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RBR+TVBR first learned August 19 that NEXTGEN TV was coming to Atlanta.

It is now known that that’s not the only new market now offering local viewers broadcast TV channels powered by the ATSC 3.0 digital broadcast standard.

Kansas City television stations KMBC-9 (ABC), KCTV-5 (CBS), KSHB-41 (NBC), WDAF-4 (FOX), KCPT (PBS), KCWE-29 (CW), KSMO-TV (MyNet) and KMCI-38 (“The Spot”) are all now available to Kansas City area viewers in the NEXTGEN TV format.

The E.W. Scripps Co. owns KMCI and KSHB, while Hearst is the owner of KCWE & KMBC; Nexstar owns WDAF; and Meredith Local Media is the owner of KSMO, pending the closing of the group’s sale to Gray Television.

Tuesday’s launch in Kansas City specifically involves KMCI-38 and KSMO-62, owned by the Meredith Corporation. These facilities, UHF digital channels 25 and 32, respectively, have converted to ATSC 3.0 transmissions.

This means that there are two ATSC 3.0 “lighthouse” stations in the market.

BitPath, which is developing new data broadcasting services, led the planning process and coordinated efforts across the eight television stations.

— Adam R Jacobson, in Los Angeles

RBR+TVBR has learned that Comscore and the Media Rating Council are currently working to commence an audit of Comscore’s national and local TV measurement.

To confirm, the MRC has not officially started an audit. But, it has a statement on what’s to come.

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It’s not easy to get the FCC’s Media Bureau to cancel a forfeiture. But a broadcaster in Alabama has done so after pointing out a problem with the commission’s own online database system.

The commission had issued a notice of apparent liability to Autaugaville Radio, which owns AM station WXKD in Brantley, Ala., and an FM translator in Troy. The FCC said the broadcaster had failed to file for license renewal by April 1 as required, so it was apparently on the hook for a $4,500 penalty.

The station wrote back saying its attorney had thought the deadline was in June and that it did file on June 18. That explanation alone would be unlikely to impress the commission; but the station also told the FCC that until June 16, the FCC’s own LMS filing database did not reflect the actual expiration dates of the licenses.

“Instead, LMS listed the stations’ licenses as expiring on April 1, 2028,” according to a commission summary. “The licensee states that, until this error was brought to the attention of the bureau staff by licensee’s counsel, and corrected on June 16, 2021, LMS would not accept applications to renew the stations’ licenses.”

The bureau staff found that this was, in fact the case.

“While the licensee could have discovered this issue sooner if it had correctly calculated the deadline for filing applications to renew the stations’ licenses, the licensee brought the error to our attention upon its discovery, and filed the applications to renew the stations’ licenses two days after the error was corrected,” the commission wrote.

So the FCC has canceled the NAL and admonished the broadcaster for violating the rules.

The post Station Avoids Fine Thanks to FCC Database Error appeared first on Radio World.

Erica Farber

Erica Farber and Bill Siemering, prominent figures in U.S. commercial radio and public radio, respectively, are among eight new members of the Radio Hall of Fame.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications also named its first 33 “Legends” inductees, one for each year of the hall’s existence.

Farber is president/CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau and the former publisher/CEO of Radio & Records. Siemering played a critical role in the founding of National Public Radio.

Bill Siemering

The other inductees are air talent. They are Brother Wease, Elliot Segal, Dan Patrick, Kim Komando, Javier Romero and “Preston & Steve,” aka Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison.

All will be honored at a ceremony in Chicago in October. The Radio Hall of Fame was founded by the Emerson Radio Corp. in 1988. The museum has run it since 1991.

The Radio Hall of Fame also decided to recognize of past innovators who have since died.

“While the industry celebrates 100 years of existence, the industry’s Hall of Fame is only 33 years into existence. The centennial milestone provides an opportunity to recognize the talents and efforts of 33 individuals in 2021, as well,” it stated.

