Radio World

The author of this special report is chief engineer of WBUR Boston and the former tech editor of Radio World Engineering Extra.

The subject of Audio over Internet Protocol is large, wide-ranging and frequently discussed. But for this article we’ve spoken to a number of radio industry experts to get a fresh point of view.

These are people who have built, maintained and used systems in large and small installations. The kinds of projects profiled here range from the basics of building out studios that are simply reliable, to wildly imaginative ways to use this technology.

First let’s reflect on where we started and how we got to this point.

A short history

While today there are a range of IP-based audio products to cover nearly every application in radio, including fully virtual solutions, it has taken several decades to get to this point.

I well recall the early efforts of streaming with TCP/IP over the public internet back in the days of 33 kbps telephone modems, just 25 years ago. While streaming audio in those days was mostly a “proof of concept” rather than listenable, those early demonstrations showed the potential of using the rapidly expanding public internet as a way to “broadcast” audio.

Using IP, packets of audio data could be addressed for delivery to specific destinations across local- and wide-area networks spanning continents.

A second enabling technology was the use of Ethernet protocol to build scalable computer networks at ever-increasing speeds via low-cost, short-distance, copper connections. It too played a role in early AoIP development. Due to the lack of copyright limitations, manufacturers rapidly jumped into this technology. Improvements in Ethernet performance have since followed a logarithmic curve, driven by the vast marketplace for personal computer networking. The audio industry now has adopted Ethernet wholesale as a transmission medium, allowing us to take advantage of the incredible cost and performance advantages of this technology.

Even further back, the most important enabling technical developments were the digital signal processing advances in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, in which the theories of Shannon, Nyquist and others were proven to work in practice. The ability to convert analog signals to digital and back again without loss of quality — rapidly, reliably and cheaply — represents the crucial first step toward digital transmission, freeing audio from the inherent limitations of analog.

The combination of these three enabling technologies has led to the world of AoIP that we enjoy and which becomes more powerful and reliable every day.

First applications

One of the first problems to solve in the progress toward AoIP was a method of using Ethernet protocol to transmit signals in real time. While the use of network switches is taken for granted now, the original Collision Detection algorithm and network hubs used for data were fundamentally unsuited for uninterrupted (real time) signals.

Early systems such as Cobranet and Ethersound solved the problem of packet collisions by creating a master timing clock that controlled permission to transmit on the shared receive and transmit wiring. It was during this era that the importance of timing in the transmission of networked audio was discovered. High-speed variations, known as jitter, would cause audio to distort. Long-term variations due to delayed packets and network propagation times would cause the original timing to drift or the feed would go periodically silent.

By using network speeds that far exceeded the audio demand, it was possible to compensate for jitter and long-term delay by creating a buffer for data that could be filled in high-speed bursts. The audio output could then be spooled out of this buffer at a slow, but maintainable, speed with a local clocking system restoring the original audio timing.

This story is excerpted from the ebook “The Real World of AoIP.” Click the cover to read it for free.

Early systems using 10 Mbps Ethernet transmission — 10 Mbps representing the maximum speed at which individual bits could be transmitted in the absence of overhead packets and collisions — were more than adequate to handle the roughly 1.5 Mbps data rate of PCM digitized stereo audio. This rate had been standardized by the massively popular audio compact disk (CD).

As Ethernet hubs increased speed to widely available and inexpensive 100 Mbps models (later improved to switches which by design are not limited by packet collisions on the network wiring), it became feasible to multiplex a number of PCM streams on a single network branch without them interfering with one another.

Although limited to in-house systems where the timing could be successfully synchronized to one master clock system, LAN-based audio transmission was born. Unlike analog systems, the transmission distance did not affect the phase and frequency response of the audio signal after digitization. The promise of inexpensive and virtually perfect fidelity, digital transmission came into view, a huge step toward today’s AoIP systems. Another bonus was the ability to combine multiple signals on a single wiring system.

It’s amusing to recall the primary competitors for audio transmission in that era. While copper audio pairs within the public telephone systems were already on a path to obsolescence, many radio stations still relied on them to transmit analog audio over a distance of many miles. Powerful equalizing and phase compensating amplifiers were used to repair the distortions caused by the capacitance of lengthy wiring segments.

Still, there was a limit beyond which this compensation could not be used. Digital audio was the solution to this distance limitation.

Digital codecs

In the late 1980s, to replace those analog copper circuits, the various Regional Bell Operating Companies introduced a means of digital transmission of audio signals in the form of Switched 56, or 56 kbps clock synchronized data circuits. Shortly after, Integrated Services Digital Network, or ISDN, service was widely made available and rapidly became the most popular form of digital audio transmission. It was limited initially to 64 kbps, and then later used two-channel bonding to achieve 128 kbps.

Radio, the recording industry and even film producers relied on ISDN for more than two decades. What enabled this technology to succeed was the development of coder-decoder techniques that pre-treated the digitized audio stream, reduced it to a much lower rate of transmission and then restored it after digital transmission.

The devices that incorporated these data reduction techniques were called codecs, the combination of the words “coder” and “decoder.” They were the first cost-effective means of digital audio transmission over long distances. ISDN “calls” could made between any two capable telephone centers all over the United States and overseas to Europe.

The widely used Fraunhofer MPEG II audio codec for a time became nearly universal on bonded ISDN links at 128 kpbs. This type of codec divided the audio into frames, analyzed the frequency content in each frame using a Fast Fourier Transform, and then discarded 85% of the audio bits that were effectively inaudible to human hearing due to acoustic masking. At the far end it would reconstitute the original audio signal. Note the key use of rapid DSP techniques in these operations.

Codecs using acoustic masking techniques are still widely utilized, now combined with the power of IP networking in place of serial data transmission systems like ISDN.

AoIP remote links

A widespread use of ISDN technology was for remote broadcasting. In the early 2000s standalone IP codecs were produced that could take advantage of IP encapsulation. As AoIP moved beyond the LAN, it added large buffers and user-settable dynamic buffers to allow for a wide variation in timing and jitter as experienced on links over networks not controllable by a local master clock.

This development coincided with the deployment of internet access into public and private locations. Telephone and cable companies that had copper wiring, coaxial cable and even fiber optic connections into businesses and homes shifted their marketing to high-performance network connections to meet escalating demand.

At the same time, they let it be known that ISDN was a sunset technology that would not be supported for much longer. Indeed, after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 literally flooded out a large central office technical center in Manhattan, Verizon New York announced it would soon eliminate any new ISDN services in the Northeast.

The slow withdrawal of ISDN allowed IP codecs to be deployed with advantages that would soon outweigh the value of the older technology.

The introduction of high-speed wireless data in its “3G” or third-generation model in 2001 made mobile internet access possible, creating a whole new type of product that allowed remote broadcasting anywhere that wireless data was available.

By 2010 ever-faster speeds were achievable over wireless, in some cases up to 100 Mbps download speeds, when 4G and 4Ge systems were deployed.

Claims for 5G systems now being built are to offer 1 Gbps downloads to mobile phones. Portable codecs with wireless modems can connect with seemingly endless bandwidth for remote broadcasts from virtually anywhere within the site of a cell tower.

STL and remote systems

AoIP made early inroads into radio as a studio-to-transmitter link, or STL. Audio codecs form the core of AoIP audio transport over interconnecting networks that don’t necessarily maintain the same timing or path length. By encapsulating an audio codec within IP packets, the modern, routable codec combines the power of LAN-based audio transmission with the widely available public internet, capable of providing high-quality audio links to almost anywhere.

The use of AoIP codecs as modern STLs is demonstrated today by a variety of models that largely use the public internet as an inexpensive means of distribution. At both ends a device with an Ethernet interface (also known as NIC, or Network Interface Card) is associated with a unique address on the public internet. These connections are installed at the customer location by internet service providers.

Using a pair of codecs to create a one-way audio path from studio to transmitter is as simple as pointing the local codec to the remote address. Since the connection provided by the ISP is bidirectional, the corresponding codec on the far end is typically, but not always, pointed back to the local (a widely-used application is to have the output of an air monitor feed a confidence stream back to the studio).

Since the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the radio industry has seen a continuing trend toward consolidation of radio license ownership and shared transmission facilities. AoIP STLs are a necessary support for that consolidation as they allow inexpensive and readily available internet access contracts virtually anywhere.

One example is The Joy FM, a group based out of Sarasota, Fla., that has more than 20 transmitters in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Acting Chief Engineer Avery Ditmars spoke with me about their deployment of AoIP codecs to link all of these sites.

