Radio+Television Business Report

German converter manufacturer Ferrofish has added the new +24dBu I/O model to its Pulse16 Series of AD/DA converters. The new modification increases the maximum input and output level from +20dBu to +24dBu, an important upgrade for American broadcasters requiring proper headroom.

“One of the core components at Ferrofish is providing end-users with cost-effective, high-performing converting solutions,” said Derek Badala, Director of Sales for the Americas for Synthax, the regiona distributor of Ferrofish products. “This new modification is no different, offering US broadcasters with the tool they need to help them get the best possible audio experience.”

With the new Pulse16 +24dBu I/O modification, maximum input and output levels are increased from +20dBu to +24dBu (in steps of 1 dB), complying with the American SMPTE guidelines which call for +24dBu levels for the analog portion to keep all analog and digital levels uniform.

The Pulse16 is a high-density converter providing 16 x 16 balanced analog TRS I/O. Thanks to its Cirrus Logic converter chips, the Pulse16 operates with an active digital jitter elimination, which compensates shifts or jitters in the audio signal and provides audio engineers with the highest-quality audio possible. The Pulse16 family now includes the Pulse16 DX, Pulse16 MX and the original Pulse16. The new +24dBu I/O model is available for all Pulse16 versions.

In addition to the new Pulse16 +24dBu I/O model, Ferrofish also recently announced a new Pulse16 CV Out, perfect for users working with modular synths using CV/Gate technology.

For more information, visit ferrofish.com.

In American broadcasting SMPTE guidelines call for +24dBu (decibel) levels for the analog portions of audio in order to keep all analog and digital levels uniform. This new Ferrofish Pulse16 model’s input and output levels are increased from +20dBu level (what the old version was) to the new +24dBu level to comply with SMPTE’s guidelines.

Radio and television broadcasting companies publicly trading on U.S. financial markets mostly enjoyed a strong start to the new week.

Monday’s trading saw gains of significance for Salem Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, ViacomCBS, Disney and Cumulus Media.

That said, Veritone Inc. suffered another dip of significance, falling $4.29 to $28.92 to continue a retreat from a recent growth trend for the audio attribution technology company actively seeking TV and radio clients.

 

The FCC has issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture to the licensee of a low-powered FM radio station in Bryan, Ohio, for the apparent willful violation of section 73.3539 of the Rules, resulting in the willful and repeated violation of section 301 of the Communications Act — the broadcasters’ regulatory Bible.

What, exactly, went wrong? This LPFM’s license renewal application was sent in too late.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

On Thursday (3/4), RBR+TVBR was first to share just how Salem Media Group successfully turned its financial fortunes from shaky to sturdy. Digital and publishing revenue growth fueled the impressive Q4, which sparked investor interest.

Now, an influential Wall Street blog declares that the company focused on Conservative Talk radio programming and Christian-themed content “is possibly approaching a major achievement in its business.”

That would be a profit.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

It’s been said that less fluctuation means more continual participation, breeding a group of believers — rather than experimenters.

That seems to be scenario shaping up at spot radio, the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report suggests.

With Indeed in the lead among fully paid advertising campaigns, by play count, Progressive, Babbel, GEICO, ZipRecruiter and Allstate have established strong commitments to audio advertising via AM and FM radio.

That said, the auto insurance category remains one of the most consistent, while there’s more fluctuation in other categories for Radio as the end of the first quarter of 2021 reports.

Here’s the latest Spot Ten Radio report, in full:

Yes, GEICO and Liberty Mutual Insurance are ahead of Progressive for yet another week, showing the continued dominance of auto insurance specialists in the Spot Ten TV report from Media Monitors.

That said, new activity is seen from a health and beauty aide brand, and from a furniture retailer.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

“SuperFrank” Copsidas has made a name for himself in New York State, in the Deep South, in the Hoosier State, and across New England for his investment in low-power television operations.

Now, the producer of the TV series “Pop Up Psychic,” “Just Eat It” and “Ghost Rapper” is adding another television station to his roster of LPTV facilities.

Copsidas’ MOTV LLC, referencing the state of Missouri, is agreeing to acquire KEFN-CD in St. Louis.

KEFN is a Class A station serving the Gateway City on Channel 20. As of 2019, it was using an ERI Model AL8N-20-PLC circularly polarized AL PLUS Series UHF television antenna with a narrow cardioid azimuth pattern.

