Industry News

Coronavirus has been a once-in-a-lifetime disruptor. At the height of the pandemic, more than 2 billion people were under some form of lockdown and 7.1 billion people were in countries with border controls or travel restrictions.

The old certainties have been replaced by new realities, and even curiosities. How many fuzzy images and bookshelves have you seen recently on TV? How many radio interviews with dodgy sound — unacceptable, really, a couple of months back — have you listened to in the past 10 weeks? How many times have you conducted private and business meetings sitting in front of your laptop?

Working from home (WFH), IP Team Meeting and even “Zoom fatigue” now part of many people’s vocabulary and reality. The old events calendar has been binned and all the big radio or media events have been turned into webinars. There is a post-CES webinar available, a NAB webinar and so many others announced that your working day could be filled just with webinars.

[Read: Do We Need Community Radio?]

Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) and its not-for-profit consortium also embraced the format with much enthusiasm. And the results were particularly good; DRM registered more participants in its latest three DRM webinars than in the old face-to-face seminars.

The list of endless webinar topics is endless. We have registered a lot of interest in several aspects of the radio business, from digitization and DRM implementation, to the extra DRM benefits, like data and multimedia availability, emergency warning functionality. The extra capacity and channels available in digital suddenly mean more varied content, possibly even in various languages, or different content for diverse interest groups (e.g. various music genres but also education, chat shows that give solace to many isolated listeners etc.).

The radio business is changing drastically. People are listening while they work (often from home), and so the peak time has become anytime. Travelling by car has gone down for now, but public travelling is not being encouraged, at least in the U.K. So, in the future, private cars will become even more important than before and with them digital radio, too. Office hours are also fluid so radio must be on its toes, come up with new formats and fresh approaches.

Localism, the great attribute of radio, matters more than ever as the coronavirus affects different areas and its people differently. Advertising post-corona needs to be reexamined as well. The old models might not attract many dollars now, and the new good, wide-ranging advertising needs must be nurtured with imagination and flair. So there is much to talk about and create webinars for.

One of the greatest attributes of this new communication platform is its capacity to be a great, open, all-inclusive arena. During a webinar we are all little squares on a screen. And behind their own screens, participants feel freer to ask questions and challenge the presenters with more courage than in a windowless imposing conference hall.

But the subject must be relevant, the presenters engaging and open-minded, with a genuine wish to share their knowledge. Some recent webinars have been openly or covertly product placement opportunities, company advertorials or stale presentations peddling the same old maps, statistics and graphs. The judgement of a webinar is swift. If your webinar is not relevant or informative, the number of participants decreases vertiginously, and you have your instant verdict on the left corner of the screen.

Webinars cannot replace the face-to-face contact, the frank discussion over coffee, the deal struck in a conference break. In time the “webinar or Zoom fatigue” will come to us all, but hopefully only after we have managed to share knowledge and establish a dialogue with peers and newcomers across the world. For now, at least, webinars stimulate us all, keep the old stakeholders and new players in touch with each other and keep our whole industry alive.

After the recent three DRM webinars, I came to the conclusion that a truthfully successful webinar is like a good DRM radio program: It needs good content, engaging speakers, good digital sound, often good, diverse coverage (with participants from different countries and professional areas) targeted messages and the possibility for interactivity.

Long gone are the webinars of the “What is…?” variety. We are focusing on the response and support radio can offer in extreme times like this. Digital radio, DRM in particular, is unique in its robustness and flexibility, able to give you news and music but also to deliver education and information when other platforms are not available  or too expensive and to save lives through its built-in Emergency Warning Functionality.

The coronavirus will fade, but many viruses can still lurk out there, including cyber viruses. As in the words of the World Economic Forum publication on June 1: “During the 2020 Australian bushfires, power outages and damage to mobile phone infrastructure gave citizens a newfound appreciation for battery-operated FM radios. But if cyber-COVID ravaged a country, which radio stations would still operate without digital recording and transmission systems?”

There is the theme of a possible future webinar.

