of the total number of votes, 32,362 were returned, equating to a return of 26.49%.

Commenting on her election, Drescher said, “Together we will navigate through these troubled times of global health crisis and together we will rise up out of the melee to do what we do best, entertain and inform. We must never forget the important contribution we make to many millions of people each and every day when they buy a ticket to sit in a dark theater or turn on their TVs or streaming devices. Our chosen professions within the SAG-AFTRA membership have literally gotten Americans to laugh, to learn, to momentarily escape that we are all in a pandemic. We members serve an invaluable purpose in the grand scheme of things. We must never forget who we are and what unites us as one union.”

SAG-AFTRA’s National Executive Director is Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.

With her election, Fisher continues a family tradition of union service, a path blazed by her mother, Connie Stevens, who served as secretary-treasurer for the Screen Actors Guild. Fisher’s acting credits include the role of “Paige Clark” on the Ellen DeGeneres sitcom Ellen, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Series, Mini-Series or Television Film.

SAG-AFTRA’s executive vice president, as well as the seven category and geographical vice presidents, will be elected by delegates at SAG-AFTRA’s biennial convention.

The event, which will be held October 15–18, will take place virtually, making it the latest affair to forego a live, in-person venue.

— RBR+TVBR West Coast Bureau, in Redondo Beach, Calif.

With growing calls for the Biden Administration to offer its nomination of an individual to serve as the official Chairman of the FCC, the NAB has filed comments with the Commission as part of its latest quadrennial review of broadcast ownership rules by staying the course on its quest to further deregulate the radio industry.

Given the chatter around D.C. over who would take over for Jessica Rosenworcel, the NAB’s words could easily fall on deaf ears.

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The owner of an AM radio station with an FM translator has decided to sell the properties.

How appropriate. The licensee’s name is Sellers Broadcasting.

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Showing proof of a COVID-19 vaccination may be just one requirement the NAB is putting in place in order to attend the 2021 NAB Show in person come October 9 in Las Vegas.

The industry’s chief voice on Capitol Hill for broadcast TV and radio on Thursday left the possibility of a mask mandate open. It says a decision on mask requirements will be made in accordance with the CDC, the Nevada Governor, the Southern Nevada Health District and the Clark County Commission.

That decision will be made closer to the show. But, it signals the possibility that the event, even though it will prohibit unvaccinated attendees from participating, will still require mask use at all indoor events.

As stated above, proof of vaccination will be managed through CLEAR’s free mobile app and Health Pass feature or by a Vaccination Concierge Service before and during the Show.

The holidays, which we all assumed would be fairly normal this year, are just around the corner and unless things get better in a hurry, will be another source of stress in the lives of listeners. Radio can help  make a difference this year with more than Christmas music, says Andrew Curran, President/COO of DMR/Interactive.

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Cars are becoming smart and connected, opening up a wide range of new use cases and business models for the audio industry.

The topic is explored in depth in a new report from Futuresource Consulting.

Although global car sales were heavily impacted in 2019 and 2020, long-term market growth is expected, with car ownership growing strongly in emerging markets as developed market demand recovers.

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TEGNA has selected the first Thursday in November as the day it will share its third quarter 2021 fiscal results, and hold a conference call with analysts and investors to review and discuss its performance in the period.

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