Until now, KEFN had been an EWTN member station, licensed to Eternal Family Network. On March 18, 2020, KEFN went silent under an STA; its agreement to use its licensed transmitter site was “terminated.”

Now, it is poised to return to life, but with a different ownership arrangement.

Eternal Family Network wishes to continue its mission of the sharing of the Catholic Faith and “traditional values” through multimedia but is unable to do so without “the benefits obtained through entering into this agreement.”

That agreement will see EFN team with kNow Media in forming a new limited liability company, “MOTV, LLC.” Copsidas will oversee it, while MOTV will be a partnership majority owned by EFN (taking 55% equity interest).

kNow and EFN will then divide all income received with respect to the operation of the station 60/40, after expenses. Such revenues and expenses are subject to audit at the sole expense of the party requesting it.

What if KEFN is sold, or is permitted or required to participate in a reverse auction at the FCC? EFN will get $650,000. Then, kNow and Eternal will split the remainder of any proceeds 60%/40%.

For EFN, EWTN will return, with ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 broadcasts contractually guaranteed by Copsidas. The benefit for him? Digital multicast access, and the pending NEXTGEN TV data capability, which presents broadcast TV with a new revenue-generation opportunity.

All is contingent, however, on getting KEFN-CD 20 back on the air by March 18. If that doesn’t happen, the deal is off — and the station’s license is deleted and cancelled by the FCC.

The Chairman of CBS Sports has been selected to deliver the opening keynote at the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE)’s virtual conference devoted to “The Business of Live Sports,” a new event set to take place later this month.

The new event will be held across three hours of March 23.

To register, go to https://www.natpe.com/sports/attend/

 

Topics slated to be covered include the promotion of live sports, the distribution of live sports to streaming fans, the changing playing field of sport sponsorship, the power of pay per view, as well as the rise of sports gambling, international fandom, local broadcasters, and sports.

While Sean McManus of CBS Sports gets top billing, he’ll be participating in a virtual event that also includes appearances by Wyatt Hicks, the Managing Director of Digital Media at NASCAR; and Miheer Walavalkar, the CEO of LiveLike. Both will be discussing the ways of engaging fans around live sports in 2021.

Additionally, Jennifer Storms, the Chief Marketing Officer of Entertainment and Sports at NBCUniversal, will speak on promoting live sports viewership while Telemundo Deportes President Ray Warren will join a panel of other programmers and streaming service providers to discuss the benefits of distributing live sports to streaming fans everywhere.

Julian Mintz, Head of West & Central Brand Sales at Roku, and John Stainer, Managing Director of North America at Nielsen Sports, will also take time to discuss trends in where the money is flowing in live sports.

Until eleven months ago, his voice could be heard in morning drive at WIHT-FM “Hot 99.5” in Washington, D.C., and WFLZ-FM in Tampa, in addition to stations in Baltimore, Louisville, Memphis and Harrisburg via Premiere Networks syndication.

He also hosted a Sunday night program, also syndicated, that aired on some 100 stations.

In April 2020, iHeartMedia canceled the programs, hosted by a Syracuse University alum legally named Peter Deibler.

Now, legions of former listeners are joining members of the radio industry across the U.S. in remembering the life of the man known as “Kane,” as he has died “after a long illness” at the age of 43.

Lawyers for Deibler’s family at Joseph, Greenwald & Laake P.A. released the news to local Washington, D.C., media Monday morning (3/8). He passed away on Friday, March 5, at Shady Grove Adventist Medical Center.

As an anchor for Hot 99.5 from 2006 until his surprising dismissal amid a major reduction-in-force initiative at iHeartMedia, “Kane” also served as a contributor to NBC O&O WRC-4 in Washington.

“Although co-hosts came and went, Kane remained a constant, comforting voice for thousands of people driving to work, dropping the kids off at school and running errands,” lawyers for Deibler’s family said in a statement.

In another statement sent to WRC-4 by the former employer of “Kane” and those associated with The Kane Show, iHeartMedia said, “We are deeply saddened to share the news that Kane has passed away. Kane has been an important part of our iHeart family for many years, from his early days at WFLZ in Tampa, to his network of stations and success at HOT 99.5 in D.C. and ‘Club Kane.’ Please keep Kane’s family and his girls in your thoughts and prayers.”

