Intelligence Briefs

A big hire at Cumulus Media prompted our editor-in-chief to access the TuneIn app, and start streaming one of its stations. That's when something struck us: How did we know that we could stream WDVD on TuneIn, and not Radio.com or iHeartMedia? This only begs the following question: Why can't the industry unite and support Radioplayer?

As people’s consumption of media has fragmented across devices over the past 10 years, many have returned to the living room to watch video programming, FreeWheel reports. But, are viewers watching your TV station?

You've seen it. Your morning show hosts have likely discussed it.  That horribly embarrassing Zoom gone wrong has become the stuff of lore. How can you prevent a repeat of these Zoom fails? Veteran PR executive Rosemary Ravinal has some great advise to share on avoiding your next e-meeting from becoming the latest social media humor vehicle.

Monday's global ONE21 gathering offered marketers a showcase of the insights, stories, technology and data into how the entire Comcast NBCUniversal Sky family sees commerce shaping the connection between content and advertising.

With Thursday's announcement that the National Football League has handed exclusive rights for "Thursday Night Football" match-ups to Amazon, respected Wall Street analyst Michael Nathanson has some "significant takeways" that need to be discussed.

The U.S. broadcast station industry, in particular TV companies, enjoyed record 2020 political revenue. That income is now gone for four years, and broadcast media has what Kagan analyst Justin Nielson calls "a transitional year" ahead. Keep those seatbelts fastened, and keep expenses under control, folks: It may not be time yet for quarterly comps to 2019.

Tied to the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA)'s reintroduction in Congress was a Friday House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law hearing titled "Reviving Competition, Part 2: Saving the Free and Diverse Press." On behalf of the NAB, which supports the JCPA, Graham Media Group head Emily Barr testified.

Andrew Curran, President/COO of DMR/Interactive, has penned an "open letter" to radio that takes aim at the industry's unfulfilled opportunity to attract women between 18 and 49 years of age who are struggling to hold their families and careers together. And, he's provided RBR+TVBR with an exclusive addendum to his widely distributed comments.

Challenge the status quo. Transform long-held beliefs and behaviors. Build a more equitable future, together. Businesses can help lead the way toward racial equity and our perspective can help you drive the change.

Cavell, Mertz & Associates President Garrison Cavell and retired attorney Erwin Krasnow have made suggestions on assessing station potential from the technical side and deciphering station coverage maps. They then explored treasures that might be found in Cyberspace. Today, they take a look at tire kicking.

It may seem obvious that corporations in the broadcasting field need to keep their records in order and up to date. According to communications law experts John A. Knab and Erwin G. Krasnow, it is not only surprising how many fail in this enterprise, but also how much it ends up costing them.

Despite a pandemic, 2020 marked the fifth consecutive year of growth for the music industry. To little surprise, paid subscription services continued to be the primary driver of revenue increases and reached a record number of subscriptions. Revenues from recorded music measured at wholesale value grew 8.9%.

During its “Stream On” event, Spotify announced that it plans to launch a Hi-Fi streaming plan offering lossless streaming in CD quality later this year in selected markets. This announcement is significant. But, is it noteworthy and of concern to radio broadcasting companies in the U.S. and Canada?

With the last broadcast transaction of the year the broadcast deal volume for 2020 passed the $1 billion line, closing with a total of $1.02 billion. That's an 87% drop from 2019, Volker Mörbitz of S&P Global Market Intelligence notes, clearly highlighting the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is, however, a volume 27% higher than that of 2010.

"Radio is one of the best performing media to help brands recover from a recession." Really? For broadcasters across Great Britain, that seems to be the case, new research from Ebiquity indicates. What learning lessons are there for U.S. radio broadcasting companies that can't seem to propel themselves out of the COVID-19 bog?