The Legacy inductees are:

• Aku aka Hal Lewis, air personality in Honolulu in 1960-1980’s on KGU and KGMB;
• Raul Alarcon Sr., radio executive and founder of Spanish Broadcast Systems (SBS);
• Jackson Armstrong, air personality in Cleveland in 1960–1980’s on WIXY, WKYC, WKBW and other
• stations;
• Dr. Joy Browne, syndicated talk radio air personality based from WOR-AM / New York City;
• Frankie Crocker, air personality in Buffalo and New York City in 1950–1980’s on WUFO, WWRL,
• WMCA  and WBLS-FM;
• Don Cornelius, air personality, WVON-AM, Chicago;
• Tom Donahue, air personality in San Francisco in 1960– 1980’s on KYA, KMPX, KSAN;
• Bill Drake, programmer and founder, Drake-Chenault Enterprises;
• Arlene Francis, air personality in New York City in 1930-1960’s and first female host of NBC’s
• Monitor;
• Barry Gray, talk radio air personality in 1940-1980’s in New York City on WOR and WMCA;
• Toni Grant, talk radio air personality in Los Angeles in 1970-1980’s on KABC-AM and others via
• syndication;
• Petey Greene, air personality in Washington D.C. in 1960-1980’s on WOL-AM;
• Maurice “Hot Rod“ Hulbert, air personality in Baltimore and Memphis in 1950 -1970’s;
• Jocko Henderson, air personality in Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore in 1950-1970’s;
• Rodney Jones, air personality in Chicago in the 1960’s on WVON-AM;
• Chuck Leonard, air personality in New York City in 1960-1970’s on WWRL, WABC, WXLO, WRKS,
• WBLS and others;
• Melvin Lindsey, the originator of the “Quiet Storm“ late-night music programming format and
• Washington D.C air personality    the 1970-1980’s;
• Ron Lundy, air personality in New York City in 1960–1980’s on WABC and WCBS-FM;
• Mary Margaret McBride, nationally syndicated talk personality based in New York City, 1930-1970’s;
• Ruth Ann Meyer, programmer of New York City radio stations in 1950-1960’s;
• Murray “Murray the K” Kaufman, air personality in New York City, 1950-1980’s on stations WINS and
• WOR-FM;
• Manuel “Paco“ Navarro, air personality in New York City in 1970-1980’s on WKTU-FM;
• Pat O’Day, air personality, station owner and concert promoter in Seattle in 1960-1980’s;
• Eddie O’Jay, air personality and pioneer of R&B radio in Milwaukee and Cleveland in 19960-1980’s;
• Stu Olds, radio executive and CEO, Katz Media 1970-2010;
• Alison Steele, air personality in New York City in 1960-1980’s on WNEW-AM and WNEW-FM;
• “The Real” Don Steele, air personality in 1950-1980’s in Los Angeles on various stations;
• Martha Jean “The Queen“ Steinberg, air personality in Memphis and Detroit in 1950-1980’s;
• Todd Storz, radio executive and owner of Storz Broadcasting Company;
• Jay Thomas, air personality in New York and Los Angeles in 1970-1990’s;
• Rufus Thomas, air personality in Memphis in 1950-1980’s;
• McHenry “Mac” Tichenor, radio executive, broadcast station owner of Tichenor Media (Heftel);
• Nat D. Williams, air personality in Memphis in 1940-1970’s on WDIA-AM.

Museum Chairman David Plier said, “The combined list is the most diverse group of nominees in the hall of fame’s history, which is reflective of the audiences that are and have been listening to radio stations across America all these years.”

The post Radio Hall of Fame Announces 2021 Inductees appeared first on Radio World.

A Class A FM serving the city of Macomb, Ill., has a new owner.

The transaction is hardly a surprise, however, as the seller has been allowing the buyer to operate the facility, resulting in a change in the non-secular worship and praise programming heard on the station.

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Real-time engagement — digital experiences that are interactive, collaborative and shared through technology such as live video, live audio and extended reality (AR and VR) — is of increasing desire among U.S. consumers. People increasingly want RTE video or audio features in the apps they use. For example, buyers in a shopping app want to talk to sellers.

