Radio World

Rob Bertrand and Andy Gunn

Early in 2020, WAMU completed its new ERI 1183-series FM master antenna system, the largest in Washington, D.C. It serves WAMU, WTOP and WPFW, and is an aux for WETA. The tower also holds separate noncombined antennas for WMMJ(FM) and a backup to WPGC(FM).

Senior Director of Technology Rob Bertrand had been part of the management group for a high-profile master antenna group in another major market, which had experienced some operational challenges over the course of its history that a modern monitoring system might have alleviated. When Director of Engineering Andy Gunn joined the WAMU team, the two set the goal of building the most robust system they could imagine.

Rob contributed his knowledge from managing the prior system and Andy brought his tenacity, creativity, and attention to detail to the project. The result was an implementation of Burk’s Arcturus system of which both engineers are very proud and is a showcase of the system’s capabilities.

[See Radio World’s 2020 Article About This Project]

The monitoring and control project sought to address multiple concerns from the start. Several of the stations have relatively high TPOs in the 20 to 30 kW range, so very solid VSWR monitoring is important. There are unique switching and monitoring considerations to meet some of the backup features incorporated into the antenna systems. There was also a strong desire to ensure the system would accommodate the addition of more stations in the future.

Prior experiences with esoteric failures made redundancy a significant design concern across the system. WAMU wanted dual interlock strings for each station operating in parallel so no single wire would cause an interlock issue for stations. They also added dual dehydrators, which automatically rotate duty cycle via Arcturus, and can be switched online in the event of failure.

Multiple safety features were incorporated: U-links on every transmitter input to the system as well as a key switch and controller lockout system to protect climbers on the tower. There is also a centrally located interlock bypass for when maintenance is required on the VSWR monitoring system itself.

The Burk Plus-X VSWR fit the bill for a self-contained VSWR monitoring unit that would be fast-acting, have three-strike capability, and operate even if it lost connection to the Arcturus controller. Additional Burk Plus-X 600 and Plus-X EM32 units provide the necessary I/O to operate additional functions and monitor critical temperatures, fire, and security statuses throughout the complex.

Burk engineers collaborated with WAMU to program many macros on the Arcturus system that gives it the extensive functionality required. The sheer quantity of monitoring and control points across the system necessitated relatively complex macros, which Burk designed. WAMU also requested the ability to view key system values over the course of a year, so that operating variables across seasons could be tracked. Burk delivered multiple custom pages of monitoring and control in AutoPilot to meet all these needs. Paul Shulins and David Wing of Shulins Solutions provided integration services for the installation of the system. They were vital in thinking through the installation and making sure there were no “gotchas” in this stage.

The Arcturus system has been running reliably for WAMU and its tenants for nearly 18 months. During the initial buildout there were several challenges in ironing out final configurations, but Burk support worked with WAMU as was necessary to get everything as they wanted it to be. The wiring for the system is very complex, and the labeling and documentation for the system is similarly complex. It took a while to determine the best method to label and document the system. The complex macros required extensive testing to ensure they didn’t have any unintended consequences — for instance, opening interlocks in the event of power loss to a single unit or loss of network connection between the devices. Thorough testing and final corrective action ensured the platform will be reliable and responsive to the needs of DC’s largest master FM system for years to come.

Info: Contact Matt Leland at Burk Technology at 1-978-486-0086 or https://www.burk.com.

Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.

 

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Colorado Public Radio logo

Colorado Public Radio and a local community college will exchange radio signals in Colorado Springs.

CPR and Pikes Peak Community College said that early next year, the college’s station KEPC will change call letters to KXRE and air on 102.1 FM and 1490 AM, while CPR’s “Indie 102.3” will air on 89.7 in Colorado Springs and 93.3 in Pueblo.

“Indie 102.3 began broadcasting in Colorado Springs in April 2020 and has seen steady audience growth in the region,” said CPR President/CEO Stewart Vanderwilt, who made the announcement with PPCC President Lance Bolton.

“We’re excited to expand its reach through this trade while also establishing a paid internship program for students from Pikes Peak Community College.”

PPCC students will have the opportunity to intern with KRCC, the news station operated by CPR in southern Colorado.

Bolton said CPR gets a stronger signal, and the students get new internship opportunities at KRCC.

“Meanwhile, the college’s station, now called Xtra Music 102.1, will continue to play the maximum variety of tunes that our campus community loves.” That station is run by faculty and operated by students. Its interns are enrolled in the Broadcast and Electronic Media Program at the school.

CPR and station KRCC will also provide engineering assistance to PPCC’s tower and infrastructure.

The post A Radio Station Swap in Colorado Springs appeared first on Radio World.

The seven-day filing window for applications for new noncommercial educational FM station construction permits closed Tuesday evening. Almost 1,300 applications were received.

The FCC’s Media Bureau now will look for mutually exclusive (MX) groups of applications – those that conflict with one another – as well as “singletons,” those that do not. Then the bureau will release public notices to identify MX groups of applications and explain the procedures for filing settlement agreements and technical amendments. MX applicants will have an opportunity to resolve conflicts through settlements or technical amendments.

The commission also placed a temporary freeze on the filing of any amendments to NCE FM new station applications submitted in this filing window until Nov. 29.

The window is only for proposals in the FM reserved band, Channels 201 to 220, which is 87.9 to 91.9 MHz, and individual entities could only apply for up to 10.

The post Almost 1,300 Applications Received in NCE FM Window appeared first on Radio World.

