Issue #177 |  December 20, 2019   |   View online
We are honored to serve Michigan's wonderful broadcasters each day of the year. Thank you for all you do for the people of the Great Lakes State. We wish you a very #MABmerry & Happy Holidays! 

Please note:  The MAB offices will be closed Tuesday, December 24, Wednesday, December 25 and Wednesday, January 1. The office will be open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on New Year's Eve, Tuesday, December 31. This is the last MAB News Briefs for 2019. We will resume publication the week of January 6. 
Highlights In This Issue:
More news below!

Don't Wait: Submit Your BEA Entries Before the Jan. 9 Deadline Surprises You

The Entry Deadline for the BEAs is January 9 at 12:00 p.m. Awards will be presented at the Great Lakes Media Show on March 4. For more information, visit BroadcastExcellenceAwards.com

GREAT LAKES MEDIA SHOW

Discover 'Better Hiring Practices' in the New Year When Laurie Kahn Returns to the #MABshow! 
Laurie Kahn,Creator and President of Media Staffing Network, the first staffing company to cater exclusively to media sales and associated departments for full time placement, consulting and career coaching, will present workshops for managers on March 4 during the 2020 Great Lakes Media Show at the Lansing Center.  Kahn brings more than 25 years experience in media, including local and national sales positions in both large and small markets; turn around expertise with new formats; and local and national management positions. Don't miss your chance to hear from one of the nation's "Most Influential Women in Media" since 2008. Learn more about our speakers and register to attend at MABshow.com

Stations: Sign-Up for the MABF Career Fair and Discover Your Next Star at the #MABshow
It's the MAB Foundation's most popular and highly attended career fair and we want YOU to be a part of the action! The number one request from our stations is assistance with gaining new employee leads and that is exactly what participation in this career fair will give you! Click here to reserve your booth today.

The Exhibit Hall is FILLING UP FAST!!!  
Find out who will be at the #MABshow and register HERE

 
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
STELAR Update, Sunset Provisions Added to Spending Bill
Curtis LeGeyt, NAB Executive Vice President of Government Relations has reported that the eight Judiciary and Commerce leaders (Judiciary: Graham, Nadler, Feinstein, Collins; Commerce: Wicker, Pallone, Cantwell, Walden) have agreed on a STELAR package that is included in the year-end spending legislation that will be considered by the full House and Senate this week. Read More

Important Reminder from NAB: Online Public Inspection File
Activate or Update Your Online Public Inspection File.  As of March 1, 2018, all radio and television stations were required to transition their public inspection file to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) online public inspection file system (OPIF) . Read More

FCC Announces Deadlines for the Next Auction for New FM Channels - And a Filing Freeze
By: David Oxenford
Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP 

On Friday (12/13), the FCC released a Public Notice setting out the rules for the auction for new FM channels, which will being in April. The Public Notice sets out the bidding process for the auction, and the dates for pre-auction filing deadlines necessary to participate in the auction.  Read More



ENGINEERING & EAS
Nominations are Open for the 2020
Carl E. Lee Engineering Excellence Award
Candidates must have been an employee, officer, or owner of any company, subsidiary or division whose primary business is broadcasting, or is directly in support of radio or television stations in Michigan. The nomination deadline is January 9. The Carl E. Lee Award is presented annually at the Great Lakes Media Show. Click here to learn more and submit your nomination.

ABIP 11Reserve Your 2020 ABIP Inspection Now
Scheduling has begun for the 2020 Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program (ABIP). The MAB conducts these alternative inspections regionally from April to October.  Learn More

IN THE NEWS
WDET Names Mary Zatina as New General Manager
Public radio station WDET-FM (Detroit) has named a new General Manager. Mary Zatina, a former assistant general manager of WDET and an alumna of Wayne State University, will now lead operations for the 48,000-watt station. Her appointment is effective January 2, 2020.  Read More

Jennifer Watkins Becomes New Marketing Director at WILX
Jennifer Watkins is the new Marketing Director for Gray Television's WILX-TV (Lansing).  As the Department manager, she will oversee Marketing, Creative Services, Promotions and Community Relations at the station.  Read More

