Michigan's U.S. Reps. Fred Upton (R-6), Tim Walberg (R-7) and Debbie Dingell (D-12) were among the 77 bipartisan cosponsors of House Resolution in support of the Local Radio Freedom Act introduced this week in the Senate. Read More

For a third consecutive year the annual regulatory fees that the Federal Communications Commission proposes to collect from radio stations is going up, and this year’s planned increase is twice that of a year ago, according to a report in InsideRadio. The FCC has proposed to hike annual fees by eight percent in 2021 as it aims to collect $374 million from all the industries it regulates. Read More

Last week, the FCC released a guide summarizing TV closed captioning quality standards (accuracy, synchronicity, completeness, and placement). The guide includes best practices and discusses how TV stations must monitor and maintain their equipment and signal transmissions associated with closed captioning, perform technical equipment checks, take any corrective measures necessary to ensure that captioning is passed through to viewers intact, and keep records of these activities for a minimum of two years. Read More

The FCC’s order adopted in late October authorizing AM stations to voluntarily convert to operations in a fully-digital mode became effective yesterday when the approval of its information-collection obligations under the Paperwork Reduction Act was announced in the Federal Register. This means that AM stations can opt for full-digital operations, which many have argued will provide a stronger, more stable digital AM signal with improved fidelity and more resistance to the environmental noise that plagues analog AM reception. Read More

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 May 15. The Carl E. Lee Award is presented virtually during the MAB Summer Conference. Click here to learn more and submit your nomination.

FEMA has announced the dates for this year's EAS National Periodic Test (NPT). The primary date is August 11, 2021 with the backup on August 25, 2021. The test will take place at 2:20 p.m. EDT. Read More

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) Detroit Section will host a free virtual meeting open to all members, guests and non-members on Tuesday, May 11 at 7:00 p.m. The topic will be "Harnessing the Power of 12K." This virtual meeting is free and open to guests and non-members. Read More

The Alabama Broadcasters Association invites Michigan broadcasters to participate free in their monthly engineering webinar series. The next webinar will be held Tuesday, May 18, starting at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time and will feature Shane Toven senior broadcast engineer for Educational Media Foundation and is responsible for engineering R&D for the K-LOVE and Air1 broadcast networks. Read More

You say they don't do that anymore! Not true, they do. It's easier than ever before. With so much of our business activities available in our public file and on electronic forms at the FCC, they can easily inspect a station without ever coming to your door. Additionally they still investigate complaints. Read More

On April 29, Beasley Media Group announced that Patti Taylor has been named Director of Sales at the company’s Detroit-based properties, including WRIF-FM, WCSX-FM, WDMK-FM, WMGC-FM and the Praise Network. Read More

On May 4, Townsquare Media Inc. announced that Grand Rapids Market President Jeff Luckoff will increase his responsibilities to include statewide oversight of Townsquare’s Michigan local media clusters. Read More

It’s been over a year since fans of The Moth in Michigan have been able to gather in person for a night of live storytelling. Now, The Moth returns to Michigan for a unique drive in theater event. Although we still can’t gather in large numbers indoors, you can join Michigan Radio for a great night of true Moth stories on the drive in big screen from the socially distanced comfort of your car. Read More

Gray will become the United States' second largest television broadcast group when it acquires 17 Meredith stations, including WNEM-TV (Saginaw) in a $2.7 billion deal announced in a press release on Monday (5/3). Read More

We promise it won't matter if you're from the radio, television, or the digital side of things, from a large market or small, you will leave this webinar better prepared to build and enhance your recovery efforts as we'll focus on often overlooked details. Just some of the things we'll be covering include: 

Apple has begun rolling out the latest version of its operating system for mobile devices, iOS 14.5. Along with the usual assortment of new features is a long-anticipated change to the way the company deals with the privacy of its users, and this change will reverberate throughout the world of marketing and advertising. Read More