Radio World

This is a good time of year to service air conditioning systems at your studios and transmitter sites.

Of particular interest is the condensate drain. Algae can form a tight plug, preventing proper drainage and causing the condensate pan to overflow and drain into your studio or transmitter.

Take five minutes to remove the cleanout cap, shown in Fig. 1, and using a bottle brush, make sure the drain tubing is clear in both directions.

A little Clorox brand or other disinfecting bleach in the trap will guard against algae formation.

Anti-algae tablets for the drain pan are available at big box stores or online. Search for SimpleAir Clean Flow HVAC Drain Line Treatment Tabs (less than $10).

Down at the car wash

Speaking of water, readers were 50/50 divided on whether our anecdote about running a transmitter through a car wash was a joke. (Editor in Chief Paul McLane emailed me asking if it was for real. My reply: “Absolutely. The best way to get years of grime out of a transmitter.”)

Edd Monskie, senior VP of engineering with Hall Communications, had a chuckle when he read the tip.

He recalls that when he moved to Lancaster, Pa., in 1977, he lived in a rented ranch house along a beautiful creek. After a deep snowfall followed by a day of heavy rain, that cute creek became a flooding torrent. The entire ranch house was flooded with mud and dirty flood waters, up to 48 inches deep.

Edd figured that everything he owned was ruined but he had no flood insurance, so with nothing to lose, he decided to take a garden hose and open every item one by one to wash the mud out. Kitchen appliances, radios, tube television and even a washer and dryer.

He says almost all of these continued to work once they were allowed to dry completely, even the old tube console. The TV worked for another two years. The washer and dryer were good for at least another five years. Furniture that came unglued continued to serve once he reglued it.

Edd marveled at what he was able to save with a good washing, lubrication if needed and a full drying.

K-Love/AIR1 Engineer Scott Todd remembers seeing Mike Dorrough of DAP Processor fame cleaning an old transmitter with a garden hose and sprayer at his cabin in northern Wisconsin some 30 years ago. Scott says all the heavy iron was out of it at the time to be replaced when everything was dry.

Bill Bowin is the chief engineer for North American Broadcasting Co. He too enjoyed the note about washing old transmitters at the car wash.

Many years ago, an engineering mentor told Bill about the time he had purchased a load of studio equipment that had been exposed to a station fire. While the equipment hadn’t been damaged by heat, it was covered in soot and a creosote-like substance that had dripped from the ceiling.

Bill’s colleague said he carefully removed transformers and meters from the gear, took the remains to a car wash lot and coated them liberally with Easy-Off brand oven cleaner. After waiting 15 minutes or so, he hosed off the grime. The equipment looked like new, and after it had dried and been reassembled, it actually worked.

Exciter fix

Bill adds that Dave Mathews is one of his assistants and is perhaps the best bench tech that he has worked with. You will remember Dave’s YouTube video about retuning a Moseley 6010/6020 STL. Bill says that STL is in use on WMNI(AM), where it replaced a Marti STL-8 dating to 1973.

Dave himself writes in to say that he has posted a new video about fixing a common problem with a Harris Digit CD FM Exciter. The fix involves a resistor in the PLL (Phase Locked loop) section that has changed value. The video also shows how Dave figured out the problem with common sense and basic equipment.

He has nearly a hundred videos posted over three years on www.youtube.com/AERVblog. As you peruse them, be sure to watch his video describing a repair of a broken thumb drive. It’s fascinating.

Dave provides a unique service to broadcast engineers, and we appreciate his sharing the link.

Keeping things neat

It probably goes without saying that most engineers abhor messy wiring.

Loxdo is marketing an inexpensive wire management system that uses 3M brand adhesive on small plastic forms for wires to snap into. In addition to keeping single runs of wire straight and neat, there’s a bracket that snaps onto the edge of a counter or table to secure a charging cord so it’s not always falling on the floor. This also eliminates the need to drill holes in furniture or countertops.

Their site has videos with ideas about how these can be used; visit www.loxdo.com and search for “finisher wire clamp.”

The 20-piece kit comes in white, clear and black plastic; at this writing it is on sale for $12.99, and less in quantity.

John Bisset has spent over 50 years in the broadcasting industry. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance. He holds CPBE certification with the Society of Broadcast Engineers and is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award.

Workbench submissions are encouraged, qualify for SBE Recertification, and can be emailed to johnpbisset@gmail.com.

The post Water Water Everywhere: Workbench appeared first on Radio World.

The author is managing director, Enterprise Radio Solutions, for Veritone. Radio World invites industry-oriented commentaries and responses. Send to Radio World.

The plight of modern radio advertising can be summed up by a quote that’s more than 100 years old.

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half,” John Wanamaker, an early marketing pioneer and merchandising maven, once lamented.

Decades after Wanamaker’s merchandise empire became part of Macy’s, the struggle remains — advertisers are skeptical of the ROI of their radio spots. With no data-backed method of attributing leads or new traffic to a format like radio, advertisers have historically been unsure whether their investments are lost to the airwaves, while at the same time, almost every dollar spent and impression achieved on digital is measurable. Like Wanamaker, they’re stuck guessing how much budget is actually wasted.

[Read: ASR Is a Key Entry Point for AI]

But artificial intelligence technology is poised to redefine radio advertising ROI. By digitizing the airways and making content searchable, radio station advertising operations can finally give their clients the data they need to connect the dots on the ROI of their spend.

AI in Action on the Air

Rapid advances in speech-recognition and transcription have created opportunities for ad managers in the past. But a digital transcript does little to reveal value for advertisers on its own.

