GeoBroadcast Solutions says the deployment of its two FM booster technologies have now reached 11 markets, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago.
In a new filing with the FCC, GeoBroadcast Solutions (GBS) is marking the one-year anniversary of the commission giving final approval of its geotargeting system by giving an update on its progress.
The company says radio broadcasters are benefiting from ZoneCasting, which allows stations to geotarget limited, on-air content, and MaxxCasting, which uses a series of FM boosters to fill in existing holes from their primary signals.
“These technologies, ZoneCasting and MaxxCasting, are currently available or being deployed in several of the largest markets, including six of the top 10 Nielsen radio markets,” GBS says.
GBS says it has worked with broadcasters “both small and large” to enable geotargeted programming in 11 markets — and the expansion is ongoing.
“Specifically, GBS-constructed systems are operating in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, Miami, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Las Vegas, San Jose, St. George (Utah) and Cumberland (Md.),” it told the commission.
[Related: “WYPR Goes With MaxxCasting to Boost Baltimore, Frederick Coverage“]
Additional MaxxCasting systems are being designed and constructed for New York City, Atlanta and other markets, according to the company. GBS says its MaxxCasting systems can be readily upgraded to ZoneCasting capabilities.
“Some of the largest group owners are actively exploring ZoneCasting to complement their existing MaxxCasting systems,” according to the GBS filing. The company says it “looks forward to working with a range of broadcasters to unlock the benefits of geotargeted programming for listeners and advertisers alike.”
In addition, GBS says the “ZoneCasting applications approved by the commission show how the radio industry is innovating to stay relevant and to better serve its audience and advertisers.”
The FCC’s rules for ZoneCasting technology became final January 2025. It allows broadcasters to originate programming on FM boosters, which is different from its primary signal, for up to three minutes per hour.
When asked which stations are now actually broadcasting geotargeted content, a GBS spokeswoman said a list is not available yet. “Since the FCC order did not reach the Federal Register and become ‘final’ until this summer, most of the stations that have received approvals are in various stages of activation — site selection, local zoning for construction, etc.,” she wrote in an email to Radio World.
[Related: “Inside America’s First FM Geotargeting Deployment“]
The technology developer told the FCC it sees many potential use cases (for ZoneCasting) beyond advertising and local news. “The long-run potential is great to offer a range of content, such as longer-form local sports and candidate debates when permitted by the commission.”
In its filing, the company cited research conducted by Cumulus Media Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard that indicated 39% of advertisers say ZoneCasting will cause them to spend more on — or altogether begin — AM/FM radio advertising.
Additionally, the Cumulus Media study showed that 44% of advertisers and agencies say that they are “very interested” in the ability of radio to geotarget advertisements through technology like ZoneCasting, according to the filing from GBS.
“This technology could be particularly beneficial to a range of local advertisers, such as car dealerships and small businesses, who could benefit from hyper-local connections with audiences in their neighborhoods,” GBS says.
By approving MaxxCasting and ZoneCasting systems, GBS says the commission enabled new services to reach an audience of 20 million people without requiring any new spectrum. That spectrum-efficiency, according to the company, allows for more service to more people with the same amount of spectrum, which is critical at a time of increasing spectrum scarcity.
GBS says its “remarkably spectrum-efficient innovations grant previously hard-to-reach populations access to the benefits of radio broadcast, including the Emergency Alert System.”
[Related: “FCC Advances Proposal to Repurpose Upper C-Band“]
