Radio World

The author is owner-engineer of AM Detuning Service.

Currently there are more than 4,500 AM broadcast stations on the air in the U.S. These stations still rely, to a limited degree at least, on a technology that, at its heart, hasn’t changed much in over 80 years.

One area that uses well-established and core electronic techniques is the AM antenna system.

AM broadcast antenna systems rely heavily on the use of L/C (that is Inductor/Capacitor) networks to accomplish things like impedance matching, phase shifting, broadbanding, frequency trapping, harmonic filtering and numerous other applications.

The most common configuration of L/C components in an AM antenna system is the ubiquitous “T” Network, so named because of the circuit configuration.

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Nearly every AM antenna system uses one of these networks to match the complex impedance of the antenna to the impedance of the transmission line feeding it. We remember from early electronics training that when the source impedance (the impedance of the transmission line) equals the load impedance (the impedance of the antenna), we get the most efficient power transference to the load. Getting every last watt of power to the antenna is usually good thing!

AM antenna systems have a resistance value (R) and a reactive value (X). Most often, this is expressed as a complex number R+jX.

This complex number is the “impedance” of the antenna system and is measured at the operating frequency of the antenna.

When an engineer designs an AM antenna, its complex impedance can be estimated with a good degree of accuracy using empirical data gathered decades ago, or it can be even more accurately estimated using moment-method modeling. However, ground conductivity at the antenna, variations in the ground radials configuration and nearby structures may have some effect on that value.

The best way to determine the exact AM antenna base impedance is to use an impedance bridge or network analyzer and measure the impedance on the frequency of operation.

Fig. 1: Schematically, the components form the letter “T,” thus the descriptor “T network.” (Click here to enlarge.)

Component Arrangement

As noted, the “T” network gets its name from the schematic arrangement of the components in its makeup. As Fig. 1 shows, the components Xa, Xb, Xc are electrically connected in a way to form the letter “T.”

For those just getting into radio engineering, I’d like to mention that the components do not have to physically form the letter “T” when they are mounted in place, though they can if you desire. It is wise, though, to mount inductors perpendicular to each other, so they don’t inductively couple energy and do unpredictable things.

Fig. 2: The physical layout for an AM antenna tuning unit “T” networks. Note that the layout doesn’t exactly resemble a letter “T,” but it could if desired. Also note that coils are physically mounted at right angles to one another to minimize mutual coupling. (Click here to enlarge.)

Fig. 2 shows a layout for a commercially-built ATU. You will notice the input component Xa is a capacitor-coil series combination. This coil in series with a capacitor “subtracts” from the capacitive reactance to allow a wide range of adjustment. Xc is the shunt coil of this “T” network, and one end is grounded through a paralleled pair of capacitors. Again, the series coil provides for adjustment of this leg. At the top right is Xb, which is the output inductor. Notice this inductor is mounted at a 90-degree angle to Xc, and in a different plane, to Xa. This is done to minimize mutual coupling between the coils. The component layout may not form the letter “T” mechanically, but electrically it does.

Impedance Matching

One function of the “T” network is impedance matching, that is, taking a high or low value of antenna impedance and transforming it to the same value as its transmission feedline.

Along with the impedance transformation, the “T” network also has some inherent shift of the current from the input to the output of the network. It’s possible to design either a phase-lagging or phase-leading network.

In many, but certainly not all, AM broadcast antenna tuning units, the “T” network is designed for a 90-degree phase shift. The focus of this article will be limited to 90-degree “T” networks.

One of the reasons for choosing a 90-degree phase shift is that this value simplifies the component calculation. The reactance values for Xa, and Xb are the same and Xc is the same numerical value but of opposite sign. Typically, in a phase-lagging network, Xa and Xb are equal value inductors and Xc is a capacitor of the same, but negative, reactance value. The opposite is true of phase-leading networks. But as we shall see, that’s not always the case.

Fig. 3: 90-degree “T” network equation and example calculation. (Click here to enlarge.)

To calculate the values for an example “T” network, the follow the equations in Fig. 3. For the moment, we will ignore the reactive part of the antenna’s impedance and use only the antenna resistance and the characteristic impedance of the transmission line.

In the example shown in Fig. 3, all three component reactances are calculated to be 70.7 ohms, but that doesn’t take into account the reactive component of the antenna impedance. What we need to do is to make that reactive part go away by adding an opposite sign reactance in the output leg of the “T” network.

To do this, we must add a negative 250-ohm reactance to the output leg of the “T” network. This gives us a network that looks like the one shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4: Block diagram of a complete “T” network, including a reactance to cancel antenna reactance. (Click here to enlarge.)

Now we can combine the two reactive components in the output arm of this network into one component by adding Xb + (– jX ) together to get  –j 179.3 ohms, which changes this arm of the network from inductive to capacitive. We calculated the capacitor value to replace both of these components to be 888 pF. This isn’t a standard value of transmitting capacitor, so we can either use a vacuum variable capacitor adjusted to that value or employ a standard-value capacitor with a slightly lower capacitance value and put an inductor in series with it. The value of the inductor is then adjusted to achieve the exact net let reactance that we need.

For example, using a 750 pF capacitor and a 10 µH coil, we would adjust the coil for a net combined reactance of –j 179.3 ohms in the output arm of the “T” network.

“T” networks with phase shift values different than 90 degrees require a bit more math. We’ll explore that in a future article.

RW welcomes your Tech Tips, email us at radioworld@futurenet.com.

The author started his radio career as an amateur radio operator in his teens and worked for various AM and FM stations in the Chicago region. After 30 years as a chief engineer he retired from radio, got bored shortly thereafter and started AM Detuning Service to mitigate wireless tower effects on AM antennas.

