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Terry Baun, a Hall of Fame inductee with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, died Saturday, January 1. He was 74 years of age.

Baun’s broadcast career started in 1967 at Milwaukee’s Classical station, WFMR-FM. After a decade there, he began a series of moves into corporate engineering while also forming his own consulting firm, Criterion Broadcast Services, in Milwaukee.

Across the years, he worked for Sudbrink Broadcasting, Multimedia Broadcasting, and Cumulus Broadcasting. He completed his broadcasting career working for the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board where he oversaw the engineering and operations of the delivery system for Wisconsin Public Radio and Television throughout the state of Wisconsin, retiring in 2017 after 10 years.

Baun’s activity in the Society of Broadcast Engineers is most notable. He began in 1976 when he first joined the Society and became involved in Chapter 28 of Milwaukee, serving in several leadership capacities. Later in his career, while living in Indiana, he served as Certification Committee Chair for Chapter 25 in Indianapolis.

Baun’s contributions to the SBE at the national level were numerous and significant. He was first elected to the national SBE Board of Directors in 1987, serving a two-year term and was elected to a three-year term in 1991. That term was interrupted after two years as he was elected national vice president in the fall of 1993. Baun served in that position for two years before being elected to two consecutive terms as national president, beginning in 1995.

During his terms as national president, the Society instituted the Leadership Development Course. Baun worked to develop stronger ties and awareness of the SBE by the state broadcaster associations nationwide. He initiated a significant upgrade of the Society’s national office data management capability. The Society successfully transitioned from the multi-association World Media Expo, which ended in 1996, to the SBE National Meeting concept that’s still in use today. The SBE self-published the EAS Primer, written by fellow Wisconsinite Leonard Charles, during his term and the Society held its first strategic planning meeting during Baun’s presidency. During his two years as president, SBE membership grew as did the SBE’s financial strength.

His dedication to the development of continuing education for broadcast engineers has been evident in his tenure as chair of the SBE National Certification Committee (from 1998 to 2001) and later as the developer and instructor of a computer networking technologist course which facilitated many broadcast engineers to bridge the gap between traditional broadcast engineering and information technology skill sets, as well as becoming SBE Certified Broadcast Networking Technologists. Much of Baun’s professional life has been spent working for and on behalf of the Society and mentoring the broadcast engineer on the lecture circuit and through promotion of the SBE Certification program.

Baun was a member of the SBE national Certification Committee for 21 years, from 1998 to 2019, serving as the committee chair for three of those years.

Baun was instrumental in the creation and subsequent tutorial of the SBE Certified Broadcast Networking Technologist (CBNT) certification. His dedication to this program resulted in one of the highest participation rates of any SBE certification level. Baun was also instrumental in the development of the SBE AM Directional Specialist (AMD) certification, providing many of the essay questions.

He also contributed much to his home state via the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association. He was one of the original members of the WBA Summer Engineering Conference Steering Committee. Baun founded the WBA Media Technology Institute in 2011.

He played a key role in developing the self-inspection program within the broadcast industry and is considered a leader in this field. Baun was one of the architects of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association’s Alternative Broadcast Station Inspection Program, serving as the WBA’s chief inspector for more than ten years, beginning with the program’s inauguration in 1995. In addition to Wisconsin, he conducted alternative station inspections for broadcast associations in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. As an inspector himself, Baun took on the primary role of mentor with stations to help them with their compliance issues rather than the role of an enforcer. His desire was to have stations comply with the rules rather than looking for reasons to cite them for noncompliance.

In 2000, Baun initiated the 24-hour hotline for engineers in the state of Wisconsin through the WBA, which he manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Based on his program model, other state broadcast associations have adopted the 24-hour engineering hotline. For all of his efforts in Wisconsin, Baun was inducted into the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation Hall of Fame in 2004.

In his position with the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, Baun played a key role in guiding the transition of Wisconsin Public Television to full digital broadcasting. In addition to his duties associated with ECB and Wisconsin Public Television, he spent a good deal of time working with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association in a variety of activities that not only benefited the ECB and WPT, but the entire television community. The WPT transition included the early cutover to digital for WPT’s six translators and included coordinating a triage plan with WPT programming staff for the five full-power transmitters in advance of the original Feb. 17, 2009 shut-off date.

Baun implemented the planning process with ECB staff for the next generation of the Broadcast Interconnect which delivers Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television, EAS and Amber Alert programming throughout the state.

He served as a role model and has worked diligently on the partnership model between the ECB and the University of Wisconsin public radio and television issues.

Baun implemented a “paperless” reporting system for engineering updates from field staff. It’s a system that allows ECB engineering staff from throughout the state to have a snapshot of projects and issues at each site. Projects that Baun oversaw included the WHHI tower, the WHAA-FM – Coloma radio project the University of Wisconsin System built in 2011, and the Chilton gap filler tower, a joint project with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Baun also watched over the HD radio installations at ECB’s FM stations.