Ruxandra Objreja’s column is a recurring feature. Comment on this or any story. Email radioworld@futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject field.

The post Are Webinars Helpful as Radio Pivots Post-COVID-19? appeared first on Radio World.

Test equipment manufacturer Audio Precision has announced the availability of Version 6 of software for the APx500 audio analyzers.

The new version increases simultaneous input types, enabling the concurrent measurement of up to 16 channels of digital and eight channels of analog audio data. The company says that the “new multi-input capability, paired with the highest channel count and widest range of digital I/O available, provides APx users critical cross-domain insight and the opportunity to reduce testing time.”

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

It explains, “Multi-input is especially useful for devices with digital microphones — smart speakers, mobile phones, Bluetooth headsets, and other devices — as it allows for the simultaneous measurement of the device’s microphone in conjunction with an analog measurement microphone as a reference.”

For audio devices that can have both analog and digital outputs active simultaneously, the feature enables the simultaneous evaluation of those outputs, whether in a design lab or on a manufacturing line. Concurrent measurement of both signal types also has the potential to reduce test times, which is especially important in manufacturing applications, according to the company.

The multiple-input feature is available for use in both Sequence Mode and Bench Mode and supports all the essential measurements used for the analysis of microphones and microphone arrays.

The post Audio Precision Releases APx500 Update appeared first on Radio World.

“Unfair and likely unlawful” regulatory fees are putting a “stranglehold” on the broadcasting industry. So says the National Association of Broadcasters. Again.

In its comments to the Federal Communications Commission about the proposed 2020 fee schedule, NAB asked “whether the commission will continue to bury its head in the sand and fail to recognize the considerable inequities in its approach, which puts a stranglehold on the broadcasting industry.”

NAB’s arguments are that the commission doesn’t recognize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on broadcasters; that it fails to provide good explanations for how it reached its conclusions; and that it ignores the considerable commission resources” that other industries use “to the detriment of broadcasters.”

[Related: “New Jersey Broadcasters Push Harder on Fees”]

The association noted that the commission has an obligation to collect $339 million in regulatory fees this year, the same as the year before,  so it asked why, then, “many broadcasters will see their regulatory fees increase for the second consecutive year.” And the commission, it continued, fails to explain why fees are going up, “hindering the ability of stakeholders, including companies responsible for paying the fees, to provide meaningful feedback on the commission’s proposals.” Lack of explanation is a problem the NAB has complained about before.

It added that there is no telling when broadcast operating revenues will return to previous levels, and that President Trump has told regulatory agencies to examine ways they can waive or modify, regulatory burdens. The filing can be read on the NAB website. The comments were filed in MD Docket No. 20-105.

The post NAB Again Fumes Over FCC Regulatory Fees appeared first on Radio World.

Washington, D.C., has a new master FM antenna system looking down on the city from high ground around The American University campus. In addition to a big new panel, the job added new antennas for two other stations. Radio World talked with Rob Bertrand, WAMU’s senior director of technology, about the recently completed project.

Radio World: Where did this take place?
Rob Bertrand: The project took place on the 419-foot broadcast tower on the campus of American University in Washington, D.C. I’ll call this the “AU Tower.”

RW: Make and model of the antenna systems?
Bertrand: The new panel antenna is a four-bay, three-around ERI Cogwheel antenna that serves WAMU, WTOP, WPFW and WETA. There is a new ERI SHPX Rototiller in place for WPGC and a new ERI LPX Rototiller for WMMJ. The combiner is all new; it was designed, built and installed by ERI.

RW: Describe the scope of the job.
Bertrand: The AU Tower has been the home to multiple FM stations since the 1960s. Additional stations were added in the 1970s and ’80s, with a final station in the early ’90s.

It is the primary broadcast home to WAMU, The American University’s NPR station; Hubbard’s WTOP; Urban One’s WMMJ; and Pacifica’s WPFW.

WAMU and WETA also provide reciprocal aux sites for one another, so WETA has an aux presence on the tower. They had been sharing the WAMU backup antenna but will now be part of the combined antenna.