Can broadcast radio or TV benefit from this growing desire for “RTE,” something wholly different than Ireland’s government-funded radio and TV organization? An Agora survey may have some very interesting takeaways.

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The FCC Media Bureau has found an FM translator permittee liable for $3,500 for apparently willfully violating FCC Rules regarding filing a renewal license.

The bureau issued a construction permit for FM translator station W285FR in Palatka, Fla., to Natkim Radio in 2018 with an expiration date of Jan. 17, 2021. However, Natkim did not file a covering license application by that date and the permit expired. Nearly two months later Natkim filed a petition for reconsideration demonstrating that the translator was built and that they wanted to proceed with licensing. The bureau treated the petition as a waiver request, granted it, reinstated the permit and gave the permittee until Aug. 13, to file a covering license application. Just before the deadline, on Aug. 12, Natkim filed the application.

[Read: For Willfully Operating Without a License, Permittee Handed $3,500 Forfeiture]

But the permittee failed to file a covering license as required by FCC Rules and continued transmitting for nearly a month after the permit expired.

As a result, the Media Bureau issued a Notice of Apparent Liability. The commission’s Forfeiture Policy Statement establishes a base forfeiture amount of $3,000 for failing to file a required form and a base forfeiture of $10,000 for construction or operation without a permit. Based on its review of the facts and circumstances, the bureau found that a $7,000 base forfeiture is appropriate because the licensee failed to file a covering license application for the translator and engaged in unauthorized operation after the permit expired.

Taking into consideration all of the factors required by the Communications Act, the bureau decided to reduce the forfeiture further to $3,500 because the station is a translator and as such the station provides a secondary service.

As a result, Natkim Radio has 30 days to pay the full amount or file a written statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the proposed forfeiture.

 

The post Missed License Renewal Earns FM Translator a $3,500 Forfeiture appeared first on Radio World.

MIAMI — Streamline Publishing’s annual event devoted to Hispanic audio opportunities for marketers, programmers and broadcast media ownership groups is moving forward with a hybrid format amid continued concerns over the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus.

The parent company of Radio Ink and the Radio + Television Business Report announced Tuesday (8/24) that the Hispanic Radio Conference will be presented this year in a manner that will allow those unable or not inclined to travel at this time to attend the event from the comfort of their home and/or office.

Commenting on the decision, RBR+TVBR Publisher Deborah Parenti said, “With so much on the table, we have decided to add a virtual component to this year’s event. All speakers and panelists are set to present from our stage at the InterContinental at Doral in front of a live audience, but with the addition of a virtual option that will allow those who may have reservations or restrictions on travel the opportunity to be part of the conference and participate in the conversation.”

Parenti continued, “This is an extremely important year for Hispanic radio and the conference agenda is set to tackle many of the issues facing it and the radio industry in general. Considering all of the pressing matters of the past year – from the pandemic and the subsequent economic issues that followed, to changes on Capital Hill, at the FCC, and pending legislation impacting broadcasters, the 12th Hispanic Radio Conference could not come at a more crucial time.”

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington will address attendees in a keynote address on the second day of the two-day conference. Other Washington notables confirmed as attendees is former House Member Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

In person and virtual registrations can be made here. If you are attending the conference live, be sure to register at the special hotel rate here.

LOS ANGELES — Buyers and sellers of linear television ad inventory now have a fully transparent solution enabling them to automate and expedite the activation of data-driven linear video inventory without changing existing workflows or technologies.

Be sure to follow RBR+TVBR on Twitter!

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No, Educational Media Foundation isn’t about to launch a Spanish-language Christian music station in Oklahoma’s second-largest market.

Rather, it is making a deal with David Ingles Ministries for a noncommercial band FM in Tulsa.

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Looking to upgrade those studio cameras to newer technology?

Who knew that a religious television outfit found on three MVPDs across the New York Tri-State area would provide a wholly different kind of inspiration than that it provides its viewers every day.

The Catholic Faith Network (CFN), a Long Island, N.Y.-based not-for-profit television organization that uses all forms of media to keep the Catholic community connected to their faith, is now future-proofed in the studio thanks to the addition of a trio of SK-HD1800 HDTV production cameras from Hitachi Kokusai Electric America Ltd. (Hitachi Kokusai).

