ASIA

GatesAir, a global leader in wireless, over-the-air content delivery solutions for radio and TV, today announced that Thomson Broadcast has signed a definitive agreement to acquire GatesAir from an affiliate of The Gores Group. The transaction is subject to certain regulatory filings and is expected to close in the second half of 2022. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.GatesAir is a renowned company in the Broadcast industry with a history of powering over-the-air networks worldwide with unparalleled reliability over the past 100 years. GatesAir has recently seen strong growth, coming off a very successful participation in the North America Spectrum Repack program. GatesAir worked with Bowen Inc. on a robust process which involved interest from several strategic and financial parties, with Thomson Broadcast prevailing due to its highly complementary fit. The combination of GatesAir with Thomson Broadcast will create a scaled, comprehensive platform with greater capabilities in innovation, design and product efficiency and an expanded portfolio of holistic, turnkey broadcast solutions.“GatesAir is already an undisputed leader in the broadcast industry, and our combination with Thomson Broadcast will create a combined company of larger scale even better suited to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers all over the globe,” said Bruce D. Swail, CEO of GatesAir. “I am very proud of the GatesAir team for its stewardship of and innovation in this industry over the past century and look forward to entering the next 100 years as an even stronger business leveraging the strengths of two legendary broadcast brands. On behalf of everyone at GatesAir, I’d like to thank Gores for their strategic guidance which was invaluable in growing our business and driving innovation.”“Over the course of our successful partnership with Bruce and the management team, GatesAir has driven tremendous growth and transformation through organic and inorganic initiatives, establishing itself as a premier, independent broadcast company with market leading technology and service,” said Edward Johnson, Senior Managing Director at The Gores Group. “We have no doubt GatesAir will continue on its successful trajectory and strengthen its market leadership alongside Thomson Broadcast.”For more than 100 years, Thomson Broadcast has forged extensive experience in the fields of Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTV) and AM Radio, including DRM. Thomson Broadcast is an international French company well known in the broadcast sector. Over the past two years, Thomson Broadcast has received awards for providing exceptional DTT turnkey solutions to large-scale digital migration projects in Africa.“In 2018, we have set the goal to establish ourselves in the US Market. With Thomson Broadcast and GatesAir now united, these two companies will make us stronger in America and globally as well,” says Ylias Akbaraly, Chairman of Thomson Broadcast.“Thomson Broadcast and GatesAir together can bring innovative and revolutionary products to the broadcast industry in the centuries to come,” says Aby Alexander, President of Thomson Broadcast USA.“We are delighted to have reached this point,” says Amine Oubid, CEO of Thomson Broadcast. “From the start we were excited to work with the GatesAir team and saw the obvious fit of the two companies. The transaction closing can’t come fast enough for us. We’re very proud to participate in the rallying of two century-old companies and excited to start working together.” […]

Jhannah Villegas, a hard-hitting radio broadcaster in Maguindanao province of southern Philippines was shot dead by unknown gunmen on Good Friday.If her killing is related to her work, she would be the 24th Philippine journalist to be killed since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in 2016.Villegas, 38, worked as a reporter for community newspaper Sagad and Bugso as well as a blocktimer broadcaster for Radyo Ukay in Kidapawan city, North Cotabato province and Energy FM 106.7 radio in Manila.A known critic of local officials, she also headed Mindanao Balita, an online news blog covering local political events across the region.According to her husband, she had received a death threat on Thursday night. She was attacked at her home by three armed men who shot her at close range.The Philippines is considered one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists. Since 1992, about 90 Philippine journalists have been killed because of their work, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. […]

India’s first-ever radio channel for the visually impaired, ‘Radio Aksh’ was launched in the city of Nagpur on Tuesday, April 12.Launched by the Blind Relief Association Nagpur (TBRAN) and Samdrushti Kshamata Vikas Avam Anusandhan Mandal (Saksham), this concept was created to help the visually-impaired gain seamless access to education resources and audiobooks.The content is created by a dedicated team of 20 trained volunteers, mostly women, which can be streamed to the visually impaired across the world.The channel is available on Play Store and via Zeno Radio on Apple devices.In order to run it 24×7, Radio Aksh would initially have six hours of content that would be put on repeat mode four times a day. Later, the content will be increased to 24 hours phase-wise, Makarand Pandharipande, president of TBRAN, told The Times of India.Shirish Darvekar, the coordinator of the channel and a member of Saksham told ANI: “For the last few years, visually impaired people used to come to us and get their audiobooks made by us on their devices. But COVID-19 put this to a halt. It affected their learning so we had to think of a stand-by arrangement. We got to know of launch of internet radio in India and we got in contact with a company making software for it. Unlike FM and AM, internet radio has no geographical limits,” he added.Darvekar said that their channel has got limited, yet an overwhelming response from people.“In just two to four days, we have around 161 listeners. It paints a very encouraging picture,” he added. […]