 

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A low-power FM radio station in Mississippi faces a $1,500 fine from the Federal Communications Commission for failing to file for license renewal on time.

The station is WEHS in Eupora, Miss., licensed to Voice of Eupora. Its president told the FCC that his mother had been ill and subsequently died, which is why he’d been out of town for several months, causing the application to be filed more than two months late in April of 2020.

“Although we are sympathetic to the licensee’s president’s loss, we find that issuing a notice of apparent liability is still appropriate here,” the commission’s Audio Division ruled.

“The commission has long held that ‘licensees are responsible for the acts and omissions of their employees and independent contractors,’ and has consistently ‘refused to excuse licensees from forfeiture penalties where the actions of employees or independent contractors have resulted in violations.’ The licensee itself was ultimately responsible for ensuring it complied with the rules by filing a timely renewal application. It did not do so.”

The base penalty is $3,000 but the commission reduced it to $1,500 based on circumstances, including the fact that LPFMs are a secondary service.

The station has 30 days to pay or file a reply to the notice of apparent liability.

 

 

The post Miss. LPFM Faces $1,500 Paperwork Fine appeared first on Radio World.

CES President/CEO Gary Shapiro is shown during the virtual CES 2021 show.

If you’re looking for a flavor of what happened at the recent CES 2021 show that pertains to our industry, the Radio Advertising Bureau has a free presentation you can check out this week.

RAB’s Erica Farber, Jacobs Media’s Fred Jacobs and “futurist/trendcaster” Dr. Shawn DuBravac will present report back about the virtual CES 2021.

They promise to cover “what’s new and noteworthy about the connected car, voice technology, audio and home entertainment … the future of work, technology during the pandemic and the changing face of content.”

The one-hour presentation with Q&A streams on Thursday Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

Info is here.

 

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GeoBroadcast Solutions says its geo-targeting proposal creates no opportunity for interference between FM broadcasters, and that self-interference won’t be an issue either.

The company filed comments earlier this month with the Federal Communications Commission as part of the open notice of proposed rulemaking to allow geo-targeting via synchronized FM boosters.

GBS, which wants to deploy a proprietary technology in the United States, used the filing to reiterate its overall arguments but also to address several specific issues, one of which was interference.

(As we’ve reported, the National Association of Broadcasters has recently come out strongly against the geo-targeting proposal. The GBS comments described below were submitted on the same day to the FCC and does not address NAB’s latest statements; GBS is expected to do so in reply comments, which are due March 12.)

“The NPRM asks whether it is reasonable to expect stations to adequately manage self-interference without additional guidance or mandates,” GBS told the FCC. “The answer here is the same answer the commission reached last month in the DTS proceeding: Yes, of course broadcasters have every incentive and ability to manage self-interference.

“And to be clear,” it continued, “the proposed rule merely permits the use of this technology. It does not require it. Accordingly, any broadcaster that voluntarily uses this technology will do so only if they are convinced it will not raise technical issues and is good for its business and its community. ”

The company also said field tests of its ZoneCasting system have shown that it does not result in harmful interference within the single-frequency network, either between the primary station and boosters or among the booster cluster itself.

It noted that it performed field tests in 2010 in Randolph, Utah, and 2011 in Avon Park, Fla. After R&D work, the current ZoneCasting design was then tested in 2016 in Union Grove, Wis.

“This test showed that the transition area — meaning the boundary between the primary station and the booster coverage zones — can be minimized to a very limited period of time within a tiny area within a station’s entire coverage area (far below 1 percent),” GBS told the commission. It quoted Alpha Media, licensee of the Wisconsin station, supporting the technology enthusiastically.

“There is no need for the FCC to adopt additional, unnecessary regulation to address an issue which can be entirely managed by technology, and which broadcasters will have the ultimate incentive — the value of their signal — to ensure is addressed,” GBS wrote.

Further, “There is no need for the commission to adopt additional regulation to manage interference between broadcasters for the simple reason that the rule change creates no opportunity for interference between broadcasters. So any rule change would address a problem that simply cannot exist.”

Because boosters use the same channel frequency as the primary station, a broadcaster operating on an adjacent channel won’t be affected by a neighboring broadcaster who uses zoned coverage technology like ZoneCasting, GBS said, since the neighboring broadcasters are already coexisting with current frequency agreements.

“It would be unreasonable for the FCC to impose second channel interference protection requirements for FM booster stations, as the NPRM posits — this would be imposing a new rule for broadcasters to follow and for the commission to enforce that is not implicated by the proposed rule change.” The existing rules and procedures, it said, are sufficient.

GeoBroadcast Solutions also reiterated its past statements that the technology would have significant public interest benefits. (Read its filing.)

The post GBS Says Interference Isn’t an Issue 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 passing of media giant Rush Limbaugh should be a reminder of the ability of radio to shape lives and opinions.

Limbaugh, the conservative antagonist, died Feb. 17 after a battle with cancer. His biggest boosters praise him as a champion of populism and nudging the Republican Party to be something more assertive than it was than when he began his radio broadcasts in 1984. His shock-jock style won over millions, including former President Donald Trump, who awarded Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: Has Radio Done Enough to Fix its Racist Past?]

Like many Americans, I wasn’t particularly fond of him. Just last week, I credited Limbaugh with making racist hucksterism viral, infecting local radio coast to coast. Regardless, this column is not an interrogation of Limbaugh’s contributions, but rather a conversation about the medium.

