Philip Falcone‘s re-emergence as the CEO of Sovryn Holdings, following his not-so-savory split with HC2 Holdings in June 2020, has captured headlines across 2021.
Under his leadership, HC2 was a buyer. Now, Sovryn is shaping up to be an acquisition player, too.
Falcone has just signed off on paperwork that will bring him a Big Apple low-power TV property.
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The author is program director of Worship 24/7.
With a new studio comes a new console, and with a new console comes new furniture. Usually in that order.
After years of streaming Worship 24/7 and with a broadcast license finally in hand, we started construction in mid-2019 on our new broadcast studio in Wilsonville, Ore.
A generous donor had given us funding for one studio. We have a 24/7 Christian music station that we stream online and broadcast on KURT 93.7 MHz near Portland, KTDD 104.9 MHz near Seattle and more recently, KJOQ 100.9 MHz in Duluth, Minn.
We ordered a new Wheatstone Lightning analog/digital hybrid console and started mapping out where to put the automation PC, the monitors for automation and production software, and where we’d seat the occasional guests. We quickly realized that furniture from Staples wasn’t going to cut it. We needed a workspace that could hide the PC and various auxiliary boxes below the console, one that would have enough space on the surface for monitors and a console, not to mention a seating area for our guests.
Luckily, we found what we were looking for from the same place we ordered our console.
QuickLine furniture made by Wheatstone has five modular components that I’m told can be made into 32 different configurations. That’s important when you have one studio and there’s a good chance you’ll be moving things around over time.
The QuickLine desk was delivered to us as knock-down modules for shipping purposes. Modules are made of high-pressure laminate on all sides. It came with all the hardware and decent assembly instructions, which made it a simple matter to install the five modules the way we wanted them. We set it up so that the board op could easily see all our monitors to the side and center and with a large wing to the other side where we mounted a microphone for our guests.
Unlike furniture we might have picked up at an office store, we have standard equipment racks made specifically for broadcast and punch block holes where we needed them, which made it fairly easy to route the PC cabling for the monitors and the console cabling.
We are pleased with the rounded countertop corners and the flow of having a central workspace with the guest position off to the side. Concealed hinges were a bonus, and the fact that it was cost-effective was certainly a consideration.
We plan to add another studio at some future point but, for now, we are getting the most out of the studio we have and feel confident that as we grow into this studio, this desk will change with us.
Info: Contact Jay Tyler at Wheatstone at 1-252-638-7000 or visit www.wheatstone.com.
Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.
The post User Report: Wheatstone Furniture Fills Bill for Worship 24/7 appeared first on Radio World.
A veteran global news executive whose rise in television came in Australia has been appointed to the role of EVP/News Operations and Transformation, CBS News and Stations.
He’ll report to CBS News and Stations Presidents and Co-Heads Wendy McMahon and Neeraj Khemlani in a newly created senior leadership role, in which he will be responsible for “reimagining and aligning” the News Operations and Engineering functions across CBS News and Stations.
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iHeartMedia is asking for “a targeted, moderate approach” to changing local radio ownership rules in the United States.
It says the Federal Communications Commission should eliminate the limits on how many AM stations one entity can own in a market, but that it should retain current limits on FMs.
This position, which iHeart had laid out before and is reiterating now, puts the largest U.S. radio company in opposition to the National Association of Broadcasters on this issue.
NAB too would lift the AM subcap, but it wants the FCC to allow an entity to own up to eight commercial FM stations in Nielsen markets 1 through 75, and up to 10 if the licensee participates in the FCC’s incubator program. NAB also wants no cap on FM ownership in markets 76 and smaller.
A licensee currently can own up to eight stations in the largest Nielsen markets but no more than five in one service (AM or FM).
iHeart is worried that “potentially catastrophic harm” could befall AM stations were the FCC to adopt NAB’s proposal to substantially deregulate the FM band.
“The paramount importance of AM radio stations to localism, the trustworthiness of our nation’s communications and information infrastructure, and the continuing financial disparity between AM and FM stations in the relevant broadcast radio market warrant that the existing local radio common ownership limits be eliminated for AM stations but retained for FM stations,” it wrote.
It also says that by maintaining the FM subcap limits, the commission will ensure that financial incentives essential to the success of its Incubator Program remain in place. “The commission should be guided by the overarching principle of doing no harm.”
iHeartMedia has previously expressed concern about relaxing limits on FM ownership, saying it would lead to further devaluation of AM stations and hurt AM owners, including women and minorities, by destroying the financial value of those assets.
In this regard IHM is in agreement with the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB), which has told the FCC that any move to relax the limits on local ownership would increase consolidation and hurt African Americans and other minority station owners and entrepreneurs.
[“NABOB Opposes Lifting Subcaps”]
iHeart also noted that it recently launched the Black Information Network as a national audio news service with a Black perspective and voice, and that it “already has repurposed more than 30 local stations serving large Black populations, the majority of which are AM stations …”
The FCC requested comments to refresh the record in its quadrennial review of media ownership limits. Reply comments are due Oct. 1 (Docket No. 18-349).
The post iHeart Says Lifting FM Subcaps Could Devastate AM Band appeared first on Radio World.
That’s a question financial blog Simply Wall St. is asking about the audio media company that’s home to Cadence13, Pineapple Street and what had been the Radio.com app until its rebranding to Audacy.
With the company’s shares on the NYSE sputtering of late, it’s an interesting look at “who really controls” the company formerly known as Entercom.
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Ivis Alexis Padilla believes in the power of Hispanic radio. As such, the media company she manages has just struck a deal to purchase an AM radio station in Durham, N.C.
It happens to be a station the Winston Salem-based broadcasting company led by Stuart Epperson Jr. acquired in December 2020 from Mark Janbakhsh‘s TBLC Media.
It’s the best Hispanic Radio Conference ever, and you won’t want to miss a minute of it.
To learn more, simply click here.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau have a reminder for all full power and Class A TV stations assigned transition completion dates in phases 1-5 of the Transition Scheduling Plan, and for repacked stations that were granted permission to transition prior to the phase 1 testing period.
If you want a reimbursement check, don’t hesitate.
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Quietly, and with hardly any media attention whatsoever, the FCC late Friday (9/3) released its Fifth Report on the ownership of broadcast media stations in the U.S.
It tabulates 2019 biennial ownership data from FCC Form 323 and form 323-E, and the latest findings led Democratic FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks to react. In his view, the data only strengthen the need for action on the “lack of progress” toward increasing the number of owners who are women and/or people of color.
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Audacy plans 47 volunteer events nationally to support sustainability.
The coordinated campaign is part of the company’s “1Day1Thing” initiative.
“Projects including tree planting, park and waterway cleanups, recycling projects and habitat restoration, among others,” it said.
[Read: Audacy Recaps Q2 Earnings]
Jaimie Field, the company’s director of sustainability, said in a press release: “We’re proud to use our voice to move people to make simple changes in their daily habits to protect our planet.”
The company is working with organizations like Blue Water Baltimore, Chattahoochee River Keepers, Central Park Conservatory, Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Wildlands Trust in Boston, Farmers Assisting Returning Military in Dallas and Grow Good in Los Angeles.
It posted a full list on the corporate website.
The post Audacy Highlights Volunteerism With “1Day1Thing” appeared first on Radio World.
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