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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is not a fan of pirate radio stations. Under his leadership at the FCC there has been an increased effort to shut down pirates all across the country. However, Pai has also voiced his frustration that stopping these illegal operations is akin to the game of Whack-A-Mole -- you shut one down, another pops up. That could be changing soon.

Also at the Radio Ink Hispanic Radio Conference in Miami, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel spoke about her trip to Puerto Rico last week. Puerto Rico was hit hard by Hurricane Maria six months ago and is still recovering. Rosenworcel said she took some time to visit several radio stations. And, she walked away saying this: "Radio is remarkable."

Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan was a keynote speaker at Radio Ink's Hispanic Conference on Wednesday in Miami. Smulyan was interviewed by RBR/TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam Jacobson and the topic was "Securing Your Station's Smartphone Space." Smulyan's first statement was: "NextRadio is on just about every Android phone. We don't have Apple and that's our last mission."

At the Radio Ink Hispanic Conference, Wednesday, Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan told the sold-out crowd in Miami that the car of the future will have an embedded tuner that may appear to the driver as a simple screen of apps. His question is: Will radio be there?

Can a radio station, or a group of stations, in an emerging Hispanic market succeed? How does one attract listeners? What about bringing in the necessary ad dollars to keep the operation going? What about local talent versus a full schedule of syndicated shows?

As it reported its Q4 and full-year 2017 earnings, Entravision cited digital, and in particular the acquisition of Headway, a data and digital marketing provider, for a net revenue increase of 5 percent in the fourth quarter, to $73.4 million from $70.3 million in Q4 2016.

United States Traffic Network President Ivan Schulman led the effort to buy out the broadcast-traffic provider, whose products are used by more than 1,100 TV and radio stations, and which has 260 full- and part-time employees. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Local was strong in Q4 of 2017 for the small- and medium-market broadcaster, however tough political comps, a decline in the event business, and a drop in national digital revenue all helped push the company down in Q4. Including all divisions, Townsquare’s Q4 revenue was off by 3.7 percent ($4.4 million) to $114.4 million.

Company executives told investors and analysts on their earnings call Tuesday that Townsquare Interactive was a suggestion from an employee at one of the company’s radio stations in St. Cloud, Minnesota. That idea has resulted in a division that now generates $100 million in revenue for the company.

During the Radio Ink Hispanic Conference in Miami, Tuesday, Entravision SVP Angie Balderas (pictured here with broadcast attorney Frank Montero) told the sold-out crowd that back in 2014, in a political race for California’s 7th Congressional District, $20 million was spent on advertising by the two candidates. Not $1 was spent on Hispanic radio.