Industry News

Across the Southeast’s biggest emerging Hispanic markets, perhaps no company has invested more in reaching this Spanish-language audio content consumer of late than Norsan Media.

Now, it is grabbing what will become its third radio brand in the largest city in the U.S. by square miles.

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Say goodbye to the Westwood One Podcast Network.

Starting May 6, it will have a new name — one that reflects WWO’s parent company.

Introducing the Cumulus Podcast Network.

According to the company led by Mary Berner, the move consolidates Cumulus’ national and local podcasts into one entity, “capturing the full breadth and diversity of the portfolio and providing advertisers with a comprehensive offering of podcasts, in addition to streaming, mobile, social and display.”

There will be no change in duties for Cumulus EVP/Corporate Marketing and Westwood One President Suzanne Grimes, who will continue to manage the company’s podcast sales network. 

“Placing our podcasts under the Cumulus umbrella allows us to offer our advertising partners easy access to the company’s full arsenal of digital products,” Grimes said. “This exciting expansion takes our fast-growing podcast network to the next level, as well as simplifies the buying process for agencies and brands, allowing our partners to seamlessly tap into the full power of our premium on-demand audio content.”

Nielsen Audio reports “significant gains in radio listening” across the aggregate of its PPM rated markets in the United States.

While still not quite reaching the highest numbers of the pandemic period, which came last fall, both AQH and weekly reach were up in March compared to a month earlier.

Nielsen said its March PPM survey showed an 8% increase month-over-month in total average quarter-hour audience. “This marks the largest single-month increase in average audience since June of last year,” the company stated.

“These gains were driven by increases in both weekly reach (adding nearly 4 million consumers in March, a 3% increase versus February) as well as time spent listening (gaining by over 20 minutes on average, a 5% increase compared with last month).

It released these two charts.

The company said that in terms of weekly reach, the radio audience in March 2021 is 96% of what it was a year ago as the pandemic was taking hold in the United States, and the AQH number is 93%.

“This uptick in radio usage mirrors the positive changes in consumer sentiment and habits observed during Nielsen’s latest radio consumer study conducted during the March survey,” it said.

Nielsen cited other encouraging data for radio. It said six in 10 Americans feel life is becoming more normal in their communities, and that the number of people working outside the home have increased about 70% since a year ago. The number of consumers spending more than an hour daily in their cars more than doubled in that time.

[Related: “In 2020, Radio Hit a Proverbial Iceberg”]

The post Nielsen Reports “Big Gains” for Radio Listening appeared first on Radio World.

Hearst Television has promoted its Director of Human Resources to VP of the department.

It’s an individual celebrating five years with the company.

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iHeart announced a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

It said the mentoring organization was selected as part of its grant program to advance social justice, which would be highlighted on its 850 radio stations.

“The goal of the program is to provide a platform for organizations to inspire, educate and empower listeners to take a stand against systemic racism and promote social justice,” the media company announced.

[Read: NFL, iHeartMedia Launch NFL’s Podcast Network]

A series of PSAs features voices of young people airing on the company’s stations and the iHeartRadio app. “The spots are focused on the need for Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors, and most especially Black men,” it stated.

The announcement was made by Tony Coles, president of iHeartMedia’s Black Information Network (BIN) and division president of Metro Markets at iHeartMedia, along with Artis Stevens, president/CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Stevens also has joined the BIN Advisory Board.

iHeartMedia will participate in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America 2021 Virtual National Conference that takes place in late June.

The post iHeart Partners With Big Brothers Big Sisters appeared first on Radio World.

America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) and PBS on Tuesday shared their thoughts with the FCC in response to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on changes to the Emergency Alert System.

BE SURE TO FOLLOW RBR+TVBR ON FACEBOOK!

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IBC 2021 is set to go ahead as planned in September, with organizers saying they are focused on delivering “a fantastic event” at the RAI in Amsterdam.

However, the fall back dates for December are still in place, and an announcement on that is expected to be made in June. Organizers are asking the industry to keep their options open for both possible sets of dates.

The current dates for the show are Sept. 10–13 with the fall-back option of Dec.3–6.

IBC CEO Michael Crimp said organizers realize this year’s show might be the first large scale event many people have attended in a long time, and the team is putting lots of planning into that. They are working closely with the city of Amsterdam and the RAI, monitoring changes as they evolve.

“The industry is telling us that people are keen to come together again after being apart for a long time. In the coming months, a number of factors will help us decide when the event can happen and in what format. From macro trends such as vaccine roll out and testing, to the willingness of our attendees to travel, we will take all things into consideration as we make those important decisions,” he added.

IBC said it is budgeting for exhibition space to be about 30% less than in 2019, with the two pavilions not being used in 2021.

