Not too many people may be familiar with Groveton, Tex. It’s on the southern tip of Davy Crockett National Forest, some two hours north of central Houston.
It also happens to be the home of a Class A FM, and North Texas Radio Group is readying to welcome it into its family.
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Cox Media Group’s broadcast television advertising rep firm CoxReps has appointed a new President.
It’s the individual who has served as COO since 2019, and in her new role will be asked to build on the “positive momentum” she is spearheading within the organization to strengthen operations and “strategically evolve” the business.
Rising to the role is Ann Hailer, who CMG Executive Chairman Steve Pruett says “exemplifies the leadership, collaboration and resilience” that are the company’s hallmarks.
“She is a respected, passionate and committed leader who is laser focused on bring the best out of her people to deliver exemplary customer service and outperform the competition,” Pruett said. “Over the years, Ann has played a critical role in positioning CoxReps for success by embracing disruption and championing innovation. I am excited to see how the future unfolds under her leadership.”
Hailer has spent most of her career with CMG, serving in various sales, management, and key leadership roles with increasing responsibility throughout her tenure. Prior to serving as COO, she was SVP/Director of Sales.
“My journey at CoxReps continues to evolve and this is the exciting beginning of a new chapter,” Hailer said. “The media industry is more diverse and competitive than ever and I’m incredibly honored to take on this role and lead the amazing CoxReps team during such an extraordinary time. I look forward to further strengthening our business, driving success for our premiere station group clients, and providing the most advanced solutions to agencies and advertisers in the local media space.”
Speaker maker KRK, known for those yellow woofers, is expanding its headphones line with the KNS 6402 (shown) and KNS 8402.
Both models are of the closed back, circumaural design. Earpads, headpads and cable are replaceable. The KNS8402 has an inline volume control. Both ship with, adapter, soft bag and anti-microbial cleaning cloth.
[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]
According to KRK, the KNS 6402 ($99) has acoustic cellular foam pads and provides up to 26 dBA of isolation with a 122 dB maximum SPL rating and a frequency response of 10 Hz–22 kHz. The KNS 8402 ($149) features memory foam pads with premium leatherette covers for greater comfort during long hours of listening and work. The KNS 8402 headphones provide up to 30 dBA of isolation to block out even more external noise and feature a slightly higher SPL with a 124 dB maximum SPL rating and a frequency response of 5 Hz–23 kHz.
Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.
Info: www.krkmusic.com
The post KRK Expands Headphones Line appeared first on Radio World.
Andrea Cummis will be the next president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, the first woman to hold that office.
SBE announced the results of its 2021 election for its national board of directors.
Cummis, CBT, CTO, is the chief technical officer of PBS39 WLVT(TV), in Bethlehem, Pa. and a member of SBE Chapter 15 in New York City.
She was unopposed in the election and will take office on Oct. 11. Cummis succeeds Wayne Pecena, who served two terms and remains on the board as immediate past president. (A list of all past presidents appears below.)
Others who will serve one-year terms as officers are Ted Hand as vice president, Kevin Trueblood as secretary and Jason Ornellas as treasurer.
Elected to two-year terms on the board of directors are Zhulieta Ibisheva, Jeff Juniet, Charles “Ched” Keiler, Geary S. Morrill, David Ratener and Dan Whealy.
Now going into their second year of current terms are Stephen Brown, Roswell Clark, Kirk Harnack, Thomas McGinley, Shane Toven and Fred Willard.
[Related: “Online Resources Blossom at SBE,” a 2020 Q&A with Wayne Pecena]
Cummis has more than two decades of experience in engineering, operations and new technology, and has worked in television, radio and new media.
She has been involved in many facets of media engineering, according to her LinkedIn bio, including space planning, staff planning and hiring, systems design and installation of production, post-production and on-air facilities, capital and operating budget creation and management, new technology research, staff training, asset management systems, transcoding for VOD and IPTV.