The out-of-touch eulogies may today cast the man as an antique from the 1980s and 1990s. The truth is Limbaugh enjoyed a huge audience in 2021. Carried on over 600 radio stations nationwide, more than 20 million daily listeners tuned in to Limbaugh. Yes, daily. The audience remained loyal even though he’d been largely absent from the program due to illness. That number beats most top television shows on any given week, including football on Sundays, Mondays or Thursdays.

Rush Limbaugh pumps thumb after being awarded the Medal of Freedom by First Lady Melania Trump after being acknowledged by President Donald Trump during the State of the Union address in February 2020. (Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

For fans, Limbaugh’s act was surely a draw. In addition, the end of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 gave stations greater license to air his viewpoints. However, is there really any debate that television or print would hardly have elevated him the way radio did? Without a medium as ubiquitous as radio, he never would have soared to the heights he did — and remains, frankly.

This gets to the heart of the matter. Radio is often declared dead. Some sneer at it as a relic left behind by Tidal and Spotify. We in community and public media fret over relevance, but sometimes miss the power of relationships. Radio is still a part of the lives of most Americans. In crises like we experienced this week in Texas and other states besieged by winter storms, radio has been a lifeline. Moreover, what would iconic voices we’ve known and do know be without radio?

Even with so much content available to us and the answers to literally every question as far away as our pants pocket or purse, radio still holds a place for all of us. It captures our imaginations and permits us to focus in on just the human voice and the visuals that words create. Netflix can keep churning out programs. Instagram and YouTube can percolate the next stars for Gen-Z. And, as a pillar of media worldwide, radio will continue to be integral enough to take for granted.

Before we again accept another obituary for radio or be subjected to another lazy headline asking about radio’s demise, let’s remember the importance radio has in the world. It continues to impact culture, politics and everyday life, and will for years to come.

The post Community Broadcaster: Unspoken appeared first on Radio World.

A session of the upcoming virtual Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit will explore trends in audio over IP for radio broadcasters.

Moderated by Radio World Editor in Chief Paul McLane, the 30-minute session will discuss what radio infrastructure planners need to know about current trends, including implications of the new WFH environments that are now part of everyday life for broadcasters.

Panelists will include Ed Bukont of E2 Technical Services & Solutions, an experienced media systems consultant and engineer who works often with networked audio; Michael LeClair, chief engineer of WBUR in Boston, who wrote and edited Radio World’s most recent ebook about AoIP trends; and Chris Crump, senior director of sales and marketing for Comrex, whose products play a key role in the AoIP workflows of many radio broadcast operations.

The one-day virtual event is free and includes separate tracks exploring radio and pro audio technology topics, as well as a virtual show floor that allows attendees to interact with exhibitors and learn about new products.

Registration is open here. Limited sponsorship opportunities are also available.

Also that day, NAB’s David Layer and John Clark will give the radio track keynote about hybrid radio and Android Automotive, two key technology developments that affect radio. Another of the 10 sessions available that day will cover virtualization, featuring Roz Clark of Cox Media and Alan Jurison of iHeartMedia.

This virtual event is produced jointly by Mix magazine, Pro Sound News and Radio World.

The post AoIP Is on the Agenda for April 1 Summit appeared first on Radio World.

The author is EVP of sales, support and marketing, Telos Alliance.

Most Radio World readers might wonder why the next television standard — ATSC 3.0, also known as NextGen TV — would have any relevance to a radio engineer or manager. There is more to consider than you might have guessed.

First, an update on the rollout: A number of U.S. television stations have now adopted the ATSC 3.0 standard. The Advanced Television Systems Committee expects 60+ markets serving about 70% of all U.S. television viewers to launch by mid-2021.

According to the Advanced Television Systems Committee website, TV broadcasters are working to bring ATSC 3.0 first to 62 markets.

The standard includes provision for 4K video, immersive audio, control over the viewer experience and quite a bit more. The standard has been tested extensively over the air in Phoenix, and viewers are excited about the enhanced viewing experience.

If you want to learn more, TV Technology, Radio World’s sister magazine, has a great stack of articles at www.tvtechnology.com/tag/nextgen-tv.

Here’s why I think ATSC 3.0 matters to those of us primarily focused on radio broadcasting:

ATSC 3.0 is an IP-based standard and can provide more than just a better TV picture and sound. IP has revolutionized how we distribute and mix audio in our facilities and distribute our content to transmitters and streaming CDNs. Likewise, having the TV over-the-air (OTA) transmission path capable of supporting an IP stream means more flexibility for what is carried by RF signals to all those homes.

An over-the-air “fully IP” system aligns broadcasters with how the audience consumes nearly all their other media, whether audio-only or audio with a picture.

The potential intersection of radio with ATSC 3.0 should prompt us to consider different scenarios. However, we are in the early days and very much on the front end of what is possible.

This is the time when decisions can have a wide-ranging impact. It’s a time to explore and ask “what if” with open minds. Some of what we consider may never come to pass or could look very different than originally described.

The point is, as an industry, we need to consider our future carefully because what we’ve always done might not be what we need to do in the future to be successful. We only need to look at the interruption of radio OTA listening, compared to radio consumed via streaming devices like Alexa and Google Home during the pandemic, to help us consider the possibilities.

Radio Via ATSC 3.0 in the Home?

Listening to the radio while watching TV is an unusual use case. Still, one recently converted TV broadcaster in Seattle is carrying local radio stations on its ATSC 3.0 payload, making these radio stations available via a web-based program guide running on NextGen TVs. A sort of radio repeater, if you will.

