From the current incarnation of “93KHJ” in American Samoa to his properties in the Deep South, Larry Fuss has gained national attention as one of the last radio owner/entrepreneurs.
Now, Fuss is in the news for what amounts to a reversal of his 2011 sale of a 1,000-watt AM and its FM translator serving a small city in Mississippi.
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RBR+TVBR first learned August 19 that NEXTGEN TV was coming to Atlanta.
It is now known that that’s not the only new market now offering local viewers broadcast TV channels powered by the ATSC 3.0 digital broadcast standard.
Kansas City television stations KMBC-9 (ABC), KCTV-5 (CBS), KSHB-41 (NBC), WDAF-4 (FOX), KCPT (PBS), KCWE-29 (CW), KSMO-TV (MyNet) and KMCI-38 (“The Spot”) are all now available to Kansas City area viewers in the NEXTGEN TV format.
The E.W. Scripps Co. owns KMCI and KSHB, while Hearst is the owner of KCWE & KMBC; Nexstar owns WDAF; and Meredith Local Media is the owner of KSMO, pending the closing of the group’s sale to Gray Television.
Tuesday’s launch in Kansas City specifically involves KMCI-38 and KSMO-62, owned by the Meredith Corporation. These facilities, UHF digital channels 25 and 32, respectively, have converted to ATSC 3.0 transmissions.
This means that there are two ATSC 3.0 “lighthouse” stations in the market.
BitPath, which is developing new data broadcasting services, led the planning process and coordinated efforts across the eight television stations.
— Adam R Jacobson, in Los Angeles
RBR+TVBR has learned that Comscore and the Media Rating Council are currently working to commence an audit of Comscore’s national and local TV measurement.
To confirm, the MRC has not officially started an audit. But, it has a statement on what’s to come.
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It’s not easy to get the FCC’s Media Bureau to cancel a forfeiture. But a broadcaster in Alabama has done so after pointing out a problem with the commission’s own online database system.
The commission had issued a notice of apparent liability to Autaugaville Radio, which owns AM station WXKD in Brantley, Ala., and an FM translator in Troy. The FCC said the broadcaster had failed to file for license renewal by April 1 as required, so it was apparently on the hook for a $4,500 penalty.
The station wrote back saying its attorney had thought the deadline was in June and that it did file on June 18. That explanation alone would be unlikely to impress the commission; but the station also told the FCC that until June 16, the FCC’s own LMS filing database did not reflect the actual expiration dates of the licenses.
“Instead, LMS listed the stations’ licenses as expiring on April 1, 2028,” according to a commission summary. “The licensee states that, until this error was brought to the attention of the bureau staff by licensee’s counsel, and corrected on June 16, 2021, LMS would not accept applications to renew the stations’ licenses.”
The bureau staff found that this was, in fact the case.
“While the licensee could have discovered this issue sooner if it had correctly calculated the deadline for filing applications to renew the stations’ licenses, the licensee brought the error to our attention upon its discovery, and filed the applications to renew the stations’ licenses two days after the error was corrected,” the commission wrote.
So the FCC has canceled the NAL and admonished the broadcaster for violating the rules.
The post Station Avoids Fine Thanks to FCC Database Error appeared first on Radio World.
Erica Farber and Bill Siemering, prominent figures in U.S. commercial radio and public radio, respectively, are among eight new members of the Radio Hall of Fame.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications also named its first 33 “Legends” inductees, one for each year of the hall’s existence.
Farber is president/CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau and the former publisher/CEO of Radio & Records. Siemering played a critical role in the founding of National Public Radio.
Bill SiemeringThe other inductees are air talent. They are Brother Wease, Elliot Segal, Dan Patrick, Kim Komando, Javier Romero and “Preston & Steve,” aka Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison.
All will be honored at a ceremony in Chicago in October. The Radio Hall of Fame was founded by the Emerson Radio Corp. in 1988. The museum has run it since 1991.
The Radio Hall of Fame also decided to recognize of past innovators who have since died.
“While the industry celebrates 100 years of existence, the industry’s Hall of Fame is only 33 years into existence. The centennial milestone provides an opportunity to recognize the talents and efforts of 33 individuals in 2021, as well,” it stated.
