Radio+Television Business Report

Digital Nirvana, a provider of media monitoring and metadata generation services, is now shipping MetadataIQ, a SaaS product that offers a new metadata automation tool for content producers using the Avid media platform.

MetadataIQ offers off-the-shelf integration with Avid Interplay to automate the end-to-end process of generating speech-to-text and video intelligence metadata for Avid-based assets while automatically submitting media for transcription, captioning, and translations from within the existing workflow.

MetadataIQ allows operators to create and ingest different types of metadata — including speech-to-text, facial recognition, OCR, logos, and objects, each with customizable marker durations and color codes for easy identification — that can be accessed via the Avid MediaCentral environment. Editors may type a search term within Interplay or MediaCentral, identify the relevant clip, and start creating content. For VOD and content repurposing, video intelligence metadata aids in product placement/replacement and accurately identifying ad spots.

The platform is the first to offer on-premises transcoding and intelligent extraction of audio files to generate speech-to-text transcripts. Users aren’t required to create a low-res proxy or manually import files into Avid MediaCentral. MetadataIQ automatically generates speech-to-text transcripts for file-based assets in addition to streaming speech-to-text transcripts from growing audio assets in real time. Operators have the option of sending transcripts to Digital Nirvana’s processing centers for high-quality, human-curated output, which is returned within Interplay.

MetadataIQ integrates directly with the company’s Trance platform for the generation of transcripts, captions, and translations in all industry-supported formats. In-house teams can submit files directly from their existing workflow and receive the output as sidecar files or ingest them directly back into Interplay as markers.

“By delivering complete automation over the generation and ingestion of relevant metadata as locators into Avid, MetadataIQ helps editors accurately identify relevant content to save time and effort. For example, we’ve had users report that the process of creating new content has been reduced from 15 hours to two hours,” said Hiren Hindocha, CEO, Digital Nirvana. “In addition, our platform replaces several traditional manual processes — from creating low-res proxies to submitting files to third parties for transcripts, captions, and translations — to increase the efficiency of production, preproduction, and live content creation processes.”

The MetadataIQ software can be installed on-site on a dedicated server or virtual machine with Digital Nirvana providing complete support for deployment.

More information about Digital Nirvana and its products and services is available at www.digital-nirvana.com.

It has made a name for itself for its products used for live event productions. Now, CP Communications is gaining notice for its RF coordination and complement of equipment used by ESPN, FOX, and MLB Network during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game and related events.

The Major League Baseball events were held earlier this month at Coors Field in Denver. The RF Coordination strategy for the All-Star Game included pre-planning and acquisition of 1108 frequencies, covering RF video systems, audio, return video, paint control, intercoms and two-way radios.

Operating from its flagship HD21 mobile production unit, the CP Communications crew provided support for the Home Run Derby on July 12 (ESPN), the Red Carpet All-Star Show at McGregor Square on July 13 (MLB Network), the All-Star Game on July 13 (FOX), and the three-day MLB Draft at the Bellco Theatre in Denver that started on July 11 (ESPN and MLB Network).

CP also assisted with on-site studio shows for all three networks, including ESPN’s Baseball Tonight and FOX’s pregame show, which were setup in various locations across Coors Field.

Other key clients serviced include ESPN Radio, Sirius XM Radio and the MLB Commissioner’s Office.

“We had our own all-star crew of 23 on site that was truly second to none,” said Michael Mason, president of CP Communications. “Over four days, we coordinated between three networks in multiple venues producing event coverage plus regularly scheduled network programming. Coordination was an essential part of our game plan. The All-Star Game is one of the most high-profile events in professional sports, and we delivered high-quality support for all of our clients.”

CP’s support included 16 RF handheld cameras, including two FlyCam systems, two “Megalodon” Sony cameras (with shallow depth of field), a Sony HDC-P50 compact POV on a MōVI camera rig, a SteadiCam, and batting cage POVs. CP added 60 wireless microphones that were used throughout the events by reporters and other on-air talent, plus umpires, coaches, and players. Some mics were even planted in the ground to capture game audio and effects.

“The TV transmitters installed on mountains around Coors Field can create challenges for wireless productions,” Mason added. “Before the action, we performed accurate site surveys and current spectrum scans so we could deliver reliable wireless video and audio signals for all clients.”

— Brian Galante

The FCC has adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking to refresh the existing record regarding the statutorily mandated collection of data on FCC Form 395-B.

That’s the form used for EEO data collection by the Commission until the D.C. Circuit asked it to stop doing so — 20 years ago.

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There’s a nice mix of returning advertisers and big brands that are revving up their back-to-school ad campaigns at spot television.

