Radio+Television Business Report

Radio syndication company Key Networks has partnered with Summit Technology Group to bring “an advanced routine and emergency weather reporting system” to radio stations for no additional barter.

ATMOS Weather Reporting was developed by Summit Technology Group that uses artificial intelligence to generate a script and natural text-to-speech synthesis to deliver a customized, localized weather forecast in a broadcast quality voice.

“The result is seamless, accurate and as personable as a real meteorologist,” Key Networks asserts.

Key Networks also notes that with ATMOS Weather Reporting, all advertising inventory is contained in the weather forecasts that are delivered, so stations can sell the forecasts to local sponsors and others.

Summit Technology Group President Paul Stewart comments, “Automated weather reports aren’t new to the broadcast industry, but with ATMOS, we’re able to provide a weather
report that sounds indistinguishable from a human speaker, and uses all the abbreviations inherent in our speech patterns. Best of all, stations can take control to adjust their reports based on their format and customize their virtual talent to suit their
listenership.”

Dennis Green, Chief Revenue Officer at Key Networks, adds, “Key Networks’ mission is to bring innovative products and services to the market that you cannot find anywhere else. Mission accomplished with ATMOS Weather powered by Key Networks. Stations will get precise and accurate weather forecasts without having to give up additional inventory outside the content. That is a game changer. This service works on any station in any format and you’ll want to sign up soon, as there is additional cutting edge technology coming that will provide even more localization to your weather forecast. Prepare to be wowed and provide your local listeners and advertisers with weather forecasts around the clock and branded as you desire. I’m beyond excited to get stations on board!”

Last week, Jeffrey Wlodarczak, the Principal and Entertainment/Interactive Subscription Services Analyst at Pivotal Research Group, gave Spotify a glowing assessment in his latest investor note.

Now, another analyst is heaping praise on the streaming audio giant. And, that pushed the company’s stock past a major threshold in Monday’s trading.

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Getting engagement from your team members during an online meeting is a challenge. F

First, how to incentivize them to turn on their cameras is still a question without an easy answer. Second, how to keep them from multitasking while you run the meeting is a near impossible goal. Third, how to you make the meeting worth everyone’s time remains a key need.

Faced with the reality that remote teamwork will continue indefinitely, department heads and meeting managers are eager to find activities to bring teams closer together.

Rosemary Ravinal, the veteran public relations executive turned “Zoom” master, has some suggestions.

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Attention, noncommercial FM operators: A filing window for applications for noncommercial educational (NCE) FM new station construction permits opens on Tuesday, just after Midnight ET.

It’s a seven-day window, closing promptly in one week.

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One is a Class C AM with 1 tower, emitting 630 watts of power. The other is a Class C2 FM with a Country format.

Both stations serve Palestine — the small city in Texas due southwest of Tyler, that is.

And, they’ve just traded hands in a transaction brokered by Media Services Group.

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“How worried should we be about the impact of supply chain disruptions on advertising?”

Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson, the respected Wall Street financial analyst house, offered some conflicting answers about the negative impact supply chain issues have ad on advertising demand in an investor note distributed Friday.

It seems he has more to say about the matter, and Nathanson has now shifted his concerns to the radio business and TV industry.

Will broadcast media revenue, led by broadcast advertising, see new and continuing challenges in 2022? A Forecast 2022 panel of experts are ready to engage in a provocative discussion about who is going to “show us the money” in the year to come.

Moderator: Jack Myers, Media Ecologist/Chairman, MyersBizNet
Leah Casterlin, Founding Partner, Media Fortitude Partners
Mark Gray, CEO, Katz Media Group
Steve Lanzano, President/CEO, TVB
Jen Soch, Executive Director/Specialty Channels, GroupM

 

This is one of a full day of insightful and exclusive panel discussions and keynote speeches scheduled for Forecast 2022. Don’t miss out! Save your seat by clicking here.

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In January 2022, the leadership of the nation’s leading voice for broadcast media on Capitol Hill and at the FCC will change. NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith will formally turn over the reins at the trade association to Curtis LeGeyt. Smith and LeGeyt have worked closely together for almost a decade; the transition promises to be smooth and cohesive.