CFN is available on Optimum, Verizon FiOS and Charter Spectrum systems throughout the Five Boroughs of New York, and communities across Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Ulster, Dutchess, Sullivan, Orange, Putnam and Rockland Counties; Northern New Jersey, and in Fairfield County, Conn. Select cable and satellite systems nationwide also provide CFN to viewers. CFN’s programming includes live masses, talk shows, and topics ranging from faith and societal issues to health and cooking.

With Catholic Faith Network expanding, CFN senior executive producer Sean Kennedy explains, “With our productions expanding and our existing Z-HD5000 models still going strong but over eight years old, we decided to double our roster of cameras by adding the latest and greatest HD technology. We didn’t go up to 4K because we wouldn’t really be able to take advantage of the extra resolution. We broadcast in HD, but some of our carriers even still down-convert our signal to standard definition.”

Before working at CFN, Kennedy and studio and production coordinator Bryan Butler worked for a high school sports network. There, they used twelve Hitachi cameras on the HD trucks. “We compared Hitachi picture quality side-by-side to more expensive alternatives, and nobody could tell the difference,” Butler says. “Despite constantly beating up those cameras while producing sports six days a week with many different operators, they withstood everything we threw at them without any issues.”

CFN purchased their new SK-HD1800 cameras in March. Setting them up went seamlessly. “We built the three cameras ourselves within 45 minutes from opening the boxes – more than 20 of them, from camera heads to lenses and teleprompters – to fully built,” Butler says. “Local Hitachi staff helped us wire in our new CU-HD1200 CCUs in the control room and commission the cameras. We were all done within two hours and shooting just three hours later.”

The CFN team points to the SK-HD1800’s global shutter sensor as one of their favorite features of the new cameras, and particularly valuable in their LED-intensive environment. Some of CFN’s sets are heavily monitor based — with a nine-by-nine monitor wall, monitor strip, and large standalone monitor – and also use a mix of generations of LED lighting.

“I do a lot of the set design in terms of lighting, and I’m dealing with a lot of different types of LED fixtures from various manufacturers,” adds TJ Katsoulas, studio manager at CFN. “With earlier camera technologies we could get rolling shutter artifacts from LEDs, so I would manually dial in the shutter to avoid issues such as banding. However, making those adjustments would affect my lighting. Now with the SK-HD1800’s global shutter I don’t need to worry about that, and it’s tremendous how much it has helped me in making my compositions what I want them to be.”

Katsoulas also highlights the SK-HD1800’s enhanced skin tone adjustments and notes that the ability to dial in and preset multiple skin tones has been very helpful when dealing with multiple people on set. “Other standouts from our upgrade include the RU-1500JY remote control units with their amazing LCD touchscreens, and the VF-PBM-307 color viewfinders, which our camera operators love,” he adds.

— Reporting by Brian Galante. Editing by Adam R Jacobson

Taking its name for Austin’s legacy area code, 512 Audio, based in that city, introduces itself with a handful of products, notably a pair of microphones.

Of chief interest to Radio World readers would be the Limelight microphone (shown). Roughly resembling a black version of a well-known radio broadcast mic standard, Limelight has a hypercardioid pattern with a dynamic capsule that “meets the needs of today’s podcasters, broadcasters, and streamers,” according to the company.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

It has a built-in pop filter and low-frequency cut filter at 100Hz. The company specs Limelight 50 Hz–15 kHz.

Also coming out of the 512 Audio stable is the Skylight, a large diaphragm cardioid studio-style microphone. Both mics go for $199.99.

512 Audio is also offering a set of headphones, along with a boom arm and a metal mesh pop filter.

Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

Info: www.512audio.com

 

The post Introducing 512 Audio appeared first on Radio World.

The final stretch of the FCC’s Broadcast Incentive Auction, or spectrum repack, is in progress.

This will relocate displaced low-power TV (LPTV), TV translator and FM stations to new frequencies no later than September 5. And, Dielectric is preparing for “brisk business” over the next week as broadcast antenna and RF systems needs potentially increase.