“We have a total of roughly 50 Telos Z/IP One codecs that we use to connect to all our transmitters, which includes 12 sites in Florida and a sister station with nine transmitter sites in Georgia,” said Ditmars. “A Telos Z/IP per station is used to encode 12 individual streams of audio to different locations. I chose the Telos line because it supports the Livewire interface from our studios, making it a completely AoIP path. All the way from the mic processor to the transmitter.”

Avery Ditmars says Joy FM is a big user of Telos Z/IP One codecs and Barix Extsreamers.

The Joy FM first began with a satellite delivery system over C-Band. The transition to AoIP codecs for STL was accomplished over the course of several years.

“We decided to convert to using the internet because it gave us the flexibility to do what we needed to do, without costing an obscene amount. We discontinued C-Band in 2014 and as we’ve added stations we’ve built around the Telos Z/IP as our core STL,” he continued.

Ditmars’ experiences have taught him some lessons about the best way to build STLs using AoIP over the public internet.

“In this business you have to eliminate single point of failures as much as possible,” he said. “So we also maintain a backup network of links using Barix codecs to every site, and we’re able to switch these into service automatically if we detect silence on the main links. We also have two, if not more, ISPs for every site in case of problems with one of our Internet providers.”

He noted the flexibility of the Barix codec as a fully compatible RTP device. ”We use Barix as our backup audio device, streaming from a server on a completely second path from our main VPNs. The compatibility of Barix with whatever encoder we put on the other side is why we went the direction we did.”

One other recommendation from Ditmars is about the importance of security on these critical links.

“It goes without saying that you have to change ALL the default passwords on every device that you connect to the internet,” he said. “You have to build these links with full security to prevent someone from hacking into your system. All of our codecs are located so they connect within a VPN tunnel. Nothing is ever connected directly to the internet at any site.”

Work from home

AoIP codecs of course aren’t just used as links between the studio and transmitter. For instance they have been used for years to build out remote or home studios.

This capability turned out to be transformative for SiriusXM when it decided to move most of their hosts to home during the lockdowns put in place last spring when the pandemic began to spread throughout the United States.

Senior Director, SiriusXM Enterprise Operations Daniel Berdiel explained the scope of the problem.

“We needed to provide program hosts, guests and studio teams a way to work from home safely,” he said.

“On the hardware side, we needed a way to scale up our remote sessions capacity in a small hardware format. Because we already had substantial experience with Comrex portable codecs we chose the ACCESS Multirack. The AES67 interface and its ability to make five simultaneous connections made it easy to integrate in our facility. In most cases, each show uses two or three instances for hosts, and one instance for the remote producer/board op.”

For the remote side, SiriusXM used a standard setup. “The primary remote kit uses an ACCESS or NX Portable, Beyer DT297 headset and sometimes a cough switch. An IFB was already in place that the studio can interrupt to speak to a host,” said Berdiel.

The challenges facing SiriusXM were more than what one would find in the average large radio cluster. “We have about 400 hosts who are on remote operation,” said Berdiel.

High-speed build

While AoIP was finding early application in remote broadcasting and STLs, the developments were not limited to transmission to external locations. Studio systems began to develop at the same time.

In many cases AoIP mixers were added as studio expansion, creating islands of operation. However, it was clear from the beginning there were advantages to AoIP being a full facility standard, interconnecting every device in every room.

At Corus Radio Inc., Greg Landgraf, manager, radio technology for the western region, describes how they came to build out an entire studio facility with AoIP after a fire badly damaged their complex in 2012.

Greg Landgraf. Corus Radio built out a facility with AoIP after a fire badly damaged their studio complex.

“The main driving factor in choosing AoIP for the temporary and then the permanent installations in Calgary was speed of installation. The systems can be racked, wired and configured in a fraction of the time required for an analog build,” he said.

“Obviously, the incredible power, redundancy and scalability were huge factors as well. In the past a desired change in a studio involved significant effort to accomplish. Pulling wire and connecting equipment has been replaced, for the most part, by a few mouse clicks in configuration, in an AoIP world. Also, the vast options available for configuration of audio and control in AoIP simply are not available in traditional analog without significant time and available dollars.”

The new home for Corus Radio Calgary occupied about 24,000 square feet, of which around 11,000 were technical spaces such as studios and the TOC. There are five main control rooms plus three general control rooms, four production rooms and talk studio space.

The core systems are based on Wheatstone’s Wheatnet AoIP. The project took about nine months. “The AoIP portion of that was in the two-month range. This is very impressive considering an analog build could take two or three times that.”

In spite of the need to move quickly, the project exceeded its goals. “All expectations were met. Those were to replace and mimic our previous analog setup, which it did without breaking a sweat,” he said.

“The virtually forced transition to AoIP has opened new doors in studio configurations and uses. A control room AoIP system can be loaded with a number of configurations for immediate changes of that room to function in different modes.

“Take an FM MCR; once the morning show is finished using the room in a traditional fashion, it can be reconfigured, by a simple button push, to become a voice/talk studio or visual radio space, all the while sending automation to air uninterrupted.

“The only thing I can share as a warning or concern revolves around system stability,” said Landgraf. “In a hardwired analog system, there is not much that can go wrong as it relates to audio wires … they are hardwired and carry one signal. In AoIP those are defined by software, crosspoints, AoIP packets travelling the network, network switches, etc.

“As in any computer/network-based system, there is potential for glitches to disrupt that flow and even, on occasion, mysteriously change audio sources, settings and configurations. Having said that, I am willing to deal with the occasional glitch for the incredible power of AoIP.”

Landgraf also deploys a wide selection of Tieline AoIP codecs. Like Joy FM, Corus has converted its affiliate distribution to AoIP codecs.

“We have a national Genie Distribution network set up in Toronto to distribute syndicated programming to all Corus radio sites. This system was installed to replace our previous satellite distribution,” he said.

Corus uses the Report-IT application for live news and special programming. “A number of our commercial remotes are also done on the Report-IT app using the FTP functionality to record and upload, which is then ingested into our Burli system for playout — we call this ‘As Good as Live.’

“This is how we receive traffic reports from our traffic helicopter auto ingested into Burli for playout, similar to our commercial remote setup. We have also used this method to do a number of remote live shows, on our music stations, from faraway lands, as sometimes their connects are suspect, and this increases the reliability and integrity of each break. We have a national Tie-Server system set up for live remote contributions from radio and TV news staff via Report-IT and their phone device (iPhone or Android). Corus has one of the largest Tie-Server systems on record.”

Landgraf, like Bardiel, also mentioned demands for “Work From Home” solutions. “A number of ViA codecs are in use, as show hosts are working from home. With the ViA’s capabilities we can feed local computer audio and as well as record off-line audio for later playout all on the ViA. These are connecting through our Peplink/Pepwave VPN system to ensure reliability and security.”

Mic to transmitter

Dennis Eversoll, Midwest regional director of engineering at Cumulus Radio, discussed with me via email the importance of AoIP in a 2019 consolidation project of 17 studios in Kansas City.

He and Assistant Chief Engineer Kevin Cox, who plays a lead role in the new digital systems, installed Axia for their infrastructure and an air chain from the studio all the way to the transmitter using AoIP STLs.

Studio A at KCFX(FM). Cumulus Kansas City recently completed an AoIP project that involved 17 studios. (Photo by Ken Cox)

“Our facility was originally built out in 1997, and it was a mix of analog-only control rooms, some hybrid digital/analog rooms from 2006, and even one AoIP studio from 2016,” said Eversoll.

“We decided on a new space of 17,000 square feet and determined from the start that it would be entirely AoIP, since we had successfully done similar builds in San Francisco and Chicago already, based on the Axia Fusion and IQ Series consoles. The studio phones would use an all-new VX [phone system]. ”

The use of analog and AES3 digital formats was minimized as much as possible.

“The only analog audio in the facility originates in specific source equipment like CD players and flash recorders. Those devices are immediately interfaced to the Axia network via nodes. Literally every source anywhere in the building can be routed anywhere, and this is completely controlled by the routing software, so we no longer had the need for extensive audio routing system we had previously employed,” said Eversoll.

“The biggest change for me personally was the fact that we would no longer be using any conventional method of program delivery to our eight different transmitter sites around the city. Our primary and backup STL system would now also be IP-based using the GatesAir IP Link units.

“We established an MPLS circuit for the primary program delivery and, by using the second network connection on the IP Link 200 units, we have the failover set up to move to an open internet feed that is available at all our sites.”