With the aim of providing financial assistance to those in broadcasting who need it most, the Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its annual year-end giving campaign in which more than $1.8 million in aid will be awarded to broadcast colleagues. The 501(c)3 charity is dedicated exclusively to delivering financial aid to broadcasters and their families whose lives have been upended by illness, accident or catastrophe.

This year’s call for donations follows nearly two years of cancelled fundraising events, most caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the organization, more broadcasters than ever have reached out for monthly or emergency relief.

[Read: Broadcasters Foundation Offers Aid for Texas Broadcasters]

“Requests for assistance have escalated at a significant rate over the past several years,” said Jim Thompson, co-president of the Broadcasters Foundation. “Combined with the cancellation of several fundraising events due to the pandemic, personal and corporate donations are vital to continuing our charitable mission of disbursing financial aid to those in your industry who need it most.”

Over the past 20 years, the Broadcasters Foundation has distributed more than $15 million to broadcasters in need. Since 2017, the organization has awarded more than 500 emergency grants and increased monthly grants 75%. Donations are made through several funds including the Guardian Fund, which handles individual donations, the Angel Initiative, which takes in corporate contributions, and the Legacy Society, which handles bequest request.

“Our grant recipients are hard-working broadcasters from across the country and from all size markets, who have been hit by challenging, often life-altering circumstances,” said Scott Herman, chairman of the Broadcasters Foundation of America. “With the support and generosity of the people in our industry, we can help … colleagues and their families get through their toughest times.”

To donate or learn more, contact the Broadcasters Foundation at 1-212-373-8250, info@thebofa.org or at www.broadcastersfoundation.org.

 

The post Giving Campaign Aims to Distribute $1.8 million to Broadcasters appeared first on Radio World.

John Bisset shares a clever use for toothpicks.

Joan Warner comments on the state of the digital radio rollout in Australia.

Audio company In:Quality offers codecs with a twist.

Debate over WMAS specifics heats up.

Mark Lapidus digs into a report about the state of audio, published by Audacy.

And Delilah talks with Radio World about her hopes for the radio station that she recently acquired in Oregon.

Read it here.

The post Inside the Nov. 10, 2021 Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.

The PreSonus R80 is one of two new studio monitors released by the company.

PreSonus has launched its second-generation R65 V2 and R80 V2 active AMT studio monitors, replacing the original R-series monitors, which have been discontinued.

The new monitor speakers feature more control than the original R-series according to PreSonus, incorporating the analog Acoustic Tuning controls: low-cut, mid-frequency and high-frequency — from its Eris line. A three-position Acoustic Space switch allows users to compensate for speaker placement against a wall or in a corner. Also onboard is an upgraded 140 W (75 W LF, 65 W HF) Class A/B power amplifier.

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

The new R65 V2 and R80 V2 monitors feature a custom-designed, 6.8-square-inch Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter with a thin (< 0.01 mm) folded Kapton membrane intended to aid accurate transient reproduction. According to the company, the AMT tweeter also enables R-series V2 monitors to handle 8 to 13 times the projection area of more traditional tweeter designs, while the monitor’s housing design constrains the projection area to the horizontal axis.

The R80 V2 features an eight-inch, custom-woven, composite woofer, while the R65 V2 has a 6.5-inch woofer of the same design. The R80 V2’s overall frequency response is rated at 40 Hz to 22 kHz, while the R65 V2 delivers 45 Hz to 22 kHz.

Balanced XLR and 1/4-inch TRS and unbalanced RCA input connections are in back, and safety features include RF shielding, current-output limiting, over-temperature protection and subsonic protection.

PreSonus R65 V2 and R80 V2 studio monitors are available at $329.95 and $429.95, respectively.

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

Info: www.presonus.com

 

The post PreSonus R-Series V2 Monitors Debut appeared first on Radio World.

The National Association of Broadcasters has made the following point many many times. But is making it yet again: Broadcasters bear an unfair burden in regulatory fees from the Federal Communications Commission.

The association filed reply comments in an FCC proceeding on this topic.

[Related: “CTA Loathes the Idea of FCC Collecting Fees From Unlicensed Spectrum Users”]

It explained yet again why it thinks it is “patently unfair” that radio and TV companies must “absorb significant fee increases year after year to not only pay for the costs of regulating broadcasters but also for commission activities that are primarily for the benefit of other entities in the telecommunications ecosystem.”

“To bring the commission’s failure into focus, this year alone, broadcasters will be responsible for nearly $3.5 million dollars in commission costs to oversee the Universal Service Fund (USF), in addition to nearly 20% of all broadband costs, even though broadcasters do not benefit directly from the commission’s broadband activities,” it wrote.

It said the commission must ensure that its fee methodology “accurately reflects the benefits received by the payors of its fees.” It called on the FCC to add a broadband fee category. And it said users of unlicensed spectrum have failed to justify why they should be “universally exempt” from regulatory fees.

[Read the comments.]

 

 

The post Fix Your Fee Problem, the NAB Again Tells the FCC appeared first on Radio World.

A study commissioned by WorldDAB indicates that broadcast radios remain an important feature to car buyers.

The research was done by Edison Research for WorldDAB in partnership with Radioplayer and supported by the National Association of Broadcasters, Commercial Radio Australia and Xperi.

Edison did national online surveys in September in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.

It found that broadcast radio “continues to dominate as the most preferred source of in-car entertainment across the globe.”

In the United States, among 1,060 recent and prospective car buyers surveyed, 89% said a broadcast radio tuner should be standard equipment in every car.