Dielectric has developed a new strategy for low-power repack customers, anchored by its  Powerlite Series and an automated, high-efficiency production process.

“We revamped our production floor and workflow to accelerate the antenna manufacturing and shipping process during the challenging high-power repack phases,” said Cory Edwards, Director of OEM, Distributor and Southeast Asia Sales at Dielectric. “We shipped a total of 1073 high-power repack systems over 12 phases, accounting for 80 percent of high-power repack market share.”

While these workflow changes remain in place, the commercial quoting process for low-power antenna systems take a different path. Edwards notes that a great deal of collaboration takes place on the front end between Dielectric, the transmitter OEM, and tower owner to ensure the most cost-effective system for the LPTV station.

To ensure expediency, Dielectric has recalibrated its precision automatic pole machine, first commissioned for the high-power repack initiative. The machine is equipped with a Bridgeport head with an automated flex drill. The system is driven by Dielectric’s CAD package, which includes the appropriate custom programming for each low-power antenna. This ensures that low-power antennas can now be built quicker than was previously possible.

“The poles range from 15 to 25 feet long for lower-power slot antennas, and fit into a series of saddles on the machine,” said Edwards. “The CAD software, which automatically uploads once the design work is completed, tells the flex drill precisely where every slot and hole on the antenna should be located. We can finish an 8-bay antenna for an LPTV customer in less than an hour, compared to what previously took nearly a full business day, and antenna tuning times have improved by 50 percent, which means quicker deployments..”

Dielectric produced and shipped nearly 60 Powerlite low-power TV antenna systems in the recent months using this machine and automated production workflow, Edwards said. That includes “analog sunset” LPTV customers that faced an early July deadline. The company currently has about another 60 Powerlite systems in production for low-power repack projects, and anticipates bidding on up to 500 additional projects in the coming months.

Edwards adds that the Powerlite Series, which serves broadcast requirements of 6kW or less, packages all required RF components into a singular system. This further simplifies challenging deployment timelines for low-power stations, which typically lack the budget to outsource installation services.

Powerlite systems ship with Dielectric antennas, transmission line, tunable filters and RF components. The company recently added a 5kW tunable filter to the Powerlite Series, which Edwards says has helped Dielectric efficiently match specific transmitter power levels that have become more common with LPTV repack projects.

— Brian Galante, with editing by Adam R Jacobson

Dielectric will demonstrate its Powerlite Series, including its new 5kW Powerlite filter, at its 2021 NAB Booth (C7215) from October 10-13 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Nexstar Media Group has appointed a VP/GM for its broadcast and digital operations in DMA No. 167. This puts him in control of the market’s ABC affiliate and the company’s operational agreements with Mission Broadcasting.

Thus, he’ll also be overseeing operations of the local FOX affiliate.

Taking the role is Stephen Eaton. He reports to Traci Wilkinson, Nexstar’s SVP/Regional Manager for its broadcasting division.

Eaton has been GSM of KTVQ-TV in Billings, Mont., the CBS affiliate, since February 2016. Now, he’ll be across town, overseeing KSVI-TV, the ABC affiliate, and Mission-owned FOX affiliate KMHT-TV.

Prior career stops include a role as a Senior Account Manager at KUSA-9 in Denver.

JW Player, the leading video software and data insights platform, today announced it has appointed a Chief Technology Officer. The strategic hire, the company says, ‘will accelerate JW Player’s product innovation to meet the needs of a rapidly growing Digital Video Economy.”

Gaining the role is David LaPalomento.

“David has proven himself to be a visionary leader in both developing and scaling innovative video delivery products,” said Dave Otten, CEO and co-founder of JW Player. “I have no doubt that his expertise will strengthen our position as a leading force for innovation in the digital video industry. With his leadership, we will scale our engineering teams and bring new products to market that further empower customers with independence and control in the Digital Video Economy. We could not be more excited to have him on our team.”