When we talk about AI in radio advertising, we’re looking at advanced applications that analyze and standardize transcript and programming data in near real-time — usually in the form of software or a cloud platform. Typically, these platforms also give ad managers a dashboard with a suite of tools to analyze placements — allowing them to break down ad attribution in new ways for existing clients and uncover opportunities to find new ones.

But the real power comes from directly attributing ad spend to website traffic. With AI enabled technology, advertisers can see when a radio spot or mention is driving people to their website — in real time. AI is the only reliably effective way to track and record both unscheduled live reads and organic mentions and report on their metrics. This level of depth can influence how advertising content is made and when it’s aired, and allow advertisers to test the effectiveness of these shifts in strategy.

AI Allows Ad Managers to Be More Savvy

AI isn’t a far flung concept in radio — many applications and use cases are already creating proactive and creative opportunities for radio advertising departments. Some examples of what’s possible include:

• Connecting to Client KPIs: Advertisers have their own internal business goals they’re trying to accomplish with a campaign, along with a set of metrics they use to measure success. AI applications can help prove the effectiveness of their placements toward these goals.

For example, AI along with website analytics can correlate traffic spikes to a client’s websites with the timing of an ad placement. Instead of the traditional estimated reach and value, it’s now possible to show how advertising spots and campaigns track with client goals.

• Powering Earned Media Measurement: From host reads and testimonials to contests and promotions, radio has long been known for its ability to deliver creative and valuable advertising integrations beyond just a spot buy. As advertisers ask for more added value in today’s current economic climate, up until recently, earned media couldn’t effectively be measured. AI can detect these earned media integrations and automatically apply them to the delivery goals of the campaign in terms of placement, frequency and impressions delivered. This allows the earned media to be part of the advertiser’s ROI calculation so radio gets the full credit it deserves.
• Enabling More Strategic Placements: Advertisers are increasingly sensitive to where and when their ads appear, and AI can help promote contextual targeting and enhance brand safety. With the advent of digital audio and podcasting, many advertisers are purchasing digital audio ads programmatically and targeting based on a combination of first and third-party audience data.

Increasingly, advertisers also want to be associated with topics and content that are complementary to their brands and business –– for instance, a fitness center that wants to target episodic content focused on health and wellness. AI can automatically determine the prevalence of topics and keywords discussed in each episode, allowing an advertiser’s ads to be associated –– or disassociated –– accordingly.

AI is reshaping the way we talk about radio advertising ROI, and the discussion isn’t dealing in hypotheticals. AI applications in radio are already firmly in place at many stations across the country — are you prepared to keep pace?

The post AI Is the Next Step in Redefining Radio Ad Sales ROI appeared first on Radio World.

iHeartMedia has announced plans to acquire Voxnest, a podcast and analytics organization. The acquisition will provide iHeart’s podcast infrastructure with new features including a new podcast analytics platform, enterprise publishing tools, programmatic integration and targeted ad serving for the growing podcast market.

As of press time, the terms of the acquisition have not yet been released.

[Read: Share of Listening to Podcasting Hits All-Time High]

With the boom in podcast consumption over the last few years, iHeartMedia said this acquisition will allow it to provide podcast advertisers with additional targetable inventory at scale. Through Voxnest’s programmatic platform, iHeart will be able to more successfully monetize content across iHeartMedia’s podcast inventory, the company said.

According to Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia Inc., the combination of iHeart and Voxnest will ensure critical mass for the podcasting platform and accelerate its growth. “As we continue to invest in podcasting and lead the industry, we anticipate this acquisition will have an important impact on iHeart’s ability to more fully monetize its podcast inventory, and will also benefit the other podcast publishers that are part of the Voxnest network and the advertisers who are using it,” he said.

The acquisition of Voxnest’s technology is an important addition to the iHeart digital product ecosystem, Pittman said, which includes iHeart’s SmartAudio suite of broadcast radio advertising solutions, the iHeartRadio digital platform and the company’s position as a commercial podcast publisher.

According to iHeart, this acquisition will also allow the company to drive greater monetization for creators of podcast content — independent of wherever they currently publish their shows — by connecting Voxnest’s ad technology with multiple publishing platforms across the industry.

According to Voxnest, the advertising technology capabilities it brings to the table include dynamic ad insertion; content targeting to listeners based on demographics, territories, devices and interests; programmatic podcast buying across audio platforms; and a full podcast analytics platform.

The podcast marketplace has been fragmented, with supply and demand spread across multiple platforms, which creates scale challenges for marketers who want to buy podcasts, said Francesco Baschieri, CEO of Voxnest. Despite the significant growth of the podcast industry, podcast creators and networks have not had an effective way to fully monetize their content and brands, he said. “With this combination, for the first time there will be one podcast technology platform that can bring together all of the demand sources with the largest supplier of podcast inventory — creating the only podcast technology platform that consolidates all the podcast markets into one, making buying more efficient for buyers and sellers of podcast advertising, and creating a unique benefit for the 10,000-plus podcast publishers that are part of the Voxnest network today,” he said.

The acquisition is not the first time that iHeartMedia has worked with Voxnest: the media company owned a minority stake in Voxnest prior to this acquisition.

The post iHeartMedia to Acquire Podcast Company Voxnest appeared first on Radio World.

“The Path to Media Ownership and Sustainability,” an all-day virtual symposium on Nov. 6, is the FCC’s next program in its initiative “to empower disadvantaged communities and accelerate the entry of small businesses, including those owned by women and minorities” into the media and programming industries. In addition to financial speakers and station executives, the program will include Capitol Hill staff members who will outline policies to expand media ownership diversity.

The Nov. 6 symposium comes on the heels of Oct. 23’s “Tech Supplier Diversity Opportunity Showcase.” Both events are being organized by the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE).

