Intelligence Briefs

By far, the three subjects noted in this Media Information Bureau column by Ken Benner cover 95% of the inquiries this "Mock" Inspection Program pro receives. The query associated with fines, fees and forfeitures? "What can I do to prevent the consequences?" Here are some suggestions that could save your stations thousands of dollars in payments to the United States Treasury and/or the FCC.

Sometimes, paving the road to future success requires a look back at what made a product desirable for years, or decades. Veteran radio programming consultant Clark Smidt believes much of what worked for radio station owners in the 1960s and 1970s still applies today. In his view, many of the owners of radio stations today are prime candidates for a trip back to the past to ensure a formidable future.

What exactly is government’s role in addressing misinformation online? That's a question Logan Circle Strategies President and AEI visiting fellow Shane Tews addresses in this column. In an era of "fake news," this could be of keen interest to your TV station or radio news department.

As the world digested the news of the death of the "Queen of Soul," RBR+TVBR opted to play the music of Aretha Franklin in tribute to her astounding contributions to music over six decades of recording industry prowess. It took an Urban One station based in Detroit and its iHeartRadio competitor to satisfy our needs.

Believe it or not, Pandora remains the most popular music streaming service in the U.S. But, that will change in the coming years, a new forecast focused on digital audio listeners from eMarketer finds.

One of the most striking takeaways from a letter signed by 10 leaders of radio broadcasting companies that fully backs a NAB proposal to loosen the FCC's ownership restrictions is a claim that, with fewer owners in a market, greater programming options exist. Is this a bogus claim, or is this a factual statement that simply can't be argued, because it's wholly true? It depends on what market you're in, and how one defines "format diversity."

Determining audience “identity” has become a major priority over the past year for U.S. marketers, many of whom plan to increase their investment in finding and developing identity solutions. What might this mean for your radio or TV station group? A newly released study from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) based on research conducted by Winterberry Group could provide some fresh answers.

If customers like data portability and companies want to provide it, then it’s a win-win. But legislating portability in the name of enhancing competition is problematic and far more complicated than policymakers may realize, AEI visiting scholar and FCC influencer Mark Jamison writes in this column.

Social is positioning itself as "a definitive source for video" and as the primary portal to the web for younger audiences. That's just some of the eye-opening findings from the just-released State of Social Video study from creative tech firm VidMob. This illuminating research study could be a game-changer for your content developers as well as your sales execs.

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?

For the first five years he conducted Alternative FCC Compliance Certification inspections, 90% of the questions Ken Benner was asked pertained to FCC-required public files. As he notes in this exclusive Media Information Bureau column, some 90% of the radio station personnel he worked with "had virtually no idea of what was required or where to turn to become compliant."

"Have you ever wondered how radio, television and other media outlets decide what shows to broadcast or to cancel?" That's the opening pitch in a letter randomly received last week at a Florida household from Nielsen. Here's the scoop on how the nation's dominant audience measurement company seeks PPM panelists.

The world has never been more connected, and U.S. audiences have never had as many options to access content as they do these days. In short, consumers in the U.S. seem like they can’t get enough content, and the possibilities for marketers to reach them, while fragmented, is an opportunity that is just too good to pass on. That's the key takeaway from the Q1 2018 Nielsen Total Audience Report.

The FCC today selected a new Chief Economist, and in doing so chose a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute — the think-tank that directed the FCC's transition following the 2016 presidential election. Another prominent figure at the AEI is Roslyn Layton, who writes in this column about the importance of the Commission's mid-band spectrum strategy.

Patrick Communications Managing Partner Larry Patrick is in the news today for his brokerage firm's representation of the buyer of a trio of radio stations from Alpha Media. As that deal was being finalized, Patrick took a moment while at his part-time Wyoming home prior to a trip to Washington, D.C., to collect his thoughts on a radio industry combatant many not often thing of. Could you be a guilty party?