This year’s event will have more of a festival feel, said Crimp, with a perimeter to the site that will enable them to move around more freely. Attendees will have their temperatures checked before entering the perimeter, and will need to declare that they have recently passed a COVID test.

There will be no onsite registration for people who have not preregistered.

Inside, the halls will have extra wide aisles and one-way for ease of access. IBC intends to use cameras to monitor capacity in each hall. Each exhibitor will be told of their stand capacity, with attendees being scanned-in and out to monitor numbers.

Steve Connolly, head of sales at IBC, said support from the industry continues to be strong, with 30,000-sq. foot of booth space booked so far.

IBC will also run a digital platform for exhibitors alongside the physical event to enable them to promote products and book digital meetings.

The post IBC Set to Go Ahead as Planned in September appeared first on Radio World.

One of the nation’s two direct broadcast satellite (DBS) TV services provider just took a further step toward becoming a much broader operator — a better competitor to the traditional MVPD.

And, it is thanks in part to the selection of an Amazon.com company to help get the job done.

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Until this morning, it was largely understood that a 16-year Nielsen veteran who had been a highly visible member of the company’s global audience measurement team would be transitioning to Roku.

It was a conclusion made by connecting the dots: Roku some seven weeks ago agreed to purchase Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising business, and that deal closed April 16.

However, it turns out this Nielsen pro isn’t going to Roku. Instead, she’s going to a Comcast arm.

Kelly Abcarian has just accepted the role of EVP/Measurement & Impact within NBCUniversal‘s Advertising and Partnerships division.

NBCU made the revelation early Wednesday (4/21), calling Abcarian an “industry-renowned advanced advertising leader.” In her new role, Abcarian will “spearhead the company’s rapidly accelerating cross-platform and full-funnel measurement capabilities, leading innovation from impressions to impact at a local, national and global level across NBCUniversal’s One Platform.”

Abcarian reports into Krishan Bhatia, NBCUniversal Advertising & Partnerships’ President & Chief Business Officer, and will collaborate closely with the division’s Sales, Planning, Strategy, Partnerships and Ad Platforms & Operations functions “to build on the company’s position as a leading media and technology company to set a new standard for the future of all-screen measurement, advanced advertising solutions, and data-driven insights.”

“Kelly’s addition to our team represents a step change for our company and the industry, when it comes to the future of cross-platform measurement and data innovation,” Bhatia said. “Consumers have established an all-screen future and we’re doubling down on our position to usher in the next era of measurement. Kelly has decades-long measurement and advanced advertising experience, along with deep connections within the media industry and a partnership track record across CTV/OTT platforms.”

Bhatia adds that Abcarian will play an important role in the growth and development of NBCUniversal’s data strategy, including efforts such as NBCU ID and the Audience Insights Hub, which NBCU believes “will drive greater transparency, interoperability and results for brands while maintaining privacy as a core tenant.”

“She will also be an essential voice in the marketplace, working to partner with many of the leading trade organizations, measurement and technology companies on solutions and industry-wide initiatives,” NBCU notes.

“If you look across the industry, the signals are clear: we must collectively decide to embrace the future that our audiences have created,” Abcarian commented. “NBCUniversal is on the cutting-edge of next-generation measurement and targeting. And I’m thrilled to join the expert team behind One Platform and work to provide marketers the resources and techniques they need to fully understand the impact of their investments.”

Abcarian most recently served as GM of Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising Group, where she led the company’s addressable initiatives including the strategic acquisitions of several key players within the space. Prior to that, Abcarian led Nielsen’s global audience measurement product portfolio where she was responsible for the creation of Nielsen’s Total Audience Product suite, along with the development of Digital Ad Ratings for CTV.

Before joining Nielsen in May 2005, Abcarian held leadership positions at Oracle, Siebel Systems and Arthur Andersen.

MPR News named Sarah Glover as its newsroom’s managing editor.

She is former manager of social media strategy at NBC Owned Television Stations. She has experience as a photographer for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, and was the first two-term president of the National Association of Black Journalists.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

“During her tenure, she created the NABJ Black Male Media Project, which examines the portrayal of Black men in the media,” MPR stated in its announcement. “She also played a crucial role in the Associated Press Stylebook’s move to capitalize the ‘B’ in Black to describe people and communities.”

She will lead 40 reporters, photojournalists and editors and be responsible for editorial decisions and planning on MPR News platforms.

“As communities across America strive for equity, so does the news industry,” she was quoted in the announcement. “My goal is to build upon the diversity work at MPR and develop an anti-racist and inclusive newsroom that’s a model for the nation. Storytelling is truth-telling, and the role of journalism is vital.”

Mike Mulcahy has been acting as interim managing editor since Laura McCallum took another post.

Minnesota Public Radio is a subsidiary of American Public Media Group.

Send your people news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Glover Named to Editorial Post at MPR appeared first on Radio World.