It’s good news for broadcast TV, as soccer attracts viewers to FOX, and the Olympics dominate the NBC and Telemundo schedules.

Among the brands making big moves this week: Walmart.

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The Lakeland-Winter Haven-Auburndale area of Central Florida continues to grow, and given its locale between Tampa and Orlando, there are few local media choices.

Among them are AM radio stations licensed to WALCO Enterprises, led by Ferris Waller.

Add another property to that kHz-band mix of properties in Waller’s stable.

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An Abilene, Tex., operator has agreed to acquire the assets of a Class C3 FM serving the Lubbock, Tex., market with a unique Texas-flavored “Red Dirt Country” presentation.

The deal, which awaits FCC approval, brings an end to ownership of a company that in April voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Rather than emerge, its lone asset — the FM — was auctioned off.

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She served as the General Sales Manager of pioneering Sports Talker WFAN in New York from January 2006 until August 2014 and, from October 2000 through the end of 2005, was VP/GM of Univision three radio stations serving the market.

Her resume also includes a role as GSM of WAXQ-FM “Q104.3” in New York.

Now, this radio industry veteran is spending the next 15 months in federal prison for using a credit card designated for business expenses for personal use exceeding $300,000 in payments.

Stephanie McNamara Bitis on Friday was sentenced to 15 months in a federal prison facility and has been ordered to pay $302,585.01 in restitution for using a credit card associated with her former role at Long Island Radio Broadcasting in order to pay for various personal expenses.

According to court documents, they include expenses tied to a boat used by her and her family, and for a trip to the Caribbean.

As reported by Newsday, Bitis tearfully apologized for her actions conducted while GM of Top 40 WBEA-FM 101.7, Adult Contemporary WBAZ-FM 102.5 and heritage Adult Alternative WEHM-FM at 92.9 and 96.9 MHz, which serve the Riverhead-Sag Harbor portion of the Nassau-Suffolk region of New York, or Long Island.

The sentencing of Bitis by United States District Judge Gary Brown, following her guilty plea to “felony access device fraud” in November 2020, includes one year of supervised release.

The sentencing hearing was originally scheduled for March 26 but was pushed back to work out restitution.

Bitis ran the Long Island Radio Broadcasting stations from 2015 to 2017.

As reported by Newsday, Bitis read a prepared apology to the court, tearfully reading, “Because of the tremendous mistake I made, 58 years of any good I’ve done has been totally erased and this defines me, your honor. I’m sorry we’re all here. I apologize for the time and expense of everyone involved.”

The daily newspaper also notes that $125,000 of the restitution has been paid, with $52,585.01 going to Long Island Radio Broadcasting; to do so, Newsday says, Bitis mortgaged her home.

As of November 2020, Bitis served as VP/Sales of Dan’s Papers, a Schneps Media local marketing company and newspaper publisher serving the Hamptons and East End communities in Suffolk County, N.Y.

Bitis’ unauthorized charges first came to public light after the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York were brought in after an attorney was hired to look into credit card fraud triggered by “a suspicious wire transfer” detected by the owner of Long Island Radio Broadcasting, Lauren Stone. This led Stone to review LIRB’s American Express statements for the preceding six months. The result? Stone noticed several charges that appeared fraudulent.

Outside legal help was brought on by Stone to take a closer look at LIRB’s books. The third-party agency determined that Bitis had placed “hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal charges on LIRB’s corporate American Express card.”

As reported in the Patch newspaper’s Southampton, N.Y., edition, these charges included a family vacation to Aruba, personal visits to the orthodontist, boat maintenance and boat fuel and tax services for delinquent personal income tax payments.

At the time, Stone concluded that McNamara Bitis concealed the fraud by submitting falsified documents to LIRB’s accountant. In fact, the radio industry veteran allegedly created fraudulent American Express statements by removing vendors such as her orthodontist to hide the personal charges, Stone added.

Bitis’ legal representative had acknowledged some level of fraud, but greatly disputed the extent of it.

Following the sentencing, Stone told Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink she’s pleased justice was served.

“Although LIRB is still picking up the pieces of the mess that was left as a result of the defendant’s fraud and embezzlement, we are hopeful that we can overcome these obstacles and continue to serve the needs of Long Island’s East End.”

— Additional reporting by Ed Ryan and Rob Dumke

It may have just 80 watts of power, but this FM translator emits a signal that covers nearly all of central Atlanta, thanks to its presence on a tower structure located in the industrial Reynoldstown neighborhood east of downtown.

Since the start of 2021, it has emulated a now-defunct Classic Hits station by using its former branding, “The Fox.”

Now, to borrow the title of a 1970s hit, is this Fox on the Run?

A change in ownership has been consummated.