Perhaps surprisingly, this trend was consistent across age groups, Edison reported.

“The survey also reveals that the availability of radio has a major impact on consumers’ vehicle purchasing decisions,” the organizations wrote in a summary of the study. “Eighty-one percent of prospective car buyers in the U.S. say they would be less likely to buy or lease a vehicle that is not equipped with a built-in radio tuner.”

Other findings:

-Among “important” standard audio features in a new car, having a broadcast radio tuner ranked highest for prospective buyers, ahead of USB ports and the availability of Bluetooth and smartphone mirroring.

-More than half said they listen to broadcast radio in the car “frequently” versus 29% for online streaming music services and 19% for CDs.

-Ninety-one percent said it was “important” that radio should remain free. “The importance of free-to-air radio was highlighted by motorists’ concerns about data charges for streamed content: a clear majority (71%) of those who currently listening to audio via their mobile device say they are ‘concerned’ about how much data they are using.”

-Many U.S. car buyers expressed a desire to be able to search for stations using voice controls.

[Read the announcement and summary.]

The post Car Buyers Still Want Radios, Study Suggests appeared first on Radio World.

Audacy President and CEO David Field says he expects a full rebound in ad revenue in 2022 and the company’s third quarter 2021 report is proof of further progress in its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The audio company, formerly known as Entercom, reported net revenues for Q3 this year were $329.4 million, up 23% compared to the same quarter in 2020. And revenues were up 8% sequentially from the second quarter this year.

Spot radio advertising revenues for the broadcaster, which has more than 200 radio stations, were $220.6 million which is up 21% from third quarter 2020. Digital revenues climbed 30% YoY posting revenue of $61.4 million for the most recent quarter.

[Read: Audacy Picks Former NYT Exec for Digital Business Hire]

Field on a quarterly earnings call on Tuesday morning said the company continues to drive forward with “its strategic transformation as a scaled multiplatform audio content and entertainment company, including broadcast, podcasting, digital audio, network, live events, music news and sports.”

The sports betting ad revenue windfall continues for Audacy, according to its earnings report. Field said on the call the company is projecting sports betting ad revenue will grow 100% for the year 2021. “We expect sports betting to grow into a $100 million ad category for us in a few years as legalized mobile sports betting continues to spread across the country,” he said, “including California, Texas and Florida.”

The well publicized supply-chain issues affecting the United States impacted Audacy in Q3, Field said, especially in the automotive sector. Automotive, which is Audacy’s number one advertiser segment, was off about 40% in Q3 compared to 2020 levels. The company revealed today it doesn’t expect automotive ad revenue to recover until sometime in 2023.

“The decline in auto ad spending accounted for a third of our third quarter revenue decrease versus 2019. Another third was due to the combined cancellation of Audacy events and the decline in advertising from third-party concerts, theme parks and festivals,” Field said.

The radio broadcaster, which returned to hosting live Audacy events in the third quarter, has seen a significant difference in the rate of recovery between its larger and smaller markets, according to Field. “The sharp contrast in market recovery reflects how larger markets were slower to reopen and faced more disruption to their local economies. For Audacy this differential has a meaningful impact on our performance as our portfolio is by the far the most concentrated in the largest markets versus any of our peers,” Field said on the earnings call.

Audacy in October announced the $40 million acquisition of WideOrbit’s digital audio streaming and ad tech business and then relaunched it as AmperWave, which will “enhance future growth opportunities for Audacy,” according to Field.

“This acquisition gives us control of our product roadmap to deliver enhanced consumer-facing live and on demand streaming features to our 170 million monthly listeners using the cloud-based distribution and monetization platform,” Field said.

The company also this week announced Brian Benedik has joined the broadcaster as Chief Revenue Officer. Benedik is well known to many broadcasters for his previous role at Katz Media Group.

Audacy listed approximately $1.7 billion of debt in its most recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

The post Audacy Q3 Ramps up the Revenue appeared first on Radio World.

The author is with WHYU(LP), licensed to the American Militia Association, in Meyersdale, Pa.

Regarding the stories “LP-250 FM Petition Draws Lots of Interest” and “NAB Renews Objections to LP-250.”

The NAB has a single goal: looking out for the financial interests of incumbent, commercial, full-power stations.

It is well-known that many struggling LPFM stations are not only facing financial burdens keeping their stations on the air, but also to be heard by the people in the communities they serve.

In most rural areas, LPFM signals at 100 Watts ERP at 30m HAAT are simply not strong enough to overcome terrain and spacing of homes to be adequately tuned in for reliable listening. While this may be quite different for flat terrain metro areas, that is not the norm for the majority of LPFM stations.

The NAB and its members are quite pleased that LPFMs thus far have not had any significant negative impact on the number of listeners they receive for their full-power stations. They know that the LPFM signals are not strong enough or large enough to cause their listeners to seek out noncommercial local alternatives to their ad-bloated and nationally mirrored nonlocal content.

How do they wish to sway the FCC against any expansion in service for LPFMs? They allege that LPFMs do not and will not comply with FCC regulations.

This is just another ruse, as many LPFMs have been fined for breaking the rules, and when an LPFM causes actual interference, full-power stations retain their protected status and can force LPFMs off the air.

What they want is even greater protection and monopoly of the dial and to snuff out what they know is a potential problem for them — a potential reduction in listeners and advertiser dollars that have the tiniest potential of being redirected to LPFM underwriting.

