Industry News

In 2019–2020, Florida’s saltwater recreational fishing industry contributed $9.2 billion to the state’s economy. When COVID-19 finally wanes, that industry is likely to revive, as are saltwater recreational fishing industries off ocean coasts around North America.

For a diversification-minded technology company like SiriusXM, recreational fishing offers a natural business supplement to its core listening audience.

For decades, offshore fishing vessels have relied on radio for vital information. Today SiriusXM Marine is able to provide these craft with a Fish Mapping data service to identify areas in the ocean where the fish are most likely to be biting.

As an example of its activities in this area, SiriusXM announced this spring that it is now transmitting its Fish Mapping service to Furuno’s NavNet TZtouch3 line of multi-function displays (MFDs) equipped with BBWX4 SiriusXM Satellite Weather receivers.

“Furuno’s strong product line has always helped anglers get on the fish and catch them,” said Dean Kurutz, Furuno USA’s senior VP of sales, marketing & product planning, in the announcement.

“Now, with the advanced data provided by Fish Mapping, captains will have the ability to locate ideal fishing grounds by targeting specific species and sea conditions, maximizing their time on the water and helping save time and fuel.”

“Situational awareness” SiriusXM Weather and Fish Mapping on a boat helm

SiriusXM’s business case is based on providing listeners with a unique broadcast selection of entertainment, music and information audio channels.

Its North American satellite footprint covers from the Atlantic to Pacific coasts and adjoining waters. This is why “SiriusXM has provided key weather information for offshore anglers well beyond the reach of cell or internet signals for many years,” according to Geoff Leech, senior director of SiriusXM Marine Services.

“This information has provided anglers with valuable situational awareness while they are exposed out on the water.”

Initially, this weather service was voice-only. But eventually, under the name of SiriusXM Marine Weather, it was expanded to include weather and ocean data to onboard navigation displays made by Furuno, Garmin, Raymarine and the Navico brands Simrad, Lowrance and B&G.

These full-color displays allow boat operators to “see” the weather around them overlaid on top of their electronic navigation charts. The move made sense: Boat operators were willing to pay to access this data, and SiriusXM had the satellite distribution network in place to provide it to them.

SiriusXM Fish Mapping Plankton Front Strength and Sea Surface Temperature Front Strength help locate promising areas to fish.

So how did an information service for boats end up providing offshore fishing recommendations?

“One feature of SiriusXM Marine Weather that anglers value is Sea Surface Temperature data,” Leech replied.

“The areas where ocean surface temperatures change are often where bait fish find nutrients to feed on, and in turn the pelagic species of game fish feed on these bait fish. Knowing that many of our customers were already offshore anglers led us to develop Fish Mapping so we could provide additional fishing information for these valued customers.”

The Fish Mapping service costs $99.99 a month and includes SiriusXM Marine’s Weather information. The service can be suspended at no charge for up to six months each year.

The science

Fish Mapping works by identifying the qualities in areas of the ocean that influence the likelihood of finding desirable game fish such as marlin, tuna and wahoo, among others.

These ocean features include variations in sea surface height (upwellings of nutrients), surface/subsurface temperatures, “weed lines” — floating vegetation where fish congregate to find food and shelter, and where they are hunted by larger predator fish — and plankton concentrations.

SiriusXM Fish Mapping recommendations identify areas that oceanographers recommend for zeroing in on six target species.

At SiriusXM Marine Weather, “the data for our Fish Mapping service is provided by oceanographers from Maxar Technologies,” said Leech.

“Maxar is a satellite company that provides Google Earth imagery and other services including information to help find the best fishing conditions. The oceanographers at Maxar compile and analyze data from various sources and send it to SiriusXM to incorporate in our satellite feed for our Fish Mapping customers.”

This feed reaches boats up to 150 miles offshore. A SiriusXM receiver on the boat captures the signal, which is translated into images shown in large-screen format directly on the boat’s navigational display.

“Having onboard fishing-specific data showing the areas of the ocean where pelagic species of fish are most likely to congregate is seen as a true ‘game changer’ by offshore anglers,” Leech told Radio World.

“SiriusXM Marine Weather helps boaters stay away from dangerous weather so they can enjoy their time on the water, and Fish Mapping helps anglers find the best spots to fish, saving time and fuel.”

