North America – Page 2 – Radio Reporter

October 21, 2021October 13, 2021

MEXICO: MEDIA UNITED TO DEFEND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Reports and podcasts about risks in other Central and South American countries are available on the association's website: the most recent files are on Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela — Reports and podcasts about risks in other Central and South American countries are available on the association’s website: the most recent files are on Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela
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The Central American country is one of the most dangerous in the world for journalists: an estimated 200 have been murdered in the last 30 years, not counting hundreds of attacks and intimidation. To defend them, and to prevent attacks on them and the media from going unpunished, thirteen Mexican media groups have formed an alliance. Its members are: El Universal, Proceso, Cámara Nacional de la Industria de la Radiodifusión (CIRT), Eje Central, El Heraldo, Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), La Silla Rota, Publimetro, El Dictamen, Politico Mx, Vanguardia Mx, El Economista y Debate. The association (Alianza de Medios Mx) not only defends, promotes and protects the rights of freedom of expression, but also offers support to file complaints on freedom of expression and requests assistance in case of attacks.

August 10, 2021August 4, 2021

USA: Government airs 30,000 spots a month on Central American radio stations

In order to stem the pressure of migrants on the Mexican border, the USA is also using radio advertising. A State Department spokesman told CNN that more than 30,000 advertisements are aired each month on Central American stations. The aim is to counter the misinformation spread by traffickers and the idea that President Joe Biden is softer on immigration. Up until the spring, 28,000 were broadcast, but this number has risen to over 30,000 due to the ‘discounts’ offered by the broadcasters on the ‘packages’ purchased by the American administration. The radio medium was chosen to reach the largest number of people, and religious leaders and public figures were also involved in the production of the releases. The monthly budget is $600,000. The announcements, broadcast in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, are in Spanish and five indigenous languages and last 40 seconds.

March 16, 2021February 23, 2021

USA: In the 1920s, radio was one of the sectors of the new economy

In the Twenties radio was one of the sectors of the new economy — In the roaring years of radio, RCA had a boom comparable to that of technology companies. But this did not prevent it from being overwhelmed by the crisis of 1929, although the purchase of radio equipment continued to grow, as the article of elEconomista.es explains.
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A study of the stock market capitalization shows that in the Twenties of the 20th century the performance of radio companies was comparable to that of today’s technology companies. In the summer of 1920 commercial broadcasters had started their activity in the United States, so it was imagined that the purchase of receivers would have led to a strong development for the industry. The analysis conducted by Jim Reid, a specialist at Deutsche Bank, reconstructs the performance of the stock of RCA (Radio Corporation of America), whose profits had risen from 2.5 million dollars in 1925 to 20 million in 1928, causing the value of the shares to soar by 700% (from cents in 1921 to ten dollars in 1926).

February 7, 2021February 3, 2021

MEXICO: Institutional advertising and aid to community radios

To support Mexican community radio stations, new legislation requires government institutions, states and municipalities to spend one per cent of the budget allocated to social communication by purchasing advertising space on community radio stations (Article 89, Section VII of the Federal Law on Telecommunications and Broadcasting). The first to implement the legal provision is the Federal Institute of Communications (IFT), which has created a special space on its Internet portal to make it transparent that access to resources is fair.

Support from Unesco for indigenous radios

In Mexico, there are 375 non-commercial radio stations, of which 72% are social, 23.7% community and 3.5% indigenous
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Another support comes from Unesco, which with its ‘Design of public policies‘ project launched in 2020 seeks to bring indigenous content into public and commercial media. Funded by the European Union and the EU-Uesco Expert Bank, it aims to produce programmes in indigenous languages with content that reflects the country’s cultural and linguistic diversity. Strengthening them helps preserve indigenous languages, cultures and ancestral knowledge. Without forgetting that in the event of natural disasters, their role is irreplaceable, so it is necessary to remove the obstacles that prevent them from obtaining broadcasting authorisation.

December 19, 2020December 18, 2020

USA: Radio Disney closes

The report in the Argentine daily La Nación points out that Disney’s radio station has helped launch a number of celebrities, including Selena Gomez (pictured).
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In the first quarter of 2021, the Walt Disney Company will close Radio Disney and Radio Disney Country. Opened in 1995, the station owned 23 medium-wave stations to reach a large audience of young people and teenagers, but with the spread of streaming in 2014 most of the stations (22) had been sold and the signal was being broadcast digitally, on satellite and in some HD Radio subchannels. Radio Disney Country, a secondary streaming brand launched in the autumn of 2015, was no longer on AM as of 2017 because the station broadcasting it, 1110 KDIS in Pasadena (Los Angeles) had changed its name and format, becoming KRDC. The end of broadcasting is also caused by the uncertainties of the pandemic about the future of live music events. Thirty-six employees (full-time and part-time staff) will lose their jobs and the Pasadena station will be sold off. The closure does not affect Radio Disney in Latin America.