The new STL is an improvement over legacy techniques. “This setup allows us to perform all our audio processing at the studio and then send the exact same processing to multiple sites including several auxiliary sites where previously we had to operate separate processing at each location,” said Eversoll.

He noted the extensive change in design for an AoIP Technical Center.

“Our technical operating center has no audio flowing within it, it is simply multiple networks including business systems, Axia audio, phone systems (both business and studio phones), as well as other networks designed for both security and accessibility,” said Eversoll.

Plan for advantages

Their decision to use AoIP was motivated by a desire to make a better studio complex, taking advantage of technology improvements but also to improve usability for staff by selecting a common platform.

“Like any large cluster build, it was our objective to make it easy for talent to move from studio to studio and find identical setups from one room to the other,” Eversoll continued.

“We had enjoyed this at a time in our history but had strayed away from that through years of ownership changes and new technologies. With the proper programming a single button can reroute everything involved in an intricate studio setup and make the move to another studio seamless with no loss of functionality. This was possible before, but not without a variety of patching and multiple routing.”

Recent events have also driven home the unexpected benefits of AoIP technology for Cumulus.

“Less than a month after completion, along came the pandemic, and we effectively closed the facility. Fortunately in the move we had dropped all the older technologies such as ISDN and had installed about 10 new codecs [a mix of Comrex, Tieline and Telos models]. These, along with the outstanding remote voicetracking capabilities of our on-air systems, allow us to do both live and automated shows with virtually no personnel in the building.

“Using our VoIP telephone capabilities, we are even sending studio calls to talent operating from home studios. If necessary, our consoles are capable of being remotely operated from off site,” said Eversoll.

“Those of us in engineering also have the capability of analyzing and changing anything in the facility from off-site since almost the entire infrastructure is IP-based.”

Eversoll had some final words for anyone preparing for an AoIP buildout: “In my opinion AoIP is the only way to go in these times; but the importance of intense planning is paramount. Just be prepared for intense research and finding people with experience to lean on early in these projects.”

Powerful comms

Another notable example of AoIP in action is at Onda Madrid, a public station in Spain that has a major commitment to news and sports. It recently installed an AEQ BC-2000 D Router audio matrix, updating its digital consoles to support AoIP connectivity and adding an Arena digital mixing console in its Recording Studio 1.

The modular router central control room matrix includes 16 analog, eight AES/EBU digital and 128 AoIP Dante inputs/outputs; it’s complemented by three NetBox 32 AD Dante AoIP interfaces, one for additional routing of the central control and link rooms, a second to provide booth connectivity and the last as a backup. Each interface connects 32 AoIP inputs and outputs to 16 analog and eight AES/EBU digital stereo I/O.

The communications system is a notable part of the installation. An AEQ VoIP phone system and fleet of Phoenix Stratos codecs are integrated into software that unifies control of broadcast telephony and audio routing for the ISDN/IP codecs.

“On one hand, in the Central Control Room, there is an AEQ Systel IP 16 system providing 16 voice over IP lines and supporting four AEQ SystelSet+ communications terminals, which include an IP phone and a touchscreen running the communications control software,” according to a project description.

“These have been installed in the Continuity Studio and the three recording ones. The 16 available phone lines can be dynamically assigned among these studios as required by each of them at any particular moment.”

 

In the racks at Onda Madrid.

 

Meanwhile the system also includes 10 AEQ Phoenix Stratos codecs supporting both ISDN and IP connectivity; these can be assigned to create permanent links to transmitter centers, external studios and remote vans.

“Eight workplaces have been licensed for this unified communications software. It allows for the management of the audiocodecs and the IP broadcast telephony system from a single screen.” Each user can operate the external links using codecs and prepare phone calls for a studio — acting as a producer, supervisor or custom function depending on their access rights.

The deployment also included 10 AEQ ALIO external reporting systems with IP connectivity in portable cases, with router/modems for connectivity over 3G/4G mobile IP networks.

Another AEQ user, Tom Walker, technical director at Black Country Radio in the United Kingdom, was pleased to find an easy integration path to the Dante audio transport system, often used by live sound systems for its high quality and efficient transport. He said Dante “was our chosen audio environment to future-proof our new studios.

“We have no audio loss anywhere in our broadcast chain from studio to our transmitters. We really are at the forefront of a fully Dante digital station.”

Walker was enthusiastic about the capabilities that came with an AoIP installation. “We have had so much fun installing the new AEQ consoles using Salvos and virtual I/O signals; we were finding new features daily, especially when it came to Talkback. We had a lot of fun humoring the install team.”

The WAN network

With AoIP addressability there is theoretically no limit to the size of the network that can be connected, although it presents challenges in getting sufficiently fast network connections.

I spoke with Bill Jackson, principal studio engineer, Educational Media Foundation, about their goal of building an AoIP network in which every device in every room is controllable across a network of 32 studios physically located in three cities. In effect, an AoIP router is being built across large geographical distances. He is currently working on the buildout of its Franklin, Tenn., facility, with a total of four control rooms.

Bill Jackson of Educational Media Foundation configures an Axia Quasar console at its facility in Franklin, Tenn.

“We’ll link AoIP facilities via wan/fiber to provide any available multicast stream at a given facility available at either location. As this is implemented, it will allow us to begin consolidation of playout and delivery systems and simplify the processes to deliver the content to various distribution avenues,” said Jackson.

Jackson noted in a particular advantage of AoIP systems is the ability to prewire and test systems in a lab environment while construction of the walls and finishes proceeds. This leads to much faster and more reliable installations because it gives an opportunity to work out many of the bugs that occur during a deadline driven installation.

Like Eversoll, Jackson emphasized that the initial planning process is essential.

“Plan, plan, plan, review, plan some more,” said Jackson. “Have peers review your plans. Make appropriate changes and then proof your final plan. While you’re planning your current build, make sure a five-year plan for expansion is included in your current design. Don’t approach is from the perspective of, ‘Get it on the air now.’ Focus on, ‘Get it on the air RIGHT.’ This will save you time in the long run.

All-out

Perhaps none pushes the limits for a studio quite as extensively as a recent project in Switzerland for Radio Zürisee. Markus Stocker, systems integrator with Media Engineering, shared details of its innovative design. Many of the systems described would have been impossible without AoIP infrastructure.

“The system consists of two identical on-air studios, each equipped with a 15-channel Wheatstone LXE surface with motorized faders, redundant power supplies and a huge number of custom scripts for Talkback functions, studio switchover functions, monitoring selects, paperless news reader monitors and customized video wall operation,” said Stocker.

“It was time to look for something new and more modern. Because as good as all radio stations sound, they are all more or less the same as others. Something had to be different in order to distinguish this radio station from all the others.”

This led to the idea of building an open performance space called the Loft, where the talent are encouraged to roam freely while announcing.

Supported by Wheatstone AoIP infrastructure, Radio Zürisee has an open performance space that features a home-like environment where talent are encouraged to roam while announcing using wireless mics and tablets. The booth looks out into the “living” space. (Photos: Susanne Fritz Architects Zurich and fotos @ Carlo Lavatori)

 

The Loft is an old ballroom that is original to the hotel building that now contains Radio Zürisee. It consists of an open performance space with a small stage area but also an open kitchen, a large dining table, some comfortable seating and a full complement of video cameras to capture it all. There’s a working espresso bar and even a pinball machine — all with mics to capture their sounds.

The talent use wireless mics and have wireless tablets with custom screens using the ScreenBuilder application for WheatNet to control the audio systems. Sources can be selected, faded up remotely in the active studio and monitored with in-ear monitors while walking around. The cameras use automation to select views based on the active microphone. Or they can be manually controlled from the tablets.

Even the consoles look different from typical designs. In addition to having motorized faders that move themselves, the consoles use a frameless design with fader panels installed into the tabletops in different orientations but integrated into one mixer system. This physical separation allows different controls to be segregated for different show formats at the touch of a button to recall a new configuration.

For the live performance area, the WheatNet AoIP is integrated with a Dante audio system for the PA system. The whole station has a special feel to it due to the creative combination of technologies used in radio and live performance.

Stocker confirmed the project was completed on time and under budget, but noted that it takes extra time and expertise to build such an extensive number of custom scripts for the tablet controls. He also warned about system complexity when so many systems are integrated in one space.

