Industry News

Radio World’s colleague Tom Butts, the editor of TV Tech, interviewed Curtis LeGeyt, the new president/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, who attended the 2022 International CES. This is an excerpt of a longer story that appears at tvtech.com. 

“I think CES and [CTA President] Gary Shapiro and his team deserve a ton of credit, and I think the health and safety protocols here are proving to be very, very successful,” LeGeyt said.

“Everyone out on the CES show floor is masked, and there’s room for distancing. I’m very, very encouraged by the feedback I’m getting from exhibitors here and also what I’m seeing for myself. I think that’s gonna put real wind in our sails and makes me very encouraged for April.”

Despite the current omicron wave, LeGeyt is “100%” confident that the show will go on as scheduled.

“I think that this week demonstrates that there is a lot of pent up demand — both on the exhibitor side and the attendee side — for an in-person show where business actually gets done,” he said.

“They were able to pull this off in what I would consider to be the worst possible timing, and all signs indicate that we are going to be in a much, much better place from a health and safety perspective as a country in April.

“We are pacing very, very well in terms of both exhibitor and attendee interest in our show,” LeGeyt added. “Granted, it’s a little like comparing apples and oranges, but metrics wise, it’s really positive compared to even our previous ‘pre-COVID’ shows. And so we’re extremely optimistic.”

When asked if NAB would impose the same safety protocols as CES, LeGeyt said the association planned to follow CDC guidelines.

“I think that that’s going to be something that we continue to monitor between now and April because the health and safety guidance from the CDC continues to evolve,” he said. “But we will have a vaccination requirement consistent with what CES has done.”

LeGeyt also said that attending CES has given him more insight into how changes at the Las Vegas Convention Center will affect the April show.

“I think what I’m seeing at CES validates some changes that were already underway in terms of the format of our show floor,” he said. “The new West Hall is going to be a new venue for us in April, and I think it affords all kinds of opportunities for a little bit more of an innovative layout.

“Our designers were already taking advantage of that to basically ensure that, depending on what phase of the business cycle you’re in — whether you’re an exhibitor, whether you’re in content creation, whether you’re in distribution, or whether you’re in the business of monetization — that we’ve got a layout set up in a way to make this as efficient as possible for the attendees who want to be focused on the business partners who match their element of business,” LeGeyt said.

“I think this new layout with the West Hall just gives you a much, much more open and innovative way to organize the show floor and what this validates for me seeing in person is that the footprint that we’ve laid out is going to be a real win for both our exhibitors and for our attendees.”

He also commented that there was “a fairly significant presence of radio broadcasters out here.”

The post LeGeyt “100% Confident” About Spring NAB Show appeared first on Radio World.

The new year is bringing new responsibilities to four members of the Coleman Insights leadership team.

Eileen Genna is promoted to Senior Vice President, Business Operations; David Baird is promoted to Senior Vice President, Research Operations; Jay Nachlis is promoted to Vice President/Consultant & Marketing Director; and Meghan Campbell is promoted to Vice President/Consultant & Director, Qualitative Services.

“Beyond the insights we deliver to our clients, I’m most proud of how we’ve built an incredible leadership team at Coleman Insights,” said Warren Kurtzman, the company’s President. “Eileen and David’s promotions are a recognition of the enormous multi-decade contributions they have made to our success. In a shorter amount of time, Jay and Meghan have also had a tremendous impact for us and our clients, and I expect even bigger things from them with their new responsibilities.”

— Radio Ink

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF. — Like many News/Talk radio stations, syndicated programming takes up a lot of the lineup for an American General Media-owned property serving a picturesque slice of California’s Central Coast. There’s Markley Van Camp & Robbins in Rush Limbaugh’s former 9am-Noon slot. From Noon to 3pm is Dave Ramsey.

In drive-time, local hosts known across the region can be heard. Andy Morris has the First Look before he takes middays at the Country-formatted FM sister in the station group. From 3-7pm, Hometown Radio takes to the air.

It’s been on KVEC-AM, in recent years sporting an FM translator, for 30 years, leading to new recognition for host Dave Congalton.

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Schwab Multimedia has lost an appeal to the Federal Communications Commission in a case involving a planned AM station near Los Angeles for which it had a construction permit.

This is a “tolling” case, one that involves the FCC construction clock. The history is complex — the FCC’s summary is 2,500 words long, not counting many extended footnotes — but the upshot is that KWIF in Culver City was never built and, barring further developments, apparently will not be. Its call sign has now been deleted.

Levine/Schwab Partnership, which does business as Schwab Multimedia, had applied in 2004 to build a new AM station in the Los Angeles area. It eventually secured a CP in 2016 for the station at 1500 kHz.

That CP was challenged by the owner of another station, KSPA in Ontario, Calif., which is on a first-adjacent channel in the same market. KSPA since was sold, but the new owner has continued to fight KWIF.

Construction of KWIF didn’t get off the ground. Schwab submitted multiple “tolling” requests, asking for more time to build. Its reasons included the pandemic — it said a shelter-in-place order in California made it impossible for vendors to start work — as well as KSPA objections and, later, smoke from California wildfires.

And in the course of events, the original tower site became unavailable, the timing of which is part of the case complexity. In October 2020 Schwab asked to modify its CP because it had lost access to the site, which is now used by KABC; it proposed a site in Montecito Heights instead (formerly used by AM station KIIS). Schwab also sought to document its earlier efforts to construct.

