Media Info Bureau

The recent announcement from the FCC advising the proposed expansion of the Equal Employment Opportunity FCC office with additional staff and lawyers has many licensees on edge. Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner has some things to say about it.

The industry has a limited amount of tower crews, consulting engineers and other expertise. The time crunch tied to the post-Spectrum Auction repack process means they, and the stations that hire them, will spend the next few years scrambling to manage their repacked schedules, notes one active member in the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society in this exclusive column to RBR+TVBR.

Broadcasters are making big investments in the future of television, pivoting from the sales-dominated culture that has driven success over the past several decades to data-driven, technology-focused people and systems that will drive success in the future.  Although broadcast continues to experience revenue growth, the growth isn’t as predictable as it used to be. 

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.

Media Information Bureau columnist Kelly Orchard is back with a column focused on broadcast media's continuing battle for relevance. In a world full of instant at-your-fingertips media choices, does anybody have "the" solution to keep broadcast media relevant?

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.

To stay abreast of the latest in ad sales training, Ryan Dhorn often listens in on fellow sales coaches to learn and observe.  "What seems so odd to me is the lack of common sense in what is being taught today," he laments. Here, Dhorn shares why the need to "perfect your pitch" is so off base that he's amazed that people still try and teach this age-old way of selling. 

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?