The NAB has rejected every LPFM-related proposal for this reason alone. The opposition comments attempt to vilify all LPFMs as rule-breakers and toss out technical jargon to somehow convince regulators that an LPFM being able to be heard by their communities will flood the airwaves with interference.

The truth is that the NAB thinks it is unfair that a nonprofit station doesn’t pay as much as they do for listener acquisition, although full-power commercial stations can pay their fees without nearly as much financial concern as the low-power, weak-signaled LPFM station that can hardly be heard by any significant audience.

Two hundred and fifty watts is not anywhere close to the average full power of such stations, and to suggest otherwise is ridiculous.

Congress passed legislation authorizing such local community stations, surely with an intent that they could be heard by the communities they serve. Increasing that ability while continuing to limit interference and protecting the very stations the NAB supports would meet the needs of the legislative mandate.

The FCC should consider the NAB objections for what they are: nonsensical bias to further protect their financial interests.

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

The post Commentary: Skip the Nonsensical Bias About LPFM appeared first on Radio World.

Audacy will have a new CRO as of Dec. 1. Brian Benedik will become chief revenue officer at that time.

“As a key member of the executive team, Benedik will lead all aspects of revenue generation across corporate, national, regional and local levels and develop fully integrated, multiplatform sales solutions and breakthrough strategies to attract new revenue streams,” the company announced. Benedik succeeds Bob Philips.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

Chief Operating Officer cited Benedik’s “key roles” in the past for audio publishers like Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible and Katz Media.

Benedik most recently was VP/global head of revenue for Niantic, an AR developer platform and gaming publisher.

“For seven formative years at Spotify, Benedik was a key member of the senior leadership team as SVP/global head of sales and operations leading a team of over 550 people in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific regions,” Audacy stated. “As the leader of the Spotify Global Advertising Business, Benedik oversaw the direct, programmatic, podcast, re-seller and self-serve platform teams as well as ad and sales operations, trading, global agency and accounts and training groups.”

He also was founder and president of Katz Digital; president of Christal Radio within the Katz Media Group; and general sales manager for WHTZ(FM) New York at iHeartMedia. He has held advisory roles for Audible and Targetspot.

Send People News announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Brian Benedik Joins Audacy in Revenue Role appeared first on Radio World.

Viasat Inc. will acquire mobile satellite communications supplier Inmarsat in a transaction valued at $7.3 billion, the companies announced.

The transaction includes $850 million in cash, approximately 46.36 million shares of Viasat common stock valued at $3.1 billion and the assumption of $3.4 billion of debt.

Viasat Executive Chairman Mark Dankberg described the deal as a “transformative combination.”

Inmarsat logo

“The combination will create a leading global communications innovator with enhanced scale and scope to affordably, securely and reliably connect the world,” the companies stated in the announcement.

“The complementary assets and resources of the new organization will enable the availability of advanced new services in mobile and fixed segments, driving greater customer choice in broadband communications and narrowband services (including the Internet of Things or ‘IoT’).”

They said Viasat intends to integrate the spectrum, satellite and terrestrial assets of the two entities into “a global high-capacity hybrid space and terrestrial network, capable of delivering superior services in fast-growing commercial and government sectors.”

“This advanced architecture will create a framework incorporating the most favorable characteristics of multi-band, multi-orbit satellites and terrestrial air-to-ground systems that can deliver higher speeds, more bandwidth, greater density of bandwidth at high demand locations like airport and shipping hubs and lower latency at lower cost than either company could provide alone.”

Assets of the combined companies will include spectrum licenses across the Ka-, L- and S-bands, a fleet of 19 satellites and 10 more planned for launch in the next three years. They cite a global Ka-band footprint including planned polar coverage, “to support bandwidth-intensive applications, augmented by L-band assets that support all-weather resilience and highly reliable, narrowband and IoT connectivity.”

They also expect to get more value out of Inmarsat’s L-band spectrum and space assets by incorporating Viasat’s beamforming, end-user terminal and payload technologies and its hybrid multi-orbit space-terrestrial networking capabilities.

Inmarsat is based in the United Kingdom while Viasat is headquartered in California.

Viasat said it plans to build on Inmarsat’s presence there and “is committed to preserving and growing the investment of the combined company in U.K. space communications, as well as supporting the recently published National Space Strategy.” It plans to keep Inmarsat’s London headquarters “as well as its footprint in Australia and Canada and across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.”

 

The post Viasat Will Acquire Inmarsat appeared first on Radio World.

The author is business manager for Southern Stone Communications.

At Southern Stone Communications, we have a long history of delivering entertainment and content to communities across the southeast U.S. Over the past three decades, our stations have offered popular programming including top 40 hits, hip-hop, contemporary, news and talk radio.

We’ve evolved as the industry moved from records to digital streaming, and we’ve adapted and enhanced our services to offer our customers a data-driven approach to advertising. While we’re proud to provide top-notch programming for our listeners and a great customer experience for advertisers, we recently realized that a critical internal process was causing frustration and inefficiency for our business office.

[Read More Buyers Guide Reviews Here]

For years we relied on a manual process to accept credit card payments. In addition to being time-consuming, this process was vulnerable to error and sometimes flat out confusing for our staff. Credit card forms were often filled out incorrectly, and it wasn’t always clear how to apply the payment.

Needing to notify sales reps and clients of declined cards, or to handle a last-minute request to run or rerun a credit card, our team found it difficult to maintain an efficient workflow.