According to a report in Tolo News, two popular radio stations in Afghanistan’s Paktia and Faryab provinces went off the air last week due to acute financial problems.Radio Paktia Ghag broadcast for 11 years in the southeastern province of Paktia, and Radio Maimana also broadcast for 10 years in the northern province of Faryab.“We used to have around 40 employees, men and women,” said Zabiullah Ayoubi, director of Paktia Ghag, while speaking to Tolo News.Adibullah Sonmas, head of the Maimana radio station, said they were no longer in a position to renew their license.Journalist Farkhunda Mehbi said the closure of media outlets had caused problems both for the people and workers, because without the media, there will be no one to raise the voice of the people.Hujatullah Mujaddedi, a member of the Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA), hoped the Islamic Emirate would help the struggling Afghan media.Since the Taliban took over the country’s government last August, dozens of media outlets have stopped activities.Afghanistan was ranked 122nd out of 180 countries in RSF’s latest World Press Freedom Index. […]

The dawn of broadcasting arrived at 6pm on the evening of November 2, 1920, when AM radio station KDKA of Pittsburgh signed onto the airwaves to announce the results of a presidential election. Months later, a food products specialist by the name of Henry Gates came to Pittsburgh on business, taking his son Parker, a radio enthusiast who began building crystal radio sets at age 11, along for the journey. Considering young Parker’s gift for engineering, the trip would not have been complete without a visit to the KDKA studios. The experience left an impression on father and son, planting the seeds for a family-operated radio equipment company they would launch from their Quincy, Illinois home in 1922.The Gates family had no way of knowing that Gates Radio Company would reach its centennial birthday. However, the vision of then 14-year-old Parker Gates, with the support of Henry and his mother Cora B. Gates, lives on today as the company now known as GatesAir celebrates its 100th year in business. GatesAir will formally recognize the historic milestone at the 2022 NAB Show (April 24-27) with a series of raffles and prizes — including crystal radio sets in recognition of Parker’s earliest innovations — planned on the company’s booth, where GatesAir will also demonstrate its latest innovations for over-the-air broadcasters.GatesAir’s impressive longevity points largely to its dedication to the over-the-air broadcaster. Following the sale of its first AM radio transmitter in 1936 (to WJMS in Ironwood, Michigan), transmission gradually became the company’s core focus over the ensuing decades. GatesAir, then a part of Harris Corporation, would add TV transmitters to its product lineup in 1972. The company expanded its brand of wireless content delivery with the acquisition of Intraplex in 1999, then a specialist in legacy STL systems and today a leader in Audio over IP networking.These three businesses serving over-the-air broadcasters — radio transmission, TV transmission and Intraplex networking — remain GatesAir’s exclusive focus today, with new products and features across each business planned for the 2022 NAB Show. That includes the Maxiva IMTX-70 Intra-Mast, a modular, multi-tenant transmitter solution that can house up to eight low-power TV transmitters in one compact chassis; and Intraplex Ascent, a cloud transport solution that can move broadcast and media content at scale. First introduced for radio broadcasters, GatesAir will unveil Ascent’s benefits for moving large volumes of ATSC 3.0 TV content at this year’s NAB show.“GatesAir has outlasted and outperformed its competition over the long haul because we have remained focused on a business that we do very well,” said Joe Mack, Chief Revenue Officer, GatesAir. “That includes building the most reliable and efficient transmitters in the business, and it means moving heaven and earth when it comes to customer service and support. I think our partners and customers really value that.”Mack’s statement is certainly validated by customers worldwide. According to Stefan Hadl, Vice President of Engineering for Hearst Television, GatesAir has been a “key partner for many years” that helped the broadcaster navigate unique and complex challenges.“GatesAir has been a true partner that provided the technology and innovation we needed to make the transition from analog to digital TV, and from IOT tube transmitters to the highly efficient solid-state rigs of today,” said Hadl. He also points to GatesAir’s guidance through the complex challenges of the recent spectrum repack, of which GatesAir was Hearst’s exclusive transmitter supplier. “GatesAir’s stellar customer support is in a class of its own. I sleep better at night knowing I can reach out at any time of day or night for help in any of our markets.”GatesAir also remains a strong presence on the global stage, where the company continues to win national digital TV and digital radio network buildouts, and refresh FM and AM radio infrastructure worldwide. This is one reason why GatesAir enjoys lengthy business relationships with in-country channel partners worldwide in the APAC, CALA and EMEA regions.“GatesAir has been by far our strongest and most trusted broadcast equipment partner, and the stability of their 100 years in business is unmatched by other suppliers,” said Khun Pattara Pojanapanich, First Executive Vice President for Loxley Public Company, GatesAir’s partner in Thailand for more than 40 years. “GatesAir has always been seen as the market leader by consistently introducing award-winning new products that best fulfill customer requirements. In the last 10 years, they have helped us transition from analog to DVB-T2 television with more than 95% nationwide coverage. This year, GatesAir is providing Loxley with state-of-the-art VHF transmitters for the government’s digital radio trials.”Radio is of course the business on which GatesAir was founded, and its innovation for the medium is unparalleled. As Harris, the company introduced the broadcast industry’s first solid-state AM transmitter (1973), digital FM exciter (1993) and HD Radio exciter (2003) among other industry-firsts. The company continues to support AM and FM broadcasters of all sizes worldwide.“GatesAir has truly been the leader in innovation for the industry, and always seeks to design and support products that are more reliable, efficient and built to last,” said John Kennedy, Senior Vice President of Technical Operations, Audacy. “Regardless of what size of a broadcaster you are, GatesAir works with you on a very personal level. They give you the time and attention you need to make thoughtful business decisions, as if you’re the only customer that matters. They are a true leader when it comes to emergencies as well, and are right there to work with you if you need help during a disaster.”The last point is echoed by Bob Ross, retired Senior Vice President, East Coast Operations for CBS Broadcasting, which along with the tragic loss of two employees and some transmitters when the World Trade Center collapsed. Every broadcaster in the market was knocked off the air immediately, though CBS had a 34-year-old Harris tube transmitter on the Empire State Building that they were able to use in a time of profound crisis. There were reliability concerns firing up a transmitter of such age, though GatesAir’s customer service shined in the moment.“The transmitter came up, but we were concerned about burning up the very small cavity on the tube,” said Ross. “I called Joe (Mack) and said, ‘We need a little help here.’ The Harris people in Quincy dug out the original blueprints, tracked down an original design engineer of that transmitter who had retired, and within one day they machined and shipped parts so we could rebuild the cavity. The best part is that they fit perfectly, and within two days we were back to full power. That is customer service.”GatesAir CEO Bruce D. Swail notes that he is very proud to be associated with a company with such deep customer loyalty – an integral component of any company of notable longevity.“The story of GatesAir over 100 years is terrific,” said Swail, who was appointed CEO of GatesAir in 2017. “The spirit of innovation from the company’s beginnings remains here today. We see it alive and well in our manufacturing operation, in the new products we will bring to NAB, and across our global team of employees that deliver day in and day out. There is a century of knowledge and expertise at GatesAir, and that is an important part of the value proposition for our global customer base. We will continue to bring new technologies to market that solve problems and create new opportunities for broadcasters, and provide exceptional customer support along with that innovation for the next 100 years.” […]

