FEBRUARY 16, 2023

Due to the potential for severe weather, today's scheduled Required Monthly Test (RMT) has been postponed and rescheduled for tomorrow (Friday, February 17th) at 3:50pm eastern.

EAS FORM ONE DUE BY FEBRUARY 28TH

Under the FCC’s EAS Rules, EAS participants must update their identifying information annually via a Form One filing. This is typically done in connection with a nationwide EAS test. However, the Federal Emergency Management Agency did not conduct such a test in 2022, and has not yet announced a 2023 nationwide test. Therefore, the Form One must be submitted independently of a test to comply with the annual updating requirement.

All broadcasters are generally required to submit a Form One, including low power FM stations, Class D noncommercial educational FM stations, and stations that are silent pursuant to a grant of Special Temporary Authority. Certain broadcasters are exempt from filing a Form One, including:

• TV translator stations;
• FM booster stations;
• FM translator stations that entirely rebroadcast the programming of other local FM broadcast stations; and
• Stations that operate as satellites or repeaters of a hub station (or common studio or control point if there is no hub station) and rebroadcast 100 percent of the programming of the hub station (or common studio or control point). Note that the hub station (or common studio or control point) must file a Form One.

To complete the Form One, the filer must have created a FCC Username and password in the FCC’s User Registration System and associated that FCC Username with the licensee’s FCC Registration Number (“FRN”). Once in the ETRS, the filer will be able to pull down the FRN(s) associated with their FCC Username, which will pre-populate some information in their Form One. Filers should confirm that the pre-populated data remains accurate or update it. EAS participants must file a separate Form One for each of their EAS decoders, encoders, or combined encoder/decoder units.

SAGE ANNOUNCES FIRMWARE UPDATE

It'll cost $159 to bring your Sage ENDEC Model 3644 into compliance with the latest FCC rule change. Emergency Alert System equipment manufacturer Sage Alerting Systems is letting users in the United States know that a firmware update is coming in June.

2023 EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM HANDBOOK

As noted in the FCC EAS rule Part 11.15: "A copy of the Handbook must be located at normal duty positions or EAS equipment locations when an operator is required to be on duty and be immediately available to staff responsible for authenticating messages and initiating actions."

We often get asked the question, "What comes with a KBA membership?" The easy answer is EVERYTHING! More specifically, the Association proudly provides a long list of complimentary member benefits to member stations and staff. A lot of the services can be easily found on our website at www.kba.org, under the Member Benefits tab (as shown above).

KBA's member benefits include:

• Complimentary attendance at KBA's Annual Conference
• RAB Sales Certifications
• Local Broadcast Sales webinars
• Weekly Newsletter
• Daily Dollars and Sense
• Ten-Minute Trainer Network - new!
• ABIP Inspections
• Pre-hiring screenings
• Advocacy in-state and nationally
• Impact, Excellence & Legacy awards
• Legal and Engineering Hotlines
• Continuing Education Reimbursements
• Scholarships
• Third Thursday webinar series - new!
• and more!

If you would like more information about KBA's member benefits or how to access these benefits, please contact Roger Gribbins, Director Member Services, at roger@kba.org.

The Ohio Valley Emmy awards recognize outstanding achievements in television and allied media by conferring annual awards of merit in the Chapter's designated award region which includes parts of Ohio (Athens, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Zanesville), Kentucky (Bowling Green, Lexington, Louisville), West Virginia (Bluefield/Beckley/Oak Hill, Charleston/Huntington, Clarksburg/Weston, Parkersburg) and Indiana (Evansville, Terre Haute). The presentation of these awards is intended to be an incentive for the continued pursuit of excellence for those working in the television and digital media industry and to focus public attention on outstanding cultural, educational, technological, entertainment, news, informational programming and craft achievements in television and online.

After 22 years of service to the WBKO viewing area, Chief Meteorologist Shane Holinde has decided to hang up his mic and focus on family. His last day on the air will be on Friday, March 3.

“Leaving WBKO is one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” Shane said. “The time had come to prioritize some things in my life. At the top of that list is my family: My wife, Brenda, and my daughter, Nora.”

Shane will be taking a new role as the Outreach Manager for the Kentucky Mesonet and Climate Center, with offices at WKU’s Center for Research and Development in Bowling Green.

“My new job schedule will better align with my wife’s work hours and my daughter’s school hours,” Shane said. “It will also allow me to be present more often for my daughter, particularly with extracurricular activities (she LOVES karate!).”

“I will forever be grateful for my last 22 years at WBKO, where I rose from part-time production assistant to the night-side editor, to a part-time/fill-in weather anchor, and finally to a full-time meteorologist. I hope I am remembered as someone who didn’t ‘hype it up’ but told it like it was. It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve in this capacity and live out a childhood dream.”

KBA welcomes another new member, WLBN & WLSK in Lebanon, KY. Pictured above is Dave Colvin (aka Big Dave), Owner and General Manager.

We want to promote YOU! Send us your staff additions, promotions and special events. Email Chris at chris@kba.org

AND THE REVIEWS ARE IN...

Do you let total strangers influence your purchase decisions?  The consumer buying process has changed.  At least it has for me, how about you? When searching for products, research is important.  Part of that research for me is customer reviews.  Maybe it’s silly, maybe it’s normal, but I let perfect strangers influence my buying decisions.

If there are one or two negative reviews on a product, no big deal, but if there are a lot of negative reviews, I find myself moving on to another product.  I start with the one-star reviews and work my way up.

I don’t think I’m alone…

As marketing professionals these reviews provide a few great opportunities in our sales process:

• Negative reviews can be a great icebreaker when making prospect calls: “I noticed you had some negative reviews on Google, I’d like to share with you what we’ve done for others.” (Often retailers are unaware)
• Reviews, both positive and negative can give you an idea of what the brand identity of a business is. (Is this the identity they want?)
• Reading reviews can help you formulate thoughtful questions for your customer needs analysis.
• Because reviews are becoming more influential in the buying process, you can use them as copy points, customer testimonials, and validation of the strength of a business.

Try searching the name of a prospect or client you’re calling on, click on the name and read the customer reviews.  You might be surprised by the great opportunities you find.

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development at the Radio Advertising Bureau. You can also connect with him by email JSchmidt@rab.com or on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Your active KBA membership entitles you to complimentary access to RAB's online certifications.

SEPTEMBER 24-25, 2023

KBA Annual Conference @ Northern Kentucky Convention Center

*All times shown are Eastern

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