But the FCC dismissed or denied Schwab’s various requests for various reasons. Schwab then filed an application for review.

The Media Bureau now has rejected that appeal on the grounds that the main cause of the construction delay was the loss of the original site, which the FCC said is not a circumstance that qualifies for tolling.

But it also addressed Schwab’s pandemic-related arguments “in the interest of a complete record.” It said it also denied the review on the “alternative and independent grounds” that Schwab did not provide adequate evidence to support its claims that the pandemic was the cause of its failure to construct; and it said there were other issues with Schwab’s filings too.

“[T]he commission has determined that a three-year construction period provides ample opportunity for permittees to overcome unanticipated difficulties, including siting issues. Schwab does not claim that the pandemic caused its years-long site availability issues or explain how the pandemic could have disrupted construction, equipment delivery or arrival of crews at the original site at a time when Schwab no longer had the site owner’s permission to build there,” the FCC wrote.

It also laid out reasons for rejecting several other of Schwab’s arguments. For instance: “The commission has long held that permittees that seek additional construction time following a disaster must establish a material nexus between the disaster and failure to construct … Schwab did not adequately meet that burden.” It also said Schwab cited the shelter-in-place restrictions without acknowledging that communications facilities are exempt from those requirements.

Schwab made other arguments, all of which the commission rejected. The FCC’s detailed description is available here. In short the commission has denied the application for review from Schwab, dismissed its application to modify the unbuilt facilities of KWIF and deleted the call sign because the CP has expired.

A representative of Schwab Multimedia declined comment to Radio World.

The post FCC Says No to Appeal for a New AM in L.A. appeared first on Radio World.

Many broadcast media veterans may remember her as Jessica Reif Cohen. Today, she’s Jessica Reif Ehrlich, and still an influential Wall Street media industry analyst who ceremonially asks the first question on iHeartMedia earnings calls.

Now, in her role as a Bank of America Securities analyst and Managing Director, she’s giving a lot of love to Discovery Communications. Investors reacted, with the company’s shares soaring by more than 17% on Friday.

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In his first blog post as NAB president and CEO, Curtis LeGeyt put the mission of local broadcasting front and center.

“As I step into the role as president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, I will strongly advocate on behalf of America’s broadcasters and help fulfill their mission of providing trusted local journalism that keeps our communities safe, informed and connected,” he wrote on the NAB Blog.

LeGeyt noted that he has spent a decade at NAB, advocating for policies that benefit free, local broadcasting and the journalism that local broadcasters provide especially during times of crisis, natural disasters, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

While promising to continue to engage with Congress and the FCC on the vital local impact of broadcasters, LeGeyt also warned of the need for legislative action around “Big Tech” and the threat social media platforms pose as information gatekeepers.

“Broadcasters need a level playing field both to fairly compete for audience and advertising dollars with these tech behemoths, and to ensure we are fairly compensated when our locally focused content is accessed through their platforms,” LeGeyt wrote.

[Visit the NAB Blog to read the full post.]

The post LeGeyt Highlights Broadcasters’ Local Mission appeared first on Radio World.

Radio broadcasters, be warned. On-demand audio giant Spotify is rolling out a new advertising format that enriches podcasting by giving listeners a series of “Call-to-Action Cards” allowing them to learn more about an audio ad they hear.

It’s yet another opportunity for the audio industry, so long as legacy broadcast companies in the digital space follow suit.

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TORONTO — The owner of such radio stations as “Boom 97.3” in Toronto and “Live 88.5” in Ottawa, which has a presence in the U.S. via its audio channels found on such MVPD service providers as Hotwire, has finalized the approximately $46,642,450 USD acquisition of the largest in-store audio advertising network in the 50 states.

As a result, Stingray, based in Montréal, is now the owner of InStore Audio Network.

That’s the Gary Seem and Jeff Shapiro-led entity sold by Pop Radio LP for $59 million CDN.

Serving as the broker in the transaction is Richard A. Foreman and Associates.

InStore says it reaches some 100 million shoppers each week in more 16,000 grocery retailers and pharmacies across the U.S., including CVS, Rite Aid, Albertsons, Safeway, Southeastern Grocers (Winn-Dixie), Ahold (Food Lion, Giant, Hannaford and Stop & Shop), Western New York-focused Tops Markets, Pennsylvania Dutch Country favorite Weis Market and Brookshire’s, with more than 180 stores operating in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

The total price paid by Stingray is subject to a specific earn out mechanism set forth in the purchase agreement.

“With this acquisition, Stingray expands its retail-based digital audio advertising footprint in the United States and reaffirms its position as a leading global provider of state-of-the art digital media solutions,” Stingray says.

InStore will continue until the continued leadership and direction of its current management team, Stingray says.

— Carina Newton, in North York

NEW YORK — He’s been the U.S. chief revenue officer since January 2020, and joined FreeWheel in 2018.

Now, he’s succeeding Dave Clark as General Manager at the Comcast-owned premium TV marketplace for buyers and sellers.

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The company’s stock went ex-dividend on November 10. Its five-year growth trend is excellent, even when factoring in the COVID-19 stock dips seen nearly two years ago.

Nexstar Media Group is enjoying another rise in its share price, with activity on Friday signaling a finish at a level last seen in November, when shares briefly topped the $170 mark.

Is NXST en route to quickly matching and perhaps surpassing that price?

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