LaPalomento enjoyed a decade-long tenure at Brightcove, where he led the overhaul of the company’s legacy data center-based architecture, replacing it with a scalable, cloud-native architecture. “His experience will be invaluable as JW Player rises to meet the explosive growth in demand for digital video since the pandemic began,” his new employer says.

JW Player’s data from over 12,000 publishers and broadcasters shows that video consumption has risen by nearly 50% since 2020 and by 28.6% since January 2021. “The growing demand has made it an imperative for organizations of all stripes, including fitness, e-commerce, sports and e-learning businesses, to develop a robust video strategy to engage their audience on the screen of their choice: web, mobile or connected TV,” JW Player says.

JW Player uses an API-driven video platform.

Two AV companies have done something that may be of interest to the broadcast industry. Last week, they agreed to a strategic partnership to offer “the most complete and most collaborative versions” of the Crestron XiO Cloud product. This adds new levels of control, management and rapid installation features to Philips displays.

PPDS, the exclusive global provider of Philips pro TV products, is now among the world’s first manufacturers to gain Crestron XiO Cloud certification.

The company says this “unique and highly collaborative partnership opens up incredible opportunities for a multitude of industries.”

With Crestron technology now embedded and compatible across almost all Philips professional displays (including pro TV, digital signage and interactive), PPDS has become one of the world’s few display manufacturers to support all four of Crestron’s key technology integrations, including its Control, Remote Management, Video Distribution and Unified Communications solutions, the company says.

Built on the Microsoft Azure platform, Crestron XiO Cloud integrates seamlessly with a
wide range of Philips Windows and Android digital displays and pro TVs.

In 2020, PPDS became a Crestron Connected Gen 2 certified and trusted partner. The first examples of the relationship included the launch and availability of a range of new products, including Philips B-Line and C-Line interactive displays.

 

Customers can purchase the Crestron XiO Cloud service on a monthly basis, with pricing based on the number of rooms and service options required.

Issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in the amount of $3,500 to Natkim Radio, LLC, for failure to timely file a covering license application for FM Translator W285FR, Palatka, Florida, and unauthorized operation of the station

State broadcast associations are telling the Federal Communications Commission that its planned increase in regulatory fees will be harmful to radio and TV stations at a time when many stations face “an increasingly precarious situation.”

They also want the commission to start a proceeding that would lead to fees being allocated more fairly across industries that benefit from the FCC’s work.

[“Broadcasters Face Higher FCC Regulatory Fees”]

The leaders of several associations met via tele-conference calls last week with staff members of three FCC commissioners. The associations include those in Indiana, Minnesota, Georgia, Montana and Missouri.

The state groups echoed arguments that have been made to the FCC — so far without success — by the National Association of Broadcasters.

The associations described financial challenges facing broadcasters, especially those in small markets, where stations may be the only source of local news and information as well as a balance to misinformation on social media.

According to ex parte filings summarizing the calls, the associations complained about increases of “double-digit percentages year over year” and said that the FCC’s published Broadcast Totals “show a loss of at least 122 full-power commercial AM and FM radio stations since 2019, demonstrating the increasingly precarious situation many stations face.”

They also noted that the FCC’s most recent auction failed to attract a bidder for any of the offered AM station authorizations and for a third of the FM station authorizations.

This, they said, “further confirms an increasingly obvious fact: that the FCC’s proposal to charge broadcasters 16% of its operating costs while those same broadcasters hold only 0.07% of the spectrum regulated by the commission is an unsustainable approach to funding the commission’s operations.”

They also said that the fee increases “are due almost entirely to the commission’s decision to treat its work under the Broadband DATA Act as commission ‘overhead,’ to be spread across all FCC regulatees despite the fact that broadcasters have no connection to, and do not benefit from, that work in any way.”

That, they say, is contrary to the will of Congress.

“The commission’s traditional license-centric approach to setting regulatory fees is neither legal nor sustainable,” the associations wrote in their filings.

They said that approach “merely forces broadcasters to subsidize through excessive regulatory fees their fiercest competitors: social media and technology companies that consume vast amounts of the commission’s time and resources while paying no regulatory fees whatsoever.