She is the owner of AC Video Solutions, a systems design and integration firm, and has worked with or for organizations such as the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, WTV, WNET New York Public Media, Vantage Technology Consulting Group, RadiantGrid Technologies, Total RF Productions and USA Networks, among others.
She holds degrees in electrical engineering and in law and technology, and has an MBA as well.
The society’s National Meeting and Awards Presentation will be held Oct. 11 during in Las Vegas during the NAB Show.
SBE Presidents ListAndrea Cummis 2021-
Wayne Pecena 2019-2021
Jim Leifer 2017-2019
Jerry Massey 2015-2017
Joe Snelson 2013-2015
Ralph Hogan 2011-2013
Vincent Lopez 2009-2011
Barry Thomas 2007-2009
Christopher H. Scherer 2005-2007
Raymond C. Benedict 2003-2005
Troy D. Pennington 2001-2003
James “Andy” Butler 1999-2001
Edward J. Miller 1997-1999
Terrence M. Baun 1995-1997
Charles W. Kelly Jr. 1993-1995
Richard Farquhar 1991-1993
Bradley Dick 1989-1991
Jack McKain 1987-1989
Richard Rudman 1985-1987
Roger Johnson 1984-1985
Doyle Thompson, Sr. 1983-1984
Ron Arendall 1981-1983
Robert Jones 1979-1981
James Hurley 1978-1979
Robert Wehrman 1977-1978
Glen Lahman 1975-1977
James Wulliman 1973-1975
Robert Flanders 1971-1973
Lewis Wetzel 1970-1971
Al Chismark 1968-1970
Charles Hallinan 1966-1968
John Battison, P.E. 1965-1966
The post SBE Elects Andrea Cummis as Next President appeared first on Radio World.
Is broadcast television’s retransmission consent revenue growth trend, when compared to long-term advertising forecasts, a concern when it comes to station valuations, should a transaction be in the future?
That’s just one of the thoughts longtime broadcast station valuation and appraisal specialist David Schutz shares in an exclusive interview with RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson in this InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM. It’s a preview of what’s to come in the Fall 2021 Special Report.
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Telestream, a provider of digital media tools and workflow products owned by Genstar Capital, has purchased a live event hosting and distribution platform used by Fortune 500 companies and others to stream content to their customers, employees, and members.
As such, Sherpa Digital Media’s platform is now fully integrated with Telestream’s offerings.
Telestream CEO Dan Castles notes, “Sherpa Digital Media has built a solid platform that many rely upon to stream their live, interactive events, and we intend to continue its development to expand into new areas such as using our Wirecast product to produce events distributed on the platform.”
Sherpa Digital Media allows customers to create live events and webinars.
The platform includes breakout rooms, video hosting, marketing automation integration, secure streaming, and the ability to scale up to hundreds of thousands of viewers.
Sherpa Digital Media is a privately held company headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. The team includes a remote workforce which will be fully integrated into the Telestream family.
Existing customers can expect to see additional resources being deployed to support the platform around the world.
A new Wells Fargo Securities report gives linear media a big boost, while lowering expectations for the software industry.
It has much merit, given the financial institution’s track record on coverage of broadcast media companies with publicly traded shares. And, the report provides media executives with further ammo in their fight against local digital.
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Dear RW:
Your article about grounding in the Rocky Mountains brings to mind a moment dating back to the early 1960s, when I was ham radio operator K7VPK and attending ASU/Tempe’s radio and TV program.
One of my experiences at that early age was meeting members of the “Mummy Mountain Radio Club.” Among them was Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, ham radio call sign K7UGA.
I was invited to visit the club up in Scottsdale north of Tempe; when I did I was amazed at what I saw. All high-frequency operating bands had their own operating rooms/positions in a custom-built “clubhouse,” the members of which included Goldwater, the CEO of the Donnelley Press in Chicago and other heavy hitters.