MPRN Says Goodbye to Cheyna Roth
The Michigan Public Radio Network is sad to announce that Capitol Bureau reporter Cheyna Roth has left the network to join MLive in Grand Rapids as an investigative reporter.  Read More

WMGC's 'Big Top Toy Drop' Raises Over $40K in Toys
Beasley Media Group's WMGC-FM (105.1 The Bounce)/Detroit teamed up with Lafontaine KIA, Community Financial Credit Union and Lady Jane's Wicked Awesome Wishes to present Gello's Big Top Toy Drop. The collection raised over $40,000 in new toys for children during the holiday season.  Read More

Alpha Media Raises $47K for Saginaw and Bay City Rescue Missions
Alpha Media stations in Saginaw held their annual "Sharing Hope" Radiothon this past Wednesday, December 18 to help those in need who are served at the City Rescue Mission in Saginaw and the Good Samaritan Rescue Mission in Bay City. During the 12-hour radiothon, with a goal of $45,000, listener donations, as well as matching money from the business community, brought the final to $47,190!  Read More

Lansing Television Stations Pitch In For Salvation Army
On December 6, WILX/WSYM News personalities were at two different locations at Lansing's Eastwood Town Center.  And, on December 13, WLNS-TV had its on-air personalities set up at different locations around the area.  All in all, the three stations raised around $16,000 toward the Salvation Army's goal this year.  Read More

WGHN, WMPA 'Cover the Tri Cities' with Coats
WGHN-AM/FM and WMPA-FM (Grand Haven), in partnership with Plantenga's Cleaners has announced that this year's "Covering the Tri Cities Coat Drive" was a great success!  The drive took place during the month of November with collection sites at numerous businesses and community partners of WGHN's family of radio stations and Plantenga's Cleaners Read More

Share Why Local Broadcasters are Important During the Holidays!
During the season of giving, local radio and TV stations demonstrate their remarkable commitment to #BroadcastGood around the country. They collect food, gifts and coats for those in need, report on community events and continue to share the news and information you need most.  Read More

MAB FOUNDATION 


Looking for Sales Professionals?

The MAB Foundation Board of Directors approved a new partnership with Central Michigan University's School of Broadcast and Cinematic Arts for the Fall 2020 semester.
The partnership will focus on developing mentoring relationships between students with an Electronic Media Sales Minor and industry professionals. 
Contact Jacquelen Timm for more information.

Looking ahead... Career Fairs 2020

Great Lakes Media Show: March 4, 2020 
Lansing Center in Downtown Lansing

Western Michigan University: April 9, 2020
More information coming soon. 
TRAINING & EDUCATION
LOCAL BROADCAST SALES will be here in 2020!
The MAB is excited to share that Local Broadcast Sales (LBS) will be available free to members in 2020. Learn more and sign up here.

LBS will replace P1 Learning in 2020. P1 will be available through December 31, 2019.
 

Course Description:  Marketing and sales must work together in order to be successful. Marketing must source prospects and lead them into the sales funnel, ultimately resulting in a sale for you. As a salesperson, you need to understand what marketing does, and how your two departments can work in tandem for the overall good. In this program, we'll talk about several common marketing tactics and how these apply to you and your role. We'll also go over the many ways that marketing and sales should be partnering to stay in alignment with their goals.   Click here to log in and watch this course.
 
Support: For questions, support or additional information please contact our amazing support team by email at
support@p1learning.com or by phone at (888) 944-9377.

Don't miss out on your opportunity for free, online training as an MAB member! More information here.


As the MAB adjusts membership services in 2020, P1 Learning's On-Demand training campus will be phased out at the end of December.

We realize there are a number of Members that frequently access P1 Learning's training campus, so prior to December 31, we suggest saving your stations previous training data by navigating to the Reports tab ( here) to pull any information that you would like to retain for your files.

For those MAB Members who would like to continue to use the services offered by P1 Learning, they will be offering a discounted rate along with payment options for 2020. 

For more information, please reach out to either 
Katey Woolam ( katey@p1learning.com) or 
Bryan Marriott ( bryan@p1learning.com) with P1 Learning.