For the “Access to Capital” program, which will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time, the focus will be on broadcaster financing and sustainable revenue. Media executives and lenders will describe current tactics to obtain financing for broadcast station transactions “in today’s challenging financial circumstances,” according to the FCC announcement of the program. In addition, experts will examine the history of the previous broadcast tax certificate policy and the potential for a new tax certificate policy to increase ownership diversity.

The symposium will include presentations from Nielsen Global Media, led by senior VP for Community Alliances Stacie deArmas and Senior VP for Product Leadership Bill Rose. Their panel will examine ratings measurements for multi-ethnic broadcast stations and will feature a discussion of how small and diverse broadcasters can attract increased advertising revenue.

Caroline Beasley, CEO of Beasley Media Group and chair of the ACDDE Access to Capital Working Group will open and close the day-long program. The lineup of speakers and panelists includes Jeffrey Smulyan, chairman/CEO of Emmis Communications; DuJuan McCoy, president/CEO of Circle City Broadcasting, LLC; Raúl Alarcón, president/CEO/chairman of Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc.; Russell M. Perry, CEO, Perry Broadcasting; James Winston, president of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters; Tomás Martinez, co-owner, Solmart Media; Adonis Hoffman, founder of The Advisory Counsel, LLC; Wiley Rein LLP partner Anna Gomez (representing the Hispanic National Bar Association); Wiley Rein LLP partner and former FCC Commissioner Henry Rivera; and Maurita Coley Flippin, president of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and a member of the ACDDE Diversity in the Tech Sector Working Group.

In addition, Congressional staffers will offer updates on pending legislation intended to increase diverse media ownership.

Additional information and registration is available from Jamila Bess Johnson, the Designated Federal Officer for the ACDDE: 1-202-418-2608; Jamila-Bess.Johnson@fcc.gov or at the Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment web page.

The post FCC Continues Programs for Small/Diverse Broadcast Finance appeared first on Radio World.

StreamS has introduced its new IOdigi2X/IOdigi8X audio interfaces. Currently available, the AES digital I/O USB interfaces can provide a XMOS-based AES digital audio interface to Apple, Linux, MSFT and all mobile operating systems.

They are USB Audio Class 2-compliant devices that use native system drivers, eliminating proprietary driver installs. A free, custom Windows Driver with advanced features is available as well.

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

This is the easiest way to get pristine digital audio in and out of Windows, MacOS, iOS, iPad OS, Linux and Android computers, the company says.

StreamS IOdigi2X is a stereo synchronous device and can use either an internal or external clock. Sample rates from 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz are supported. It can be used for any audio record/play application, and for test applications. This includes AES FM MPX radio applications, digital audio workstations, streaming audio encoders, SIP applications and audio analyzers.

Meanwhile, the StreamS IOdigi8X is a multichannel asynchronous device allowing more flexibility with sample rate converters on all four inputs. It can be used as a four-stereo input and output device for stereo 2.0, or as a single multichannel input and output device for surround 5.1/7.1. Input sample rate converters allow it to interface to any digital audio source from 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz.

StreamS IOdigi2X/8X uses a XMOS xCORE audio engine, and is thought to be suitable for pro audio, broadcast, netcast and consumer applications.

Info: www.streamindex.com

The post StreamS Unveils IOdigi2X, IOdigi8X Audio Interfaces appeared first on Radio World.

While we live in uncertain times, one thing is certain; the students at college radio station MavRadio.FM KVNO 90.7 HD2, based at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, have shown they can learn, be innovative and adapt to the challenges presented by COVID-19. Radio World spoke with Jodeane Brownlee about the college radio station and its operations during COVID-19. Brownlee is the faculty advisor for MavRadio.FM KVNO 90.7 HD2, a lecturer, a faculty advisor of Women in Media and executive producer of “The Omaha News.”

Radio World: Please describe your media operations, including the physical plant. How many studios, and how are they equipped? Where is the transmission facility; how is it equipped?
Jodeane Brownlee: The radio station is on campus and is adjacent with two teaching labs and an area that houses the “whisper room.” This is a production area where students and faculty [produce] their voiceovers for radio, television and creative productions. The studio has four microphones to accommodate guest and live artists.

RW: Who makes the executive decisions for the station? What role do the students have in station operations?
Brownlee: At MavRadio.FM, we have a volunteer staff. Depending on the semester, and how many students are involved, we have a general manager, operations manager, production director, music director and sports director.

RW: Are students on campus now or learning and operating remotely?
Brownlee: Students are still on campus for their shows and specialty programs. We celebrated World College Radio Day with one live host at a time, but all the interviews were voiced tracked. This turned out to benefit the program as we simultaneously aired the interviews on our podcast, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

We also have two more live, specialty shows in October. Because we are limited to the number of students in a single room, our staff meetings have all been via Zoom. Sports have been another Achilles Heel. We’ve had none so far this semester, and our athletic department is in the early stages of planning basketball and hockey tournaments. It’s been challenging to plan, that’s for sure. In the meantime, we’ve worked with our state association to call high school playoffs and championship games.

The other issue I see is trying to cover all the sports this spring. From the sounds of it, we will make-up all fall sports as well as continue with spring sports. Honestly, I don’t know how we can do it all! But, we will. I have the best staff I know!

RW: Is the station currently on the air? What means and products (software or hardware) are being used?
Brownlee: MavRAdio.FM KVNO 90.7 HD2 has stayed on the air via RCS NexGen automation software.

RW: What impact has COVID-19 had on the station? Challenges due to social distancing?
Brownlee: The biggest challenge for our staff is the fact that we can’t have meetings on or off campus with more than 10 students. Typically, we spend several hours a week together working on production, music, sports and overall planning. The simple fact is it’s far more challenging to work as a team in this environment. However, the safety and well-being of our staff, faculty and students is our number one goal.