Think about it: Many homes do not have conventional radios anymore. In this case, ATSC 3.0 is providing an alternative path for radio stations to enter the home-listening environment. And when the re-broadcasted radio signal starts out at the playout/mixing stage of the radio station as IP, rich metadata can also play a part to enhance any such listening experience much like is possible with HD Radio.

Radio in the car

And it’s not just radio-listening in your house via ATSC 3.0. The new TV standard is intended to operate in a very robust way in cars, long the domain of AM/FM.

Fadio’s dominance of the mobile listening environment (the dashboard) has begun to share the mobile listener with services delivered by LTE either through a dedicated hotspot or docked mobile phone.

ATSC 3.0 signals carrying radio, in the above example, could also provide an alternative to AM/FM in the car. This gives OTA radio more ways to compete in the dashboard of the future. We can think of radio delivered via ATSC 3.0 in the home and car as “extensions of service.”

Chips in the phone

Over the years, there have been efforts to activate radio receiver chips that already exist in many mobile phones.

Of course, the goal is to have access to OTA radio wherever people are, which is wherever they have their phones! We applaud the hard work of our colleagues who have helped the industry achieve some success in this regard, but it has unfortunately been limited.

Now chips are being designed to receive ATSC 3.0 TV signals in phones. Mobile television reception powered by chips that receive a wide range of world TV standards might move the needle with the mobile phone companies. Hence, OTA broadcasters get a shot at this audience in their daily comings and goings.

If successful, having an over-the-air television chip in mobile phones puts radio broadcasters one step closer to having access to listeners through carriage on ATSC 3.0 stations or possibly via ATSC 3.0 chips that also support OTA radio.

Think of this as the rising tide that lifts all over the air (OTA) broadcasters. It’s a stretch, but “what if?”

Who can predict?

Radio has a 100-year history of informing, entertaining and providing critical information to its millions of listeners. While the industry has had highs and lows over its existence, nothing beats its resilience.

While there is no guarantee of another 100 years, all of us can think and put forth our best ideas not just to be relevant from a content perspective but also to innovate technologically to be where people need us. This might mean building bridges and relationships in ways we have not in the past — in order to change.

Maybe ATSC 3.0 will play a part.

Comment on this or any story. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Why We Should Care About ATSC 3.0 appeared first on Radio World.

Dan Jackson is head of audio operations for SCA [Southern Cross Austereo], Australia’s biggest entertainment company. Its multimedia assets include more than 100 radio stations.

This article appeared in Radio World’s “Trends in Codecs and STLs for 2020” ebook.

Radio World: What’s the latest in trends in the design and performance of codecs?
Dan Jackson: At SCA we are a big believer in standards to ensure interoperability between products. We like to talk in terms of SMPTE 2110 and AES67 for audio distribution, and AES67/SNMP for control. As for codecs we tend to change our choice based on the application; we still use aptX for voice and AAC, Opus and Tieline MusicPlus for audio distribution.

One of the most important trends is delivery of service. As we move away from dedicated POTS and ISDN lines and onto 4G/5G services, we are at the mercy of the tower operators. Having the ability to double-deliver the data through the same or two carriers ensures that content is delivered 100% of the time.

We’ve also noticed a shift away from having extremely low latency links, so things like Forward Error Correction are welcome to help ensure the quality of service.

Another important trend I see is the shift away from traditional “boxes” and capital expenditure. We are seeing a large demand for a software and op-ex model, much like the rest of the IT world.

One of the biggest issues we faced during COVID was the inability to scale our codec fleet. Technologies like ipDTL are certainly paving the way for a software/op-ex future.

When we talk about remote codecs for remote broadcasts, the more portable and durable, the better. Gone are the days of running OB trucks and lengthy ISDN installs. Content teams want to be able to go as soon as possible.

RW: How are today’s technologies solving problems in creative ways?
Jackson: Moving to IP-based technologies has decreased reliability on links, so SmartStream and dual link codecs have allowed codecs to be used in place of expensive microwave links, where historically the IP service is no good.

RW: What role are codecs playing for you in at-home broadcasting?
Jackson: During COVID we had around 20 shows at 50 locations using mostly Tieline VIAs. Their Cloud Codec Controller was an excellent add-on as it allowed our engineers to manage the codecs remotely.

Historically we have been fairly flexible without talent, so broadcasting from home was not new for us. Holiday homes, pregnancies and simply being in another state have required us to have the capability to broadcast remotely. Moving to more portable devices like IOS and Android, but still providing the same level of quality, is an important factor.

[Check Out More of Radio World’s Ebooks Here]

RW: What recent features are offered that other engineers may appreciate?
Jackson: Time-zone delay is a great feature. The ability to pass data streams as well as audio is great.

RW: What will the codec of the future look like, if we use one at all? How powerful can codecs get?
Jackson: As for the future: Fully flexible drop-and-drag DSP boxes, with inputs and outputs on AES67.

If you think about virtual environments and how much resource these environments have, there doesn’t seem to be a limit to power!

RW: What best practice tips should codec buyers be aware of in 2020?
Jackson: Plan for the future. If you don’t have AoIP just yet, it probably won’t be long.

Think about the environment. Is it being installed into a data room or carted to every football game? Do you require dual bonded SIMs?

 

The post Delivery of Service Is Key for Planning appeared first on Radio World.

From our People News page: iHeartMedia has named Derrick Martin to be the market president for its four-station cluster in Norfolk, Va.

He’ll report to Area President for Virginia Chuck Peterson.

“Martin joins iHeartMedia Norfolk from the iHeartMedia St. Louis market, where he most recently served as the region president, overseeing the St. Louis; Des Moines, Iowa; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Davenport, Iowa; and Springfield, Mo. markets,” the company said in a press release.