Happy customers

Finding that place where the fish are a-bitin’ is a constant question for fishing enthusiasts. SiriusXM’s Fish Mapping service harnesses science to answer this question, resulting in a lot of happy “fisherpeople,” if not happy fish.

“The ‘Fishing Recommendations’ are my favorite feature,” wrote Captain Greg Weaver of E-Fishing Sea Sport Fishing Charters in a testimonial sent to SiriusXM.

“In a recent trip, I headed out to the areas marked as recommended for wahoo. In addition to catching wahoo, I found that the area was productive with bait and I also caught tuna and marlin. Fish Mapping has already made a huge impact on where I take my charter customers.”

Dave Johnson, Mike Hatcher and Captain Tom Robinson of the fishing craft “Fixed Income” in Naples, Fla., told the company that after looking at SiriusXM’s Fish Mapping Fishing Recommendations feature on their Garmin plotter and seeing several recommended areas for wahoo, they aimed the Intrepid for one of the overlapping “fish bubble” areas about 80 miles offshore.

“We put two weighted wahoo flatlines out well behind the boat and two outriggers with skirts chugging over the wakes and trolled at 8.5 knots. We had our first wahoo on in minutes.”

Given its success in Fish Mapping, SiriusXM is understandably motivated to move into new areas beyond its core audio business.

“We are constantly exploring new and innovative services that would bring additional value to our existing and prospective subscribers,” said Geoff Leech.

The post SiriusXM Fishes for Diversification appeared first on Radio World.

Paul Schafer. Photo: Rob Schafer

This article was originally published in the June 8, 2016 issue of Radio World and posted to the Radio World website on June 10, 2016.

***

Radio World reported the passing of Paul Schafer earlier. This article is a more detailed story about his life.

Paul Schafer, who is called a father of radio programming automation technology, died this winter in Bonita, Calif., following complications from a fall. He was 90.

Schafer spent virtually his entire life in broadcasting, receiving his first FCC license as a teenager in 1942 and being hired to do on-air work the same year by WJOB in his hometown of Hammond, Ind. The following year he moved on to Fort Wayne’s WOWO where he had a chance to ply his engineering skills. After time out for World War II military service in the U.S. Army’s Signal Corp. division, he joined WANE in Fort Wayne, dividing his time between equipment maintenance, selling time and pulling air shifts. He eventually left Indiana for Virginia, where he was employed as chief engineer and assistant manager at Norfolk’s WNOR.

Schafer’s big career break came in 1951 with a move to California and employment at the network level as a summer relief engineer with NBC’s Hollywood broadcast operation. He worked with some of the biggest movie and radio talent of the day at NBC and later remarked that he had had a chance to be involved in “the last of the golden years in radio.”

Schafer poses with one of his transmitter remote control units in a 1950’s photo. Photo: Rob Schafer

Pioneered Transmitter Remote Control
It was during his stint at NBC that the FCC began to relax rules on transmitter operation, allowing certain classes of stations to operate without an operator at the transmitter site, as long as a licensed engineer could control and monitor operations from the station’s studio location. With the assistance of another NBC engineer, Bill Amidon, Schafer soon devised a remote control system that met commission requirements, and installed the first such unit at Oakland, Calif.’s KROW in 1953.

The introduction of this product marked the beginning of the Schafer Custom Engineering business. (Later the name was changed to Schafer Electronics.)

A few years after the launch of the remote control system, the National Association of Broadcasters used it in an extensive field testing program to test the viability of remote control for additional classes of radio stations. The NAB ultimately convinced the FCC to further relax rules governing operation of broadcast transmitters.

First Radio Program Automation
In 1956, Schafer was approached by the owner of KGEE in Bakersfield, Calif., to see if he could devise a system to provide overnight programming content without the involvement of a human operator on duty, thus allowing the station to further economize on operational expenses, as transmitter control and logging had already been remoted by Schafer.

The delivery of a package built around Seeburg jukebox 45 rpm record changer mechanisms and some Ampex reel-to-reel tape decks for playback of commercials and station IDs marked Schafer Electronics’ entry into the program automation business. This first system would be considered crude in comparison to later automation packages delivered by Schafer, but it marked the launch of a completely new technology in the broadcasting industry.

One of the Schafer Custom Engineering mobile automation system showcases used to demonstrate the product outside of trade shows. Photo: Rob Schafer

Schafer and his engineering staff went on to develop increasingly more versatile and sophisticated program automation systems, including the Model 903 that appeared in the 1970s and became an industry standard. His name became synonymous with radio automation and his client base eventually grew to more than 1,000, with systems installed at radio operations all over the world.