Deibler was father to two daughters, Sam and Sophie.

“The family is requesting that their privacy be honored during this difficult time,” his representatives said.

A memorial service will also be planned at a future date.

Deibler made headlines in June 2016 after being arrested for assault after his soon-to-be ex-wife accused him of second-degree assault, The Washington Post reported at the time.

It was a blemish on a storied career that began at WKCI-FM “KC101” in New Haven, where he was an intern while still in high school, Lance Venta of RadioInsight.com reports. He’d later hold nights at WWHT-FM “Hot 107.9” in Syracuse and joined WFLZ in 1998 for evenings.

Two years later, he moved to Washington, to join the former XM Satellite Radio.

In 2004, Deibler would return to Tampa, as PD/afternoon host of WFLZ. Then, in October 2006, “The Kane Show” would debut at Hot 99.5; he’d continue to host afternoons on 93.3 FLZ in Tampa.

DISH Network Corporation has embarked on a big business initiative that’s designed to shift it away from strictly offering direct broadcast satellite TV services that, quite often, do not offer consumers every local channel due to its penchant to play hardball with respect to any retransmission consent accords.

It involves 5G, and wireless technology. DISH just took another step toward achieving that goal, by acquiring a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that’s using the T-Mobile infrastructure.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

So much for that COVID-19 subscriber bump.

Full market estimates from Kagan, the S&P Global Market Intelligence media research group, are out. And … they’re not pretty.

Millions of subscriptions by multichannel video services were shed in 2020. As such, the cord-cutting story is real.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Senate late Friday (3/5) approved a budget reconciliation bill that doesn’t raise the minimum wage to a statutory $15 per hour and will put an extra $1,400 in the hands of many Americans.

The legislation also will direct hundreds of millions of dollars in COVID-19 related emergency assistance to public radio and television stations.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) has a new Vice President of Creative for its Latin arm.

Jesus Gonzalez will join the company as will oversee BMI’s Latin Creative team helping to sign and develop new talent, assist BMI’s family of songwriters and publishers and serve as a liaison between the Latin music community and the industry at large.

Based out of BMI’s Los Angeles office, Gonzalez reports to BMI SVP/Creative Alex Flores.

“Throughout his career, Jesus has forged strong relationships within the Latin music community as a songwriter and a music executive,”  Flores said. “His background gives him a deep understanding for both the artistic and business side of what we do, which is invaluable to our music creators, and his ability to forecast industry trends within the ever-growing Latin music space is second to none. I look forward to working with Jesus on developing new talent and supporting our incredible roster of Latin songwriters, producers, composers and music publishers.”

Prior to joining BMI, Gonzalez spent nearly seven years at Universal Music Group, where he was most recently SVP/Brands & Partnerships.

In that role, he spearheaded major collaborations between top Latin artists and global Fortune 500 companies, developed marketing plans around releases to amplify those partnerships and forecasted industry trends. During his tenure at Universal, he helped secure deals for internationally acclaimed performing songwriters, including J Balvin, Juanes and Luis Fonsi, with top brands such as Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi and Mastercard, to name a few.

Other roles include a stint as Vice President of Music Partnerships working with Rogers & Cowan, FRUKT and Octagon under the Interpublic umbrella, and he was the Principal partner at Maleco Music, a music and brand consulting agency.

As a songwriter, he is a voting member of the Recording Academy for the GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY Awards, and was a mentor for the 2020 Adweek Executive Mentor Program. Gonzalez received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Riverside.

“Spurious Emissions.”

It’s something the FCC takes seriously, and will issue a Notice Of Violation for any offense. This week, two notices in one day were issued, and as Wilkinson Barker Knauer attorney David Oxenford notes, both involve low-power radio stations.

It shows that even micro FMs are subject to policing.

Specifically, Oxenford says an FCC Field Office cited Low Power FM operators for using transmission systems that, in addition to transmitting signals on their authorized channels, were also emitting signals on other channels that posed the potential for interference with other users on those other frequencies – sometimes not even broadcast frequencies.

In one case, the FCC noted that it was the FAA that reported the interference.

“All broadcast transmissions have the potential for these spurious emissions on channels other than the ones for which a station is authorized, especially if a station is near other stations as frequencies can interact to produce these unintended emissions,” Oxenford says. “When constructing and operating any broadcast station, care should be given to ensure that these off-channel emissions are not of a signal strength beyond that permitted by the FCC rules as interference can occur and the FCC can potentially impose fines.”