“Prior to serving as the region president for St. Louis, from 2013 to 2017, he served as the market president for the Norfolk market and is now making his return.”

He started his career at iHeartMedia Memphis.

[Send your people news to radioworld@futurenet.com]

 

The post Martin Takes Reins at iHeart Norfolk appeared first on Radio World.

The Feb. 17 issue is now available in digital edition format.

John Bisset shares tricks with infrared cameras in Workbench. A low-power FM station takes its power from the sun.

Buyer’s Guide looks at sports reporting and remote gear.

Sinclair makes a radio play with NextGen TV, and in a companion commentary, Marty Sacks expands on why radio should care about ATSC 3.0.

Read it here.

The post Inside the Feb. 17 2021 Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.

Low-power FM station WWGH in Marion, Ohio, has its call sign back, at least for the time being.

According to the Marion Star, station manager and host Scott Spears said the Federal Communications Commission had rescinded the cancellation of the station license on which we reported earlier, putting its license renewal back in pending status.

The Audio Division had pulled the license because the FCC hadn’t heard back from WWGH to a request for additional information about the license renewal. The renewal is being challenged by a third party over allegations regarding the makeup of the station board.

Spears said the station didn’t get that request and he then filed a petition for reconsideration.

“We are a lifeline for many people in the community free of charge,” Spears told the Marion Star via email. It quoted him saying, “Whatever change the FCC would want us to make we would be happy to make.”

 

The post WWGH in Ohio Has Its License Back appeared first on Radio World.

Every semester, I ask my students here at Lesley University how many of them listen to radio. And every semester, fewer and fewer hands go up.

Among those who do listen, most say it’s mainly when they are in the car with their parents. The majority tell me they prefer listening to Spotify or Pandora, where they can get only the songs they want, with no commercials.

Radio is not relevant to their lives, and some tell me it probably won’t be around much longer.

While I wish they felt differently, what they are saying is nothing new.

In fact, as far back as 1927, when “talking pictures” came along, and again in 1948 when a growing number of homes got television, some critics were predicting that soon, nobody would care about radio.

You can also fast forward to 2010, when broadcasters were feeling the rising effects of social media — that too was supposed to bring about the death of radio.

But while reports of radio’s demise have thus far been exaggerated, some very real challenges and problems exist.

As 2020 turned to 2021, I spoke with consultants, owners, programmers and journalists, asking them what they thought the future for broadcasting might hold. Their assessments varied, from being worried to cautiously optimistic to bullish.

Lack of attention

Among the biggest worries is that radio is indeed losing its younger demographics. My students are part of a trend: Teens and young adults are no longer fans of radio as previous generations were.

Nielsen Audio ratings bear this out: For instance since about 2014, according to an analysis by Edison Research, there has been a steady decline in ratings for CHR stations, as well as a decline in time spent listening. Interestingly, the only formats that have maintained some young adult listeners are classic hits and classic rock.

Consultant Fred Jacobs says this should come as no surprise. “The radio industry hasn’t cared about young people, especially teens, for years,” he said. And because of that lack of attention, he fears that “radio is going the way of jazz: an artifact of an older generation.”

He attributes this to the industry’s longstanding focus on the 25–54 demographic, often to the exclusion of anyone younger.

Another veteran consultant, Holland Cooke, concurs, and said, “Today, the real money demo is baby boomers, who grew up with the AM/FM habit.”

Engineering consultant Scott Fybush, who also publishes the NorthEast Radio Watch newsletter, says FMs are doing much better than AMs. Many boomers have fond memories of AM top 40, but these days, while a few heritage AM stations thrive, a growing number are dependent on syndicated programs or going silent.

Fybush expects the trend to continue. “AM is not going to vanish in [the next] 5 or 10 years, but it will become even more of a niche medium, and the thinning of less viable signals has already begun.”

Another area of concern is the lasting impact of media consolidation.

Ed Levine is president/CEO of Galaxy Media, which owns 13 stations in central New York. Like many observers, he cites the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as an important inflection point.

“The challenge that our industry faces,” he says, “is that for the last 25 years, radio has become bent to the will of a very small group of people. They wanted it ‘bigger and bigger,’ ostensibly to do ‘better’ and increase radio’s share of the ad spend. In reality, it was simply to get richer … much richer.”

While a handful of media companies were buying up more stations and financing them with private equity money, a small number of corporate CEOs became very wealthy.

But local stations began encountering problems. “Driven largely by private equity investment, radio was given revenue and cash flow goals that, in retrospect, were impossible to meet. So, when the revenue goals were not met, the only other way to increase cash flow was to cut people locally,” he said.

That reduction in local talent, to save money, was especially troubling, because broadcasters began sacrificing localism, the one thing that made radio unique.

Jerry Del Colliano, publisher of Inside Music Media, has been vocal about what he sees as the misplaced focus of corporate owners who were more interested in what was good for Wall Street, rather than what was good for Main Street.

Ongoing layoffs may have helped the corporate bottom line, but many talented local broadcasters lost their jobs, he said. Del Colliano is also critical of the FCC for allowing so much deregulation that companies are no longer required to maintain a local presence in their city of license. Radio itself isn’t the problem, he says, “it’s what these giant owners did to it.”

Vital information

But even though young people don’t listen as much as they used to, even though time spent listening is down across most demographics, even though there are lingering effects from media consolidation and even though the COVID-19 pandemic has led to economic downturns in many cities, numerous industry people remain hopeful about broadcasting’s future. Among them are local owners and operators who have seen firsthand how radio can still make a major difference.