“As expected, there were few problems with the AoIP technology within the Wheatstone system, but it becomes more complicated as soon as there are connections to other subsystems and providers. Such integration never works on the first try. But it’s worth it to look at it carefully and to make it happen. The number or severity of problems grows exponentially with the number of technical partners,” said Stocker.

What next?

AoIP has demonstrated it can provide both cost-effective and high-performance systems to handle just about any technical need for a radio station plant. It has a place anywhere in the transmission chain, and with IP addressing, the physical size of the network is no longer a limit to available connections.

New standards for equipment that address interoperability improvements, such as signal discovery and controls, are in development for AoIP in standards such as AES70. Once fully implemented AoIP will overcome any final barriers to interconnecting equipment from different manufacturers.

Starting from humble beginnings, AoIP has grown to be a core technology for broadcast, now capable of doing things that were impossible in the old analog world. Imagine what will be possible in another 10 years.

Comment on this or any story. Email radioworld@futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject field.

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Larry Blumhagen has been named vice president/market manager of Cumulus San Francisco. He comes to Cumulus from Audacy, the former Entercom.

“Beginning Monday, May 3, Blumhagen will lead Cumulus Media’s Bay Area radio stations KSAN(FM) (classic rock), KGO(AM) (news/talk), KNBR(FM)/AM (sports), and KSFO(AM) (news/talk),” the company announced.

[Read: Pollnow Moves to Cumulus Montgomery]

Blumhagen succeeds Doug Harvill, who is retiring.

At Entercom and predecessor CBS Radio, Blumhagen was vice president, director of sales for Los Angeles. He held prior GSM positions for CBS in San Francisco and Portland, Ore.

He started as an account executive for Henry Broadcasting/American Radio Systems.

Send your people news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

The post Blumhagen Moves to Cumulus S.F. appeared first on Radio World.

Broadcast radio still “owns the car.”

That’s one of the takeaways for Pierre Bouvard, chief insights officer at Cumulus Media/Westwood One, from the most recent edition of Edison Research’s “Share of Ear” study of how people consume audio.

He writes regularly about findings that he feels can help with radio’s advertising “pitch.”

Writing on the Westwood One blog Bouvard said that AM/FM radio’s in-car share of ad-supported audio, while down a bit, still has hovered around a 90% share for six years:

He also described as “stunning” a finding that for the first time, audience shares for podcasting surpassed the combined audiences of ad-supported Pandora and ad-supported Spotify.

“Podcasting achieved a 12% share compared to Pandora and Spotify’s combined 11% share of ad-supported audio among persons 18+,” he wrote.

“This is notable as ad-supported audio audiences are of great importance to brands and their media agencies. Podcasting also beat Pandora and Spotify handily among the persons 18–34 and persons 25–54 ad-supported audiences.”

Bouvard highlighted the finding that AM/FM radio remains the dominant ad-supported audio platform with a 74% share of ad-supported audio, “11 times bigger than Pandora’s and 19 times larger than Spotify’s.”

Read his post: “Podcasting Eats Spotify/Pandora and AM/FM Radio Remains the Dominant Ad-Supported Audio Platform”

The post Bouvard: Radio “Owns the Car” appeared first on Radio World.

The number of licensed FM commercial stations in the United States hit a historical peak 15 months ago and has been declining slightly since.

That’s one of the findings of an analysis by Radio World of the latest station count data from the Federal Communications Commission.

We also found that the number of AM stations is at its lowest in decades while the number of NCE FMs has hit a record high, as has the number of FM translators/boosters.

The tally of commercial FMs had been rising steadily over several decades. In 1990 (when FCC public data reporting became more consistent) there were about 4,350 commercial FM stations in the country. Ten years later and four years after the 1996 Telecom Act, there were close to 6,000 commercial FMs; and by the end of 2019 that number stood at 6,772.

But each of the five quarterly reports from the FCC since then has shown a slight ebbing; and at the end of March the number of commercial FM stations was 6,682, or 90 fewer than 15 months ago.

Whether we can read any general decline in demand for commercial FM stations into these numbers is problematic. It’s a drop of only 1.3% since the peak, though it is notable that the trend line had been virtually all upwards over many years prior. And the FCC doesn’t provide analysis of its data. Any shift could be driven by a slowing economy and of course the year-long pandemic. It’s a number we’ll keep an eye on.

Meanwhile the trend in AM station totals is more familiar and it continues in the latest quarter, when the FCC said there were 4,546 AM stations.

According to Radio World’s analysis, the country’s AM station count is the lowest it has been since at least 1990 and very likely longer than that. In 1990 there were just under 5,000 AM stations, and the total around that period tended not to vary much year to year.

But we can say that there are now about 9% fewer AM stations than there were in 1990.

On the other hand, the number of FM educational stations today is at its historic high of 4,213, up about 3% over five years and double the number at the turn of the century.

And the number of FM translators and boosters has also hit yet another record. There are now 8,521 of those, up 30% from just five years ago and more than four-fold from 1990, when there were only about 1,850 translators and boosters.

Demand for translators has been helped by multiple factors including HD Radio multicast plays, AM revitalization and general demand for FM spectrum.

And the number of low-power FM stations is now 2,114. That number has varied within a narrow range for the past decade.

The post U.S. Commercial FM Station Count Is Down appeared first on Radio World.

The recent Radio World article “Quick, We Need a Temporary AM Antenna” showcased the ingenuity of WMJC engineers as they scrambled to get a station back on the air quickly.

While improvised antennas are one way to return to the air and can serve as an acceptable emergency or auxiliary antenna in a pinch, they may not be the best or easiest way to get an AM station back on the air. 

The HPR.0990 is designed to handle transmitter power up to 250 Watts.

AM stations faced with the dilemma of a damaged antenna, or one down for maintenance or replacement, have a commercially available option that is cost-effective and quickly deployable, one that allows them to remain on the air with reasonable coverage.

The Information Stations Specialists HPR.0990 is a resonant center and top hat loaded vertical monopole antenna with an integral 50 Ohm transmission line matching unit and optional quick-deployment ground radial system. 

A typical installation requires setting a simple wood or metal support pole or a short tower to mount the self-supporting antenna using a quick deployment ground radial system or a connection to the station’s existing ground radial system at its base. 

The antenna is side-mounted on the support using the included saddle clamps to attach it to the support pole. Due to its resonant design and integral impedance matching, the HPR.0990 can be directly connected to the transmitter’s 50 Ohm coaxial output without the need for an additional impedance matching network.

The base of the antenna is ideally mounted about 15 to 20 feet above ground level, which places the tip of the antenna about 45 to 50 feet high. This installation configuration, using the quick deployment ground radial system, shows a measured efficiency of 100 mV/m per kilowatt at 1000 kHz increasing to 175 mV/m at the top of the AM band. HPR.0990 efficiency declines gradually as the operating frequency moves toward the bottom of the band AM band due to the longer wavelengths, but despite its small stature, the HPR.0990 can still produce efficiency of 55 mV/m per kilowatt at 540 kHz.

Tuneup and installation are quick and easy once the support mast is erected and secured. The HPR- 0990 is designed to handle transmitter power levels of up to 250W. 

There are currently four HPR.0990 installations in commercial temporary use, serving stations in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Iowa. In addition to commercial applications, the HPR.0990 is well suited for use under Part 90.242 as a higher efficiency Travelers Information Station antenna.

My familiarity with the HPR.0990 comes from my role assisting Information Station Specialists with the design, development and field testing of this antenna as a contract engineer. The antenna was born out of the need for a more efficient cost-effective compact AM and TIS antenna capable of medium power levels. 

Based on its field deployment success, the HPR.0990 has achieved those goals.

The author worked for Collins Radio, then spent most of his career with General Motors engineering and Delphi/Delco Electronics as an advanced development engineer and engineering manager for the design of automotive radios and infotainment products. He founded engineering project firm PD Technologies.

The post ISS Antenna Is an Option in an AM Pinch appeared first on Radio World.

Fig. 1: Ohm’s Law chart

This popular article was originally published in the Jan. 16, 2019, issue of Radio World and Jan. 24, here at the website.

Understanding electronics and electronic troubleshooting starts with knowing Ohm’s Law. This is not difficult and can make your work so much easier.

Ohm’s Law was a constant companion over my long career as a radio broadcast engineer. The relationships among volts, amperes, ohms and power made it all so understandable.

German physicist Georg Ohm published the concept in 1827, almost 200 years ago. It was later recognized as Ohm’s Law and has been described as the most important early quantitative description of the physics of electricity.

