Alta Communications Expresses Support for ZoneCasting

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, August 24, 2022 | 12:34pm CT

Brian McNeill

Urban One founding board member and Alta Communications President and Managing General Partner Brian McNeill (pictured) has submitted a letter to the FCC expressing his support about the possibility for radio stations to run separate content simultaneously using ZoneCasting.

"Radio is and always has been a local medium, and I think ZoneCasting fits a huge need that currently exists for local advertisers," said McNeill in his letter, which contrasts the assertions of Urban One's CEO Alfred Liggins in a July letter to the FCC, in which he opposed ZoneCasting.

"If a retailer can now buy commercials that specifically target the areas in which their customers come from, I would think that the likelihood of their ad campaigns being successful would be greatly increased... Radio stations and this new product, Zonecasting, are a perfect marriage that is long overdue with the local customers they service," wrote McNeill.

In March, 2020 GeoBroadcast Solutions asked the FCC to revise its rules so the broadcast radio industry could choose, on a voluntary basis, to deploy its technology to compete and recover lost revenue by airing geo-targeted programming, including emergency alerts, news, and advertising. The proposed rule change relates solely to FM boosters and requested no changes to the FCC's rules regarding translators or interference.