One is Tami Graham, executive director of KSUT, Four Corners Public Radio, with studios in Ignacio, Colo. KSUT serves four states and includes among its listeners a large tribal population.

For her audience, KSUT has become a trusted resource.

“We serve five rural counties, and many [listeners] are in news deserts,” she says. With no local newspapers, KSUT has stepped in to fill the void for local news coverage.

“People know they can rely on us for vital information … whether it’s about COVID or about the wildfires. Good local content is more relevant than ever.”

She recalls that when the pandemic broke out, “We hired two part-time reporters and began covering it. Our plan was [to focus on it] for two weeks, but the response was so positive that we are still doing it.”

In fact, she notes, 2020 turned out to be a record-breaking year for fundraising, as donors came through to support KSUT’s programming.

“Our mission is “connecting people, creating communities,” she says, “and that is what we have been doing.”

Ed Levine too has found that being live and local works, no matter what kind of format the station has. He stresses the importance of developing local personalities and encouraging them to be heavily involved with their community.

“All of our air talents are native to their market. They know the area, and they love it. They don’t see [working for us] as a steppingstone to somewhere else. They don’t want to go elsewhere.”

Elroy Smith is a veteran urban contemporary programmer. He favors air staff with strong ties to the market. “That means they know the local landmarks, and they can pronounce the local street names.” And because they have their finger on the local pulse, they can react to whatever is important to the community at the time.

For example, during his tenure as operations manager and program director of Bonneville’s KBLX in San Francisco, air personalities volunteered at a food bank while the pandemic raged.

When George Floyd was killed and protests erupted nationwide, KBLX temporarily stopped playing music, instead airing news and information, and the morning show turned to talk. “The phones lines lit up. People wanted to have that connection with us.”

Smith believes building trust with the local community is essential. “People expect us to be involved.”

But what about attracting younger demographics? Is it still possible in a world where young people have so many choices, and radio has so much competition for their attention?

Sean Ross, vice president of music and programming for Edison Research and editor of the “Ross on Radio” newsletter, says, “I think if there’s any way forward, it involves making current music formats better for adults again, so that maybe they’ll again be modeling radio usage for kids when the carpool resumes.” He notes that there are some interesting and creative stations in smaller, non-rated markets.

Fred Jacobs wonders if the average owner understands younger listeners. “Do [they] know what teens want today?”

Jerry Del Colliano believes one reason young people can’t relate to radio is it sounds old to them. “Young people want [to listen to] someone who sounds like them … who talks about the things they care about. It’s not just the music; it’s the personalities. This generation craves authenticity.”

And Ed Levine adds, “You don’t want to just have older people working for you. Hiring younger people changes the culture of a company.”

Online presence

Changing digital habits of course are an important part of the story.

With so many local events cancelled because of COVID, station managers have found that their website often serves as a gathering place, where listeners can find up-to-the-minute information about a news story, listen to a podcast, replay a feature they had missed or interact with the on-air personalities.

Tami Graham says that during the pandemic, KSUT “bumped up our web presence and expanded our digital content. In a way, we are remaking ourselves. There are no program directors now; we have content directors. We want our listeners to have the most interesting content, whether it’s on the air, or on the web.

“We have also collaborated with local partners, like the Colorado Media Project, to create and share content. There is no competition — just collaboration for the good of the community.”

Holland Cooke feels that many programmers are adapting to the fact that today’s listeners tend to be busier and have shorter attention spans. “And people today want everything on demand,” he says, noting they don’t want their time wasted.

Scott Fybush agrees that some broadcasters are adapting to these new realities, but “not fast enough or with enough innovation.” He said that with more people working from home, the old idea of programming mainly to people in the office needs to be revisited, as well as rethinking traditional dayparts: Are people who now work or study at home getting up early to listen to a morning show, for example? And what about other dayparts?

“Almost nobody is paying attention to weekends, even though there has been a spike in usage then.”

“Embrace actionable”

Two comments I heard repeatedly: One, successful stations have relatable personalities who are plugged into the community. Two, successful stations are live and local as much as possible.

In a post-media consolidation era, as money-losing corporations divest from various properties, Del Colliano predicts there will be new opportunities for local ownership.

“Local operators may be the salvation of radio. After the [giant conglomerate owners] are gone, the small owners who remain will be able to reinvent the industry.”

Cooke too sees enhanced opportunities for radio, even during the pandemic. He advises programmers to not only “embrace local,” but to also “embrace actionable.” In other words, “Give listeners actionable information, like where they can get a vaccine, get an expert with tips for keeping their pets safe and healthy.”

And while all acknowledged the challenges of doing radio today, the people with whom I spoke agreed that the radio industry doesn’t do an effective job of selling its benefits.

“Radio suffers from a perception problem,” said Ed Levine. “We’ve got an inferiority complex. People may not listen for as long as they used to, but the listeners are still there.”

Perhaps there is no one format that will be radio’s salvation, and perhaps the programming will vary in each market, depending on the audience’s needs.

But radio still matters, says Elroy Smith.

“The story about the demise of radio is false,” he said; when it’s done well, “radio can still speak to today’s audience.” In fact, he says, “radio can be a breath of fresh air.”

The author is an associate professor of communication and media studies at Lesley University, Cambridge, Mass., a former broadcaster and radio consultant. She often writes about the history of broadcasting. 

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

The post So, Where Does Radio Go From Here? appeared first on Radio World.

Bauer Media Group has looked to Germany for an ad management platform for its UK operations.

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

According to a release from AllMediaDesk, Bauer initially examined ad systems from 16 companies before settling on AllMediaDesk.