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In late March, Keith Stover — also known to a generation of Pittsburgh radio listeners as Keith Clark — moved forward in filing paperwork with the FCC that would make him a majority owner of a pair of FM radio stations serving the Columbia, S.C., market.

Late last week, that transaction formally closed.

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In February 1993, another of the FCC’s Docket 80/90 Class A additions to the FM radio dial began serving a portion of the Mid-Hudson Valley. Seven months later, it would come under the ownership of Will Stanley.

Together with his wife, the Stanleys created a heralded and unique offering replete with Adult Alternative, Americana and folk music — most of it produced at the station’s Northern Dutchess County offices and studios.

On June 22, Stanley passed away at the age of 73.

But, WKZE-FM 98.1, licensed to Salisbury, Conn., and based in Red Hook, N.Y., will live on.

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In September 2018, a forlorn AM radio station that had been serving Brazilians with Portuguese-language fare became the latest station to capitalize on the massive growth of the Spanish-speaking population in Central Florida. Only, it didn’t adopt another music format.

Instead, iHeartMedia gave birth to a spoken word format, today an anomaly in the Latin media world.

It now appears the decision was a savvy one.

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As of August 9, the nation’s largest broadcast TV station owner will have its news EVP/CFO.

The appointment comes following the promotion in October 2020 of Tom Carter to President/COO, a move that saw him retain his financial role.

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Workflow automation, media processing, quality monitoring, and test and measurement product manufacturer Telestream says its Vantage Media Processing Platform now supports Dolby Atmos immersive audio and Dolby Vision HDR.

Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos content is now available worldwide from the leading streaming and broadcast service providers and can be experienced on millions of devices. With Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos encoding, content owners, producers, and distributors using Vantage will be able to meet their customers’ demands for incredible picture and sound quality.

Dolby Vision transforms viewing experiences with ultra-vivid picture quality — incredible brightness, contrast, color, and detail that bring entertainment to life. When compared to a standard picture, Dolby Vision can deliver colors never-before seen on a screen, highlights that are up to 40 times brighter, and blacks that are 10 times darker. With Dolby Vision, Vantage customers will be able to automate and efficiently process their content while also ensuring that their creative intent is maintained throughout the entire creative process — from post-production to distribution.

Dolby Atmos is an immersive audio technology that transforms entertainment with moving audio that flows above and around the listener. It brings people inside the action as the sounds of people, places, things, and music come alive with breathtaking realism. Dolby Atmos is now widely available across film and TV streaming, gaming, live sports broadcast, and music streaming platforms. Having Dolby Atmos support in Vantage gives content creators and distributors the ability to automate the creation, processing, and delivery of media assets that are available in this powerful audio technology.

— Doug Hansel

He’s been at Comscore for four years, and in that time saw a lot of changes in the C-Suite.

Now, he’s opting to “pursue new interests” in five weeks’ time.

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On July 14, RBR+TVBR reported on the sale of WROZ-FM “Fun 101.3” by Hall Communications.

It turns out Hall wasn’t done with divestments in central Pennsylvania.

Hall on Friday submitted to the FCC an asset sale agreement that confirms it is exiting the Harrisburg, Lancaster, and York, Pa., region.

The seller’s broker: Kalil & Co.

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Saga Communications is adding to its stable by making a deal that will give it a Class D 10kw daytimer and its FM translator.

The facilities serve an area north of Springfield, Mass., where the radio industry pure-play already enjoys a formidable presence.

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One month ago, a major PR splash was initiated in support of H.R. 4130, legislation introduced by a South Florida Democratic House member that would “provide fair treatment of radio stations and artists for the use of sound recordings, and for other purposes.”

To date, the bill dubbed the “American Music Fairness Act” has the support of six co-sponsors. They all gave their yea nod to the bill on the day it was introduced.

No other House members have joined them. Instead, a resolution in both chambers of Congress has only been fortified.

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Three Democratic Senators on Thursday (7/22) teamed together to introduce legislation that, if passed, would help financially support local news organizations through tax credits to incentivize hiring more journalists, subscriptions, and advertising from local small businesses.

The NAB’s soon-to-retire President/CEO, once a Republican U.S. Senator, applauded the arrival of companion legislation to a bipartisan House bill that first surfaced on June 16.

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Last week, it was announced that the FCC would be considering some changes to its political broadcasting rules at its monthly open meeting in August. This had some voicing concerns over major changes ahead of mid-term elections.

But, as respected D.C. communications law attorney David Oxenford notes, the proposed changes are “almost ministerial.”

The Wilkinson Barker Knauer legal eagle took a look at the proposed changes, and he concludes, “it turned out that the changes were instead very minor.”