As Smith readies to say goodbye to Inside the Beltway politics and LeGeyt picks up the mantle, where are we now and where are we going? An exclusive Forecast 2022 question-and-answer session is poised to present many answers — and insight — into the path ahead for the NAB under LeGeyt. You have to be there to hear what they have to say.

FORECAST 2022: LIVE AND IN PERSON A Conversation with Gordon Smith and Curtis LeGeyt

What are the front burning issues the incoming NAB CEO expects to tackle first when the New Year rolls around? How will new FCC leadership affect regulatory issues? And what parting words of advice does the former senator have to offer his successor?

Moderator Steve Newberry, formerly of the NAB, will be armed and ready with the key questions you want to have the answers to.

REGISTER NOW TO SAVE YOUR SEAT AT FORECAST 2022.

 

MIAMI BEACH — In late January 2020, the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) successfully staged its NATPE Miami conference. Even as concerns over the COVID-19 virus grew across Asia, there was little worry that a pandemic would sweep across North America.

Now, two years later, NATPE Miami is back. And, it will very much be an in-person event.

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It may be six months away, but the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is busily putting together what will be a 2022 NAB Show that EVP/Managing Director of Global Connections and Events Chris Brown believes will “more closely mirror today’s media, entertainment and technology ecosystem.”

And, this “reimagining” will be done in a way “that is intuitive and makes it easier for attendees to navigate the event.”

A trio of distinct conference center sections will be created, with a focus on “three main pillars associated with the content lifecycle.”

Thus, the event scheduled for April 23-27, 2022, will see North Hall, Central Hall and new West Hall exposition areas of the Las Vegas Convention Center house what Brown calls “new curated experience zones designed to spotlight innovation, stimulate meaningful networking, inspire new ways of thinking and provide premium education, insights and a focus on real-world implementation.”

How will attendees now navigate the NAB Show?

The Central and North Halls will focus on content creation from pre-production to post, including the latest tools and advanced workflow options to elevate storytelling, in the “Create” area.

The West Hall will be a destination to explore content distribution and delivery, from cloud computing to new media infrastructure, in an area dubbed “Create.”

The North Hall, the traditional home for broadcast media technology companies of interest to Radio, will be home to the “Capitalize” area. It will feature content monetization solutions and “next-generation technologies creating new revenue streams and fueling the content economy.”

Within the three pillars, “specially tailored exhibits, networking and education programming will comprise experience zones designed to drive innovation, provide inspiration and spur implementation,” the NAB says.

A fourth NAB Show content pillar in development will focus on critical components impacting all aspects of content creation and delivery, the association adds.

He’s gained a national reputation as an outspoken African American broadcast TV station owner, with stations in Indiana including WISH-8 and WNDY-TV in Indianapolis.

Now, DuJuan McCoy is offering a three-year commitment to provide more than $1 million in platform distribution and media resources to produce and broadcast a program dedicated to economic opportunity and “business equity.”

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A multimedia company known for content superserving African American audiences has looked toward Deon Levingston and his success with Hispanic programming in Indianapolis by shifting a FM translator serving Southern Ohio’s largest metropolitan area to a regional Mexican-intensive Hispanic format.

It was the biggest and best event yet, say attendees. The Hispanic Radio Conference returns to Miami June 21-22, and you can make sure you don’t miss this amazing opportunity to learn what Urban One has about the power of the Hispanic audio content consumer and its powerful customer base.

Learn more now! Just CLICK HERE!

 

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There’s a new leader on the Spot Ten TV report from Media Monitors.

And, just in time for the holiday shopping season, it is the biggest retailer in the U.S. that is strutting its stuff.

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The Home Depot is undisputedly one of the top advertisers using audio media today. Yet, for the week ending October 31, the home improvement retailer was absent from the Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report.

Instead, its primary competitor on a national level was strutting its stuff at AM and FM radio — showing its brand prowess in a big way.