RW: If the students are operating remotely, how are you making that happen? Can you give examples?
Brownlee: Last spring, our students lead a two-hour Earth Day special on Earth Day. We did this via Zoom and it was fairly impressive. We had two hosts, and 10 reporters. Those reporters put together voice packages with interviews, research and natural sound. Because we were in lockdown, all of us were relegated to our homes, which was the essence of what was happening to everyone. It was impactful and innovative. There was some post editing involved as the stories and some graphics had to be incorporated later, but it looked great on YouTube and the audio worked well for our podcast audience.

I mentioned World College Radio Day earlier, and we plan to use the same format for our Haunted Heartland broadcast Oct. 29. We’ll have two hosts, in studio, and a producer. The reporters will be on the scene, normally in small groups, for their live remote. This year, however, we will send reporters out alone and shorten the broadcast from three hours to two.

We also have a 24-hour marathon Oct. 28–29 for a fundraising event. The plan is three-hour shifts with a single jock. We’ll also utilize social media for this. In fact, social media has given us the power to stay relevant and in front of our audience.

We’ve also had a sports team cover our professional league soccer games (Union Omaha). They recently traveled to Wisconsin, from Nebraska, for the championships. Again, the important aspect is giving the students experiences in the face of the pandemic.

RW: Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
Brownlee: College radio is more viable and relevant than ever. With social media platforms, the voices can compete with other influencers. It’s not “should” college radio be on social, it’s a “must.” Reporting must be local, vigorous and objective in a world of conglomerates, retweets and bias.

The post College Media Spotlight: University of Nebraska, Omaha appeared first on Radio World.

In this issue we learn how Jim Dalke and Stephen Lockwood are co-locating an AM station’s facilities with a cell tower. Hal Kneller describes the creation of a unique quasi-SFN using GatesAir Intraplex gear. And Buc Fitch helps you build an unbalanced-to-balanced converter.

Read it online here.

Prefer to do your reading offline? No problem! Simply click on the digital edition, go to the left corner and choose the download button to get a PDF version.

Project Journal

Co-locating an AM With a Cellular Tower

Jim Dalke, the owner of KARR, and Stephen Lockwood of Hatfield & Dawson obtained a construction permit to install a slant wire-fed cellular monopole.

From the Editor

Does Your Site Have Good Bones?

Cris Alexander has seen a few ugly things when conducting due diligence visits, such as transmitters with their side and back panels removed and interlocks jumpered out so that lethal voltages are exposed. How would your site shape up?

Also in this issue:

• Hybrid Synchronization in the Sunshine State
• Repack Impact: How Has It Affected Wireless Mics?
• Build an Unbalanced-to-Balanced Adaptor

The post Inside the October 21st Issue of Radio World Engineering Extra appeared first on Radio World.

From time to time, my travels take me to transmitter sites of radio stations that are not part of our company, because I have been asked to come in and do some antenna work or perform a due diligence inspection.

Some of these sites are designed, built and maintained well, a credit to those responsible.

Other times, sadly, what I find is anything but.

Many of these facilities are run down, overgrown and infested with insects and rodents. Some are downright hazardous to be in or even around.

The list of issues can be quite long, including weeds, brush or even trees grown up in the tower base areas; base fencing that, if it exists at all, is damaged or deteriorated; transmission lines falling off the ice bridge or supports; tower paint that has faded far out of tolerance and/or is flaking off; infestations of mice and other rodents in transmitter building and equipment; evidence of snakes, spiders and flying, stinging insects in residence … and on and on.

Sometimes, the equipment and facility wiring is in bad shape.

I see electric panels with the covers removed and wiring exposed, audio and remote control wiring is hanging loose with connections twisted together. I’ve seen transmitters with side and back panels removed and interlocks jumpered out so that lethal voltages are exposed. I’ve seen phasor cabinets with their doors removed and RF components exposed for anyone to touch.

How does this happen?

STATE OF DECLINE

Sometimes the answer is obvious. The station is in a state of decline, barely hanging on in a small community with little business and competition coming from several other directions. In those cases, there’s often no money to spend on maintenance, and the situation becomes one of self-perpetuating decline.

Other times it’s not so much a matter of money as of resources. A solo engineer, employee or contract, is stretched between many facilities, oftentimes scattered over a large geographical area, competing for attention and each receiving very little.

And sadly, at times it is what I would characterize as indifference. A person charged with the care and feeding of the site or station just doesn’t care and does the bare minimum to get by. The station is on the air, and nobody sees the transmitter site but the engineer; so no one is the wiser that there are big problems there resulting from neglect or worse.

Fortunately, these situations are by far the rare exception, but they do exist.

In a lot of cases like those I’ve described, the bones of what used to be are still visible.

At one time, it was a very nice, well-engineered facility that was undoubtedly well maintained, the pride and joy of the engineer given charge of it.

And unless there are structural or other issues that go beyond cosmetics, there often is hope for such a run-down and neglected facility. It may never shine as in its glory days, but it can be a safe, functional, well-maintained, reliable transmitter site.

STATE OF HEALTH

There’s a psychological element to such a situation that goes well beyond the physical condition of the site.

[Read more articles from award-winning engineer Cris Alexander.]

The worse shape a facility is in, the harder it is for even the most dedicated engineer to gin up any level of concern. It looks hopeless, so in his or her eyes, it really is. At some point, the roof will fall in and nature will reclaim the place, leaving little or no trace that it was ever there… or so it seems.

But clean the place up, plug the holes, remove the critters and their leavings, and that same engineer starts to feel better about the place, becoming hopeful. Maybe he or she even begins to take pride in it.

In years past, an FCC agent in charge of a western field office was the self-described “master of the ten-minute inspection.” He was a great guy, super to work with and always helpful and courteous.

