Intelligence Briefs

Mark Jamison, a visiting Fellow with the AEI and a part of the Trump FCC transition team, says "no." But, he was a strong reason why.

The latest "detrimental distraction" for consumers -- and advertisers -- of AM and FM radio stations, commonly known as Spotify, is strengthening its sales force and nearly set for a syncopated soulful strut into the offices of your advertisers. That's because it just bought a company best-known for a platform that brings Tinder-like swiping to visual ads. Should radio and TV C-Suiters be concerned?

RBR+TVBR featured columnist Ken Benner returns to the fold with his views on what's truly killing media. It's not "fake news." It might just be, in his opinion, hefty fines and fees courtesy of the Federal government.

The FCC recently asked how it should define "advanced communications capability." As American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Mark Jamison points out, that's broadband. He finds this a curious question, "because it presumes that the FCC should define broadband." On that note, he asks, "Don't customers define broadband every day? Why not simply watch what they do?" It's an interesting philosophy any broadcast media company actively using digital platforms should take note of.

A new paper is generating headlines because it claims that college students value pizza more than their friends' privacy, but the authors are wrong, says Mark Jamison, a visiting Fellow with the American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communication, and Technology. What does their research really show? People might be willing to be helpful if they are paid. This could prove interesting for research-minded media industry C-Suiters.

Facebook is at it again, and The Wall Street Journal says there's "reckoning for media organizations" ahead. Why? The curtain is about to be raised on audiences, versus traffic. That's awesome news for radio broadcasters, argues RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson. Why? Radio should be the king of meaningful content, and interactivity.

"Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own."  One Forbes contributor, former Media Life editor Gene Ely, just penned a guest commentary with the provocative headline "In The IHeartMedia Bankruptcy, Expect A Major Selloff Of Radio Stations." Really? We asked top D.C. attorneys and one broker for their opinions. Here's what they say.

In July 2008, Natalie Swed Stone, U.S. Director of National Audio at OMD chatted with RBR+TVBR to discuss solutions-based issues and problems for the radio industry. Stone touched on such subjects as free ad-supported options for satellite radio, the PPM and networking HD Radio multicasts. One decade on, we revisit Stone's interview to see where the radio industry has gone, and if what was predicted and advised came to fruition today.

Last week, the FCC proposed changes to its rules governing children’s programming. "While the proposal is not as sexy as internet regulation, it is an important and overdue step toward updating the law to reflect the realities of the modern video marketplace," says Daniel Lyons, a visiting fellow at a D.C. think tank with lots of FCC sway.

Here's something that will likely cause some buzz in the C-Suites of both radio and television broadcasting companies. Westwood One Director of Content Marketing Lauren Vetrano shares the results from "a major cable network’s" advertising campaign that used AM/FM radio to help launch the returning season of a scripted drama series. The media plan included paid TV and promos running on their network and co-owned networks.

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.

In a “Seminar Notes” booklet prepped over a decade ago, definitions to phrases concocted by Media Information Bureau featured columnist Ken Benner, along with suggestions he offered, came with a guarantee. If followed, he promises, comes "extraordinary success for any Radio or TV licensee."

With increasing media fragmentation, understanding audiences is essential to determining effective content distribution strategies. Nielsen’s first quarterly Content Ratings Benchmarks report explores how audiences are connecting, on average, with video content across live TV, DVR, VOD and digital platforms.

Digital platforms and TV networks often appear to be “must-buy” solutions for marketers.  But, as Group M Global President of Business Intelligence Brian Wieser notes, "In the face of a difficult negotiation or displeasure with the actions taken by a commercial partner, one party may feel they have no alternative but to proceed with a transaction." Wieser says he sees this play out in the TV business.

Interference disputes between translators and the owners of full-power FM stations (which have primary status over translators) have become more frequent, as more and more translators go online and nip at the edges of listenership to co- and adjacent channel full-powers.