Terrestrial radio revenue in 2011 was about $14.1 billion, representing a 0.4 percent increase from a year earlier, BIA/Kelsey said. But online radio ad sales gained 15.1 percent to $439 million in 2011, it said. And online revenue should continue to increase in 2012 and reach a projected $767 million in 2016, it said. “Although radio’s revenue ascent has been slow since bottoming in 2009, the industry always picks up steam in an election year and is continuing to prove itself as valuable local advertising medium, particularly as the integration between over-the-air and online improves,” said Mark Fratrik, vice president and chief economist at BIA/Kelsey.
The FCC Media Bureau said two radio stations face $10,000 possible fines each, in notices of apparent liability. Media Ministries failed to retain all required documents in the public-inspection file of KBMQ(FM) Monroe, La., the bureau said (http://xrl.us/bm3bj7), while Double O South Carolina Corp. got an NAL for WWNQ(FM) Forest Acres, S.C. (http://xrl.us/bm3bj3). Although the owners admitted to the violations, they did so “only in the context of the question contained” in their license renewal applications that compelled such disclosure, the NALs said.
The FCC Wireless Bureau rejected a move by Metropolitan Area Networks Inc. to get the agency to reinstate 2,455 Part 101 microwave industrial/business pool licenses. Requests for more time to meet buildout requirements for the licenses “were filed without the requisite filing fees, and while MAN sought a waiver of the filing fees, it did not pay the fees in advance as required by our rules,” the order said (http://xrl.us/bm3bhn). All of the licenses expired March 3, when the company missed a deadline to build out its network as required by commission rules, the order said. MAN’s business plan is built around providing backhaul service to white-spaces devices designed to operate in the unused portion of the TV broadcast band. “We believe that by obtaining these licenses before the rules for TV white space devices were finalized, MAN made a voluntary business decision to assume the risk that the rules would not be finalized prior to the end of the 18 month construction period,” the bureau said.
The Department of Defense should embrace the commercial satellite operator community in its military satellite supply chain, said Philip Harlow, Xtar president. The budget pressures create a unique opportunity “to sit down and really talk about how we can help,” he said Tuesday at a Washington Space Business Roundtable event in Washington. “If we don’t, my fear is that we're going to get into the unnecessary and unpalatable loop of higher prices … and short-term leases.” The role of commercial satellite operators should be a permanent part of the overall architecture, he said. “We should design our architectures to fulfill the place for both military satellite and commercial satellites.” Regarding Xtar’s two satellites, less than 30 MHz are used by DOD, he said: “That’s a huge problem.” The satellite community is facing a “difficult budget environment,” he said. While space seemed to fare pretty well in the latest round of budget cuts, a more logical approach to funding commercial satellite use is needed, he added.
CBS said it agreed to sell its five West Palm Beach, Fla., radio stations to Palm Beach Broadcasting for $50 million. CBS has been shedding its smaller and mid-sized market stations. The deal calls for Palm Beach Broadcasting to keep only three of the five stations to comply with FCC ownership limits and have the right to sell the remaining two to third parties.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., will introduce legislation making it illegal for anyone to tamper with a cellphone’s International Mobile Equipment Identifier (IMEI) number, he said Tuesday. Schumer sees such a law as a next step to curbing cellphone thefts. “Right now it’s not an explicit federal crime,” he said. “You tamper with the number, it’s not on the federal law books. It will be.” Schumer will propose penalties of up to five years for tampering with an IMEI number, similar to penalties directed against tampering with a car’s Vehicle Identification Number. “It worked for the VIN number and it'll work for the cellphone ID number,” he said.
Leverett, Mass., plans to build a municipal broadband network, according to the town’s broadband committee. Funding for building the open access network will come from the town and any grants it can arrange, it said. Town officials scheduled a vote on the funding plan for April 28. The goal is to have a local network ready to connect to the Massachusetts Broadband Institute middle-mile infrastructure as soon as the latter is complete, which will be June 30, 2013, the committee said. The Massachusetts Broadband Institute seeks to build a 1,338-mile broadband network that will connect 120 communities in western and north central parts of the state. The town is located in Western Massachusetts.
LightSquared critics on Capitol Hill asked how the administration plans to get back money spent testing the LightSquared network. In a letter Tuesday to NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, said they're concerned that LightSquared will declare bankruptcy and the government “will be unable to recoup the taxpayer dollars it has expended funding testing on LightSquared’s network.” Grassley and Turner want NTIA to respond by April 19. They asked how much money the government spent on testing, how many government employees were involved and if the government would seek reimbursement. In addition, the Republicans asked if the FCC ever asked the NTIA “to provide government resources without reimbursement to assist a single private company with its business plan.” NTIA received the letter and is reviewing it, an agency spokeswoman said.
Fransat, Samsung and Neotion partnered to integrate a satellite receiver and a digital terrestrial TV module for Fransat into Samsung TVs in its 2012 range of TV models. With the new product, “viewers no longer need an external set-top-box or a second remote control,” the companies said. The pack features a decryption module from Neotion and an access card for subscription-free reception of Fransat, they said. It also uses the CI Plus specification, “which is designed to support the authentication and encryption mechanisms that provide a secure channel between the Conditional Access Module (CAM) and Samsung’s integrated digital TV (IDTV).”
Super RTL HD, a Germany-based TV network, will join SES’s soft encryption platform. It “complements the range of HD+ channels with a diverse lineup,” SES said. Beginning May 1, viewers in Germany with an HD+ receiver “will soon have more than 30 encrypted and unencrypted HD channels to choose from.” The offering will include the free-to-air HD channels already on air, “the 13 encrypted commercial broadcasters of HD+ and additional public free-to-air broadcasters in HD,” SES said.