If he walked into a transmitter site and found it clean and well-maintained, he wouldn’t look very hard for minutia or hidden violations. It was his view that if the company and engineer in charge cared enough to keep the place clean and maintained, it would very likely be in compliance with the rules.

He was right. While I can’t speak for current district Enforcement Bureau people, who might not admit to it anyway, I suspect they would agree.

So there may be another benefit to sprucing up a run-down site.

I mentioned the self-perpetuating nature of neglect. It also works in the other direction, although it requires some input of energy. If a facility is in good shape, most engineers will want to keep it in good shape or even improve it. We like to feel good about the facilities we maintain; and like it or not, those facilities do reflect on us.

The point is that if you have in your area of responsibility a site that is in some state of neglect or deterioration, you can very likely reverse it, without spending a lot of money. That reversal will pay big dividends, both in your own attitude, in the longevity and reliability of the facility and even in the sound and performance of the transmitter signal.

Start with a “to do” list developed by taking an objective walk-through of the site. What are the problems and issues?

Take the list and prioritize it logically. For example, if there is a rodent or insect infestation, first figure out where/how they are getting in and deal with that before you start to work cleaning up the rodent or insect mess or you’ll have to do it twice.

A good trick is to go to the site at night, and turn on the lights inside the building, tuning house or ATU. Then go outside and shut the door, with all outside lights off.

Wherever you see light escaping, even a pinhole, is a potential entry point for critters and bugs. Of course there may be entry points beneath, perhaps at a conduit or telco cable entry penetration where the light trick won’t help you, but those should be readily identifiable.

Plug the holes, then suit up (Tyvek suit, gloves, mask and eye protection) and start cleaning. Remove the bigger stuff by hand, then use the shop vac, then go to (safe) solvent cleaners/disinfectants and paper towels.

The work may take some elbow grease, but when you’re done, you’ll be amazed how much better the site looks and feels!

After that, focus on prevention. I’ve found mothballs help keep the critters away (they help keep me away, too, but it’s a small price to pay). Clear vegetation from the building or ATU cabinet, and put out an insecticide barrier, replenishing it regularly. An herbicide can also be applied to keep vegetation from growing back up close to the structure and providing critters a close-by habitat.

A lot of sites, both AM and FM, have good bones. Even if they have fallen into neglect, they can often be restored to a condition that an engineer can be proud of, despite the equipment being decades old. In most cases, the result is well worth the effort.

Cris Alexander, CPBE, AMD, DRB, is tech editor of RW Engineering Extra. He is the director of engineering for Crawford Broadcasting.

The post Does Your Site Have Good Bones? appeared first on Radio World.

All those cryptic buzzes and beeps your engineer has been hearing over the years may be coming from a mysterious source.

Maybe it’s the “Phantom Power.”

That’s the amusing scenario being proposed by an audio play called “Phantom Power: A Brief History of the Ghost in Our Machines,” which will be performed live online on Oct. 29 during the AES Fall 2020 Show. Group-produced by the HEAR Now Festival, Soundbooth Theater and SueMedia Productions, this original audio play was created to celebrate Radio@100, the 100th anniversary of commercial radio broadcasting in the U.S.

[Read: AES Show to Look at Podcast Studios]

The backstory: Exactly 100 years ago — on Nov. 2, 1920 — an audio engineer was trying to get the very first commercial broadcast on air. Somehow, his work ended up pulling him into the machine itself and he found himself trapped forever in the radio waves. This engineer, nicknamed Phantom Power, spends the next 100 years fighting off the ghosts that live in the machines — and all those cryptic buzzes and beeps — and trying to get free.

When the play’s story begins, it’s the year 2020. It’s Halloween. And strange things are beginning to happen at the fictional radio station WDMB.

The ghostly hero, Phantom Power, begins to make his presence known at WDMB. A few days shy of the 100th anniversary of commercial radio broadcasting, the ghosts that live in the machines — that only Phantom Power can defeat — begin to appear. The morning show team at WDMB, who have since March 2020 been quarantining together at the studios while continuing to broadcast, begin to reminisce. They ruminate about broadcast history and previous technology, and in doing so acknowledge all the accomplishments that have come before them — of the engineers, DJs and producers that have curated and cared for radio over the last 100 years.

The idea for this production came about when producer Sue Zizza of SueMedia Productions was asked by AES Broadcast Chair David Bialik to create a special event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of commercial radio. Zizza has been producing special educational and performance events for the AES Broadcast Track, which has been a staple at the AES annual convention, since 1997.

After an email exchange with Ralph Scott, the public relations chair for the HEAR Now Festival, the team brought in audio playwright Butch D’Ambrosio to create a play that looks back on commercial radio’s rich history. This is familiar territory for D’Ambrosio” At last year’s AES show, D’Ambrosio wrote “An Intimate Evening with Tesla and Twain,” an audio performance about Nicola Tesla and Mark Twain.

This year’s production differs from other live audio productions in part because it creates the impression that the audience is together in the same room, Zizza said. “Working with Soundbooth Theater has made this production feel as if we are together in the theater or studio,” she said. “This past June, when HEAR Now went virtual and took the festival completely online, we found that Soundbooth had been experimenting with live performance and had found ways to minimize latency issues that can defeat many ‘zoom performance’ events.”

The production features cast members Jeff Hays, founder of Soundbooth Theater, as well as actors Gary Francis Furlong, Annie Ellicott and Laurie Catherine Winkel. Soundbooth’s Ahmed Mahmoud will be engineering the live performance using a variety of software including StreamYard and Steam Deck. David Shinn of SueMedia Productions is the event’s technical director, who will ensure the performance’s web stream will be accessible to AES attendees. HEAR Now intern Rory Stevenson has created the prerecorded sound effects.