“This subsidy is particularly offensive when some of these resources broadcasters are paying for are being used to encroach on broadcaster’s spectrum through unlicensed uses, reducing the ‘benefit’ of that spectrum to broadcasters while simultaneously benefitting technology companies who conveniently avoid having to pay for the cost of those proceedings since they are not an FCC licensee.”

The associations told FCC staffers that current law now requires it to diversify its portfolio of regulatory fee payors.

They want the commission to start a proceeding to examine how to bring its regulatory fee processes into compliance by expanding the universe of regulatory fee payors and acknowledging that the amount of fees must be governed by what is called the “touchstone” of the benefit the commission delivers to the payor.

[Read one of the ex parte summaries as filed with the commission.]

 

The post State Associations Push Back on FCC Fee Increases appeared first on Radio World.

Cornelius Gould has joined Angry Audio with the title of audio processing architect. Among his jobs will be helping to develop products for new media content creators.

Angry Audio is a Tennessee-based company founded in 2019 by Mike “Catfish” Dosch. It specializes in making “gizmos and gadgets.”

“Broadcasters around the world know Gould for his Omnia.11 work,” the company said in a press release. “What they may not realize is that he has been designing, building and tuning audio processing for decades. In fact, he is considered by many to be one of the world’s foremost audio processing authorities.”

Dosch said Angry Audio has a lot of customers working in podcasting and live-audio streaming. “With Corny on board, we have some new product ideas that should be real eye-openers,” he said.

Gould is best known in radio for his decade-plus at Telos Alliance. Before that he founded a streaming company and worked as an engineer for CBS Radio. More recently he was with Futuri Media in an R&D role; he also co-hosts a podcast about rocketry.

Send announcements for People News to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Corny Gould Joins Angry Audio appeared first on Radio World.

The Media Bureau has agreed to cancel a Notice of Apparent Liability against the licensee of an low-power FM station in Florida for a renewal violation — but not before the station was admonished by the Federal Communications Commission for operating without a license.

The bureau sent a liability notice to Minority Broadcasting Association, licensee of LPFM station WPJM in Palatka, Fla., for apparently willfully violating the FCC Rules by failing to file a license renewal application on time and engaging in unauthorized operation of the station.

[Read: LPFM Station Allowed to Resume Operations]

According to the rules, the bureau has the authority to set a base forfeiture of $3,000 for failing to file a required form. The guidelines also specify a base forfeiture of $10,000 for construction or operation without authorization. In Minority Broadcasting’s case, the bureau proposed a reduced forfeiture amount of $3,500 since the station is an LPFM and is providing a secondary service.

Minority Broadcasting responded to the commission’s notice and responded that its failure to file the application was not willful; rather, it resulted from unintentional oversight and argued that the commission did not give them enough opportunity to achieve compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act. Minority Broadcasting also requested cancellation of the notice due to an inability to pay.

But the bureau said that violations resulting from failure to become familiar with the FCC’s rules are still willful violations — even if the licensee didn’t intentionally set out to break the rules. As a result, the commission said it was not persuaded by Minority Broadcasting’s argument that the mistake was just an accident.

The bureau also said that Minority Broadcasting’s interpretation of the Administrative Procedure Act is also incorrect. The rules state that the suspension of an license is lawful only if the licensee has been given notice and an opportunity to achieve compliance. But here, the commission is not attempting to revoke or cancel the station’s license, so in this case the act has no standing, the bureau said.

The bureau also explained that in order for the commission to consider reducing or cancelling a forfeiture, the licensee must submit federal tax returns for the last three years or some other objective documentation showing the licensee’s current financial status. Minority Broadcasting said its financial status was clear: it doesn’t have a bank account and any funds needed for station operations are obtained through donations.

The commission accepted Minority Broadcasting’s showing that payment of the proposed forfeiture would create a financial hardship. The bureau also agreed to cancel the proposed forfeiture but not before admonishing Minority Broadcasting for its violation of the rules.

 

The post Florida Low-Power FM Station Has Liability Canceled by Media Bureau appeared first on Radio World.