Fig. 1 is a list of simple formulas for using Ohm’s Law. Nothing complicated, just good answers to your questions. You don’t need to be a mathematician to run the calculations. The calculator on your smartphone will handle this easily.

P is for power in watts, I is current in amperes, R is resistance in ohms and E is voltage in volts. Solve for any of those knowing two of the other parameters.

Ohm’s Law on Current

When I look at a 100 watt light bulb, I think 120 volts at about 0.8 amperes (0.8333 amperes is more exact). That is 100 watts of power being consumed.

So how many lights can be put on a 15 ampere circuit breaker? Let’s see — 15 ampere circuit capacity, divided by 0.8333 amperes for each bulb in parallel = 18 lamps. Conversely, it is 18 lamps X 0.8333 amperes per lamp = 14.9994 amperes … right at the limit of the circuit breaker.

The rule here says you don’t put more than an 80% load on any circuit breaker for fuse, which is 14 lamps in this case. Always keep some headroom in a circuit. As you know, breakers and fuses are used to protect against fires or other dramatic failures during circuit problems. They get unreliable at their current limit. You don’t need nuisance break trips or fuse burn-outs from running too close to the line.

Ohm’s Law

There are not many high-level plate modulated AM transmitters around anymore. The Gates BC-1 series is an example of this 1950 to 1970s technology. The design typically has 2600 volts running the RF power amplifier tubes.

Fig. 2: Bleeder resistors in a Gates BC-1G transmitter Photo: Mark W. Persons

Power supplies like that need a “bleeder” resistor between the high voltage and ground to bring down/bleed the high voltage to zero when the transmitter is turned off. This should happen in only a second or so of time. The power supply could stay hot with high voltage for minutes or hours if the bleeder resistor fails open. That is a serious safety issue for the engineer working on it, if he or she fails to short the high voltage filter capacitor before touching any part of the transmitter.

The bleeder in a Gates BC-1G transmitter is R41, a 100,000 ohm/100 watt wire-wound resistor. You see one hand-held on the left side of the photo in Fig. 2.

Ohm’s Law tells us that 2600 volts across the resistor squared (times itself) then divided by 100,000 ohms resistance equals 67.6 watts of power dissipation required on a continuous basis on a 100 watt resistor. You would think that the 32.4% safety margin would be enough. This resistor typically failed after 10 years of use. The answer is in the ventilation the resistor gets for cooling. The 67.6 watts in heat has to go somewhere. This transmitter model has some, but not a lot, of air flow on the bottom where the resistor is located.

My answer was to replace the 100 watt resistor with a resistor rated at 225 watts, as seen in the center of the photo. It gave more surface area so it ran cooler, thus longer. A 100 watt resistor is $15.14 vs $18.64 for a 225 watt unit. It is only a $3.50 difference for a huge increase in reliability and safety. The screw that holds it in place will need to be longer if you do this modification. No big deal.

Yes, there is a meter multiplier resistor string next to the resistor and high-voltage capacitor. It samples the high voltage for the PA voltmeter. Dirt has accumulated on the high-voltage end of the string. It is high voltage that attracts dirt, requiring frequent cleaning to maintain transmitter reliability. It’s maintenance.

The RF dummy load in this transmitter has six 312 ohm/200 watt noninductive resistors. The transmitter sees the 52 ohms because the resistors are in parallel. Simple math, 312 ohms divided by 6 resistors = 52 ohms. Yes, 52 ohms, 51.5 ohms, 70 ohms and other impedances were common in the past before solid-state transmitters more or less forced the standard to be 50 ohms. Tube-based transmitters will tune into almost any load while solid-state transmitters are designed to perform into 50 ohm loads … and don’t give me no VSWR!

Ohm’s Law on Voltage

Let’s say we know that 2 amperes of current is going into a 100 ohm resistor. What is the voltage across the resistor?

The formula is 2 amperes x 100 ohms resistance = 200 volts. From that, we can solve for power in the resistor. It is 200 volts x 2 amperes current = 400 watts.

Ohm’s Law on Power

A Continental 816R-2 FM 20 kW FM transmitter might have 7000 volts on the plate of the PA tube with 3.3 amperes of current drawn. Ohm’s Law tell us that 7000 volts x 3.3 amperes = 23,100 watts of power. That is transmitter power input, not output. The power output is subject to the power amplifier efficiency, which is typically 75%. Then, the transmitter power output is 17,325 watts. That also means that 25% of the input power is lost in heat. That is 23,100 watts of input power x .25 = 5775 watts of heat.

Be sure to check the manufacturer’s data sheets for exact numbers for each transmitter model.

Half Power?

Half power doesn’t mean the transmitter’s PA voltage is half. If it was half, then the PA current would be half and RF output would be one-quarter. You’ll remember when local Class 4 (now Class C) AM stations ran 1000 watts day and 250 watts at night.

A Gates BC-1 transmitter might have 2600 PA volts and 0.51 amperes of PA current during the day. We can determine the resistance of the power amplifier by taking the PA voltage of 2600 and dividing it by PA current of 0.51 amperes. The answer is 5098 ohms.

That same PA resistance applies regardless of the power level of this transmitter. At quarter-power, the PA voltage is 1300 volts. Ohm’s law, using the same 5098 ohms, tells us that the PA current should be 0.255 amperes. Yes, it worked out that way in practice. The simple trick was to connect 120 VAC to the primary of the transmitter’s high-voltage transformer for night operation in place of 240 VAC in the day.

With quarter-power, the antenna ammeter read half and the signal field intensity was half, not one-quarter. Let’s examine this. If you have a 50 ohm antenna and 1000 watts of power, what is the antenna current? Using Ohm’s Law, take 1000 watts divided by 50 ohms = 20. The square root of that is 4.47 amperes. Divide 250 watts by the same 50 ohm antenna resistance and you get 5. The square root of that is 2.236 amperes, half of the day antenna current. It’s Ohm’s Law.

Think Ohm’s Law when you are on the job. It answers your questions and makes perfect sense.

Mark Persons, WØMH, is an SBE Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer; he was named the Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year for 2018. Mark is now retired after more than 40 years in business. His website is www.mwpersons.com.

The post Ohm’s Law Answers Your Questions appeared first on Radio World.

An Alexa promotional image, courtesy of General Motors.

The prominence of voice assistants in new vehicles is making for a more hands-free environment for drivers and defining how they interact with media in the dashboard.

Companion voice-enabled technology like Alexa can also create a seamless infotainment ecosystem, allowing users to move freely from home and office to the connected car without interruption of services, which will likely influence in-car media behavior.

For radio broadcasters who quickly adopted the skill to allow Alexa-enabled home smart speakers to find their IP streams, the adoption of Alexa will provide a similar listening experience in connected cars, utilizing both the tuner and integrated LTE network IP connection in vehicles, according to Amazon officials.

The new world of connected cars is an ecosystem comprising over-the-air radio, streaming of FM and AM content,  satellite radio, on-demand podcasts, audiobooks and music from digital service providers like Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora.

In-vehicle voice recognition systems like Alexa Auto are seen as critical tools to guide the media experience in the vehicle.

Arianne Walker, chief evangelist for Amazon’s Alexa Auto, is preaching to a wide audience these days, including radio broadcasters.

She offers words of encouragement to radio people trying to understand how in-car voice assistants will drive consumption of media.

Arianne Walker

“The idea isn’t to reinvent or duplicate functionality that already exists in the car, and radio is a great example of that. We see Alexa’s role as complementing that experience and not replacing it,” she said.

“The software is designed to be able to connect to the tuner that exists in the vehicle. But it also allows for people to call up the streamed content via the cloud when they need to.”

The dash can become more streamlined, Walker says, through the adoption of voice assistants. For instance, to receive an OTA signal, Alexa users simply connect to the radio tuner.

“Customers can use their voice to tune by AM or FM, a frequency, a branded name or preset. Satellite radio works much the same way,” she said. “You can even adjust the equalizer or change the media input totally.”

A majority of auto manufacturers have announced broad rollouts of Alexa and are embedding the technology in more new models, according to Amazon. Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa are often included on many new vehicle models.

After-market add-ons such as Amazon’s Echo Auto are available for older vehicles. It allows the Alexa app on a smartphone to play through a car’s speakers via auxiliary input or Bluetooth connection. Garmin and Anker offer Echo Auto accessories that vary by price and features.

Alexa integration in a vehicle depends in part of the brand of car and the manufacturer, Walker said. “The automaker gets to choose what they feel the best integration for their customer will be to maximize that experience. Obviously, utilizing the radio tuner in the vehicle makes the most sense as a first option. But asking Alexa to find a station based on a skill like TuneIn or Radio.com will work, too,” Walker said.