By honoring radio’s past, Zizza said, today’s radio professionals can be a better shepherd in the future.

“We should appreciate those who came before, their inventions, and the time they invested to give us the ability to reach each other over the airwaves,” she said. “If we continue to honor the past, we will get to create the future and the next 100 years of broadcasting, wherever that leads.”

Those interested in listening in to “Phantom Power” can register for the AES event here.

The post Watch Out! The “Phantom Power” Is Coming this Halloween Season appeared first on Radio World.

A rescue mission unfolded on the afternoon of Oct. 20 as three maintenance workers ended up trapped high up on a television tower in the Elsanor/Rosinton, Ala.,  area. It unfortunately ended tragically, with the death of one of the workers, according to the Baldwin County Sheriff department.

According to WPMI(TV), the local NBC affiliate, the workers had climbed the tower, which houses the antenna for WJTC television and a local radio station, to repair a guy cable as part of an ongoing maintenance project. Witnesses on the ground reported that at about 1,300 feet debris may have struck one of the individuals, with the other two locking in place.

Two of the workers were able to be rescued and sustained nonlife-threatening injuries. The other worker unfortunately died before being brought down.

The maintenance workers were from a company in Texas. No names have been released.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident.

For more information, read coverage on myNBC15.com.

The post Alabama TV Tower Accident Results in One Death, Two Rescues appeared first on Radio World.

For the first time in the last six years — since Edison Research study began tracking audio consumption as part of its Share of Ear measurement efforts — podcasting’s share of all audio listening has hit a new all-time high.

The findings were revealed at the Podcast Movement virtual conference in a keynote address by Edison Research Senior Vice President Tom Webster. The latest findings show that the share of time that Americans age 13 and older spend with podcasts as a percentage of all their audio listening has tripled to 6%, up from 2%, in 2014.

[Read: Listening Is Shifting Back to the Car]

“Podcasting has become the greatest companion medium,” Webster said. “Not only can you take it with you while you do other things, but we also see people turning to podcasts for a sense of community and connection during a very stressful time.”

The growth in podcast listening has been steady according to Edison’s research over the last six years. In the Share of Ear report released in Q3 of 2018, podcasts had risen one percentage point over the previous four years to 3%. That report revealed that large chunks of listening time were allocated to other channels like YouTube (11%), streaming audio (14%) and AM/FM radio (46%). In the two years since the 2018 report, listening levels for podcasts has risen another three points.

The Share of Ear Report looks at how the average American divides their listening time among the listening platforms — including AM/FM radio, streaming music, owned music, satellite radio and podcasts — and looks at where and through which devices consumers listen to audio.

The post Share of Listening to Podcasting Hits All-Time High appeared first on Radio World.

Editor: I have been a subscriber to your magazine for awhile now and I particularly like the articles and your relevancy. For example your Aug. 19 issue “WWV/WWVH Stand Ready to Fight Global Chaos.” The article mentioned the “mass solar ejections” from the sun.

I was particularly interested in this article because in the late 1960s and early 1970s a “sun-storm” began its peak interference with shortwave communications in the worse way. I remember I could hardly hear WWV with my shortwave receiver.

This activity by the sun discouraged me because I couldn’t hear with my home-built equipment. I no longer found it fun to “work” the 80-, 75-, 40-, 20-, 15- and 10-meter amateur radio frequencies with code or voice.

That was disappointing because at 12 years old I became a ham radio operator (WA2BQM), related here in Newsday a few years ago.

I left off my amateur radio world still with a love for radio and electronics but managed to have a great career as a New York radio personality on major stations in the New York Tri-State area. In 1982 I produced, from my home studio, a weekly international radio syndicated show, “Jazz From the City.” Since 2005 I have held down the morning show on SiriusXM, Channel 49, “Soultown,” 6 a.m.–12 noon Monday–Friday.

I was able to pursue this path because of the technical training I received in my young days as a little 13-year-old ham radio operator. Please read the article and see who took the time with a neighbor’s son to teach this little guy to pursue his life-long love — radio.

I also appreciated the Sept. 2 issue of RW featuring black engineers Tobias Poole, David Antoine and Ben Hill. I too have “pulled many a cable,” “wired and soldered many a wire,” “built many a radio and TV studio and antennas” (including my home studio) so I well-relate to the many challenges that they overcame and still maintained a built-in love for their work.

The post Letter: Sun Storm Influences appeared first on Radio World.

The author of this commentary is media solutions account manager of ENCO Systems Inc.

Artificial intelligence and radio have a long and fruitful road ahead.

We all know AI is used to detect faces in photos and videos — and it’s really excellent at understanding natural language too. Not just the words being said — but who’s saying them, and so much more.

An area we’ve seen dramatic improvements in from AI is Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), with real-time accuracies now higher than ever attainable before. With products like ENCO’s enCaption (tailored for the radio industry), true speaker independence is achieved, with an on-premises solution that’s fast and reliable.

ENCO’s been crafting ASR products since 2006, and radio automation software for even longer — the marriage of the two is a powerful tool radio stations can use to mine their voice content (live and recorded), to better monetize, repurpose and create.

We even offer solutions whereby you can navigate audio recordings by viewing their captioned words on a screen, enabling you to click on them to navigate through the recording. Say goodbye to laborious and inefficient audio scrubbing!

Indeed, ASR is the key entry point to so many additional methods of analyzing, reporting and even understanding the spoken word.

ENCO’s enCaption-based ASR and radio tools allow you to deliver the spoken word to your listeners as live text to websites, searchable logs and transcripts, video captions (open and closed), and even captions delivered to car radio head units and streaming endpoints.

The same ASR text can help your producers and writers gain a treasure trove of additional data to work with, to help find nuggets of information hidden deep within their interviews.