All of that changed when we implemented Marketron Traffic system coupled with its PayNow service. The online payment system takes the burden off our business office and gives our advertising customers a clean, clear interface for applying payments to their invoices.

Because setup is straightforward, we were able to shift customers onto the system quickly. And they appreciate being able to pay those invoices at their convenience and easily see where payments are applied.

By bringing payments onto a secure online platform, we’ve done more than simplify the process and reduce error. We’ve also eliminated paper forms and the exchange of payment information via email, thereby removing the liability and potential risk of credit card information being vulnerable at some point in the process. This level of security gives everyone, our team and our customers, greater peace of mind.

Of course, one of the most significant benefits we’ve realized has been time savings. While our average of 7 minutes per manual credit card payment might not sound too onerous, the time really added up across all our markets and stations. And every interruption for card processing took a staff member away from other essential tasks.

Now that we’ve shifted our customers onto Marketron Traffic with PayNow, we’re free from those interruptions. Our customers are happier, and we have reclaimed valuable time that we use to keep the rest of the business running smoothly.

For information, contact Todd Kalman at Marketron at 1-612-790-8464 or visit www.marketron.com.

Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.

 

The post Marketron Lightens Burden of Payment Processing appeared first on Radio World.

Photo: ATSC

A local San Diego low-power TV station is testing the broadcast of FM signals over ATSC 3.0 (aka “NextGen TV”).

KRPE-LD San Diego, low-power TV Channel 6, atop Mt. San Miguel, is the first station in its market to broadcast ATSC 3.0. The FCC granted a Special Temporary Authorization for a signal on TV Channel 6, 82–88 MHz, that includes an innovative analog FM carrier at 87.75 MHz. According to Director of Engineering Daniel Bissett, licensee Venture Technologies Group LLC completed construction of the new signal on Oct. 7.

Analog broadcaster KRPE(LP) and Channel 6 low-power TV stations nationwide had for years been marketing to audiences as an FM station, broadcasting aural subcarriers with high injection levels and 75 kHz FM modulation in order to attract listeners using conventional FM tuners.

Many industry engineers had derisively called these “Franken FM” signals on 87.75 MHz, the traditional Channel 6 visual carrier frequency. For their accompanying analog TV visual signals, they carried a static graphic, slide show, or limited video.

Venture filed an application with the FCC on Oct. 25 to license KRPE-LD as a NextGen station, confidently citing FCC rules regarding the adoption of NextGen without explaining the two-part signal.

“This is done because the License to Cover must be granted before the STA for the FM carrier can be requested,” Bissett said.

Venture filed like applications for their other stations earlier this year: KBKF-LD San Jose, KEFM-LD Sacramento, WRME-LD Chicago, and KZNO-LD Big Bear Lake (Los Angeles), and the FCC granted each.

Bissett says Venture broadcasts a signal at each of its Channel 6 stations fully compliant with the ATSC 3.0 standard, ingenious with its flexibility. He says the scheme should be adopted by the FCC without having to ask for temporary authority. And he adds that tests have shown the signal to be compatible both with current NextGen demodulation devices and analog FM tuners.

Venture first implemented NextGen TV at its station in San Jose, KBKF-LD. Bissett says that the station first tried to use 87.70 MHz as its FM frequency for compatibility with synthesized FM tuners but found many car tuners output unacceptable levels of distortion in their demodulated audio. When they moved to 87.75 MHz, the distortion cleared, so they adopted the old frequency in their FCC filings for their Channel 6 properties.

Bissett says the cause of this distortion so far remains a mystery unsolved by tuning their output filters. (On the other hand, my disciplined Sony XDR-F1HD tuner cannot demodulate an 87.75 MHz FM signal without this same distortion). Their ATSC 3.0 signal occupies 5.5 MHz of the TV channel.

They’re using transmitters assembled by Italian manufacturer Syes and by American Amplifier Technologies of Sacramento. Com-tech of Italy makes their output filters, and Bissett says the ATSC mask filters use eight cavities.

Fig. 1 Photo: KBKF

It hasn’t been lost on Bissett that there is great potential in multicasting digital audio signals on Channel 6 ATSC. Ignoring for a moment the enormous political hurdles to doing this, he says mobile reception tests of NextGen on Channel 6 have been disappointing. You can see on the spectrum diagram (Fig. 1) that the average visual signal is at least 24 dB below the level of the FM carrier, so the signal tends to drop out behind terrain.

Bissett doesn’t see much future in mobile broadcasting with the present broadcast model of few, prominent transmitters. However, Qualcomm’s implementation of Forward-Link-Only TV (“FLO TV”) digital broadcasting in the late 2000s took this into account with its synchronized, multiple-transmission-point system for each of its metro markets.

For now, Venture provides only a direct response shopping channel on their visual NextGen TV signals. They are looking for additional revenue opportunities.

The post San Diego TV Station Broadcasting Hybrid FM-ATSC 3.0 Signal on TV Channel 6 appeared first on Radio World.

A 3-1/8-inch tunable stub, mounted at the transmitter output (and identifiable by the long slot at center top), diligently guards against damaging voltage spikes.

In addition to pumpkin pie, Halloween and Thanksgiving, this is the time of year to focus on budgets. Even if your station is one of the few that doesn’t use a budget process, it makes good sense to prepare a list of physical upgrades that may be needed in 2022.

As you review the equipment that may need to be upgraded, also consider acquisitions that can reduce your risk. A surge protector or UPS, for example, can save not only money but headaches, and you can’t beat the cost/benefit ratio.

