Beasley Broadcast Q4 net revenue fell about 5% to $68.5 million from Q4 2019. That “primarily reflects a year-over-year decrease in commercial advertising revenue due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, partially offset by growth in digital, esports and political revenue,” the radio station owner reported Wednesday. “Esports allowed us to make lemonade out of lemons last year,” CEO Caroline Beasley told investors. Operating income was $19.6 million vs. $11.2 million, the result of lower operating and corporate expenses, lower impairment losses and a land sale, the release said. The Q4 “results reflect the ongoing recovery of our business,” said the CEO in a release. The company has continued to generate month-over-month revenue growth if political ads are excluded from the calculation, she said. Caroline Beasley expects revenue from events to “hopefully” begin returning at the end of 2021 and continue into 2022. She said the company is focused on digital and attracting new advertisers in the coming year.

IHeartMedia is expanding into binaural podcasting, in a “shift toward a more immersive listening experience,” said the company Tuesday. Such 3D audio creates a sense of movement and location.

The FCC Media Bureau approved zoned broadcast coverage petitioner GeoBroadcast Solutions' request for permission to build two channel boosters to gather more data on the technology (see 2101270069), said a company spokesperson Monday. The test will be done at Universal Media Access’ KSJO San Jose, said a GeoBroadcast release. This will be the fourth experimental permit requested for the technology, with the test to last 90 days, it said. Comments on an NPRM on the geotargeted radio technology are due Wednesday in docket 20-401.

The FCC’s “abrupt elimination” of the FM portion of the radio duplication rule was an “unnecessarily broad deregulatory action,” said the American Association of Independent Music, Sound Exchange, musicFIRST Coalition and Future of Music Coalition in a call Friday with an aide to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, per a filing Tuesday in docket 19-310. The agency should reconsider that elimination, the groups said. A healthy radio “ecosystem” can be achieved only through “viewpoint diversity,” the filing said. That will be harmed if commonly owned stations can duplicate programming in the same market, it said. As a commissioner, Rosenworcel and fellow Democrat Geoffrey Starks dissented from the FM portion of the duplication rule order in August (see 2008060072).

The FCC Media Bureau seeks comment on procedures for an upcoming auction of 136 FM allotments and four AM facilities, “the license of which have expired and their call signs deleted,” and enacted an accompanying freeze, said an order and public notice Monday. The freeze affects applications that modify allotments involved in the auction, which is called Auction 109. Many permits involved in 109 were originally on offer in Auction 106, which was postponed indefinitely in March because of COVID-19. Auction 106 is now canceled, and applications from participants were dismissed, the PN said. Comments on auction procedures are due March 15, replies March 22.

The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $1,500 forfeiture for a late-filed FM translator renewal application and will grant the renewal for Letcher County Broadcasting's W278BK Jenkins, Kentucky, said a notice of apparent liability and order Friday.

The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $1,500 forfeiture for a late-filed FM translator renewal application, but it will grant the renewal for Heritage Media’s W280FH Leitchfield, Kentucky, said a notice of apparent liability and order in Thursday’s Daily Digest: The station filed late but before its license expired, and there was no pattern of abuse.

The Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance wants to comment on FCC proceedings arising out of the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement Act (see 2012040043) on a report on emergency alerting over streaming media, it said in a filing posted in docket 15-94 Tuesday. AWARN Alliance Executive Director John Lawson, ATSC President Madeleine Noland and other members of the AWARN Alliance Steering Committee met virtually with Public Safety Bureau Chief Lisa Fowlkes and staff Thursday. The alliance wants to “re-engage” with “key federal agencies and non-government organizations involved in alerting,” to discuss using 3.0 in emergency communications and the development of “model voluntary agreements” between TV stations and alert originators. Fowlkes listed “responding to directives from Congress in the READI Act” and “convening a new Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council,” as priorities for the bureau, the filing said.

Gray Television will buy Quincy Media for $925 million, the acquirer announced. Quincy owns stations in 16 markets in the Midwest, and the proposed deal would lead to Gray acquiring 11 and divesting others “to facilitate prompt regulatory approvals,” Monday's release said. The divestitures are in markets where Gray already owns a full-power TV station, said Gray Chief Legal and Development Officer Kevin Latek in an email. Gray will hold onto Quincy’s stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Peoria, Illinois; Duluth, Minnesota, and others. Markets where stations will be divested include Tucson; Madison, Wisconsin; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The deal will still involve an overlap in South Bend, Indiana, where Gray owns a full-power station and Quincy owns WSJV Elkhart, Indiana, and radio station WGEM Quincy, Illinois. That will require a waiver, Latek said. The TV station isn’t a top-four affiliate and shouldn’t raise antitrust concerns, Latek said. Broadcast industry don’t expect the deal to hit regulatory snags. Quincy didn't comment.

Fifteen more broadcasters supported an FCC zoned broadcast coverage proposal in nearly identical filings posted in docket 20-401 Thursday (see 2101270069). Commenters included HubCast Broadcasting, Hazard Broadcasting and the Marshall University Board of Governors, which holds the license for WMUL(FM) Huntington, West Virginia. As with similar comments earlier this week, the filings focused on benefits of allowing geotargeted radio broadcasts to emergency alerts and local broadcasters.