 
January 16, 2020 | 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
"2020 Election: Making Local Reporting Resonate"
with Emily Lawler, Public Interest Reporter, MLive
You might not be in line for a one-on-one with President Donald Trump or have a reporter embedded with his challenger. But in an era of viral video clips and allegations of "fake news" flying, local reporters play an important role in covering presidential elections. Tune into this webinar for tips and tricks on making the most of candidate visits, keeping a pulse on which way people are leaning in your area and finding the election stories that make your audience tick. MLive.com political reporter Emily Lawler has covered elections in Michigan for eight years.


January 29, 2020 | 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
"Getting Into the Weeds on
CBD Advertising"

with Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth
In 2018, Congress enacted a new Farm Bill which decriminalized certain hemp products. As directed by that Bill, the US Department of Agriculture in 2019 published interim rules on the "Establishment of Domestic Hemp Projects" adopting a national regulatory framework for hemp production and inviting the states to create their own hemp and hemp-derived CBD laws. This laid the groundwork for a multi-million dollar industry for the legal production, sale, and advertising of CBD-based products. With so much growth (...get it?) broadcasters are clamoring to know if they can accept advertising for CBD-based products.  To answer these questions, Fletcher, Heald, & Hildreth's Frank Montero, Dan Kirkpatrick, and Seth Williams will present a webinar to unpack the new rules, the dos and don'ts and to guide broadcasters through the weeds (ahem...). Tune in on Wednesday, January 29, at 3:00 PM Eastern Time.

DIGITAL / SOCIAL / WEB
Digital Tips for Every Employee in Your Radio Station
By: Seth Resler
Jacobs Media Strategies

Towards the end of every year, I like to make a list of the blogposts that I've written and break them down by the radio station staff roles that might find them most useful. This way, if you happen to miss anything relevant to you, you can catch up on your reading. So without further ado, here are digital tips for everyone in your radio station:  Read More



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MAB News Briefs
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CALENDAR
January 9
BEA Entry Deadline (Noon)

January 16
Free Webinar: "2020 Election: Making Local Reporting Resonate"
(Learn More)

January 29
Free Webinar: "Getting into the Weeds on CBD Advertising" (Learn More)

CAREERS

Lifestyle Videographer
/Editor
WOOD-TV
(Grand Rapids)
Posted: December 13, 2019

Advertising/Digital Sales Position
WNWN/WFAT-FM Radio
(Battle Creek)
Posted:  December 6, 2019

News Producer/Anchor
WBUP/WBKP-TV
(Ishpeming)
Posted: December 4, 2019

Share Your News!

We know your station is great. Now lets show all the other broadcasters across Michigan just how great you are. Send pictures, video and news releases about your station's accomplishments to be featured in the 
weekly MAB News Briefs


MAB FOUNDATION
The MAB Foundation's mission to encourage, support, and sponsor educational activities for students interested in broadcasting cannot be accomplished without supporters like you. The Foundation wouldn't exist without your continued support and interest in the mission. The Broadcasters must work together to sustain the future of this industry by encouraging the brightest, most creative and energetic students to choose broadcasting as a career. You can make a difference by MAKING A DONATION TODAY at MABFgive.com


THANK YOU 
Foundation Supporters

Kenneth Baynard
Dena Blair
Dan Boers
Julie Brinks
Kristin Burns

Scott Clow
Rob David
Detroit Radio 
Advertising Group
Marla Drutz
Susanne Elkins
Rebecca Falk
Bruce & Sue Goldsen
Colleen Grant
Tom Hahn
Wendy Hart
Bill Keith
Dan Kelley
Dick Kernen
Julie Koehn
Fred Jacobs
Paul Jacobs
Mark Libke
Jim Lutton
Pam Manor
Stephen A. Marks
Janet Mason
John E. Fetzer Memorial Trust
Christopher Meller
Dr. Peter Orlik
Robert F. Ottaway
David Oxenford
Lawrence Patrick
Jam Sardar
AnnMarie Scaramuzzino
Stephen Schram
Dirk Spillemaeckers
Jason Springer

Rick Sykes
Peter Tanz
Jacquelen Timm
Denise Weston
Karole White
Jon Whiting
Jennifer Williams
Follow the MAB Foundation on Social Media!

Support the MAB Foundation, and stay in touch about upcoming events, awards programs, scholarships and more, by following the MAB Foundation on our social media pages!

@MABFoundation1


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Thanks for the Support of Our Associate Members!











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