The AllMediaDesk system is cloud-based. Bauer Media Group has radio operations in the UK, all of the Scandinavian countries, Poland and Slovakia.

Send news for Who’s Buying What to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Bauer Media Group UK Selects AllMediaDesk appeared first on Radio World.

When radio made its debut more than 110 years ago, little did we know the long-lasting impact that it would have on the ability to inform and communicate with the world.

That’s the essence of a new podcast by ITU Podcasts, which looks at the way that radio continues to innovate, connect and evolve.

To celebrate World Radio Day on February 13, ITU and the world peace organization UNESCO participated in the production of “The Resilience of Radio,” a podcast celebrating “the unique power of radio to touch lives and bring people together even amid crisis, disaster and emergencies,” said Mario Maniewicz, director of ITU’s radio communication bureau. Learn more at the website.

[Read: WRHU to Go Worldwide on February 12–14]

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations’ specialized agency for information and communication technologies. ITU Podcasts designs podcasts that help listeners navigate the changing world of information and communication technology.

Ironically enough, the pandemic has illustrated how valuable radio can be. Even though prognosticators have predicted the demise of radio for years, the medium continues to thrive, said Maximillian Jacobson-Gonzalez, the podcast presenter. Radio is a $40 billion dollar industry with more than 90% of North Americans listening every week.

“How can technology help us face the dramatic shifts in how we live our lives? Next to other technological advances, radio could seem to be an antiquated medium,” said Jacobson-Gonzalez. But what we’ve seen over the past years, he said — and especially during the pandemic — is that radio is proving to have one of the most resilient backbones of all.

“Radio used to be a transistor on our kitchen table,” Maniewicz said. “Nowadays it is a standard accessory in our cars and smartphones.” And because of that, even as the pandemic raged around the world, radio showed it had the ability to bring people together amid crisis, disaster and emergencies.

The “The Resilience of Radio” podcast recounts the results from a recent study conducted by the Media Psychology Lab at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. The study looked at the listening habits, consumption, credibility and physiological impact of radio in Spain during coronavirus pandemic.

“Listeners had a very positive impression in the role that radio is playing during the crisis,” said Emma Rodero, senior lecturer and director of the Media Psychology Lab. In addition to a jump in the number of hours a day that people listened to radio, the physiological impact of radio became one of the survey’s most important findings, she said.

“Many people are reporting feeling bad and feeling fear and anguish,” she said. And in these cases, radio ended up playing a significant role in addressing that fear and anxiety, she said.

“When you’re feeling these intense and negative emotions, radio was there,” Rodero said. “[Listeners] reported that it ‘relieved my loneliness and made me feel happy and reduced my anxiety.’ You feel you are not alone.” This may be why radio was noted as being the most intimate and most personal medium of all those technologies surveyed.

“You emotionally connect to these voices on the radio,” Rodero said. “This is the power of radio in keeping people connected and informed.”

The podcast also touches on the effectiveness of campaigns run through radio, the community that comes with ham radio and the efficacy of radio when disseminating key health news across an entire continent like Africa, where it’s estimated that between 80% and 90% of households have access to a radio.

“The Resilience of Radio” podcast is the eighth episode of the ITU’s Technology for Good podcast series, which is focusing on how technology is helping to shape the world around us. The podcast series can be found on Soundcloud, Spotify and Apple Podcasts among others.

 

The post ITU Podcast Offers Insights on Radio’s Influence appeared first on Radio World.

NAB Show organizers are hoping exhibit hall scenes like this one in 2019 with Bob Orban, John Kean and Lyle Henry will return when the 2021 NAB Show exhibits open Oct. 10–13. The first day of the two-day Radio Show is Oct. 13. (Photo: Jim Peck)

The National Association of Broadcasters has set the dates for this fall’s Radio Show, which it had announced earlier will be held in conjunction with the rescheduled 2021 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

Interestingly, the Radio Show, co-run by NAB and the Radio Advertising Bureau, will be Wednesday Oct. 13 and Thursday Oct. 14, which means it opens on the last day of the NAB Show and extends one day beyond it.

[Read: NAB Show Cites Early Exhibit Hall Sales]

Assuming all goes as currently planned, the NAB Show itself will be held Oct. 9–13, with its exhibits open Oct. 10–13. The big annual spring convention was cancelled in 2020 just a few weeks prior due to the pandemic.

Radio Show registrants will have access to the NAB Show floor and All Access programming starting Oct. 9.

Registration for the fall Radio Show won’t open until summer.

The association also announced that a spinoff event of the annual Sales and Management Television Exchange is set for Oct. 8–9.

 

The post Fall Radio Show Dates Are Oct. 13–14 appeared first on Radio World.

DTS AutoStage promo image

The author is editor in chief of Radio World.

A free Radio World webcast will explore key automotive technology initiatives of Xperi. Registration is now open.

I’ll be interviewing executives with the technology company about its current initiatives in several areas. This March 10 webcast is co-sponsored by Xperi and Radio World, and is free to attend. It will also be available on demand after streaming.

First we’ll get a look behind the curtains at the Xperi/TiVo merger, which the company says has had a dramatic impact on its offerings thanks to TiVo’s content aggregation, discovery and recommendation engines. What does that mean for radio?

Also we’ll get an update on the rollout of all-digital HD Radio for the AM band in the United States. Now that the FCC has allowed the option, I’ll be asking what broadcasters should know about licensing, costs and the experiences of the first adopters, including Hubbard’s WWFD in Maryland, which tested the technology, and WMGG in Florida, which was an early adopter and broadcast this year’s Super Bowl in Spanish.

