Weekly News Recap May 21-25, 2018 Radio Cozies Up With Automakers On Dashboard Of The Future. After a year of stepped-up dialogue and they love them in their car—but in hybrid mobile broadband technology. between radio and automakers, the addition to AM/FM radio, not instead of it.” The A8 radio uses a technology known two industries are getting serious as “service following,” which means it about collaborating on AM/FM radio’s Job No. 1 for the NAB has been working prefers the over-the-air digital signal, presence in the connected car. This to make radio “look as good as it sounds” but will switch to an analog FM version more cooperative spirit between two in the car, Layer says. As Inside Radio of the signal if digital transmission is industries comes after the Radio reported in December 2017, alongside not available. And when FM can’t be Board of the National Association of the NAB, Jacobs Media last year received, it switches to a streaming audio Broadcasters directed the trade group to conducted an audit of radio’s visual version of the station. become more proactive in working with appearance in the connected car in three automakers. Fulfilling that mission has markets – Philadelphia, Charlotte and “Service following” is also what Experi been priority number one for NAB VP Grand Rapids. Based on the audit results, has cooked up with its proprietary DTS of Advanced Engineering David Layer, Jacobs said radio got an “incomplete” Connected Radio platform, which became working with a group of consultants that score and suggests that the industry available for automotive integration at the includes Jacobs Media president Fred has more work to do. At the 2017 Radio beginning of this month in North America, Jacobs, along with John Ellis, the former Show, the NAB rolled out a digital dash Europe and Asia, although Experi hasn’t head of Ford’s Developer Program. report and best practices guide and has yet announced any auto partners. Layer and his team have become regulars since been encouraging radio groups to at the big auto shows and conferences audit their appearance on the dash and One hurdle to making hybrid radio a get busy implementing the report’s best reality is getting carmakers to adopt a practices. standardized platform. To that end, the NAB is working with GENIVI Alliance, Beyond ensuring that radio’s digital which collaborates with hardware and screen appearance in the car is consistent software companies to develop open with its streaming and satellite radio source platforms for automakers to use competitors, the industry and the NAB in their infotainment systems. As part of are working to evolve and innovate the its Pilot program, the NAB is working with in-car radio experience. Those efforts the consortium to incorporate hybrid radio currently are focused on what’s known features into their platforms. as hybrid radio, which combines the efficiency and coverage of over-the-air broadcast with IP-delivered content for and have participated in hackathons a richer, more interactive with Ford, General Motors and Honda experience. to develop new automotive apps that enhance the in-car radio experience. “As Layer points to the new Audi we talk to the automakers and explore A8 as an example of how how we can make radio even better in hybrid radio implementation connected cars and more advanced could ultimately pan out. As car designs like autonomous vehicles, the first vehicle to offer it, the I’m confident that the position of radio high-end A8, currently only in the car is going to stay right where it available in Europe, was is,” Layer says. The NAB isn’t alone in showcased at the Radio hearing that message from automakers. DNS booth at the NAB Michele Laven, president, Strategic Show last month in Las Partnerships Group, iHeartMedia, says, Vegas. Fully touch screen- “I have not spoken to an [automaker] activated, it includes a that will disagree with the power of our location-aware live listening radio stations and how we connect with guide that is supported by the audience. Consumers love apps Page 1 Weekly News Recap May 21-25, 2018 With Analytics, iHeart Aims To ‘Claw Back’ Dollars From Digital. As radio looks to reclaim dollars that have shifted to Face- book and Google, the industry’s largest company will soon have a new tool in its quiver. Last week’s announcement of iHeartMedia Analytics will enable the broadcaster to deliver deep audience insights for individual ad campaigns, similar to systems such as Google Analytics and Facebook for Business. The new Analytics tool is an evolution of the company’s Smart- Audio planning and buying platform. “One