Lowe’s was the No. 4 advertiser by play count last week, with some 50,175 spot plays as detected by iHeartMedia-owned Media Monitors.

The overall leader: job seeker and hiring site Indeed, which is actively using radio to help attract those looking for employment.

The auto insurance specialist using Spot Radio the most last week? It is State Farm 

Meanwhile, new activity from Vicks and Capital One puts each brand into the Spot Ten.

An all-important referendum on whether or not the nation’s largest multimedia company superserving African American consumers can move forward with its second casino gaming resort is being put to voters on Tuesday.

Does polling suggest that the plan may not win voter approval?

It appears some shareholders may be concern that Richmond voters will say no to Urban One‘s plan.

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The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) will recognize nine distinguished industry leaders and celebrities for lifetime achievement on November 9 during the LABF’s GIANTS OF BROADCASTING & ELECTRONIC ARTS virtual awards ceremony.

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For 23 1/2 years, she was one of the most recognizable anchors at the ABC affiliate serving Atlanta — the flagship television station of Cox Media Group.

In April, two masses on her brain and subsequent surgery to remove them revealed she had the most common type of brain cancer.

On Thursday night, Jovita Moore lost her battle against the aggressive, incurable disease. She was 54 years of age.

Moore has been an omnipresent figure at “Channel 2 Action News” since April 1998, when she exited WMC-5 in Memphis. There, Moore spent 4 1/2 years as an anchor and reporter. From October 1990 until October 1993, she had been an anchor/reporter for KFSM-5 in Fayetteville, Ark. Moore started her career in news with an internship at The New York Times.

At WSB, Moore moved to the main anchor desk in 2012.

WSB announced Moore’s passing on Friday, explaining that she had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, which is non-hereditary and is not tied to an individual’s diet or lifestyle, unlike smoking.

Among those expressing their sadness over Moore’s death is Ed Gordon, the Emmy Award–winning broadcaster who presidential interviewer who is the author of the book “Conversation in Black.” Gordon participated in the RBR+TVBR Black Media Symposium in 2020.

“I was coming to Atlanta, Jovita and I had agreed to catch-up and go to dinner a few weeks before she fell ill,” he said in a Twitter post in which he expressed his “profound sadness.” Gordon added, “We corresponded the night before her operation. None of us knew just how serious it was. Such a vibrant soul, I will miss her.”

If you would like to honor Jovita Moore’s memory, you can do so with a donation to Our House Atlanta or The National Brain Tumor Society, two organizations that are very important to her.

Moore is survived by her mother, her two wonderful children and stepdaughter, who she called the most important accomplishments of her life.

Why are advertising agencies not concerned about supply chain disruptions, while some major brands — “the typical agency clients” — have already begun to cut back on ad spend due to these challenges?

It’s a question MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson ponders, because he’s not sure who to trust. “We believe the difference in these views is that the agencies are not just exposed to media spend, but have a variety of businesses serving broader marketing needs for their clients,” he notes.

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Forget about that Halloween Night Non-Stop Dance Party sponsored by a local or regional advertiser you can grow a relationship with, Audacy Inc. CHR/Pop programmers.

A hot Young Adult actress known for her roles on Mad Men and Netflix’s just-concluded Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is taking over your airwaves Sunday evening as part of a company-wide takeover tied to Cadence13‘s new podcast movie studio division.

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If investors truly want to gauge the financial health of the broadcast media industry, all they need is a full day of undivided attention to no less than eight CEOs.

Thursday, November 4 has emerged as a monster day for Q3 2021 earnings releases for publicly traded radio and television companies.

The latest company to add their third-quarter conference call to the day’s calendar: Univision Communications.

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COLONIE, N.Y. — On February 22, one of the most successful AM radio stations in the Northeast will celebrate 100 years of service. Today, it remains a vital link to consumers, and to the advertisers who wish to connect with them.

That said, the Capital District of New York State is home to a vibrant mix of radio stations, both locally owned and operated and under the control of the nation’s largest licensee of radio properties.

How powerful these stations can be for a local, regional or national advertiser was made known earlier his week at a gathering co-presented by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB).

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