Intelligence Briefs

Here's something you may find weird: The time spent watching television increased across 2020. Yet, eMarketer analysis finds, viewership "plummeted" last year. The data suggest television was punished by COVID-19 in very much the same way broadcast Radio was.

The Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio (MIW) Group has just released its 2020 Annual Gender Analysis study. It tracks the career progress of women in radio broadcasting rising to the ranks of management. "Even with the unpredictability of 2020, you will still see glimmers of hope within the findings," they say.

GroupM released a blog post on Friday that shares more details on how it is operationalizing data ethics with a proprietary scoring logic, criteria, and standardization tool. The topic could be of key interest to broadcast TV and radio executives. As such, we are sharing it in its entirety to RBR+TVBR Members.

In this Media Information Bureau column, veteran programming consultant Clark Smidt writes about "Smooth transitions, new styles, new challenges, adjustments, attitude, cooperation and teamwork." It could prove to be a catalyst for positive growth at your radio or TV stations.

The deadline to file the 2020 Annual Children’s Television Programming Report with the FCC is Saturday, January 30, reflecting programming aired during the 2020 calendar year. But, since this date falls on a weekend, you have until the end of day Monday to make your submissions, Scott and Lauren Flick of Pillsbury Law note.

A new report from Pivotal Research Group Senior Research Analyst of Internet and Media Michael Levine notes that, while impressive, the Q4 2020 results Facebook shared pale in comparison to something even more eye-popping. That would be Facebook's first-half revenue projections for 2021.

As summer turned to autumn and fall turned to winter, Americans once again found themselves in front of their screens with few linear options — aside from live news and sports. In contrast, Nathanson says, consumers had access to "an unlimited bouquet of increasingly excellent streaming content choices." Is broadcast TV losing the content war to "SVOD"?

"Linear TV viewing is at a crossroads, given the shift away from scheduled, appointment viewing on TV, but consumers are voracious when it comes to wanting to stay informed," Nielsen says in a new report released for the virtual NATPE Miami conference. "That elevates the opportunity for news programming across local, national and cable."

Four years ago, the AEI played a key role in establishing a policy and regulatory path for an FCC under Republican Party control, led by Chairman Ajit Pai. As AEI visiting scholar Mark Jamison looks back on the Commission's Trump-era actions, he believes Pai will be remembered "as one of the most consequential Federal Communications Commission chairmen in history."

Although headphones were already trending upwards, COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home rules has accelerated the adoption. The rise of remote working, remote schooling and the growth of gaming have all made their positive contributions, too. What’s more, there’s further potential from health and hearing augmentation use cases, this Futuresource analyst says.

Even as social media companies struggle to combat misleading information on their platforms, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that 53% of adult American respondents receive their news on social media sites “often,” or “sometimes.” And, of the 11 social media sites asked about as regular sources of news in the study, Facebook sits on top.

New research from groupM finds that more than half of its respondents believe it is important to be equipped with the latest technology. An even greater percentage of respondents think that either they or a family member should be the only ones with access to health and fitness tracker data -- an interesting privacy concern that media companies may wish to take note of, for slightly different reasons.

There will be nearly 2 billion active subscriptions to on-demand video services in 2025. That's the key finding of a new report by U.K.-based research and analytical services firm Juniper Research -- and good news for broadcast TV station owners.

Bell Media has adopted its third national radio brand, ditching local branding known for years in such markets as Vancouver for a name that's clearly designed to attract advertisers across the nation of Canada. It's something seen in Australia and Great Britain, to some extent, too. Our editor wonders when U.S. radio groups will follow suit in this commentary.

There may be more timeless music than ever, and not playing it could be costing your radio stations revenue, Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson notes in this Classic Media Information Bureau column worth a fresh read.