Now that it has the FCC’s blessing to move forward on a limited basis with program origination for minutes per hour on a FM booster — the lynchpin of “ZoneCasting” technology — the Chris Devine-founded GeoBroadcast Solutions has formed a “national advisory board” that will play “a crucial role in advising GBS leadership on innovations and market technologies that help radio broadcasters better serve their local communities, grow revenue and expand the sustainability of audio.”
The advisory board will help implement key initiatives for GBS, including “ensuring that FM booster stations utilizing GBS technology follow best practices for delivering geo-targeted programming that meets the unique needs of local communities without disrupting the primary station’s signal.”
GBs adds that the board will also work to advance public service messaging and emergency notifications, “ensuring minority communities receive relevant and customized content. “Additionally, the board will support efforts to provide minority-owned businesses with “affordable and impactful advertising opportunities on local radio stations through geo-targeting technology.”
The group of senior advisors represents “a cross-section of experienced radio, global communications, multimedia and entrepreneurial leadership.”
Or, depending on your point of view, the advisory board is comprised of longtime supporters of “ZoneCasting” who have been active voices in ex parte filings with the FCC seeking the permissive use of FM booster program origination to make the hyperlocalization of an FM signal happen.
There are no NAB members; there are no individuals from some of the most recognizable radio station ownership groups, nor is the Radio Advertising Bureau represented.
The Co-Chairs of the GeoBroadcast Solutions National Advisory Board are David Honig, President Emeritus and Florida-based Senior Advisor for the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC); and Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA).
The members of the National Advisory Board include:
- Tish Bazil, Senior Advisor to Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis
- Ryan McGinness, Senior Vice President at Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist organization R&R Partners
- Roberts Radio founder/CEO Steve Roberts, whose WRBJ-FM in Brandon, Miss., is one of two stations that served as important beta-test facilities for “ZoneCasting”
- A “respected member from the financial community” whose name was not disclosed by GBS
Additionally, the Senior Advisors of the National Advisory Board include:
- Ron Busby, Chairman and CEO of US Black Chamber of Commerce (USBC)
- Amador Bustos, President and CEO of Bustos Media
- William Lacy Clay, US Black Chamber of Commerce (USBC)
- Sherman Kizart, Founder of Kizart Media Partners
- Jim Winston, President of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB), USBC Division
With multicultural broadcasting at its core, GBS says the mission of the national advisory board is to advise it on implementing “innovative broadcast technologies that help radio broadcasters deliver geo-targeted content.”
In particular, the board will focus on ensuring that communities, “particularly minority and underserved populations, are better served through customized messaging, emergency notifications and expanded public service broadcasting.”
Additionally, GBS says, the board will help establish protocols for broadcasters to activate these systems nationwide, “ensuring that small, minority-owned businesses can seize opportunities to broadcast relevant, localized content.”
GBS adds that the “ZoneCasting” installation process is underway in Nevada.