The Alexa Auto software kit and vehicle integration make it possible for customers to interact with the technology without their phone and still connect with the cloud via the IP stream. Customers typically have to register with Amazon to access their accounts and to find all of their personalization they are accustomed to.

Walker says utilizing the radio tuner in a vehicle reduces any “potential latency” when using the IP connection and listening to a radio station’s stream.

“That means the vehicle media experience will be similar to what it always has been, but it will be voice-controlled without a driver having to take his or her hands off the wheel,” Walker said.

(Hybrid radio systems with the “service following” feature are also starting to show up in U.S. vehicles; they can switch from OTA to streaming too but do so automatically based on user preference.)

“Easier for customers”

Automakers began flirting with Alexa in 2017 for rudimentary tasks such as starting the vehicle remotely through Alexa in-home devices. Those offerings quickly expanded to more in-car options, Walker said.

Amazon does extensive research on how drivers and passengers engage with Alexa for things like navigation and media entertainment, but it doesn’t share the data, she said.

She said its research shows those who use Alexa and Echo Auto “used voice recognition to control music streaming services and the radio turner” most often.

“Entertainment is a huge use case in vehicles. It always has been, and we don’t see that changing. We see the continued use of radio in the dash well into the future.”

Alexa coexists with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Walker said, with the media experience again based on how automakers integrate the software and customer preferences.

[Related: “Burnell Is at Center of Ford Dashboard Development”]

Walker’s job is to spread word of Alexa to the broader industry. “Our Alexa Auto team is focused on the functionality of the experience in the vehicle. From the embedded Alexa Auto experience to those experiences in older vehicles with Echo Auto.

“Voice will be a huge part of the future in the car, and the continuity of Alexa voice from the home to on the go is critical,” Walker said.

And the car is an exceptional opportunity, she said.

“Voice really shines when used in an environment where people are focused on other tasks, like the vehicle. Voice can strip away complexities and minimize distractions and make the drive more productive and entertaining.”

Alexa in the car brings customers the convenience of an in-home smart speaker that can play music, set reminders, control smart home appliances and access tens of thousands of skills built by third-party developers, Walker said.

“We’ve seen a bunch of momentum with announcements from Ford, GM, Toyota, BMW integrating Alexa directly into their vehicles. They are developing connected car skills to allow customers to interact with their vehicles via an Alexa-activated device.” Amazon recently launched Alexa integration with Volvo trucks.

Walker believes broadcasters can benefit from voice technology in the car since Alexa can segue programming from the car to the home through any Alexa-enabled device, she said.

“There is a great opportunity to increase radio listenership in the home by using the cloud-based skill via TuneIn or Radio.com to play a favorite radio station. That’s a nice advantage for radio.”

There are also ways to use Alexa to customize local listening habits, Walker said. For example, by asking Alexa to play NPR it will prompt you to find local stations, she said.

“I would tell radio broadcasters that by having Alexa in the car, it just makes the listening experience ever easier for customers. They can access radio stations through the tuner or through the cloud via an audio stream. Streaming strategies will be important” for broadcasters, she said.

“Broadcasters will have the advantage of having customers who drive outside the signal area still having the capability to hear their favorite radio station’s stream. That’s an important combo.”

The post Amazon’s Alexa Gets in the Car appeared first on Radio World.

The author is executive director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. NFCB commentaries are featured regularly at www.radioworld.com.

The National Federation of Community Broadcasters has issued a white paper on the state of community broadcasting during the pandemic. It is notable for many reasons; among them how important radio remains today.

More than 100 broadcasters shared data from this new study. NFCB asked about how stations are responding to community information needs during the pandemic, how often they are airing COVID-19 public service announcements and their sourcing, and the capacity that stations have to deliver their services.

The results, posted here, may surprise you.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: Vaccines and Impact]

Stations are showing up as rarely seen in local broadcasting on the news and public affairs fronts. Twenty-seven percent of broadcasters are devoting 20–50% of their news programming to covering the pandemic. Another 20% cover the coronavirus in 50% or more of news coverage. Talk/public affairs programming is similarly strongly focused on the virus.

Public service announcements to help residents understand how to protect themselves has also seen a spike. Ninety-one percent for community radio stations air coronavirus PSAs. Among those, 73% of stations are airing daily PSAs, while 17% of community broadcasters are airing spots at least weekly.

Most notably, rather than simply recycling what’s being posted online, 69% of stations are taking ownership of the area voice and creating PSAs locally. Another 17% of community radio stations are collaborating with area and state agencies to deliver PSAs to their listeners.

Community broadcasters are also creating a range of content. From newsletters to virtual concert series, broadcasting games into elderly care facilities, and lots of daily local news, the white paper paints a clear picture of what these radio stations are doing. Where there is a need, community radio is seeking to fill it — in rural communities, tribal lands, and many more cities across the United States.

Getty Images/Yaroslav Mikheev

What is most astonishing is the diversity and depth of the work happening, all with limited staffing. Sixty-four percent of these broadcasters are able to accomplish this level of public safety content with one employee or less doing the work.

It has been said in many places, including this column: radio is often counted down and out. It’s been on the losing end of everything since television was invented, if you look back far enough in a land of hot takes. Its slayers — satellite radio, Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, cassettes and other long-gone tech of the moment — haven’t delivered. That’s in part because, in times like a pandemic, radio remains critical to communities. Its service is unrivaled in its stability. The bond of trust it has with communities is rare. This white paper now gives you a glimpse into the creative ways local broadcasters are serving audiences.

 

The post Community Broadcaster: How Stations Fight the Virus appeared first on Radio World.

Jim McHugh at the mic, WJWL, 1982.

After 41 years in the radio industry, longtime radio executive Jim McHugh is set to retire.

Like many radio execs, he began his career on air before eventually moving into sales and management. “I never once considered another position outside of radio,” McHugh said. “This business has been very good to me and my family and I have enjoyed every moment of my career.”

McHugh, who started his radio career in 1980, has served the Delmarva Peninsula community his entire career. A year after starting at WIBF(FM), he joined WJWL(AM), which is now WUSX(FM). Over the years McHugh moved around — working at WOCQ(FM), WZBH(FM) and WGBG(FM) — meaning McHugh was able to work for the same group of radio stations his entire career. He first worked for Great Scott Broadcasting and then Adams Radio Group after WUSX became part of the Adams Radio Group in 2017. McHugh ended his career as a senior account executive with Adams Radio.

“Rarely these days do you find an exemplary employee like Jim McHugh,” said Ron Stone, president and CEO of Adams Radio Group. “Someone that loves radio and commits their entire career to not only radio, but one cluster of stations and one community.”

McHugh was instrumental in the transition from Great Scott to Adams Radio, Stone said, adding that his dedication and loyalty to the radio stations has been unmatched.

WJWL c. 1957

 

The post After 41 Years in Radio, McHugh Ready for Retirement appeared first on Radio World.

Photo: Getty Images Nigel Killeen

A unanimous decision by the U. S. Supreme Court justices on Thursday allows the FCC to ease limits on the ownership of local radio and television. Legal observers believe the court’s decision in essence reinstates the FCC’s 2017 media ownership rules.

The FCC adopted rules to abolish the ban on newspaper/broadcast and radio/TV cross ownership, and relax several local TV ownership regulations in 2017. Those new rules were held up from taking effect for years due to court challenges that have now been exhausted, experts say.

Legal experts believe the “practical result” of the high court’s decision is that the FCC’s media ownership rules adopted in 2017 will simply go into effect now, said Matt McCormick, co-managing member at Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth.

[Read: Supreme Court Rules on Media Ownership Question]

“The Supreme Court’s ruling supports the authority of the FCC and other administrative agencies to make reasonable predictive judgments, even on sparse record evidence,” McCormick says.

The FCC is currently split 2–2 along party lines and is under new leadership of acting chair Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel. It’s not clear if commissioners will discuss the top court’s decision at its April open meeting. A tentative agenda for the meeting on April 22 does not mention it. The meeting agenda could obviously be updated going forward, legal observers say.

Rosenworcel voted against the ownership rule changes in 2017 and again made her feelings known with a released statement following the SCOTUS announcement: “While I am disappointed by the court’s decision, the values that have long upheld our media policies — competition, localism, and diversity — remain strong. I am committed to ensuring that these principles guide this agency as we move forward.”