December 8, 2020December 7, 2020

USA: Hybrid car radios never lose your favorite signal

The new Audi radio indicates whether the signal is coming from FM or the web: WILD 94.9, in the area where the image was taken (Bay of San Francisco, California), is available via their Internet stream.
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Audi cars sold in the United States can be equipped with a hybrid car radio (i.e. capable of receiving the signal over the air or streaming via the internet) that maintains the tuning of the preferred station even if the signal broadcast over the air is weakening during the journey. With a traditional device, when you leave the coverage area of a station, noise increases until the audio becomes unintelligible. Cars equipped with the Hybrid Radio® system, on the other hand, allow you to continue listening because when the listening quality starts to deteriorate they automatically switch from the signal transmitted over the air to the digital signal received via the Internet.

Star 101.3, a San Francisco radio station owned by iHeartRadio, is received at the current vehicle position only via the web.
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The new functionality is available on vehicles in the 2021 series (on sale from September 2020) equipped with the MIB 3 modular multimedia system, which connects to the network thanks to the integrated 4G Wi-Fi hotspot (requires a subscription to the Audi connect® Prime or Plus service). iHeartRadio, a leading U.S. radio company, is making more than 600 stations throughout North America compatible with the Hybrid Radio® system, in order to participate in the project.

September 26, 2020September 23, 2020

USA: Radio must reinvent itself and focus on information

Variety tells the story of the new project on which the inventor of the radio format who invented playlists in the 1970s is working — Variety talks about the new project the inventor of the playlists is working on
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Lee Abrams, who in 1973 created the radio format AOR (Album Oriented Rock) tells Variety about his new project: a new format to renew the way of doing radio. In the seventies the idea of sticking to a playlist was a way to build a precise radio identity, but almost fifty years later the father of this format repudiates his creature: the programming is now flattened and the radio stations are too similar. The solution? Reinventing oneself, focusing on information, defined by Abrams as “the new rock ‘n’ roll”, and leaving more room for creativity. Here are the details.

September 15, 2020September 14, 2020

USA: Less constraints for US radios

Removing the constraints of duplication of programs "is preferable to a struggling station reducing programming or going off the air entirely" said Ajit Pai, chairman of the FCC — Removing the constraints of duplication of programs “is preferable to a struggling station reducing programming or going off the air entirely” said Ajit Pai, chairman of the FCC
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has lifted the ban on broadcasting the same programme (simulcast) on several FM and AM stations. The regulation was introduced in 1964 and has been updated several times (the last time in 1992) to take account of developments in a market where competition is increasingly fierce. It is estimated that in FM no broadcaster will be able to repeat the entire programming (until now the limit was 25%), but the greater flexibility should help to overcome the crisis, favouring format changes and facilitating the transition of medium wave channels to digital. Ultimately, it should be the service offered to listeners that gains. More details and official statements can be found here.

September 12, 2020September 7, 2020

USA: A black radio for black people

Black Information Network can be heard on the iHeartRadio app but the news is picked up by 91 hip hop, R&B and Gospel radio stations in all the States: Power 105.1 in New York, Real 92.3 in Los Angeles, WDAS and Power 99 in Philadelphia, WGCI and WVAZ in Chicago, WJLB in Detroit, The Beat in Houston and Miami, WQUE in New Orleans and KMEL in San Francisco
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In the wake of the racial protests following George Floyd’s death, the iHeartMedia group launched an all-news radio for the black community. BIN, which stands for Black Information Network, offers 24 hours of news seven days a week and according to the promoters is “an objective, accurate and trusted source of continual news coverage with a black voice and perspective”. The publisher has also carried out a study according to which 86% of black listeners believe that this service is necessary and that they will probably use it as an important source of news, while 83% think that it provides information that today cannot be received on the radio or TV. The broadcasts will have no advertising, but will be funded by a group of companies: Bank of America, CVS Health, GEICO, Lowe’s, McDonald’s USA, Sony, 23andMe and Verizon, “who share and support the mission of BIN”. This line-up suggests that the “black” have been identified as potential consumers.

September 8, 2020September 7, 2020

Mexico: Distance learning for 30 million students on 16 TV channels

The Minister of Education, Esteban Moctezuma Barragan, announced at a press conference that schools will start distance learning thanks to programmes broadcast on the radio and TV
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Schools started distance learning in Mexico, one of the countries that has been hardest hit by the pandemic (in fourth place for the number of contagions). Since August 24th, 2020, 30 million pupils are able to follow programmes on air from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on 16 channels transmitted by four TV broadcasters: Televisa, TV Azteca, Grupo Imagen and Grupo Multimedios. All those who do not have access to television will be able to follow the lessons on the radio and study from books. Over 4,550 TV programmes (640 in indigenous languages) will be transmitted. The programmes do not include entertainment , but follow the school syllabus and pupils will be tested on the contents. Educational programmes do not have advertising. Here is the article with details from the daily newspaper, El Universal.