Content from BPRWhen it comes to music streaming it’s a case of “In With the Old, and Out With the New”. A new study of streaming music habits by MRC Data* contains bad news for CHR stations.70% of listening across streaming services are now older songs, while in 2021 the top 200 new songs make up just 5% of all music streaming.This is down from 11% just three years ago, highlighting that we are seeing a rise of the re-current, in the current listening environment.Source: MRC DataThese results highlight that streaming continues to be a weak platform for new music discovery. Where users have control of their own listening it seems they are defaulting to listening to established, older hits they already have a relationship with, rather than trialing music and artists that are unknown or that they’ve only heard a few times.These results also highlight that radio remains the best medium for breaking new songs and artists, with listeners much more willing to sample new music on radio than they are anywhere else. The ‘curated playlist’ nature of radio still has substantial strength, radio is still the medium where new talent can and does emerge.So, what does this mean for radio formats?For CHR stations these results are a concern, highlighting that the new music environment is deteriorating further and there will be a more limited supply of new music that listeners are familiar with.This comes at a concerning time for CHR formats, as fewer younger listeners are invested in radio (as highlighted in BPR’s recent All Audio Study). Stations have to weigh up relying on re-current songs, that have that instant recognition with listeners but potentially undo some of the “New Music” credentials of a station, or attempt to launch new songs and artists, that risk alienating an audience who are already more marginal radio listeners.These results should be a boom for classic hits and classic rock formats, where we could see more listeners switching to stations that offer their old favourites. However, there are also dangers, with more stations reliant on re-currents, along with listeners streaming these songs, it’s likely we’ll see song burn out rising faster than it once did.The traditional life cycle for an older hit is likely to be upended over the coming years.With the top hits being overplayed, expanding the base is a good strategy for these stations to essentially re-break older hits and keep listeners engaged and not reliant on the same old songs that listeners listen to on their streaming services.It also highlights the importance of ongoing music research, not just for CHR stations, but classic hits and classic rock formats as well. Listening more to older hits can result in the listeners opinions on the songs changing more rapidly than before.At BPR we can deliver music research for all formats using a range of platforms – you can contact us at [email protected]Data sourced from MRC Data. Copy of their report available here.By Sam Williams, BPR […]