Meanwhile, Republican FCC commissioner Brendan Carr yesterday reinforced his belief that the 2017 rule changes made were common sense. “(Thursday’s) unanimous opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court leaves no doubt that the FCC’s modern approach to media regulation that we adopted in 2017 was the right decision.”

Scott Flick, a communications attorney at Pillsbury, wrote on social media that he believes Thursday’s SCOTUS ruling could mean even bigger changes to media ownership in this country. He published his thoughts on the CommLawCenter blog: “It will not end the debate over the FCC’s various broadcast ownership rules, but will certainly change the nature of that debate, and open the door to a different debate — whether broadcast ownership rules are needed at all.”

The commission also could now consider changes to local radio ownership rules. The FCC had paused discussion of changes to the radio ownership rules in 2018 at the start of a new ownership review period. NAB at the time suggested significant changes to the FCC rules limiting the number of terrestrial radio stations that one company can own in a radio market.

Current radio market caps were set in 1996 as part of that year’s Telecommunications Act. It placed limits on a sliding scale. In the largest of radio markets an entity can own up to eight radio stations (only five of which can be of the same service), and in the smallest markets, only two stations (one AM and one FM).

Radio World has reported NAB pushed for changes to market subcaps to allow a company to own up to eight FMs in the top 75 markets while also permitting the operator to own or control a limitless number of AM stations among other changes. Ownership caps are the total number of stations you can own in a market, whereas as a subcap is how many of those stations can be FM or AM.

David Oxenford at Wilkinson Barker Knauer wrote on his Broadcast Law Blog on Thursday: “Now that the Third Circuit’s reasoning has been rejected, that still does not mean that the FCC, particularly a Democrat-controlled FCC, will automatically look to relax the radio rule.

“Instead, we think it likely that the commission will ask for more comments on the issues raised in the 2018 proceeding. This will likely include a request to discuss the impact of the Supreme Court decision on the commission’s evaluation of proposed changes to its rules. It would not be surprising for the FCC to also ask for an update of the comments filed in 2019 to reflect the state of current marketplace. In other words, any change in the radio ownership rules will not come quickly.”

The National Association of Broadcasters, which joined the FCC in fighting the lower court ruling blocking changes to broadcast media ownership regulation, said it remains critical the commission continues to examine its media ownership rules to ensure that America’s broadcasters are able to compete. The group’s President and CEO Gordon Smith issued this statement.

“NAB commends (the) unanimous decision by the Supreme Court that the FCC’s recent and long-overdue modernization of its broadcast ownership regulations was lawful and appropriate. We look forward to working with the commission on this effort given the essential role radio and television broadcasters play for all Americans.”

 

The post Top Court’s Ruling Reinstates Media Ownership Changes appeared first on Radio World.

The Federal Communications Commission has now published the procedures for Auction 109, which will take place in late July and involve 136 FM and four AM construction permits. At the same time, it declined a suggestion that it expand the auction to include every abandoned and deleted AM station in the nation.

An earlier FM auction was postponed last year due to the pandemic and has been canceled; this auction will include all of the permits that were included in the earlier one plus a handful more. The FM CPs are for vacant allotments reflecting channels added to the Table of Allotments.

[Read: FCC Schedules Auction of 136 FM CPs]

The four AM CPs to be auctioned are for stations in the St. Louis area that had their license renewals dismissed by the commission’s administrative law judge in the Entertainment Media Trust case last year.

To facilitate the auction of these four permits, their facilities will be treated as existing “allotments.” Any winning bidder will be limited in its opportunities to modify those AM permits.

The FCC wants to move quickly on the AMs, given that those CPs represent 13% of the AM stations in a top 25 radio market. “The effect of this removal of a significant portion of AM radio service to a major U.S. market supports our conclusion that the public interest favors replacing this service as soon as practicable,” it wrote.

No expansion

The commission, however, declined to make a dramatic expansion in the number of AM facilities in the auction.

One company wanted it to add nine specific facilities that it says have been “abandoned” and their call signs deleted. WTRW Inc. went on to ask that Auction 109 include all AM stations whose call signs have been deleted as well as abandoned AM expanded band facilities that were approved but never built.

The commission declined both requests. It basically said the four stations in St. Louis are a special case that also involves a protective application freeze.

Separately, Tracy K. Wood asked the FCC to add 14 more FM allotments to the list of CPs to be offered. The commission declined that too, saying most of those are among the most recent to be added to the Table of Allotments, but said it will consider offering them in a future auction.

Bidding is to start on July 27. An online auction tutorial is to be scheduled this month. Details are in the latest public notice. The commission also posted the station list and minimum opening bids.

The post FCC Declines to Expand Four-Station AM Auction appeared first on Radio World.

Feedback text on yellow speech bubble.

The Federal Communications Commission has announced the deadlines for public comment on its proposed changes to the Emergency Alert System and the Wireless Emergency Alerts system.

As we reported earlier, the commission, prompted by Congress, has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking and a related notice of inquiry.

The NPRM’s new rules would ensure that mobile devices cannot opt out of receiving WEA alerts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency; adopt additional requirements for State Emergency Communications Committees and state EAS plans; establish a false alert reporting system for certain government entities; and require the repeating of certain EAS messages.

Comments in PS docket numbers 15-91 and 15-94 are due April 20 and replies are due May 4. They can be filed in the FCC’s online comment system.

The separate notice of inquiry seeks comment on the feasibility of updating EAS to enable or improve alerts through the Internet, including from streaming services. Comments on that are due May 14, and replies are due June 14.

[“FCC Will Explore EAS on the Internet”]

The post FCC Sets Comment Deadlines in EAS NPRM appeared first on Radio World.

iHeartMedia named Charlie Thomas as area president for its Mid-North area, comprising six markets and 29 stations.

“As area president, Thomas will be responsible for overseeing programming, advertising and operations across the Mid-North area, including the Bismarck, Dickinson, Minot, Grand Forks and North Dakota markets, with the addition of the Eau Claire and Rochester markets,” the company stated.

[Read: iHeart Promotes Latham in Florida]

He will report to Shosh Abromovich, division president for iHeartMedia.

Abromovich was quoted in the announcement saying, “His proven leadership helped the North Dakota area be among the top performers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Thomas has been area president for the company in North Dakota, market president for Bismarck and area president for Grand Folks.

Send your people news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

The post iHeart Picks Thomas in Mid-North appeared first on Radio World.

I have a better understanding of the DTS AutoStage hybrid radio platform after interviewing Joe D’Angelo, Xperi’s senior vice president radio, in a joint webcast about the company’s automotive technology initiatives. 

That webcast, “The Future of Radio in the Car,” is available on demand, and I hope you can watch it given the expanded role Xperi hopes to play in how radio is delivered and consumed around the world. 

DTS AutoStage, formerly called DTS Connected Radio, is intended to help stations compete in the dashboard with “pure play” services like Spotify and satellite. 

“DTS AutoStage is really a global connected car platform that enables broadcast radio to collaborate around delivering services to automakers in a direct response to the challenge posed by Big Tech in the car,” he told me.

“We’ve all seen how Big Tech is coming in, they’re taking over the dashboard, they’re taking over audio services. DTS AutoStage is a global response that puts broadcast radio in control of the platform to design new interactive services, to expand functionality, to engage their customers.” 

Further, he said, it is free, requiring no capital investment from broadcasters.

Consumers get enhanced content discovery, with “now playing,” live presets and a live guide, voice interaction and expanded visual imagery. D’Angelo calls it “a whole different user experience for broadcast radio.” The emphasis is on helping consumers discover local broadcasts carried by on-air signals.

Xperi’s recent merger with TiVo accelerated developments; TiVo knows about aggregating content with metadata, so it brought useful resources to a similar task involving music metadata.

The first mass market vehicle launch was in the Mercedes S-Class, a car with no fewer than five screens where occupants can consume radio and radio metadata.

Images at left show how DTS AutoStage and HD Radio display in a Daimler S-Class vehicle.

“Daimler was very interested in launching hybrid radio, where you take advantage of broadcast radio content and you enhance it with IP-delivered metadata, you enable interaction with radio stations and in some cases provide high-resolution images,” D’Angelo said.

“But they wanted a service that was available and consistent in all the countries where they sell the majority of their vehicles.” He said Xperi spent two years aggregating content from broadcasters, technology platforms and service providers, and now aggregates content from 47,000 stations in 48 countries, with an eventual goal of 75,000 stations and 68 countries.

Watch the webcast and let me know what you think. I’m at radioworld@futurenet.com.