Smart AI can help indicate who’s talking and for how long, or even the meaning of what’s being discussed, and where the topic is going.

Interesting things start to happen when you have such voluminous amounts of data. For your ad sales or underwriting teams, an AI can automatically determine where the Live Reads took place, and dump that to an audio clip (and text copy) for later review and sharing.

How about a computer-generated summary of an entire interview, in a single paragraph? AI can help with that, too.

The intimacy of radio suggests AI can never replace humans on the air, since the power of radio and voice needs far more than simple intelligence to be compelling.

But AI’s not just for autonomous vehicles and facial recognition — because when combined with well-designed software focused on the specific workflows of news and talk radio, it becomes an essential tool to aid your creative teams in making sense of your growing content, and gain greater value from it.

This is just the beginning.

The post ASR Is a Key Entry Point for AI appeared first on Radio World.

Congratulations to our colleague Mark Persons for receiving the John H. Battison Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Society of Broadcast Engineers! His latest article is about lightning damage and is featured on page 8.

Also: Best of Show at IBC winners … Laurence Harrison of the World DAB UX Group on the growing role of metadata … Benjamin Lardinoit of On-Hertz on advantages of software-defined infrastructure … and a look at technical gear behind KDKA’s famous first broadcast.

Read it online here.

Prefer to do your reading offline? No problem! Simply click on the digital edition, go to the left corner and choose the download button to get a PDF version.

Connected Car

Audi AG Launches Hybrid Radio in U.S. and Canada

Christian Winter wrote his master thesis in 2012 about hybrid radio, so he knows a little about the topic. He explains and updates what we need to know about it as its uptake is spreading.

Audio Gear

TZ Audio Stellar X2 Microphone Shines

This petite cardioid condenser retails for $199.99. Frank Verderosa found its performance remarkable.

Also in this issue:

• Zoom as a Research and Promo Tool
• Metadata: Keeping Radio Strong in the Car
• The Advantages of Software-Defined Infrastructure

The post Inside the October 14 Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.

The FCC is expecting a rush next year when it opens a window for applications for new FM stations on the lower end of the U.S. radio band. So it is planning to cap the number of applications per entity and is asking for comment.

The commission confirmed it will open a filing window for new FM reserved band applications in 2021. Dates will be announced later. The reserved band is 88.1 to 91.9 MHz. Individuals cannot apply for NCEs.

[Read RW’s story this week about this planned window, “NCE Filing Window Likely in Early 2021”]

In a 2007 window, the commission capped the number of NCE FM new station applications per entity at 10. That cap was prompted in part by the massive response to a 2003 FM translator window, in which the commission got approximately 13,000 applications, many from “speculative filers.” The commission ended up getting about 3,600 in the capped 2007 window. It said the cap allowed it “to expeditiously process and grant thousands of applications to a wide range of local and diverse applicants, therefore promoting the rapid expansion of new NCE FM service throughout the country.”

Even though almost half of those 3,600 were mutually exclusive with at least one other application, it said that the cap helped restrict the number of MX applications, including “daisy chains,” situations in which proposals contain service areas that don’t directly overlap but are linked into a chain by the overlapping proposals of others.

Daisy chains are where things get really messy. “Applications for full-service stations present a prospect of ‘daisy chains’ of conflicting applications due to the size of the proposed service areas and the interference protection provided to full-service stations,” the commission wrote. “A limit on applications will reduce the number and complexity of such situations.” It wants to avoid a large number of speculative filings and the potential for “extraordinary procedural delays.”

A window in 2010 didn’t involve a cap but that was for a limited number of vacant allotments on the non-reserved band that had been reserved for NCE FM use, and generated only about 300 applications.

[Read: FCC Nixes Call to Tweak NCE Licensing Rules]

The FCC said it is expecting a lot of interest in 2021 for several reasons: There’s no application filing fee; there are no ownership limits in the reserved band; there has not been a filing window for new NCE FM applications for over a decade; and the commission recently simplified and clarified the rules and procedures including how it treats competing applications.

It invited comment on this cap, and added that its goal is to “give interested parties the opportunity to apply for local and regional NCE FM outlets.” Read the details here.

The number of FM educational stations has almost doubled in two decades, from 2,140 in the year 2000 to just under 4,200 at the most recent count. But if there is a rush of applications, they probably will be focused on smaller markets. John Garziglia, communications law attorney for Womble Bond Dickinson, told RW recently that he expects most new full-service NCE licenses will be awarded outside major urban areas.

The post FCC Plans to Cap New NCE FM Applications appeared first on Radio World.

A construction permit for an FM translator in Oregon has been rescinded due to issues of interference.

In December 2017, Bustos Media Holdings filed a construction permit for FM translator station K260DK in Portland, Ore. The Media Bureau established a deadline of Jan.10, 2018 for anyone wishing to file a petition to deny. On Feb. 1 of that year, the bureau granted the application.

[Read: FCC Addresses Reconsideration Petitions on FM Translator Interference Rules]

A month later, the Media Institute for Social Change (MISC) filed a petition for reconsideration saying it had only recently become aware of the application and said the bureau should rescind the application grant because the translator would cause interference to listeners of its station KXRW(LP) in Vancouver, Wash.

To support its claim, MISC submitted maps, studies and lists showing the issues of interference. It included maps of the 60 dBu contours of KXRW and the translator, a map showing 10 listeners of KXRW whose addresses fell within the translator’s contour, a map showing listeners outside of the 60 dBu contour who were predicted to receive interference from the translator, a map showing areas where the translator’s signal would cause interference to the signal of KXRW, a list of KXRW listeners, an engineering statement and declarations from 25 listeners of KXRW.