The estimated cost invested in building the clubhouse and obtaining equipment was north of $100,000, equivalent to nearly a million dollars today. Each ham band (80 meters, 40 meters, 20 meters, etc.) had its own operating room and complete Collins Kilowatt console. Simply the best of the best!
Now to the relevant part.
Since grounding was such a problem in mountainous Scottsdale, the question was how to be grounded effectively. Each operating position and custom antenna for each band to be worked needed to be grounded well for operating efficiency and safety.
The engineers installing the antennas suggested that the club members simply tap into a copper vein there on Mummy Mountain.
I was told that this took a bit of digging but it was done. The resulting electrical ground turned out, I was told, to be the best possible solution to the problem … in fact, an exceptional one.
Ham radio? Sen. Goldwater and his friends made sure they had nothing but the best; and they produced signals from the MMRC that were heard around the world. As a matter of fact, the MMRC facility was used to run phone patches for GIs in Vietnam as well as Goldwater’s home station on Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale for several years.
Don Watson, W5TNA is with NewsTalkRadio.com in Pensacola, Fla.
Send Letters to the Editor at mailto:radioworld@futurenet.com
The post Letter: Good Ground Was All Around appeared first on Radio World.
The FCC wants to know what you think about possibly modifying the Emergency Alert System to provide “persistent alerts” in extreme emergencies, and how such alerts might work on radio stations and other audio platforms.
Providing persistent alerts is one of several recommendations that were made to the commission by FEMA for improvements to EAS.
FEMA’s recommendations are in addition to alerting changes recently adopted by the commission in June. At that time the FCC issued a further notice of proposed rulemaking to explore FEMA’s ideas.
In addition to persistent alerts, FEMA thinks the FCC should should rename certain EAS terms like EAN and PEP to help public awareness.
The deadlines to comment on the proposed changes have now been set. Comments in PS Docket 15-94 are due Oct. 19, with replies due Nov. 18.
Persistent alertsA big part of FEMA’s recommendations involves “persistent alerts.” FEMA thinks EAS should be modified to support “persistent display of alert information and/or persistent notification for emergencies that require immediate public protective actions to mitigate loss of life.”
Such alerts would persist on EAS until the alert time has expired or the alert is cancelled by the originator. Merely repeating an EAS message, FEMA says, does not address problems like those that came up in the false missile alert situation in Hawaii. It believes alert information should persist so people can “receive, review and collaborate, whenever they ‘tune in,’ with emergency information received previously from another emergency alert information source.”
The FCC is asking for comments on questions like the technical feasibility of assigning “persistence” to state and local alerts; what kinds of events would qualify; what changes would be required to EAS devices; and whether stations and others who carry state and local alerts on a voluntary basis would agree to carry persistent alerts.
One can envision a persistent alert remaining visible on a video platform, but the FCC also wonders what “persistent” would mean for radio stations and satellite radio, as wall as what role “smart” devices might play for alerts carried by ATSC 3.0 and HD Radio technologies.
Other recommendationsFEMA also thinks the FCC should modify the definition for the EAN event code from “Emergency Action Notification (National Only)” to “Emergency Alert, National,” or replace the EAN event code entirely with a new one called “NEM” for “National Emergency Message.” FEMA thinks “Emergency Action Notification” has no meaning to most people and may create confusion.
FEMA further thinks the FCC should change the EAS originator code for the Primary Entry Point System from “PEP” to “NAT,” which would stand for “National Authority.”
It notes that PEPs — radio stations that are the primary source of initial broadcast for a presidential alert — are not originators. It said using PEP as an originator code currently requires EAS video participants to scroll a message that begins with “The Primary Entry Point System has issued …” which FEMA says means nothing to the public and again could create confusion.
And probably least controversial is a recommendation from FEMA to delete the term “National Information Center” in FCC rules because there is no longer a National Information Center (NIC) in federal and national emergency response plans.
[Read the full FNPRM, starting on page 25 of the recent FCC order.]
The post The FCC Contemplates “Persistent EAS Alerts” appeared first on Radio World.
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