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A new bill introduced in the U.S. Senate is designed to boost minority participation in the telecommunications industry.

The NATE: Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association commends the introduction of the IMPACT Act, or the Improving Minority Participation and Careers in Telecommunications Act. The bill was introduced by Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.); Tim Scott (R-S.C.); and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who is ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, in late March.

The act is designed to help address the telecommunications industry’s workforce by establishing a federal grant to promote the development of telecommunications education and job-training programs at minority institutions.

[Read: NATE Welcomes Telecom Workforce Bill]

The bill proposes to award $100 million in grants to certain institutions of higher learning to educate and train students to participate in the telecom workforce.

The entities that are principally eligible for grants under the legislation will be historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), tribal colleges and universities (TCU) and minority-serving institutions. The legislation dictates that these schools would be required to partner with members of the industry or an organization with experience providing workforce training to the telecom industry. The goal is to develop programs to ensure that students have the skills needed for the workforce.

“We are particularly excited that this is a bipartisan proposal that appropriately recognizes the critical importance of promoting educational and employment opportunities in the telecommunications field, which is so essential to the nation’s economy, competitiveness, security and vital communications capabilities,” said Todd Schlekeway, NATE president and CEO. “This legislation, if passed, can play a major role in developing a pipeline of future workers that is an integral part of NATE’s workforce development strategic plan.”

When the announcement was made, Sen. Wicker said that the bill aims to create a trained workforce to fill the thousands of vacant jobs that are needed to deploy broadband networks. Unfortunately, demand outstrips qualified candidates. “[W]e do not have a trained workforce to fill [these jobs],” Wicker said.  “HBCUs and TCUs can help fill these jobs by providing career-specific opportunities for students. The IMPACT Act would support these institutions in developing telecommunications-related career building programs that will help bridge the digital divide.”

The IMPACT Act would:

• Create the Telecommunications Workforce Training Grant Program, which the NTIA would use to award $100 million in grants to HBCUs/TCUs/minority-serving institutions to develop telecommunications job-training programs that would educate and train students to participate in the telecommunications workforce;
• Require schools to apply for grants in order to partner with industry (or an organization with experience providing workforce training to the telecommunications industry) to develop these programs, to ensure students have the skills they need for the workforce;
• Allow schools to use the grants to hire and train faculty, design and develop the curriculum, pay for costs associated with instruction, fund internships and apprenticeships, and recruit and support students;
• Require schools to include a plan to increase female participation in the program;
• Require that NTIA award at least 30% of the grant funds to HBCUs and another 30% to TCUs to ensure equitable distribution of funds; and
• Require reporting to ensure schools use funds as required, that they are training students appropriately, and that students are securing employment in the telecommunications industry.

 

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Photo: Getty Images Nigel Killeen

A long-awaited decision from the U.S. Supreme Court says the FCC acted properly when it moved to eliminate some radio and TV ownership rules. The court’s unanimous decision released today is a victory for the FCC and a defeat for groups that worry further consolidation will decrease ownership opportunities for women and minorities.

The FCC released new media ownership rules in 2017 to abolish the newspaper/broadcast and radio/TV cross ownership rules, and relax several local TV ownership regulations. The FCC concluded the three rules were no longer necessary to promote competition, localism, or viewpoint diversity and would not harm minority or female ownership.

[Read: Supremes to Hear Broadcast Dereg Case]

Prometheus Radio Project and several other public interest groups petitioned for the courts to intervene arguing the FCC’s decision to repeal or modify the three rules was arbitrary or capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and rested on flawed data.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia agreed with Prometheus and vacated the FCC’s 2017 order. Today’s Supreme Court ruling reverses the judgment of the Third Circuit.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivered the unanimous 9–0 opinion of the court citing the Communications Act of 1934 and the broad authority it grants the FCC to regulate broadcast media in the public interest. The FCC is directed to review its media ownership rules every four years and repeal or modify rules that no longer serve the public interest.

The Supreme Court found: “The APA’s arbitrary-and-capricious standard requires that agency action be reasonable and reasonably explained. Judicial review under that standard is deferential, and a court may not substitute its own policy judgment for that of the agency. A court simply ensures that the agency has acted within a zone of reasonableness and, in particular, has reasonably considered the relevant issues and reasonably explained the decision.”

The Supreme Court agrees that the FCC concluded correctly after examining data that repealing the two cross-ownership rules and modifying the Local Television Ownership Rule would “deliver on the commission’s promise to adopt broadcast ownership rules that reflect the present, not the past.”

The FCC order “was reasonable and reasonably explained,” Kavanaugh wrote.

Kavanaugh’s written opinion concluded: “In light of the sparse record on minority and female ownership and the FCC’s findings with respect to competition, localism, and viewpoint diversity, we cannot say that the agency’s decision to repeal or modify the ownership rules fell outside the zone of reasonableness for purposes of the APA.”

The Supreme Court in its ruling noted the Third Circuit has repeatedly rejected the FCC’s efforts to modify its ownership rules for the last 17 years.

“As a result, those three ownership rules exist in substantially the same form today as they did in 2002,” the SCOTUS opinion stated.

The FCC contends that rapidly evolving technology and dawning of new media outlets — particularly cable and internet — has rapidly transformed how Americans obtain news and consume media, rendering some rules obsolete. The FCC contends that permitting efficient combinations among radio, TV and newspaper outlets would actually benefit consumers.

 

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E.W. Scripps Company has closed on its sale of Triton to iHeartMedia for $230 million and exited the digital audio business.

Scripps will use the money to reduce its debt.

[Read: For Radio, Audio Is the New Now]

iHeart has said the deal establishes it as “the only company to provide a complete set of advertising technologies and measurement solutions for all forms of audio media.”

Even as iHeart expands its focus on audio, Scripps is moving the other way.

“The sale of Triton completes Scripps’ high-return exit from podcasting and digital audio,” it said in a press release. “It sold podcast company Stitcher in October. Scripps nearly doubled its return on investments in both companies, and now it is focused on growth strategies in the television business.”

 

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From our Who’s Buying What page: Triton Digital announced that Masima Radio Network, the largest radio network in Indonesia with 18 stations, has selected it for streaming and podcast services including delivery, monetization and measurement.

The brands of Masima Radio Network include Prambors, Delta, Bahana and Female Radio. Triton Digital has been acquired by iHeartMedia in a deal that was finalized this week.

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

“Through this partnership, Masima Radio Network will utilize Triton’s audio streaming network for the delivery of its podcasts and commercial radio online,” the organizations said.

“In addition, Masima Radio Network will use Triton’s ad server to insert targeted audio ads into their content, as well as Triton’s audio advertising technology to monetize their inventory through both open and private marketplace deals.” Masima also will measure their listening audiences using Triton’s Webcast Metrics and Podcast Metrics measurement services and use Triton’s podcast platform, Omny Studio.

The announcement was made by Fitzgerald Salendu, digital content manager at Masima Radio Network, and Benjamin Masse, managing director, market development and strategy at Triton Digital.

 

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The organization that founded “Free Speech Week” has named former FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly as a senior fellow.

The Media Institute said O’Rielly will also become a member of its First Amendment Advisory Council.

The nonprofit organization describes itself as nonpartisan and “working to advance sound communications policy, freedom of speech, and excellence in journalism.”

“During his tenure at the FCC, Commissioner O’Rielly was known for his dedication to streamlining the regulatory process, eliminating outdated regulations, promoting competition and innovation, and defending the First Amendment,” the organization said.

O’Rielly, a Republican who was nominated to the FCC by Pres. Barack Obama, was a commissioner from 2013 to 2020. He is a visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for the Economics of the Internet and principal at MPORielly Consulting LLC.

The announcement was made by The Media Institute Pres. Richard T. Kaplar.

 

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Cox Media Group named Jaleigh Long as vice president and market manager for Atlanta and Athens radio in Georgia.

“Long assumed the role in an interim capacity earlier this year and will now officially lead one of the industry’s most notable and successful radio sales organizations CMG Atlanta Radio (WSBB(FM)/News 95.5 WSB, WSB(FM)/B98.5 FM, WSRV(FM)/97.1 FM The River, WALR(FM)/KISS 104.1),” the company said.

[Read: Cox Names Rob Babin Head of Radio]

She joined CMG Atlanta Radio in 2014 as general sales manager and earlier worked for South Central Media and Susquehanna Radio.

The announcement was made by Rob Babin, SVP, CMG Radio.

Send People News to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

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