Neither of these NOVs proposes a fine.

Rather, each asks for a response from the operator of the LPFM station and reserves the right to impose a fine depending on the response and any corrective action that is taken, Oxenford says.

It should be noted that the Commission rarely publishes these “routine” NOVs in its Daily Digest. But, it did so with these two notices.

“This publication may be meant as a warning to all stations to ensure that their transmissions are within the permitted limits to avoid any enforcement action, so consider yourself warned!” Oxenford concludes.

A digital low-power TV station serving Florida’s state capital and a sibling LPTV facility located in Auburn, Ala., are being spun.

It’s a Game Day decision. Really. That’s the name of the seller in this transaction.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION

You never know where one can find the freshest ideas that can truly spark a radio station, making it vitally important — and fun — for its listeners.

One successful FM serving Canada’s biggest market has one that every AC, Classic Hits or Rhythmic “Old School” station should consider. Now.

Why? It demands appointment listening, audience engagement and involves something simply gratifying. When’s the last time one of your stations did that?

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

In July 2015, a collection of 9 AMs, an FM and an FM translator were sold by what was left of the former Davidson Media Group. The buyer? A licensee controlled by Mark Janbakhsh.

He’s now in divestment mode, and has signed off on the sale of one of those AMs acquired nearly six years ago.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

As RBR+TVBR first reported on February 18, Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) not only completed its recapitalization effort and closed its previously announced offering of notes due 2026, but settled a court battle regarding its Series B Preferred Stock.

Further details regarding the company’s agreements with Series B shareholders are now known.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

The long-awaited spin of Nielsen Holdings plc‘s sale of what was recently rebranded as NielsenIQ is complete.

The multinational company that is the dominant ratings data and consumer research provider to U.S. TV and radio broadcasting and cable companies has completed its sale of Nielsen IQ — formerly branded as Nielsen’s Global Connect business — to affiliates of Advent International, in partnership with James “Jim” Peck.

In making the announcement, Nielsen CEO David Kenny thanked the NielsenIQ team “for their invaluable commitment and contributions over the years,” while acknowledging that, even after the spin-off, a “strong working relationship” is anticipated.

Speaking of the post-spin Nielsen, Kenny continued, “This is a transformative time for Nielsen. We have redesigned our products, our business platform, and our operating model, positioning Nielsen to better deliver the solutions our clients need in the rapidly changing global media ecosystem. We are now fully aligned around three essential solutions —Audience Measurement, Audience Outcomes and Gracenote Content Services — that are designed to drive growth by leveraging a single media platform across a global digital-first footprint.”

Nielsen Holdings on November 1 announced that it had signed a definitive agreement under which affiliates of Advent International, one of the largest global private equity investors, in partnership with former TransUnion CEO Peck, will acquire the Nielsen Global Connect business for $2.7 billion.

The agreed-to price is subject to working capital, cash, debt-like items and other customary adjustments.

Nielsen also received warrants in the new company exercisable in certain circumstances.

David Rawlinson will remain CEO of NielsenIQ.

The deal’s closing comes just days after Nielsen and Roku announced a new strategic alliance that the companies believe will help shape the future of media and TV measurement.

Advisors
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Guggenheim Securities, LLC are acting as financial advisors to Nielsen, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Clifford Chance LLP, DLA Piper, and Baker McKenzie are serving as legal advisors to Nielsen. Ropes & Gray LLP and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP are serving as legal counsel to Advent and BofA Securities is serving as lead financial advisor, with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., RBC Capital Markets and UBS Investment Bank also advising. Financing for the transaction is being arranged and provided by Bank of America, UBS Investment Bank, Barclays, Deutsche Bank AG New York, HSBC, RBC Capital Markets, MUFG and Wells Fargo.

Tech stocks paced a wave of declines on Wall Street Wednesday, as the Chair of the Federal Reserve declined to say whether or not the Central Bank will work to put a kibosh on inflationary pressure.

Media stocks were caught up in the dips.

Among the bigger decliners is Salem Media Group, down 34 cents to $2.47 after the company posted lower Q4 2020 adjusted EBITDA.

Also off sharply: Beasley Broadcast Group and iHeartMedia.