MISC also asserted that Section 5 of the Local Community Radio Act of 2010 requires the commission to favor LPFM service in this case.

Bustos opposed the petition, saying the petition was not properly verified.

The bureau responded to Bustos and denied its petition. The bureau found no merit to Bustos’ claim that a subsequent Application for Review filed by MISC did not concisely and plainly state important questions of law. It also dismissed Bustos’ assertion that the AFR should be outright dismissed because the AFR was signed by a nonattorney. But that in itself does not violate the rules, the bureau said.

But the full about-face came from the Media Bureau soon after. It agreed with MISC and said it erred by concluding that MISC did not give enough evidence that the translator would interfere with the reception of KXRW by listeners.

The bureau found that the petition did indeed contain “convincing evidence” that the translator would cause such interference. That included a list of KXRW listeners, a map demonstrating that 10 of those listeners resided within the translator’s 60 dBu contour and proof that a future FM translator would result in interference to reception KRXW by those 10 listeners.

Thus, the bureau found that the company presented convincing evidence of predicted interference. As a result, the bureau granted the Application for Review and rescinded the grant for the construction permit for K260DK in Portland.

The post Media Bureau Changes Course, Revokes CP Grant for Oregon FM Translator appeared first on Radio World.

Mary Schnelle has joined the U.S. sales team of Broadcast Depot.

She’s well known to equipment buyers in the radio broadcast industry from her years with Harris, SCMS and Broadcasters General Store.

Broadcast Depot offers products and services for radio, television, IP, OTT and satellite transmission. It was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Miami. Tim Jobe is national sales manager for the United States.

Schnelle began her career in accounting at Harris in 1992. She is a graduate of Culver Stockton College in Missouri and holds an MBA from Quincy University in Illinois.

Send People News announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Schnelle Joins Broadcast Depot appeared first on Radio World.

From our Who’s Buying What page: WCR Community Radio station in Warminster in the United Kingdom is using two new Sonifex S2 broadcast mixers for its refurbished radio studios.

The manufacturer quoted Managing Director Barry Mole saying the mixer’s modularity was an important consideration. The S2 has hot-swappable input and output modules in both analog and digital, and a selection of optional modules for its main surface and meter bridge.

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

WCR Community Radio relies heavily on volunteers. It was founded in 1996 as a hospital radio station broadcasting from a backroom at a local theatre. It secured an FM license in 2012, broadcasting on 105.5 MHz.

The station is using an S2-M6SS 6 Way Source Select Panel to handle remote OB inputs, feeds from other studios, a recording computer and other sources.

Send news about new product installations, studio or RF builds and other projects to our Who’s Buying What feature at radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post WCR Community Radio Uses Sonifex S2 appeared first on Radio World.

The author is a consultant to Entercom and former senior VP of engineering at CBS Radio. He was a founder of HD Radio developer USA Digital Radio and was the VP of engineering for its successor iBiquity Digital.

A rule allowing AM stations to transmit in all-digital will be the most significant “AM improvement” since the allowance of FM translators.

Together they showcase the FCC’s interest in bringing AM radio into the 2000s; and it is happening as we approach the KDKA 100th anniversary of that famous Cox-Harding election coverage broadcast. I feel fortunate to have met the announcer, Leo Rosenberg, from that historic broadcast.

[Related: “The FCC Will Vote This Month on All-Digital for AM”]

From my earliest days of working in AM, I have been concerned about the quality of the AM reception process.

Following Greg Ogonowski’s research identifying AM receiver bandwidth as the choke point of quality in AM transmission systems and the subsequent introduction of pre-emphasis to overcome the limitations of the AM broadcast system, I began looking for technical solutions.

Then came household noise and egregious noise in the environment as the biggest enemy of AM radio. As I began reviewing my texts from my college textbooks, I began to see how advances in solid state that would ultimately lead to inexpensive digital chips for radios can solve both the problems of AM and FM.

The National Association of Broadcasters must also be given credit for bringing the possibilities of DAB to the United States through its interest in Eureka-147, even though U.S. broadcasters would have never been able to gain access to the required spectrum.

In the early 1990s I became a believer in digital radio as the solution for AM and FM ills. The draft report and order brings to the AM broadcaster the ability to offer what FM offers today. However, the total digitization of radio will bring to FM opportunities beyond the capabilities of all-digital AM, and once again leave AM behind — but not left out of the digital world.

The post Digital Radio as Solution to Both AM and FM Ills appeared first on Radio World.

Audio consumption in the United States is shifting from home back to the car as quarantine restrictions have lifted in some areas.

Edison Research released a summary of its latest Share of Ear report.

[Read: Removing Car Radios “Puts Consumers at Risk,” Former FEMA Head Says]

“Prior to COVID-19 restrictions in Q2 2020, 32% of all audio in the U.S. was consumed in-car,” the company stated.

“When quarantine restrictions went into place in Q2, erasing many Americans’ commutes and greatly reducing travel in general, in-car listening plummeted by 38% so that it accounted for only 20% of all listening. This caused at-home listening in Q2 to soar from 49% of all listening to 70% of all listening, an increase of 43%.”

Now its latest research, conducted in early September, shows a shift back to the car as quarantine restrictions have eased in some locations and in varying degrees.

“In-car listening grew from 20% in Q2 to 28% today, not quite equal to the pre-COVID number of 32% of all listening,” it stated.

At-home listening levels fell from 70% early in the quarantine period to 59% of all listening today. The company said at-home is still 10 points higher than pre-COVID. “With a U.S. workforce that has seen many employees transition to home office environments, future surveys will bear out whether or not this is a permanent shift.”

Meanwhile, listening at work has “slightly rebounded” over the same period.

The post Listening Is Shifting Back to the Car appeared first on Radio World.