of the first things we did when we realized that our digital and broadcast audiences were the same was to take the digital platform as a tool that we could use to express who the broadcast audiences were,” Brian Kaminsky, president of Revenue Operations and Insights for iHeartMedia, tells Inside Radio. The new Analytics part – which is being beta-tested now in a handful of markets – will validate that the SmartAudio audience that advertisers selected in the planning phase of the campaign was actually delivered. Most importantly, it will also measure the outcome of the campaign. At $28.3M, LA’s ‘K-Love’ Is Top Billing Hispanic Radio “What we think makes that really take off and changes the way Station. the entire industry is transacted is to now have a downstream Univision captured half of radio’s top 10 billing Hispanic ra- validation of those audiences we told you we were planning dio stations last year, including four of the top five. Spanish against,” Kaminsky says, while showing increases in search Broadcasting System placed two stations in the top 10, while results, store visitation rates, call center volume, brand lift and Entravision, Liberman Broadcasting and iHeartMedia each had other key performance indicators. one. The new 2017 Hispanic radio revenue numbers come from See more HERE new data provided to Inside Radio by BIA/Kelsey. Univision’s romantica “K-Love” KLVE In RMLC-BMI Share Of Market Faceoff, It’s A Matter Of Size. Los Angeles (107.5) brought in 2017 After the radio industry was unable to strike a new licensing revenues of $28.3 million, No. 2 SBS agreement with BMI, the Radio Music License Committee has tropical “Mega 97.9” WSKQ New formally requested a federal judge to set the rates that radio York booked $23.5 million, Univision stations pay songwriters. The stalemate continues to revolve regional Mexican “Buena 102.9” around how large a market share BMI has of the music busi- KLTN Houston had $22.5 million in ness. When BMI proposed hiking the revenue rate to 2% for the 2017 revenues, Univision regional new term, from the 1.7% revenue rate that stations had been Mexican “Que Buena 105.1” WOJO paying under the industry’s previous deal, the RMLC instead Chicago logged $19 million, and No. 5 Univision regional Mexi- went in the other direction. It proposed that stations pay a lower can “ZonaMX 101.9” KSCA Los Angeles reaped $16.5 million. 1.4% rate. BMI has pushed back against the argument that Nine of the top 10 are in the top six radio markets—New York, its market share has shrunk in the face of competition from L.A., Miami, Chicago and Houston—with the notable exception ASCAP, SESAC and upstart Global Music Rights. In court fil- of No. 10, iHeart tropical “Rumba 100.3” WRUM, which is all ings, BMI has said the RMLC used “incomplete and incorrect the way down in the No. 31 radio market, Orlando. It scored information” to base its proposed rate reduction. But RMLC $14 million in 2017 revenue. executive director Bill Velez told Inside Radio that it has been See more HERE “very difficult” for his team to come up with “a parity scenario” that puts ASCAP and BMI on equal footing. He said BMI has KLAX Drops A Full Share In Revised L.A. March Ratings. not done as good a job as ASCAP in keeping artists from jump- Nielsen reissued the March 2018 Los Angeles ratings Tuesday ing ship. BMI executive VP Mike Steinberg said the RMLC is and most of the market’s top 20 stations either gained a tenth now trying to use a “below market rate” that it negotiated with of a share in total audience or stayed flat. However, Spanish ASCAP to convince a federal rate court to lower what stations Broadcasting System regional Mexican “La Raza” KLAX-FM pay to BMI. With the rate-setting decision now in the hands (97.9) lost a full share in the revised 6+ ratings, declining from of Judge Louis Stanton, it is unlikely broadcasters will have a a ninth place 3.4 in the original March numbers to a 15th place final deal with BMI until 2019, or even later. In the meantime, 2.4 in the revised ratings. The reissued March ratings are the RMLC member stations will continue to pay an interim 1.7% first of seven monthly ratings reports to be redone, following rate agreed to in February 2017. See more HERE the removal of four homes from Nielsen’s L.A. PPM panel. With KLAX dropping out of March’s top 10, Entercom’s “1070 Urban One Will Pay $4.2M To Add WTEM To Washington NewsRadio” KNX moved from tenth place into ninth (while Cluster. staying at a 3.2) and CHR sister “97.1 Amp Radio” KAMP Urban One has disclosed the price it’s paying to add the advanced into the top 10 from 11th (2.9-3.0).