Schafer’s automation systems were marketed by Collins Radio, Gates (later Harris and now GatesAir), RCA and others, as they had no similar products of their own. Schafer Electronics’ latest creations were a big part of the NAB Show for many years. However, Schafer was aware that not all broadcasters were able to attend such trade shows and outfitted several busses and motor homes with his systems and went “on the road” to demonstrate the value of program automation to management and engineering staff at smaller stations across the United States.

Schafer sold Schafer Electronics in 1968, but launched a new business the following year, Schafer International. In the mid-’80s he founded a third business, Schafer Digital, which was involved in the development of PC-based program automation and traffic systems.

Stereo FM Validation
Schafer was tapped by the FCC in the 1960s — when AM radio was still king — to assist the commission in proving the worthiness of FM to broadcasters through some intensive field testing of the newly-adopted U.S. FM stereo broadcasting standard. (Part of the testing involved transmission of a stereo audio pair by satellite.)

Paul Schafer received the Radio Engineering Achievement Award from the National Association of Broadcasters in 2002. He is shown with NAB’s Lynn Claudy.

According to Schafer, the NAB also had a hand in the testing and demonstrations, as that organization believed that the U.S. FM stereo standard should be adopted worldwide.

He was honored with the NAB’s 2002 Engineering Achievement Award and authored a chapter on remote control for one of that organization’s Engineering Handbooks. Schafer was also the owner of a number of radio stations. His family included five children

A private ceremony to celebrate Schafer’s life is planned for June 18.

The post Paul Schafer Was a Father of Radio Automation appeared first on Radio World.

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND — One of the leading privately held radio and outdoor media companies in the Pacific Rim has licensed Veritone, Inc.‘s AI-driven application that brings real-time insights into data-driven advertising performance.

Be sure to follow RBR+TVBR on Twitter for the latest Breaking News first!

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In mid-August, RBR+TVBR first reported on the purchase of construction permits for low-power television stations located in the Southernmost City in the United States and in the heart of the Coachella Valley, respectively, by The E.W. Scripps Co.

That deal, brokered by Bob Heymann of the Chicago office of Media Services Group, has just closed.

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There are several ways to employ “cultural insights” to help brands gain the right amount of intelligence to solve the larger questions surrounding the consumer — and the marketing campaign surrounding a brand.

With the right insights, marketers can create solutions for today, and also shape how their media buy looks. In this column, brand strategist Whitney Dunlap-Fowler offers her expert analysis of how the right cultural insights can be best used for one’s branding needs.

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He was inducted into the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2004, thanks to his time at a Top 40 giant in the Twin Cities and, later, at Nationwide Communications. Upon his 2002 retirement, he ran Saga Communications’ Champaign and Springfield, Ill., properties.

Now, the life of Dale Weber is being recalled by the radio industry, as the former executive has died.

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A group of Capitol Hill Democrats in both the House and Senate made it clear this week that they want legislation adopted that would force WWOR-9 in Secaucus, N.J., owned by FOX, to turn its attention away from the Big Apple and focus instead on the Garden State.

Interestingly, little was mentioned about the “New Jersey News Network,” operating on co-channel signals covering Northern New Jersey and the five boroughs of the City of New York.

Perhaps they knew about its sale, as that’s just been consummated. Who’s the buyer?

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Add Saga Communications to the growing calendar of media companies that will be releasing their third quarter financial results during the first week of November.

Be sure to follow RBR+TVBR on Twitter, so you’ll get Breaking News as it happens.

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Travel to the north of Stillwater, Okla., via U.S. Highway 177, and you’ll reach Ponca City. It’s home to the Pioneer Woman Museum, and a museum devoted to regional gasoline brand Conoco.

It’s also home to the broadcasting, news, sports, and media entertainment platform operating under the Ponca Post brand. Until now, two radio brands have been under Ponca Post’s operations. Soon, two more will be added to the mix.

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Here’s another warning to MVPDs from a global market intelligence organization regarding the continued wave of “cord cutting” inflicting harm on the cable and DBS service provider’s growth prospects in the near-term.

“Video cord cutting is expected to strip nearly $33.6 billion in annual revenue from traditional U.S. multichannel services” by the end of 2025.

That’s according to a report released this week by Kagan.

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