Besides his long membership with the SBE, Baun was a member of the Audio Engineering Society, the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers, and the IEEE. He also served on the Milwaukee Area Technical College Broadcast Communications Engineer Advisory Committee, which revamped the curriculum and brought the lab and studio equipment up to current broadcast standards.

“His dedication to broadcasting in general and broadcast engineering, the SBE, the WBA and his employers, are clearly evident,” the WBA said. “What differentiates Baun from other exceptional engineers is his ability to share his engineering expertise with industry peers as a great communicator teacher.”

In a WBA video tribute to Baun earning his 2004 induction into the Wisconsin Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Baun shared his thoughts on broadcast engineering and his career. He said, “Engineers are a critical part of the broadcasting enterprise. They’re technologists who bring broadcasting to life. I’ve always thought of myself as a broadcaster. Period. And within the scope of broadcasting, I feel that my contributions have been primarily in the technical side, the engineering side.”

To honor Baun, WBA is abiding by his wishes for a big party. A celebration of life with food, friends, drink, and music is scheduled for January 16 at the Madison Marriott West, commencing at 5pm Central.

One is a global video entertainment giant, with reach unlike any other visual distribution platform that’s perhaps ever existed. The other is the owner of broadcast TV stations including the NBC affiliate in Phoenix and the CBS affiliates in Tampa and Washington, DC.

Which one should investors consider? Zacks Equity Research has an answer.

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Curtis LeGuyt (Photo by Jay Mallin)

Curtis LeGeyt is now president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Broadcasters, succeeding Gordon Smith.

The transition had been announced last year. Smith moves into an advisory and advocacy role.

One of the first changes under LeGeyt is the creation of an NAB chief of staff. Michelle Lehman will hold that job while retaining her role as EVP of the Public Affairs department. Lesley Peña is promoted to deputy chief of staff; she was LeGeyt’s executive assistant when he was COO.

Michelle Lehman

“Lehman will serve as an advisor to LeGeyt and assist him in implementing his vision for the organization, guiding cross-departmental initiatives and focusing on NAB’s strategic priorities,” the organization stated. “Peña will serve as an advisor to LeGeyt and Lehman and will work with NAB departments to ensure the association’s operational priorities are met.”

[Read Radio World’s 2021 interview of NAB’s incoming leader.]

Leslie Peña

The association said its senior leadership team under LeGeyt will consist of Chris Brown, executive vice president and managing director, Global Connections and Events; April Carty-Sipp, executive vice president, Industry Affairs; Shawn Donilon, executive vice president, Government Relations; Michelle Duke, chief diversity officer and president, NAB Leadership Foundation; Téa Gennaro, chief financial officer and executive vice president, Finance and Administration; Rick Kaplan, chief legal officer and executive vice president, Legal and Regulatory Affairs; Sue Keenom, senior vice president, State, International and Board Relations; Michelle Lehman, executive vice president, Public Affairs; and Sam Matheny, chief technology officer and executive vice president, Technology.

Karen Wright will continue serving as executive assistant to the president and CEO.

NAB Joint Board of Directors Chairman David Santrella, CEO of Salem Media Group, thanked Smith “for his many years of service as an influential advocate for our industry.” He welcomed LeGeyt as “a proven leader and skilled fighter on behalf of broadcasters.”

The post LeGeyt Takes Charge, Names Leadership Team appeared first on Radio World.

He’s been in radio industry sales and sales management, both nationally and locally, for more than 25 years.

“To take this accrued experience and apply it in today’s highly competitive ad market is personally rewarding,” says the newly appointed VP and Director of Sales at Houston-based research firm The Media Audit.

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The President/CEO of the largest advocacy voice in Washington for the broadcast media industry is no longer the former U.S. Senator from Oregon. As of today, Curtis LeGeyt (pronounced “legit”) is now the head of the NAB.

And, with LeGeyt in charge, the association now has its first Chief of Staff. It’s the NAB’s EVP of Public Affairs, who is adding additional responsibilities.

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The Alabama Broadcasters Association won’t hold their annual conference this month after all.

The event was planned for Jan. 21–22. The association is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

“With the Covid Omicron variant spreading like wildfire across our state and already having an impact on many of your stations, we believe it is in everyone’s best interest that we not gather in large numbers just yet,” wrote ABA President Sharon Tinsley in an email.

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“We will begin contacting our speakers immediately to arrange to provide the content we had planned in a virtual setting over the next six weeks. Please watch for upcoming announcements about a schedule of news, engineering, sales and management topics to be offered via webinar or Zoom.”

People who paid for registration will receive a refund and will not be charged for any hotel nights. ABA will present its awards virtually this month.

Sam Matheny, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at the National Association of Broadcasters, was to have been the keynoter of the Friday engineering sessions.

Submit news about your event to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Ala. Broadcasters Cancel Annual Conference appeared first on Radio World.

On Saturday, the organizers of CES 2022, in a nod to the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, decided that closing the event in Las Vegas one day early would be a prudent plan of action — even as more than 200 of the world’s biggest electronics brands pulled out of live in-person events at the conference.

