Intelligence Briefs

As noted by the IAB, digital advertising is the No. 1 advertising medium in the U.S. According to eMarketer, TV advertising came in at $71.3 billion. Recon Analytics cannot underestimate the significance of this event, and in this Media Information Bureau intelligence brief, notes that advertisers demanding efficiency and effectiveness measurements "have voted with their wallets to make digital advertising the biggest spend category." What does this mean for you?

An increasingly competitive commercial environment, with intense competition for audiences and advertising revenue from other media companies, has led to the end of broadcasting license fees and datacasting charges. Furthermore, there's been a repeal of the "two out of three" and 75% audience reach media ownership rules. G'day, readers: This is what's happening in Australia.

Now that Pandora has its long-awaited subscription-based on-demand platform, can it help the streaming audio company grow? What about iHeartRadio, or Spotify, or Tidal, or ... You get it, the market is crowded. Yet, Glenn Peoples, Pandora Media's Music Insights and Analytics chief, is convinced big growth is set to happen between now and 2021. Is he crazy, or is he right on the money?

Quite some time ago, Erwin Krasnow, partner at Washington, D.C. law firm Garvey Schubert Barer, wrote a poem. The subject: deregulation. Given the push by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Republican Commissioner Michael O'Rielly to rid broadcasters of what they perceive is unnecessary rules and restrictions, Krasnow revisited his poem.

For all of the chatter about how AM and FM radio station access via a smart home device could be a godsend for a stagnant industry, one tech expert at the 2017 NAB Show has thought little about connecting radio's audio streams to "internet of things" technology powered by voice commands. This may present an opportunity for a unified radio push.

In a blog post appearing at Medium and distributed by Pandora, the company's Music Insights and Analytics chief, Glenn Peoples, notes that with the streaming audio company's long-awaited rollout of its on-demand, subscription-based Pandora Premium, there are three tiers and, thus, three ways for artists and labels to connect with listeners and earn royalties. There are also a few different ways royalties get to artists and labels, and Peoples explains just how Sirius XM and AM and FM radio differ from Pandora.

The mid-week news regarding ESPN was bleak: Some 100 layoffs were seen for the sports brand across TV and radio. Yet, one top Wall Street financial analyst says sports programming hasn't lost its importance to traditional TV networks. "As a genre, it represents an outsized source of costs, revenues and strategic leverage between networks and distributors," says this analyst. Learn more about why sports' Power Ratio hasn't ebbed for TV in this Media Information Bureau report.

What does FCC Chairman Ajit Pai have to say about the future of internet regulation? Bret Swanson, a Visiting Fellow at AEI's Center for Internet, Communications, and Technology Policy and president of Entropy Economics LLC, a strategic research firm specializing in technology, may offer a perfect glimpse into Pai's pro-commerce thoughts on "net neutrality," with this Media Information Bureau column.

If you are thinking about selling your station and want to make sure that you receive top dollar, Erwin Krasnow, the co-chair of the Communications Group of D.C. law form Garvey Schubert Barer, and Doug Ferber, a respected media financial consultant have some recommendations for you to consider before placing your property on the market.

Mark Jamison, a visiting Fellow with the American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communication, and Technology who serves as Director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida, has been vocal about his desire to reform the FCC. In this Media Information Bureau column, Jamison hopes Chairman Ajit Pai and his colleagues "continue to fight back and return the agency to its former solid analytical footing" — and away from "regulation by drama."

Thomas Sydnor, a Visiting Fellow with AEI’s Center for Internet, Communications, and Technology Policy, thinks so. In this Media Information Bureau column that's a must-read for every C-Suite executive in the radio industry, Sydnor believes such legislation is in the "legal, national, and economic interests of the U.S."

At the 2017 NAB Show, NextRadio will make some big announcements. This is likely to include news that the App that brings live and local radio is getting a new streaming audio version for iOS-powered devices. This couldn't be more important, based on the latest smartphone OS data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. Why? The Android OS is very uncool with U.S. mobile phone users — especially teens.

Broadcast media is at a crossroads. Consumers are swarming to new opportunities that maximize content and minimize advertising. While ad buying and selling remain a vital part of the radio industry's lifeblood, quick decisions must be made in order to maintain success for advertisers and broadcasters alike. Drew Hilles believes he has a solution.

In early 2011, this D.C. Communications lawyer warned broadcasters that the FCC was not the only Washington regulatory agency that had to be on their radar. At the time, he was talking about the Federal Trade Commission. Given the widespread, now critically important use of social media, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the EEOC) has emerged as another agency one must have on their radar, at all times. We revisit this lawyer's words, as they continue to resonate with the media industry's C-Suite.

Understanding how Gen Z is disrupting television viewing habits is crucial to the success of networks, cable, streaming services and online video hubs. New York-based market researcher Robin Hafitz dissects this increasingly important consumer segment's consumption habits in this exclusive Media Information Bureau column for RBR + TVBR.