Geo-Targeted Ads Proposal Gets Broadcaster Knocks, Backing

GBS' tests "are either invalid and/or useless" and don't back its claim that using ZoneCasting won't cause interference, NAB said. It said GBS used "handpicked scenarios, ignored the vast majority of more likely situations, insufficiently addressed ZoneCasting’s impact on digital radio, and failed to comprehensively measure ZoneCasting’s effects on actual listeners." The testing should have looked at ZoneCasting's effects outside the limited geographic areas GBS focused on, NAB said. ZoneCasting will likely cause interference for some listeners near co-channel interference areas between the primary and ZoneCasting booster, NPR echoed. It also said ZoneCasting could interfere with the emergency alert system and other emergency warnings. The stations most affected by ZoneCasting problems would be those using it, but it could drive listeners away from FM broadly due to interference frustrations, it said.

Testing shows the ZoneCasting system could disrupt HD radio availability in transition regions, Xperi said, also criticizing GBS' testing methodology. That testing "remains woefully incomplete, reflecting GBS’ cherry-picked testing environments and unacceptably opaque methodology," said broadcasters Audacy, Beasley, Cumulus, iHeart, New York Public Radio and Salem.

FM boosters are for filling in coverage gaps in a station's service contour, and the Local Community Radio Act (LCRA) says the FCC can license new boosters based only on community need, REC Networks said. "There is not public outcry for FM boosters that will cover up well received FM stations in order to place ads," it said. Citing the LCRA, REC said the FCC should require a showing of "community need" before licensing a new FM booster.

Representing more than 50 licensees operating in 24 states, Shainis and Peltzman said the licensees hired telecom engineering consulting firm Kesser and Gehman to review the GBS reports. Kesser and Gehman called the GBS methodology and conclusions "sound," they said, and there's no technical reason not to back the geo-zone broadcasting petition, saying they back the GBS proposal. Also supporting the methodology and conclusions, broadcast technical consultant Kevin Fitzgerald said the idea that a geo-targeted content system using FM booster stations would drive down ad rates makes no sense: while ad rates for a geo-targeted ad would be lower than a non-geo-targeted one, overall station revenue would increase as the amount of ad inventory would rise.

Congressional Black Caucus members Hank Johnson, D-Ga.; Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.; Barbara Lee, D-Calif.; and Anthony Brown, D-Md., in a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said geo-targeting would help minority-owned radio stations sell more ads and lower cost and also lower the cost of curated cultural content. They said GBS testing shows ZoneCasting "can deliver significant public benefits without presenting technical concerns." "It is imperative the FCC allow minority broadcasters to fully utilize and cultivate the value of their ownership to the maximum extent possible and have access to innovations," they said. The only growing part of the local radio business is in digital ad offerings because advertisers can geotarget, JAM Media Solutions CEO Jonathan Mason said.

Citing a review by engineering consultancy Meintel Sgrignoli, the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters and the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council said the GBS test results are "impressive" and satisfactorily answered technical questions. "Now is the time for the Commission to move forward and allow FM broadcasters the choice of using technology to deliver hyper-local content to their audiences like every other form of media," they said.

GBS emailed it's "confident that geo-targeting technology for radio is a viable and outstanding opportunity for radio stations, listeners, and advertisers." "Interestingly, our critics were once our champions, including NAB which first supported geo-targeting radio technology because it was clear that hyper local is in the interest of an industry dedicated to localism," it said. It said NAB's reasons for changing its stance "continue to shift. First, it was because the technology was racist, [then it] would be bad for business. So now, in the final stages of the FCC’s review, the NAB claims geotargeting is somehow unsafe. Whatever the NAB’s motivations may be, the FCC’s record shows that the vast majority of radio station owners support geotargeting."