WAMU joined the WETA combined antenna in 2019 in preparation for this project. Finally, WPGC (Entercom) has maintained an aux presence on this tower since the early 1990s.

What is interesting about this group of stations is that WTOP and WPGC are both directional, which meant that not everyone could join the master system. However, ERI devised a method for WTOP to meet its required directional pattern into the left-hand circularly polarized input to the new antenna system, with the master combiner feeding the right-hand CP input.

WPGC is highly directional, as it’s licensed to Prince George’s County in Maryland. Its antenna was upgraded, but it remains separate from the directional system on a mast up above the new antenna.
WMMJ, a Class A station, has had such incredible ratings success from its standalone antenna. In fact, WTOP, WAMU and WMMJ often switch places in the ratings for the #1, #2 and #3 spots in the market. Because they’ve done so well, Urban One leadership was hesitant to join the new antenna system, though they opted to replace their 30-year-old antenna as part of this process.

RW: Why was the new system necessary?
Bertrand: When the current array of antennas on the tower-top pole were erected in the early 1990s, these were fundamentally different stations in terms of community impact. WAMU was a tiny bluegrass station, routinely ranking toward the bottom of the ratings in the market. The station that is WTOP(FM) today was WGMS, a classical station that held its own often around the #15 mark, but was hardly the powerhouse WTOP is today. WTOP and WAMU currently lead the market, locally and nationally, within commercial all-news and public radio, respectively. They are massive stations.

In the legacy build, rather than opt for a costly master antenna, WAMU was built as a six-bay on the tower-top pole. WGMS was a three-bay directional, interleaved with the top three bays of WAMU on one side of the pole. WMMJ’s two bays straddled WAMU’s bottom bay. WPGC towered above all of them with its own directional antenna.

It was a mess. It made sense in the early 1990s given the economic realities for all these stations, but as they evolved into market leaders, they were sorely in need of “getting out of each other’s way” and an upgrade to an antenna system that would maximize audience for each station.

On top of that, these antennas were built on a “stepped” pole with the largest diameter at 16 inches OD and the narrowest at 6 inches. It was just a difficult situation.

Multiple driving measurement tests were performed over the years. We did one in 2017 with WTOP over the span of 900 miles of driving loops around the DC region. The test made clear what we had suspected: Each station was underperforming to the “opposite” side of the tower top pole — which was also the location of the adjacent antennas.

When I moved to the market in 2016 to join WAMU as its technology head, I was so surprised that at my apartment at the time, which was next door to the studios, I had a hard time receiving the station. This is two miles from the tower at that spot, and the ability to receive the station varied widely from one day to the next. Far away from our six-bay antenna, the station performed well to the north; but close-in and to the south we did not do well.

Finally, American University decided that it was time to decide once and for all what to do with this unique non-core asset sitting on its campus. Should they keep it or sell it? And if they kept it, who should run it? We pitched the idea of running it and performing this upgrade, with the goal of achieving full ROI in less than 10 years.

RW: How was the work managed?
Bertrand: WAMU led the project and managed it from concept to final construction. WTOP was a key partner and they were also an equal shareholder in financing the costs directly related to the antenna and its installation. It was unique that these two giant competitors worked so well together on this project, but from top management to the engineering teams, we all knew it was in our mutual interest to build the best facility we could, together.

WAMU has ultimate ownership of the antenna, but WTOP is a major “shareholder” in the system because of their investment. The other antennas are owned by their respective stations and parent companies.

RW: What was the project budget?
Bertrand: The project in total cost $2.8 million, excluding the rototiller antennas and their transmission lines. The project included a new shelter from VFP beneath the tower to house the combiner system as well as massive reinforcement and reconstruction of the tower from top to bottom. It also included replacement of that stepped pole with a uniform-diameter pole with massively thick walls for stability. There were also additional costs local to individual stations related to these changes. All in it probably clocks in just north of $3 million if you tally everyone’s respective investments.

