Ireland
Carlow journalist Dayna Kearney is joining Beat 102-103
Beat 102-103 has hired Carlow journalist Dayna Kearney to its news team as digital and broadcast journalist. […]
Month: June 2022
US
FCC Report 6/5: FCC Seeks Additional Information About TEGNA Acquisition
FCC Actions
The FCC is seeking additional information from Standard General in regards to its pending acquisition of TEGNA including its 64 television stations and 2 radio stations along with its contingent asset swap with the Apollo Global Management owned Cox Media Group as Apollo will hold a significant non-voting and non-attributable stake in the company.
The FCC is requesting all documents submitted to the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission as well as answers to the following questions:
Describe the Combined Company’s anticipated retransmission negotiating strategy Post- Transaction. Does the Combined Company anticipate jointly negotiating retransmission consent agreements or otherwise coordinating with Apollo Global Management’s regarding the carriage of stations in Overlap Markets or Non-Overlap Markets Post-Transaction?
Do the Combined Company and AGM intend to enter into (or have they already entered into) any Sharing Agreements, or any other agreements, including related to programming, operations, or sale of advertising, whether or not such agreements involve stations in the same market? If so, please describe.
Provide a detailed explanation with supporting data describing how the Applicants anticipate the Transaction would serve the public interest in general and, more specifically, how the Transaction would improve local programming in the affected markets through investment in local content and production capabilities, including specific business synergies and efficiencies that would facilitate such investment or otherwise aid the operation of the stations, were the proposed Transaction to be consummated.
Describe any changes regarding the composition of series A preferred shareholders since the filing of the Applications and submission of Exhibits B and C of the Contribution, Exchange and Merger Agreement, as well as a narrative description of any changes to the rights and/or restrictions of the series A and B preferred shareholders contained in Exhibits B and C of the Contribution, Exchange and Merger Agreement submitted with the Applications.
Provide an accurate and detailed accounting of the impact the Transaction is expected to have in terms of anticipated staffing reductions.
Responses are due by June 13 ahead of the June 22 deadline to file petitions to deny. Oppositions are due by July 7 and replies by July 18. In order to protect any competitively sensitive materials, the FCC has instituted a Protective Order limiting highly confidential information to outside counsel, consultants and employees with a requirement to sign and return a document accepting the terms.
A Notice of Illegal Pirate Broadcasting was issued to Sharif Small’s 5447-5459 Park Heights Ave 21215 LLC for a transmissions on 90.3 in Baltimore MD from LPK Shipping, with Small’s company listed as the property owner making him liable for a fine up to $2 million if following the ten day response period any individual or entity engages in pirate radio broadcasting from the property.
Radio Bonners Ferry, Inc.’s 1450 KBFI Bonners Ferry ID has been issued a Notice of Violation for failing to maintain station logs for multiple periods between January 1 and February 23 of this year. An Enforcement Bureau agent reviewed the station’s logs and noticed missing entries from 1/1 to 1/9, 2/2, 2/4 to 2/5, 2/7, 2/19, and 2/21 to 2/23 due to its automatic logging failing.
The Political File rule changes adopted in January will take effect on July 5 following their publication in the Federal Register.
Deletions
The following stations were deleted as their licenses expired on June 1 after failing to file timely renewals:
State University of New York’s 90.7 WETD Alfred NY
Leatherstocking Media Group’s 1050 WBVG Baldwinsville NY
Corning Community College’s 91.9 WCEB Corning NY
Nyack College’s 88.7 WNYK Nyack NY
Union Free School District #1’s 91.1 WOSS Ossining NY
State University of New York’s 93.9 WQKE Plattsburgh NY
State University of New York’s 90.3 WAIH Potsdam NY
FM Changes
Omni Broadcasting Classic Rock “100.3 K-Rock” WTKE-FM Niceville/Fort Walton Beach FL applies […]
ASIA
Are Song Request Programs A Thing of the Past?
Content from BPRSong request programs date back to the early days of format radio. This was a time when music fans had only two options if they wanted to hear a favorite song – purchase the vinyl recording or call into a station and ask for the song to be played on the radio. Another less practical option was to play the song on a jukebox. Request programs became extremely popular. They served to bond the listener with a station. After all, if one was able to call into a program and have their favorite song played, that station had a real possibility of becoming that listener’s preferred station. Request programs also had a social side. A listener could dedicate a song to a special friend and that friend could then hear the song being played especially for them. And then the Internet came along…With the advent of the Internet, music fans were able to hear their favorite genre of music via platforms such as Spotify. Soon after, music fans were offered subscription services such as Amazon Music and Apple Music that offered them the option of downloading or streaming specific songs and albums. Amazon Music now boasts of having a library of 90 million songs and podcasts. Now that’s real music variety!Radio stations no longer have the advantage of music on demand. Research has shown that listener interest in song request programs is in the decline. And yet, many stations are still reluctant to abandon the song request program. Of course, there are some markets around the world where Internet penetration and access to digital technology are limited. However, these markets are rapidly becoming the exception.Although digital audio consumption is booming, many radio operators are being left behind. In spite of audience research findings to the contrary, many operators simply do not want to admit that they no longer have a monopoly on audio. The reluctance to accept new realities is a big problem for radio broadcasters.Perry Michael Simon, editor of all access.com, described the challenge that radio faces in a succinct manner when he wrote:You can stay in your comfort zone, keep doing what you’re doing, and hope for the best, or you can adapt and try doing different and even risky things. Okay, three ways: You can also give up.Although most radio operators are not prepared to give up the fight, the “keep doing what you’re doing, and hope for the best” option reflects the attitude of far too many in our business.
Creativity and imagination have always been a hallmark of our industry. When television came along, many people said that radio was doomed. However, radio did not fade away but rather it changed. New formats such as top 40, classic oldies and album-oriented rock found an audience eager to hear their favorite music. The development of talk radio brought to the industry an audience that many had given up for lost.Radio is once more faced with major challenges. Doing the same thing simply will not work in the face of today’s highly competitive audio marketplace. We need to try new things and encourage new thinking. The future of our industry belongs to creative risk takers.By Andy Beaubien, BPR […]
US
KRTY Sets FM Sign-Off Date & Post Sale Plans
Empire Broadcasting Country 95.3 KRTY Los Gatos/San Jose has announced the date it will sign-off from FM and the plans for its brand following its sale to Educational Media Foundation. KRTY’s final day broadcasting on 95.3 will be Friday, June 17 ahead of EMF taking over. The station, however, will continue to operate in nearly […] […]
US
Audacy Rhythmic CHR Regional PD Mike Buhrman Announces Resignation
Michael ‘Big Mic’ Buhrman has announced his resignation as Regional Brand Manager for Audacy’s Rhythmic CHR stations. Buhrman, based at 102.5 KSFM Sacramento where he also hosted afternoons, also was responsible for “KS 107.5” KQKS Denver, “Hot 93.7” WZMX Hartford and “Power 93.5” KDGS Wichita. Buhrman joined KSFM as Program Director in May 2018 and […] […]
UK
Boom Radio set to launch spin-off station Boom Light
Boom Radio is planning to launch of a spin-off station called Boom Light playing Easy, 50s and Standards. […]