In contrast, a state broadcasters’ association is taking no chances in ensuring the safety and health of their members by canceling its annual affair, scheduled for later this month.

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Josh (left) and Tom King are shown at a transmitter site in South Korea.

The third generation is ready to play a larger role at family-run Kintronic Labs.

The firm started to take shape in 1949 when Louis King left the Radio Corporation of America to pursue his own business in RF, and took its current name in 1962.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

Joshua King began work with Kintronics in 2018 as a project engineer and was named a vice president in 2019. Earlier he was a project engineer for systems integrator Affinity Energy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Clemson University.

According to a bio on the company website, “Joshua is excited to be involved in RF (‘really fun’) engineering and looks forward to finding Kintronic Lab’s niche in future technologies like 5G and IoT, while building on the traditions of quality work and great customer service.”

Tom King has led the company since 1983 and is considered one of the industry’s leading experts on AM radio transmission technology. He received the Radio Engineering Achievement Award from the National Association of Broadcasters in 2015 (read our profile). Louis A. King received the same award in 2007 (read our profile).

Send your people news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Joshua King Named President/CEO of Kintronic Labs appeared first on Radio World.

With the shift of TV audiences to advertising-free video platforms, local advertisers are turning to audio — not simply radio — to build their brands and drive sales.

How can a CMO and brand manager help build a successful local audio plan? Pierre Bouvard, the Chief Insights Officer at Cumulus Media and its Westwood One arm, offers up five strategies he believes will yield success.

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In 2017, she became the News Director for Gray Television’s NBC affiliate serving the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. Now, a promotion has been given to Stephanie Hedrick.

She’s now the GM of a Gray-owned NBC affiliate not too far to the north.

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As 2021 came to a close, KRRiT, the Polish broadcasting regulator, announced plans to tender licenses for a nationwide DAB+ multiplex. The multiplex would support a dozen channels.

According to the KRRiT’s announcement, three of the channels will be reserved for public service broadcaster Polskie Radio’s national channels; three will be for nationwide extension of existing program services; and the remaining six will be for new or extended “broadcasting licenses of a universal or specialized nature.” The announcement was made in Polish on Dec. 29.

[Read More of Our Coverage of Radio Around the World]

According to wirtualnemedia.pl, the licenses for three existing services are expected to go to private broadcasters RMF FM and Radio Zet, as well as to the religious station Radio Maryja. All three stations currently are heard nationwide on FM. The six other slots could go to other regional or local broadcasters, or to new players in the industry.

Polskie Radio currently operates DAB+ multiplexes reaching about 67 percent of the nation’s population, although it aims to expand this to 80 percent of the population in early 2022. The three slots on the new national multiplex could expand the reach of existing Polskie Radio programs or could be used for new services, according to wirtualnemedia.pl.

The post Poland Opens Tender for National DAB+ Programs appeared first on Radio World.

It’s the No. 5 MVPD by size in the U.S. It also sells advertising and production services under the OnMedia brand.

Now, this cable television service provider has a freshly inked carriage agreement in place with the owner of the NBC affiliate serving an area of Kentucky recently battered by fierce twisters.

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From 1989 through 2012, he was widely known for his sales roles and leadership of the AM and FM radio stations once owned by ABC Radio serving the New York Tri-State Area. He’d later join WOR-AM in New York as Station Manager before taking a post with Times-Shamrock Communications in the Poconos.

Now, there’s a Shamrock back in Steve Borneman‘s professional life.

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Thirteen days ago, RBR+TVBR was first to share the news that Gray Television had agreed to purchase a low-power TV construction permit and five fully built LPTVs from the licensee led by Jeff Winemiller.

It is now known that this transaction was just a taste of bigger trading to come between the Gray and Winemiller’s Lowcountry 34 Media.

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“This update offers a free, updated version of Infinity’s Dashboard software, enhanced compatibility options, and includes firmware for Infinity panels, desktop stations and beltpacks,” the company announced.

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

VP of Business Development and Infinity Product Director Martin Dyster was quoted: “Infinity has always been plug-and-play due to the design principles inherited from its Livewire+ AES67 heritage, but these v2.0 integration enhancements open up new possibilities for users and make it easier to control Infinity using the broadcaster’s preferred method.”

The update makes Infinity Dashboard Software free for all Infinity users, eliminating a licensing scheme and giving users access to Dashboard’s full feature set.

It also makes Infinity hardware systems compatible wi5th the new Telos Infinity VIP Virtual Intercom Platform. “By adding seamless integration of Infinity VIP with the hardware-based Infinity IP Intercom system, users have a wide range of deployment options for diverse applications; whether on-prem, site-to-site, in the cloud or as a hybrid of these.”

Telos said Axia users also will find the update useful because it contains enhanced integration with the new Axia Quasar AoIP Mixing Consoles. And integration with Elgato Stream Deck is included, making it easier to control the intercom system with that third-party device.

The free download is available via the Infinity portal.

Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Telos Releases V2.0 Software for Infinity appeared first on Radio World.