Media Info Bureau

There is no question that forms of online and digital media play an ever-more significant role in our lives. But what does that mean for traditional media platforms? According to Kantar Media’s DIMENSION report, traditional media isn’t going away.

The FCC recently asked how it should define "advanced communications capability." As American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Mark Jamison points out, that's broadband. He finds this a curious question, "because it presumes that the FCC should define broadband." On that note, he asks, "Don't customers define broadband every day? Why not simply watch what they do?" It's an interesting philosophy any broadcast media company actively using digital platforms should take note of.

Is it true, or false, that the heavier the modulation, the further an AM radio signal will reach? Featured Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner says it is a widespread fallacy. Yet, some radio stations remain unconvinced. The result is a cacophony of audio assailants that can perhaps be easily preventable. 

In a lengthy speech delivered today in Washington, D.C., at the Media Institute, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai discussed America's broadcasters and newspapers. He discussed social media, and the internet, as the coming of Net Neutrality has resulted in personal attacks at Pai's home against his children. This led Pai to ask, "Is social media a net benefit to American society?" His response? "Given the increasingly important role that social media plays in our daily lives, this is a question that all of us, including groups like the Media Institute, need to grapple with."

The just-released Connected Audience Report, from SalesForce, takes an up-close look at how audio and video are being consumed. How are these preferences impacting your business? What does it mean for your future growth? Talking points for your company's evolution may lie within, and we've reviewed the key highlights for you.

The D.C. Circuit has just issued a long-awaited decision involving the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). According to Scott Delacourt and Eva Reed of Wiley Rein LLP, this has "widespread implications for broadcasters and other media companies that rely on modern calling equipment (including text messaging) to reach their audiences." How could this decision, which resolves an appeal of the FCC’s 2015 Omnibus TCPA Order with a unanimous panel but a split decision on the merits, impact your radio or TV station?

What's a "deal killer"? How can you avoid them? To help best answer these questions, Garvey Schubert Barer communications attorney Erwin Krasnow and DEFCom Advisors CEO Doug Ferber created a new limited series of podcasts based on a 2017 Media Information Bureau column on this very subject. RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief is the host, and the guests are the operating partners of Community Broadcasters.

In this Media Information Bureau column, noted D.C. communications attorney Erwin Krasnow shares his insight on what the FCC's decision makers actually read, if hefty fines are truly meant to fuel the FCC budget, and if the Commissioners "have unbridled discretion to make public interest determinations," among other hot topics.

The National Marketer Advertising Marketplace gained 8% from January through June 2018. This was aided by additional revenue from the Winter Olympics and the World Cup, new data from Standard Media Index find. Looking across platforms, digital was the strongest performer. How did radio do?

"Speaking human" in business is not as easy as it sounds. What exactly what that mean? That's the subject of a column everyone in your C-Suite should read. The focus is on learning how to speak human, and striving to employ an effective "conversation marketing" approach. This, says writer Merilee Kern, can create "a lifetime value with customers, foster maximized marketplace engagement and breed brand loyalty."

Kelly Orchard returns with a tale that involves the leaders of tomorrow. The final weekend of October 2018 was spent in Seattle, at the College Broadcasters Inc. (CBI) conference. "I discovered that these young college students are excited about the prospect of getting a radio job," she writes. The column is worth a second look two years later.

Interested in the rise of voice shopping, online marketplace OnBuy.com analyzed findings from ‘VoiceBot.AI’, who surveyed 1,203 U.S. consumers to better understand the products and services they buy the most using a voice-assistant. Here's what they found.

Following a recent change of residence, our editor-in-chief invested in a $21 digital TV antenna and hooked it up to a television set in his home office. What was the result? He says it's best to perhaps stick with a MVPD if you truly want the TV service everyone deserves -- or, at least an vMVPD.

Should a radio or television broadcasting company point fingers at an alternative inspector in cases where violations are found, leading the licensee to fess to the Commission? The latest column from featured columnist Ken Benner shows why doing so is the wrong move.

The size of local businesses determines their ad buying power. That's the conclusion from the newly released U.S. SAM Survey of Advertising and Marketing from BIA Advisory Services.