[Read: Workbench: Time to Plan for Old Man Winter]

Another piece of protection equipment you may want to consider is a shorted quarter-wave stub. One can be placed on the output of an FM exciter, ahead of a tube transmitter, so that any tube arcing is shorted to ground and will not be fed into the exciter.

Our Radio World colleague Mark Persons has an interesting article on his website www.mwpersons.com describing its use. Select “Tech Tips” and look for “Stub Protector for FM Exciters and Transmitters” under the FM Tips column.

This concept can be used in higher-power applications, though you may not want to cut rigid line yourself.

Enter Fred Francis, an RF consultant, who manufactures tunable shorted stubs in both 1-5/8-inch and 3-1/8-inch rigid line under the company name Xenirad.

The quarter-wave shorted stub connects between your transmitter and your antenna system to short the center conductor to ground. This provides lightning protection for your transmitter. Should lightning strike your tower, the high-voltage pulse travels down your transmission line and meets the stub, where it is shorted to ground.

The stub is virtually invisible to your transmitter and offers 0 dB of insertion loss and an input VSWR better than 1.01. Return loss values are typically greater than –50 dB. Both fixed and frequency-agile models are available.

A real benefit is that the stub is maintenance-free, even after a discharge. There are no parts to replace.

The shorted stub acts as a broadband filter, and in sites where FM is collocated with AM, the latter signal is reduced by more than 30 dB.

An installed tunable stub is shown in the first image. It can be identified by the long slot, which provides fine-tuning across the FM band.

Models of the Curly-Q stub can be used on exciters and RPUs.

In addition to providing a DC short and broadband filtering, the stub recently was used at Black Diamond Broadcasting in Michigan by Del Reynolds, director of engineering, and his assistant Brian Brachel.

Brian was referred to Xenirad by Nautel’s Jeff Welton after Brian discovered a spur on their Continental 816R-4 transmitter. The spur was located on the GPS channel at 1.575 GHz. Installation of the shorted stub knocked out the spur. This particular stub was customized using two tunable stubs, one quarter-wave shorted and one quarter-wave open to remove the specific harmonic.

A miniature version of the rigid stub protects the STL.

Shorted stubs also can be used on STL RF links and RPUs. The Curly-Q stub in the second image lists for $250 and is available from Broadcasters General Store. A rigid version for your STL is shown in the third photo. All protect the equipment to which they are connected.

An Update He Didn’t Want
I wonder how many other readers have experienced this: Dan Slentz writes that Windows 10 shoved another unrequested update down the “throat” of WDNP(LP)’s on-air computer the other night. Unfortunately, he says, the Win10 non-pro version doesn’t give you good options to block updates.

Previously a Win10 update had forced the audio card and computer audio to 48 kHz instead of the standard 44.1 kHz. This is a major problem for some software that wasn’t designed or have settings to change to 48 kHz.

After fighting with his Simian automation and ASI soundcard for weeks, Dan did find where and how to force the system back to 44.1 kHz.

[Check Out More of Workbench Here]

But the most recent Microsoft update did something new. When it forced the update, it apparently decided that it didn’t like the licensing dongle or the approval of the software, so it “unlicensed” the station automation — which went into demo mode, timing out every hour. This update took the station off the air for two hours!

The experience takes Dan back to why and how Microsoft can (or should) be allowed to do this. What if we’re talking health care equipment instead of radio or TV, he asks. They should not have the right to force any updates without our choice to accept them.

Dan wonders if they realize they had interfered with a federally licensed broadcast facility by knocking it off the air.

John Bisset, CPBE, is in his 31st year of the Workbench column. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance and is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award.

Send your tips to johnpbisset@gmail.com.

 

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Audacy named Palak Forbes as senior vice president of digital business operations, a newly created position. She most recently held a business development and operations role at the New York Times.

The announcement states that she will “provide commercial and operational leadership for the company’s podcast business, while working across Audacy’s entire digital portfolio and with key strategic partners to enable continued strong growth in Audacy’s digital and podcast businesses.”

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

She will report to Chief Digital Officer J.D. Crowley.

Forbes was the head of business development and operations at the Times, where she oversaw the development its audio business and spearheaded its move into virtual reality. “Forbes also led strategic and commercial partnership teams to broaden and deepen reader experiences from Apple News to the digitization of millions of historic photos with Google Cloud,” Audacy wrote. “With her leadership, the sales team drove multi-million dollar deals and beat goals.” Before that she was the Times’ VP corporate strategy & development.

She also is a former vice president of strategy at Sesame Workshop and has held digital advertising strategy and subscriber marketing roles at Viacom and HBO, respectively.

Send People News announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

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Sixteen radio station licenses in California will expire on Dec. 1 if the Federal Communications Commission doesn’t hear from the owners by then.

They include five full-power stations, seven low-power FMs and four translators.

On Aug. 2, stations in the Golden State were required to file applications for license renewal for terms expiring Dec. 1.

“The following stations failed to file license renewal applications and their licenses will expire as of Dec. 1, 2021, provided no renewal application is received by midnight on the date of expiration,” the commission announced last week.

