Media Info Bureau

What is the common denominator to successfully serve its community of license for any broadcast operation? Here's the answer, courtesy of featured columnist Ken Benner, who has tallied at least 2,000 station visits.

With more choices than ever for visual entertainment, there’s still this thing called “broadcast television,” featuring free over-the-air channels with a plethora of local and network programming. Nexstar founder and CEO Perry Sook is confident in his belief that broadcast television has a bright future.

New data from the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) show a huge jump in the number of adults aged 25-34 streaming video. Today, 9 out of 10 people in this age group are streaming something they can watch.

Who will have control as voice "pervades" the Smart Home? That was the subject of a panel moderated by Futuresource Director of Research Simon Bryant at the British media research firm's recent Audio Collaborative event in London.

Something doesn't add up for one longtime radio industry observer and former big-market OM: If one growing operator of AM and FM stations is making "big money" running less spots, then why is it cutting 11 jobs? It's a good question to ask as Hiring and Firing Season is upon us.

Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner is again sharing ways a radio or TV station licensee can avoid paying needless FCC fines and consent decree payments to the U.S. Treasury. In this column, Benner discusses two must-have guides for saving money.

Six years ago, Seth Godin noted the difference between the perception and the reality among professionals regarding their allocation of time in operating their business.  He used professional photographers to illustrate his point that managing time and resources involves trade-offs, but it certainly extends to entrepreneurs and leaders in any field. We revisit his points today.

Pass the turkey ... and the credit card. PwC’s 2018 Holiday Outlook suggests that a steady shift in attitudes about Thanksgiving Day shopping is underway: more than 70% of respondents saying they plan to shop on the actual holiday, rather than on Black Friday.

Is your radio or TV station seeking to lure teens and young adults through apps exclusively available through the Google Play store on Android-powered smartphone? Good luck with that. A new Piper Jaffray study shows that with teens, it is all about Apple.

What do "junk faxes" have to do with the level of acquiescence to federal agencies -- including the FCC -- in interpreting the statutes they administer? As Boston College Law School associate professor and AEI visiting scholar Daniel Lyons writes, it has everything to do with FCC deference.

Across the final weeks of 2017, one of the nation's largest retailers weaved its way back to radio by investing in a holiday season campaign that very much included the medium. With 2018 efforts expected to appear in the next Media Monitors reports, Walmart is emerging as an e-retailing giant -- something radio GSMs and AEs may wish to take note of.

Stream this, radio and TV C-Suiters: With an estimated 270 million Americans viewing their smartphones about 14 billion times per day, the smartphone continues to reign supreme as consumers' preferred device for online actions, as well as for controlling and monitoring many daily activities—including consumption of your stations.

Donald J. Vucasovich is a name that's not widely known among radio historians or, for that matter, many who believe they know a thing or two about the "legends" of broadcasting. Media Information Bureau featured columnist Ken Benner feels otherwise, and offers this tribute to a most gifted individual whose career includes many years on the AM radio dial in Big Sky country.

Ask anyone in the radio industry what the biggest boost has been in the past year for audience building, and you'll likely get two responses: podcasts and Smart Speakers. It is the latter that is "bringing radio back in the home." Now, there's evidence that suggests radio broadcasters' sales coffers could further grow thanks to the nascent use of Smart Speakers as a shopping tool. For that to happen, it must take eyeballs away from the top consumer shopping aide of today -- also a radio industry must.

That’s the suggestion of featured Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner, who believes the time has come for a Political Action Committee representing broadcast media. Why? It appears obvious to him that the nation's television industry executives are struggling with how to handle "their massive, unprecedented income from the midterm Congressional elections."