RW: What are the other critical components?
Bertrand: The system has a four-station combiner for WAMU, WPFW, WETA and a unique low-power nondirectional aux for WTOP.

WTOP has the ability to broadcast at full power from its directional input to the system or at lower power via the combiner as a backup, in case anything happens to its directional infrastructure.

The system also includes the requisite bandpass filters for the noncombined stations as well as a versatile patch panel system for lockout/tagout and emergency operation.

RW: What other key players were involved?
Bertrand: Vertical Technology Services of Hagerstown, Md., performed the tower structural modifications and removed the old tower-top mast and installed the new mast. They also installed the custom cogwheel antenna and support structure, as well as the two additional single-station rototiller antennas.

The structural engineer of record was Richard Dyer of Morris Ritchie Associates. James Ruedlinger, who heads the structural division for ERI, designed the tower modifications and the complex rigging plan. Bob Clinton of Cavell, Mertz & Associates was the FCC consulting engineer and contributed to our antenna design process, as well as handling the FCC applications for most of the stations.

The general contractor for ground support was Network Building & Construction services, who primarily supports cellular buildouts and was adept as a permit expediter with the District of Columbia as well as supporting building the temporary roadway and ground support needed for the tower crew. Our new combiner shelter was designed and built by VFP shelters of Salem, Va. Paul Shulins and Dave Wing of Shulins Solutions did the installation of the Burk Arcturus system, which was engineered by Mark Raymond and Chuck Alexander of Burk Technology.

RW: What other technical aspects of the project will Radio World readers be interested to know about?
Bertrand: We have installed the Burk Arcturus system to provide VSWR protection and full monitoring of the system, such as line pressures and temperatures. We were drawn to Arcturus because of our familiarity with the Burk ARC Plus platform and its hardware, as well as the promise of predictive analytics.

We’re monitoring everything from VSWR at all the inputs and outputs of the system, line pressures, every dehydrator parameter including run-time of the redundant pair, line temperatures, to external temperatures and security parameters.

The goal is to be able to develop a complete picture of normal system operation across all seasons and be able to trend anomalies over time before they become major problems. The Arcturus also manages interlocks for the full facility and will automatically disable transmission based on which transmitters are switched to which antennas, depending on where a VSWR condition is detected.

We welcome story suggestions about your own studio, RF or IT project. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post New Master Antenna System Serves D.C. appeared first on Radio World.

The coronavirus will not delay arrival of more hybrid radio receivers in the United States. Car manufacturer Audi says it will offer the new infotainment technology — capable of receiving terrestrial analog and HD Radio signals blended with streaming audio — in new cars set to arrive at dealerships in the coming months. 

In addition, Audi will support the hybrid system from SiriusXM called 360L in 10 of its 2021 model year vehicles. Dodge Ram was the first to offer 360L in a 2019 model; and GM announced in December that it planned to bring 360L to a million cars in 2020. But Audi is believed to be the only system with hybrid radio capability that supports terrestrial FM radio as well. 

Open Standard

Hybrid radio combines one-way “over-the-air” terrestrial or satellite radio reception with two-day online connectivity and streaming content, to create a new kind of platform in connected cars.

The hybrid functionality was announced by Audi of America as part of its Generation 3 infotainment technologies expected to arrive in most 2021 Audi vehicles this fall. Here is how Audi described hybrid digital radio functionality in that announcement: “For terrestrial FM or HD FM radio listeners on the go, hybrid digital radio allows them to continue listening to the same channel even after driving outside of the channel’s range. Either automatically or by request, once the hybrid radio senses a weak radio signal, it will switch to the online, digital version of the same channel. Conversely, the channel will switch back from a digital to a radio signal when it senses better reception.Upon cycling a vehicle off and on again, the digital radio station will continue to play.”

The spread of hybrid capabilities could set up a critical period of preparation by U.S. broadcasters, according to radio industry observers, as a wider rollout of the new technology gains footing.