Call sign Community of License Facility ID Licensee K288AR BLYTHE, CA 51357 PALO VERDE VALLEY TV CLUB, INC. K292AH BLYTHE, CA 51369 PALO VERDE VALLEY TV CLUB, INC. KMOB-LP CLEARLAKE, CA 124107 MINDS OF BUSINESS INC. K204BW DEATH VALLEY, ETC., CA 16262 DEATH VALLEY NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION KNCR FORTUNA, CA 39472 DEL ROSARIO TALPA, INC. KZKC KETTLEMAN CITY, CA 94214 INTERMOUNTAIN PUBLIC RADIO, INC. KSXS-LP LOS ANGELES, CA 196949 THE LOS ANGELES SOCIAL JUSTICE RADIO PROJECT KSMC MORAGA, CA 3024 ASSOCIATED STUDENTS OF ST. MARYS COLLEGE KSFH MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 62118 MOUNTAIN VIEW PUBLIC BROADCASTING K284CL RED BLUFF, CA 156223 THOMAS HUTH REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST KSHC-LP ST. HELENA, CA 124879 ST. HELENA GOOD NEWS BROADCASTING KBDG TURLOCK, CA 3051 ASSYRIAN AMERICAN CIVIC CLUB OF TURLOCK, INC. (NEW BOARD) KMEC-LP UKIAH, CA 124562 MENDOCINO ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER KPUV-LP VENTURA, CA 196611 PROJECT UNDERSTANDING KQWA-LP WALNUT CREEK, CA 196494 EAST BAY ORIENTAL RADIO, INC. KQPV-LP WEST COVINA, CA 197096 ORIENTAL CULTURE CENTER

 

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International Sales Team is truly growing into its name — the Australian company recently announced it is broadening its sales presence in U.S. and is cementing a new sales partnership with a Swiss RF manufacturer to extend its reach into Scandinavia.

Founded earlier this year, the company announced it is providing what it calls sales teams as a service or STaaS. It is based in Australia but services any country.

[Read: 2wcom Signs With International Sales Team]

The company, a network of broadcast and media industry sales professionals, announced late last month that it had signed an agreement with the Swiss company DAC System. The RF manufacturer selected International Sales Team to assist in selling DAC System’s range of professional broadcast products throughout Scandinavia.

The CEO of DAC System said that the addition of the International Sales Team gives DAC a cost-effective means of selling remote monitoring systems, RF accessories and other professional broadcast products in a complicated market. “Having International Sales Team in Scandinavia for us is just like having our own people in country and we look forward to a long and successful relationship together,” said CEO Pietro Casati.

Lee Salas

International Sales Team then announced in November that it has appointed Lee Salas to serve as one of the company’s newest broadcast industry sales professionals. Salas, who is based in San Francisco, has senior sales experience with hardware, software and video platform solutions for the broadcast media and OTT industries. His previous roles have included prospecting leads, negotiating terms and closing deals and he has built relationships with both domestic U.S. and international clients. He previously held positions at CBS Television and  Deluxe Entertainment Services Group.

Salas said he is joining the company at a positive time. Even though the broadcasting industry was hit hard during the pandemic, more and more organizations are looking to grow once again.

The news follows an earlier announcement in which International Sales Team signed an agreement to sell 2wcom broadcast products in the United States.

 

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Rick Edwards, whose career included engineering leadership at Guy Gannett Broadcasting and frequency coordination work for the Society of Broadcast Engineers, died in October. He died at a hospice facility Woodstock, Ga., at age 74, according to an obituary provided by his son Jonathan Edwards, P.E.

Richard L. Edwards was born in North Carolina and began his engineering career with jobs at the state’s WTVD(TV), WPJL(AM), Bob Raleigh Productions and WCHL(AM) as an engineer for the radio network of the University of North Carolina.

His family described him as “an avid learner and self-taught” though he also spent time at the North Carolina School of Broadcasting in Charlotte. “He frequently ran into a Clemson student named Ron Rackley in the press box when UNC played Clemson,” according to the obituary.

In the mid-1970s Edwards became station engineer for WLXG(AM) and WKQQ(FM) in Lexington, Ky.; worked for the radio network of the University of Kentucky; and did some award-winning work in advertising production.

“In his early days, Rick was quite innovative in designing remotes for the radio networks that covered entire arenas back when that range was uncommon,” the family wrote. “Rick worked alongside well-known talents Woody Durham (University of North Carolina) and Cawood Ledford (University of Kentucky) and was radio network engineer at the 1977, ’78 and ’79 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Fours.”

In 1979 he accepted an engineering position for Guy Gannett Broadcasting that took him, his wife Jane and their son Jonathan to Florida.

“Rick called Miami’s WINZ(AM/FM) home for the next 15 years. Guy Gannett was based in Portland, Maine, and operated four TV and eight radio stations around the country, which Rick travelled extensively to manage.”

WINZ(AM) had severe nighttime interference from a station in Cuba that exceeded treaty limits. “In 1981, Rick asked the FCC to permit an increase in nighttime power from 10 kW to 25 kW to overcome this interference and was granted an STA which still applies today.”

Soon after he led a project to construct a new tower and relocate the transmitter site for WINZ(FM) to overcome a difficult STL path and multipath issues caused by the construction of high rises in Miami. “This tower was overdesigned to support not only three television stations and 10 FM stations, but many other RF services within its 17,000-squarefoot transmitter building. The tower utilized three 12-foot platforms and was the beginning of the vertical real estate boom.”

When it was completed in 1985, the facility transmitted more than 18 MW, the most of any single facility in the U.S., the obituary said. “This successful project opened up a new business revenue stream for Guy Gannett and Rick was promoted to director of engineering and vice president.”

Edwards soon tried to increase the power of WINZ(AM) from 46 kW-DA to 50 kW-ND, but a nearby FCC monitoring station prohibited the change. “Rick lobbied to relocate the monitoring station to Vero Beach, which then allowed the power increase.”

