Industry News

Orban Labs announced a change in how its PCn1600 audio processing software is sold.

“For several years, Modulation Index and StreamS had an exclusive license to sell PCn1600 processing; that exclusivity ended this week,” the company stated.

President David Day said in the announcement, “All Orban dealers worldwide can now add our PCn1600 to their Orban product portfolio. … It is our understanding that Modulation Index and StreamS will continue to support their existing PCn1600 users.”

[Read: KNMJ Simply Streams With StreamS]

Orban said the PCn1600 brought the company’s audio processing technology to audio streaming operating natively on Windows PC platforms and that Orban has used variants in its XPN-AM processor and in the Linux-based Ross RSAP.

Modulation Index is headed by Greg Ogonowski; StreamS is its line of streaming encoders and other audio products. It confirmed that “due to a failure to reach a mutually satisfying agreement with Orban Labs,” it will no longer sell the Orban Optimod 1600 PCn on an exclusive basis.

“The Orban Optimod 1600 PCn has been a big part of our product offerings and we will continue to work with clients who purchase the Optimod 1600 from us and are under a support contract,” Modulation Index said in a statement. “We will also expand our support for other audio processors that are available in software form, which we believe is the future of audio processing not just for streaming but for every broadcast venue.”

The post Orban Reorganizes PCn1600 Sales appeared first on Radio World.

As of Wednesday it was official: The newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership and the radio/TV cross-ownership rules are off the U.S. federal rulebooks.

It was a formality; the Federal Communications Commission had already announced that the change was pending after the Supreme Court ruled in its favor in the case “Prometheus Radio Project vs. FCC” this spring.

[Read: FCC Wants More Input Before Finishing Rule Review]

But now a summary of the order has been published in the Federal Register and the FCC said the rules officially died on June 30.

The Television Joint Sales Agreement Attribution Rule also officially is eliminated; and the Local Television Ownership Rule and Local Radio Ownership Rule were reinstated, as were the eligible entity standard and certain other measures.

At the same time the commission announced deadline dates for fresh public comments about media ownership rules. Comments are due Aug. 2, and reply comments are due Aug. 30.

[Read: Further Relaxation of Ownership Rules Seems Unlikely]

As we reported earlier, acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wants to update the record before the commission finalizes its 2018 Quadrennial Review proceeding. So the FCC is asking whether its media ownership rules remain “necessary in the public interest as the result of competition.”

For a full list of what the commission is asking, see the public notice. Filings should refer to MB Docket No. 18-349.

The post Cross-Ownership Rules Officially Are Dead appeared first on Radio World.

The FCC has quietly released a public notice confirming that its reinstated media ownership rules — legislation that the acting chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, voted against — are now effective.

The effective date? Yesterday.

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Starting tonight (7/1) at 10pm, a new entrant in the local news war that has been fiercely waging across Western New York for years will arrive.

It comes courtesy of Sinclair Broadcast Group, which is launching local news operations at its owned-and-operated FOX affiliate serving Buffalo, Niagara Falls and the Canadian province of Ontario’s most populous areas.

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MIAMI — Did you know that 82% of advertisers are looking for “direct to consumer” strategies to grow in an increasingly competitive environment? This is one of the challenges Kantar mapped out in a Media Navigator study that it has just launched.

The research endeavor sees Kantar interview 672 professionals working for advertisers in 39 different countries to understand the main challenges and trends in their data management strategy.

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TORONTO — With the TSX closed on Thursday in observance of the Canada Day holiday, the start of the second half of 2021 led financial blog Simply Wall St. to take a closer look at Corus Entertainment.

Corus is one of Canada’s biggest media companies and owns 39 radio stations and 15 broadcast television stations. Its stock price has seen a healthy 52-week rebound, with its June 30 closing price its best since May 2019.

With a 1-year price target poised to put Corus at its best stock price since the start of 2018, is the share gain “well earned”?

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As part of RAB’s Business Accelerated initiative, Provoke Insights, a full-service market research firm, will be rejoining the radio industry sales advocacy organization for a live presentation offering insights on today’s consumer.

The event, “Meet the New Retail Shopper,” sees Carly Fink, President of Provoke Insights, share insights into today’s retail shopper. Fink will provide guidance for broadcasters helping their clients plan their back-to-school and holiday campaigns.

“While most COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, consumers are not going back to the standard shopping routines of 2019,” the RAB says. “As brands prepare for the upcoming back-to-school and holiday seasons, it is important they understand the new buying behaviors.”

The session will take place at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific on Wednesday, July 28.

Registration for the presentation is free for RAB members. The presentation will also be available for on-demand viewing.

To register, click here.

Comscore has lured the former Sales and Client Relations head at Tunity to lead its commercial relationship with Publicis Groupe.

In doing so, Comscore is selecting an individual who brings more than 20 years of business media and sales success across local television stations, networks and advertising agencies.

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Four months ago, RBR+TVBR first shared the news that The E.W. Scripps Co. would be launching two new national TV networks, capitalizing on its position “as a full-scale national television company.”

While Scripps slightly altered the original plan, with respect to one of the digital multicast networks’ names, the debut of the two reality-based offerings came as expected on July 1.

Defy TV and TrueReal have been launched by Scripps, prompted largely by the company’s blockbuster merger with Ion Media. The channels have coverage of 92% of the U.S.

Defy TV is sticking with its original plan of action. It will cater to men ages 25-54 “with programming that celebrates fascinating and independent-minded people living life to the fullest.” Programming will include popular series such as “Swamp People” (Mondays), “Counting Cars” (Tuesdays), “American Pickers” (Wednesdays), “The Curse of Oak Island” (Thursdays), “Forged in Fire” (Fridays), “Ax Men” (Saturdays), “Alone” (Saturdays), “Dog the Bounty Hunter” (Sundays) and “Pawn Stars” (Sundays).

TrueReal was originally intended to be Doozy, targeting women aged 25-54 and tap into their ”strong interest in can’t-stop-watching, unscripted drama that’s surprising and true.”

The name is different; the programming is the same as envisioned, with off-network shows including “Storage Wars,” “Married at First Sight,” “Hoarders,” and “Little Women: LA” on the lineup.

Defy TV and TrueReal join ION, Bounce, Laff, Grit, Court TV, Court TV Mystery and Newsy, which remains on-track for its launch as a free over-the-air network on Friday, Oct. 1. This is a major shift for Newsy, which began life as a millennial-targeted OTT offering and then shifted to cable TV distribution.

NEW YORK — ViacomCBS has decided to unify the visual content-focused media company’s domestic and international businesses under what it calls “a simplified global leadership structure.”

As such, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins are each being promoted to the role of President/CEO, with global oversight for their respective brand groups.

George Cheeks also has a new, expanded role.

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