How so? “The proposed rule changes revise the Commission’s rules on two matters that are already part of the practices of stations and the lawyers who advise them on political broadcasting matters.”

Two changes are being proposed.

The first, as RBR+TVBR previously reported, pertains to a write-in candidate showing they are legally qualified and therefore able to take advantage of the FCC’s political broadcasting regulations. This includes ad rates for political candidates deemed qualified.

The second is, in Oxenford’s words, “just a rule change to conform FCC rules to statutory requirements that broadcasters include, in their online public files, information about the sale of advertising time to non-candidate buyers who convey a message on a matter of national importance, i.e., a federal issue ad.”

Thus, there are no significant changes ahead of the 2022 Congressional elections to worry about.

The rule changes are up for consideration at the Commission’s August 5 monthly Open Meeting. If the Commissioners agree, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on adoption of the rules will move ahead. That’s expected to occur.

With the Q4 and 2020 financial results for iHeartMedia released following the Closing Bell on February 25, the nation’s largest audio media content creator and distributor revealed that it was implementing a new operational structure.

This saw its financials reported in two separate segments – digital audio and multiplatform, which includes all radio stations. It also saw a veteran iHeart radio programming talent shift away from the company’s broadcast side and take on a COO role for the unit comprised of iHeart’s podcasting and digital properties.

At year’s end, a new COO will be needed for The iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group — Darren Davis is stepping down, concluding nearly 30 years at iHeart and its predecessors.

In an internal note shared with iHeartMedia staff and provided to the trade publication it owns, Inside Radio, before other radio industry news organizations, the company noted that Davis, “a longtime and valued member of iHeart senior management,” has decided to step down from his role, effective Jan. 1, 2022.

“Anyone who knows Darren knows he has a deep love for iHeart and a true passion for our business and our success,” iHeartMedia says.

Davis will be continuing with iHeart as an outside advisor following his formal departure as a full-time employee in January.

Officially, Davis, according to iHeart, “is looking forward to spending more time on a variety of other projects he’s passionate about.” They include real estate development, local community projects, and traveling with his family.

“Although his day-to-day operating expertise will be missed, we appreciate all he’s done for our company and are very pleased that he will continue his association with us, albeit on a more limited basis.”

Davis was named COO concurrent to the naming of Conal Byrne as CEO of The iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group. In addition to the podcasting and digital properties, the group includes digital advertising technology companies Jelli, RadioJar, Unified, Voxnest, and Triton Digital, recently acquired from The E.W. Scripps Co.

Carter Brokaw serves as the President of Digital Revenue for the division; Jessica Jerrick holds the role of EVP/Digital Distribution and Platform Partnerships.

The iHeartMedia Multiplatform Group, which includes the company’s AMs and FMs, is led by CEO Greg Ashlock, Chief Revenue Officer Tim Castelli and Hartley Adkins, President of the Markets Group.

FROM ‘WASH’ TO SHINE

Davis first broke into the radio industry in Washington, D.C., some 29 years ago, at Adult Contemporary WASH-FM 97.1 under then-owner Outlet Communications. It was a volatile time for Radio in the Nation’s Capital. Emmis had sold Top 40 WAVA-FM to Salem, leaving a format void. Alternative WHFS-FM and Hot AC WRQX-FM “Mix 107.3,” both defunct, were leaders. For WASH, thanks in part to Davis’s early efforts as a programming intern, longevity and listener loyalty would provide dividends that make the station a survivor, still attracting large audiences today.

Davis rose to PD at age 23, staying at WASH through its acquisition by AMFM Inc. in 1997 and, in 1999, its transfer of control to iHeart predecessor Clear Channel.  He later served as a Regional VP/Programming for iHeartMedia Detroit and Chicago; and as SVP/Programming and EVP/GM of National Programming.

In July 2014, Davis was appointed President of iHeartRadio, then a part of Clear Channel Networks Group. Among his accomplishments in that role: building and managing the Premium Choice national network for iHeartRadio and developing iHeartMedia’s strategic national programming capabilities.

Three years later, iHeart announced that Davis would sign a four-year contract extension. That agreement saw Davis continue to oversee the iHeartRadio Network, Premiere Networks, Total Traffic + Weather Network, and the NBC News Radio Network, as well as iHeartMedia’s in-house audio and visual creative agency.

The extension came following the January 2017 launch, which Davis led, of the subscription-based on demand ‘iHeartRadio Plus’ and ‘iHeartRadio All Access’ services powered by Napster.

As such, Davis’ contract is expiring. Rather than ink a new deal, he’s moving on while assisting in various ways as an outside consultant with deep inside knowledge of the nation’s biggest audio media company.