Also in the 1980s, he led another multiuse, tall tower projects in the Orlando market, upgraded WPLP(AM) in Tampa to a six-tower directional array and received more nighttime power to overcome Cuban interference, “becoming the first station to operate with more power at nighttime than daytime.” He also helped Guy Gannett identify an opportunity to have an AM/FM pair in Orlando, a transaction that led to the sale of WPLP in a swap arrangement.

“Rick’s final project involved his former acquaintance, Ron Rackley, in upgrading this Orlando AM station to a 50 kW-DA. The FCC was not approving power increases to 50 kW anymore, but more lobbying by Rick proved successful. Under Rick’s direction, the entire six-tower facility was constructed and operational in under 5 months.”

Edwards was also an amateur radio operator and a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers and Society of Motion Picture Television Engineers.

During his “middle years” he worked as an NFL game day coordinator and SBE national frequency coordinator and vice president. In 1995, he assisted the NFL in coordinating Super Bowl XXIX in Miami, and went on to lead coordination efforts for numerous Super Bowls. “In Super Bowl XXXIV (Atlanta), Rick invited the local FCC field office to come assist. It was the first time the FCC had been invited. It went so well that today, the FCC is a regular attendee at Super Bowls.”

In the 1990s, Edwards helped found CityScape Consultants to serve local government entities in working with cellular providers when siting towers and understanding the 1996 Telecommunications Act. He wrote the business model with partners Anthony Lepore and Kay Miles; and he was CityScape’s president and chief engineer until August 2021.

Edwards had an early interest in radio. “Growing up he would play DJ, conduct radio shows with his nephew and build kit radios with his uncle who was an engineer,” according to the obituary. He attended Campbell College, where he studied psychology; and he served in the U.S. Army in the 1960s, which took him on a tour of duty in Vietnam as a maintenance data specialist in radio communications. He came home with a Purple Heart.

Donations can be made to the scholarship funds of the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers or the Society of Broadcast Engineers. A celebration of life will be held in the Raleigh area at a future date; for information email RLEdwards1947@gmail.com.

 

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Radio advertising continues to outpace TV ad effectiveness, especially in the home improvement space, according to a series of studies commissioned over a six-year period.

Over those six years, the Audio Active Group at Cumulus Media-Westwood One commissioned eight consumer studies focusing specifically on the home improvement market.

The findings indicate that radio continues to be effective, efficient and often times the most successful way of boosting brand awareness and bringing shoppers to a home improvement retailer, whether in person or online.

As a start, the studies found that the heaviest users of audio are the biggest drivers of home improvement sales. Among three listener categories — heavy radio listeners, podcast listeners and heavy TV viewers (which would be more than eight hours a week for radio and 24 hours a week for TV) — it turns out that audio consumers, which includes either radio listeners or podcast listeners, turn out to be “massive spenders” in the home improvement category.

[Read: Bouvard: COVID Concerns Are Dropping]

“They spend way more than average, take more shopping trips than others, spend more per trip and are visiting more retailers, said Pierre Bouvard, chief insights officer at the Audioactive Group at Cumulus Media-Westwood One, in a recent explanatory video.

Spending more ad dollars on radio also paid off for home improvement retailers. The studies found that a home improvement retailer that increased spending by more than two times on AM/FM radio in 21 local markets experienced a significant surge in store traffic and sales. In addition, AM/FM radio ads that focus on sales events for different home improvement departments consistently created a halo effect that resulted in increased online shopping and store visits.

Take the example of Home Depot’s May 2021 TV ad campaign. A Nielsen Media Impact analysis said that the home improvement store’s television campaign reached about 50% of the 25– to 49–year-old demographic with its TV campaign. But when the advertiser overlaid a radio campaign on top of TV advertising, the reach jumped 61%, enabling Home Depot to reach 80% of American viewers in that demographic.

Take another home improvement retailer in the same month of May. Their TV campaign reached 2/3 of Americans in the 18– to 24–year-old age group. When a radio ad campaign was added, the incremental reach growth was 27%, allowing this retailer to reach 83% of American viewers in that age group.

“How is this possible? Where is all this incremental reach coming from?” Bouvard said. “Nielsen Media Impact reveals clearly the younger the demographic, the greater the lift in reach growth generated by AM/FM radio.”

The Nielsen numbers showed that 45% more listeners were reached via radio advertising in a Wayfair TV and radio ad campaign in May 2020 that when compared against TV advertising alone.

“Radio really helps build 18–49 incremental reach,” Bouvard said. “This is truly where radio makes your TV better.”

It’s no surprise that shopping during the pandemic shifted with the study revealing that 56% of all adults aged 18 years and older shopped for home improvement goods online in the last year. But those numbers shifted even higher when the study calculated whether the buyers were audio listeners. The study found that 69% of radio listeners and 79% of podcast consumers aged 18 years and older shopped online over the last year.

The research also offered other buyer insights too, including the finding that ads with a female voiceover drove stronger brand awareness among both men and women; that for every dollar spent by advertisers on radio advertising, nearly $29 dollars in sales was generated; that the younger the demographic, the greater the reach lift generated by AM/FM radio; and that in some instances, the sales effect of radio is triple that of TV.

The survey offered several recommendations too including that home improvement retailers should increase their AM/FM radio media budgets. “Add AM/FM radio to make home improvement TV campaigns better,” Bouvard said.

 

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