The Legacy inductees are:
Museum Chairman David Plier said, “The combined list is the most diverse group of nominees in the hall of fame’s history, which is reflective of the audiences that are and have been listening to radio stations across America all these years.”
The post Radio Hall of Fame Announces 2021 Inductees appeared first on Radio World.
A Class A FM serving the city of Macomb, Ill., has a new owner.
The transaction is hardly a surprise, however, as the seller has been allowing the buyer to operate the facility, resulting in a change in the non-secular worship and praise programming heard on the station.
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Real-time engagement — digital experiences that are interactive, collaborative and shared through technology such as live video, live audio and extended reality (AR and VR) — is of increasing desire among U.S. consumers. People increasingly want RTE video or audio features in the apps they use. For example, buyers in a shopping app want to talk to sellers.
Can broadcast radio or TV benefit from this growing desire for “RTE,” something wholly different than Ireland’s government-funded radio and TV organization? An Agora survey may have some very interesting takeaways.
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The FCC Media Bureau has found an FM translator permittee liable for $3,500 for apparently willfully violating FCC Rules regarding filing a renewal license.
The bureau issued a construction permit for FM translator station W285FR in Palatka, Fla., to Natkim Radio in 2018 with an expiration date of Jan. 17, 2021. However, Natkim did not file a covering license application by that date and the permit expired. Nearly two months later Natkim filed a petition for reconsideration demonstrating that the translator was built and that they wanted to proceed with licensing. The bureau treated the petition as a waiver request, granted it, reinstated the permit and gave the permittee until Aug. 13, to file a covering license application. Just before the deadline, on Aug. 12, Natkim filed the application.
[Read: For Willfully Operating Without a License, Permittee Handed $3,500 Forfeiture]
But the permittee failed to file a covering license as required by FCC Rules and continued transmitting for nearly a month after the permit expired.
As a result, the Media Bureau issued a Notice of Apparent Liability. The commission’s Forfeiture Policy Statement establishes a base forfeiture amount of $3,000 for failing to file a required form and a base forfeiture of $10,000 for construction or operation without a permit. Based on its review of the facts and circumstances, the bureau found that a $7,000 base forfeiture is appropriate because the licensee failed to file a covering license application for the translator and engaged in unauthorized operation after the permit expired.
Taking into consideration all of the factors required by the Communications Act, the bureau decided to reduce the forfeiture further to $3,500 because the station is a translator and as such the station provides a secondary service.
As a result, Natkim Radio has 30 days to pay the full amount or file a written statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the proposed forfeiture.
The post Missed License Renewal Earns FM Translator a $3,500 Forfeiture appeared first on Radio World.
MIAMI — Streamline Publishing’s annual event devoted to Hispanic audio opportunities for marketers, programmers and broadcast media ownership groups is moving forward with a hybrid format amid continued concerns over the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus.
The parent company of Radio Ink and the Radio + Television Business Report announced Tuesday (8/24) that the Hispanic Radio Conference will be presented this year in a manner that will allow those unable or not inclined to travel at this time to attend the event from the comfort of their home and/or office.
Commenting on the decision, RBR+TVBR Publisher Deborah Parenti said, “With so much on the table, we have decided to add a virtual component to this year’s event. All speakers and panelists are set to present from our stage at the InterContinental at Doral in front of a live audience, but with the addition of a virtual option that will allow those who may have reservations or restrictions on travel the opportunity to be part of the conference and participate in the conversation.”
Parenti continued, “This is an extremely important year for Hispanic radio and the conference agenda is set to tackle many of the issues facing it and the radio industry in general. Considering all of the pressing matters of the past year – from the pandemic and the subsequent economic issues that followed, to changes on Capital Hill, at the FCC, and pending legislation impacting broadcasters, the 12th Hispanic Radio Conference could not come at a more crucial time.”
FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington will address attendees in a keynote address on the second day of the two-day conference. Other Washington notables confirmed as attendees is former House Member Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
In person and virtual registrations can be made here. If you are attending the conference live, be sure to register at the special hotel rate here.
LOS ANGELES — Buyers and sellers of linear television ad inventory now have a fully transparent solution enabling them to automate and expedite the activation of data-driven linear video inventory without changing existing workflows or technologies.
Be sure to follow RBR+TVBR on Twitter!
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