Radio News

On July 1, 2020, a management and programming agreement was reached that allowed a Class A Classic Hits station serving the tiny towns of Twisp and Winthrop to greatly expand its reach in Eastern Washington. Now, the station that has been the simulcast partner is seeing a change in control within its ownership, FCC documents show.

It's a 98,000-watt Class C FM serving North Texas and since April 27, 2001 has offered sports talk programming. Now, "ESPN Dallas" will soon be saying farewell to this over-the-air home. VCY America is agreeing to purchase the station.

In May, RBR+TVBR reported on the $3.8 million sale of a valued commercially zoned chunk of land between downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg, by iHeartMedia. With the land sale, a relocation of the company's Tampa Bay market operations was put into motion. It is now known where stations including "933 FLZ" and "98Rock" will be headquartered.

The SVP of Broadcast at the parent of both DTS and HD Radio sits in with RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson to offer a preview of sorts for CES 2022, which includes a January 6 invitation-only Radio Reception presented in part by Xperi. LISTEN HERE

Want to chime in on MB Docket No. 21-422? You have more time to do so, as the Media Bureau has just extended the comment and reply comment deadlines for its FM Directional Antenna Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).

To the surprise of no one, Hubbard-owned all-News WTOP in Washington is the No. 1 station in the U.S., with respect to billing and total ad revenue seen in 2020. The data came at the same time as a report showing nearly 800 licensees as having left the radio broadcasting industry since 2019. As one broker sees it, however, it's much ado about nothing. We've got a RBR+TVBR Observation on that topic.

The Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus is to blame. Is this a warning sign that event revenue for broadcast radio remains shaky for an industry that has experienced a much slower recovery from the depths of the pandemic than broadcast television?

Just past 7:20am local time on Monday, a trio of FM signals serving a popular Colorado ski resort region were heard playing tunes from Post Malone and The Weeknd; Todd Rundgren; and Zac Brown Band. Will this continue in 2022, as the three radio brands are being spun to a new ownership group?

That's a question noted Washington, D.C. communications attorney David Oxenford asks, as he shares details of a new joint letter posted on the Radio Music License Committee website. In it, it is stated that GMR and the RMLC are discussing a settlement of their long-running litigation over the royalties that the commercial radio industry will pay for the public performance of music written by GMR composers.

For the last several years, Roy E. Henderson has been authorized by the FCC to move an FM radio station in Texas to a frequency another broadcaster wants to use. As Henderson hasn't acted on the facilities move, the FCC is being asked to negate his authorization, hand the signal to the other licensee, and allow that licensee to launch a whole new second FM.

With a commitment to continuing to help publishers around the globe grow their podcast businesses, Spotify has moved forward with the acquisition of an Australian podcast technology platform that the company says gives independent creators, publishers, broadcasters and brands "a cost effective, end-to-end platform to host, distribute, monetize and track on-demand audio."

Susie Hedrick, the Chief Executive Officer at vCreative, last appeared on the InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM, in August 2020. She’s returned today to discuss CES 2022 and Radio industry interest in this massive tech-focused event. LISTEN HERE

In April 2016, the FCC cancelled the license of an FM radio station that had planned to serve African American listeners in Gainesville, Fla., through a new facility it held a Construction Permit for. The facility wasn't built, as a shift from a Class C3 to a Class A FM never happened. The licensee still wants the Commission to reconsider the decision. It won't.

The nation's No. 1 radio station owner, by count, and The CW have renewed their multi-year partnership. What does this mean? The CW will remain the exclusive television broadcast and video streaming partner for both the iHeartRadio Music Festival and the annual holiday iHeartRadio Jingle Ball.

That's what some began asking upon reading a filing with a Nevada Federal bankruptcy court overseeing the fate of three FM radio stations once licensed to Royce International Broadcasting, the company led by embattled radio station owner Ed Stolz. However, attorneys for the man presently in control of the FM trio say such a suggestion is not accurate.