And we’ll learn about DTS AutoStage, the company’s global hybrid infotainment platform, which recently launched in the Daimler MBUX and is heard in new Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars. With everything going on right now around hybrid radio platforms and car infotainment systems, this is an important topic and I’m looking forward to learning more about it along with you.

You can sign up here. Hope to see you then.

The post Webcast to Explore Future of Radio in the Car appeared first on Radio World.

Media technology manufacturer Lawo has given Sales Director Nacho Gonzalez additional commercial responsibility for the Brazilian market.

“Nacho draws on experience of over 20 years of sales experience in Latin America,” the company stated.

“Soon after starting at Lawo in 2013 as sales manager for the LATAM region, Nacho was entrusted also with Spain and Portugal.” He speaks Spanish and Portuguese and is based at Lawo offices in Germany.

The company said it has experienced “exponential” growth in the Latin American and Iberian markets in recent years.

Gonzalez was quoted in the announcement: “Last year has been particularly complicated for the audiovisual sector, which has led to technologies changing at a rate unthinkable months ago and forcing some companies to be more flexible and reinvent many traditional processes.”

Send People News to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

The post Lawo Expands Gonzalez’ Role in LATAM appeared first on Radio World.

Tieline has added another IP audio codec to its lineup called the Gateway-4, which it expects to begin shipping by the end of next month.

It described it as “a powerful DSP-based 1RU IP codec designed for live remote broadcasting applications, as well as STL or SSL links,” the manufacturer stated in its announcement.

“The Gateway-4 also includes support for AES67, ST 2110-30, AES3 and analog I/O as standard, and an optional WheatNet-IP card.”

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

The Gateway-4 replaces the company’s Merlin and Genie STL audio codecs; it supports four full-duplex audio channels in 1RU to expand channel density by one compared with the older models. VP Sales APAC/EMEA Charlie Gawley said it is suitable for mission-critical broadcast applications requiring two to four audio streaming channels. Those who need more channels can choose the Gateway-8/16 multichannel codec, another recent introduction that replaced the Merlin Plus and Genie Distribution.

The new codec provides two stereo connections, or one stereo and two mono connections, or up to four mono full-duplex connections. Tieline said it also supports multiple unicasting to up to 20 endpoints and multicasting.

“For larger networks, the Gateway-4 is ideal for transmitter sites, remote trucks or rack-mounted remote kits,” Tieline said. “For affiliates and smaller stations it can be used to transport studio-to-studio links, or a stereo studio-to-transmitter link signal plus another stereo connection, or dual mono connections for remotes.”

Features include hitless packet switching using SmartStream Plus redundant streaming, and bandwidth aggregation using Fuse-IP technologies over internet connections; dual internal power supplies, dual LAN ports and dual AoIP ports; and an optional Gateway Euro ISDN module to integrate with legacy ISDN network infrastructure for primary or backup connections.

It is interoperable with other Tieline IP codecs and compatible over SIP with EBU N/ACIP Tech 3326 and 3368 compliant codecs and devices.

It is configurable through an embedded HTML5 Toolbox Web-GUI interface and is controllable using Tieline’s Cloud Codec Controller.

Info: www.tieline.com

 

The post Tieline Introduces Gateway-4 IP Codec appeared first on Radio World.

Rush Limbaugh pumps thumb after being awarded the Medal of Freedom by First Lady Melania Trump after being acknowledged by President Donald Trump during the State of the Union address in February 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Rush Limbaugh has died.

His wife Kathryn Limbaugh began the daily Rush Limbaugh today, with an announcement that Limbaugh had passed away.

His website has the headline “In loving memory of Rush Hudson Limbaugh III, the greatest of all time.”

The conservative talk radio icon had been suffering from lung cancer which he announced early last year.

His death brings to an end a remarkable chapter in media and politics.

Widely both admired and reviled, Limbaugh is acknowledged to have been one of the most influential personalities not only in radio but all of media in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Fans use terms like “radio revolutionary” and “doctor of democracy” and noted his role in helping the Republican Party, as when it took control of the House of Representatives in 1994. They admired him for raising millions of dollars over three decades for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Critics despised him for his reach and for his harsh commentary and outrageous comments about political and cultural figures and opponents.

He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1993 and the NAB Hall of Fame in 1998, in addition to receiving multiple Marconi Awards for “Syndicated Radio Personality of the Year.”

Many people in radio also consider him to have been a savior of the AM band in the United States, or at least that he gave the band many years of new relevance after its decline as a source of music.

He was also a very profitable business, exemplified for example in 2001 when he signed an eight-year,  nine-figure with Premiere Radio Networks, which at the time called it the highest priced distribution deal “in the history of radio syndication.”

Benztown has published an audio tribute, written and voiced by Bill Royal and produced by Tom Baker. Listen here.

Read a 2020 bio and profile of Limbaugh.

The post Rush Limbaugh Dies at Age 70 appeared first on Radio World.

This year, the editors of Pro Sound News, Mix and Radio World are working together to produce the first Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit, to be held virtually on April 1.

Sponsorship opportunities are available for companies that wish to reach professional technology buyers. The free one-day event will feature an exhibition floor, panel presentations, live chat and a host of media presentations showcasing the latest technologies and trends in radio and pro audio.

Watch the video below to learn more about sponsoring the summit.

Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit will feature two individual program tracks within a single exhibition hall. In each program track, the show will explore how manufacturers and users are making use of both current and emerging technologies in order to keep the media coming.

The post Pro Audio & Radio Tech Summit Sponsorship Opportunities Available appeared first on Radio World.