Several technology companies are trying to establish themselves in the hybrid radio marketplace in the United States and abroad. DTS Connected Radio, Radioline, Radioplayer and even Audi are “in some ways competing with each other, and in other ways working together,” according to a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters.

RadioDNS is an open standards platform that can interface with multiple aggregators. “RadioDNS is the connection between radio broadcasting and online,” as described by one observer.

Audi radio development engineer Christian Winter said during a recent NAB webinar that the carmaker’s hybrid radio will support any radio station that offers data in the RadioDNS service format.

That metadata in a terrestrial radio station’s signal stream can include song artist and title and streaming URLs, so the hybrid radio receiver knows where to find the streaming audio. In the case of Audi, the process is completed by RadioDNS, Winter said. 

RadioDNS allows for the seamless transition between the terrestrial radio signals and the mobile broadband connection and will accommodate up to 30 seconds of delay between OTA and streaming audio, according to experts. “If the delay is more than 30 seconds the listener will hear a jump,” they said.

BMW offers a radio receiver in the United States that uses the RadioDNS database standard to populate radio station guide information including station logos via IP, according to NAB, but does not use streaming audio. 

Xperi uses RadioDNS as one of the data sources for its offering, called DTS Connected Radio, according to NAB.

Meanwhile, broadcast advocacy groups like NAB are pushing radio broadcasters in the United States to prepare for “embedded wireless connectivity in modern vehicles” rather than through connected smartphones. In fact, built-in modems in new vehicles will support two-way initiatives, industry experts say, which will be critical for gathering listener data.  

New connected cars are expected to feature over-the-air radio reception in addition to internet IP technologies via LTE network connections, experts say, which in turn combines the two ways of listening to radio using a seamless linking process. Those “real-time analytics on listening habits” would be viewed as crucial data for radio advertisers.

Those familiar with how hybrid radio works say once noise is detected in the FM signal, the switching technology transitions the radio to IP technologies and broadband. 

Additional Costs

Streaming fees associated with hybrid radio are something NAB is making broadcasters aware of, according to David Layer, vice president, advanced engineering for NAB.

“The receiver will time-align the streaming and OTA signals in the background while the OTA signal is strong, so that the receiver is ready to accomplish the seamless transition when necessary,” Layer said. “During this alignment procedure, the broadcaster may incur performance rights fees on the stream even though no one is listening to it.” 

He continued, “One possible approach being considered to minimize this issue is for a broadcaster to provide geographic information to a receiver describing where the station’s OTA signal should be strong enough to not require any streaming audio usage. The receiver, which is location-aware, would not use the streaming signal while within that strong signal area.”

Layer said the accessibility of URLs used in hybrid radio could also be an issue for some radio broadcasters. 

“Sometimes the publishing of streaming URLs can create security concerns for radio broadcasters,” Layer said.

Hybrid radio will also add customized capability to listen to on-demand content like podcasting, those familiar with the technology say. Supporters of hybrid radio often compare the concept to that of smart TV.

More Coming

Industry observers say traditional over-the-air radio is trying to differentiate itself in the auto dashboard to minimize the loss of traditional radio listeners to other audio services in the era of Apple Carplay, Android Auto and now Alexa integration. Hybrid radio platforms are capable of integrating FM, DAB+, HD Radio, IP streams and podcasts.   

DTS Connected Radio by Xperi, the company that developed HD Radio, is expected to announce further development details about their hybrid radio digital platform later this summer once its $3 billion merger with TiVo is completed.

Xperi says product development and/or integrations are underway with OEM manufacturers and suppliers such as Visteon, NXP, Hyundai/Mobis, Harman, Panasonic Automotive, LG Electronics, Alpine Automotive, Karma, Byton and others.

Harman, LG and Panasonic have shown implementations of DTS Connected Radio at CES.

The NAB itself has had a presence at recent CES shows to showcase innovation in radio and strengthen ties with the automotive industry and develop strategic approaches, Layer said. 

Industry observers point to “detailed analytic data on listening” as one of the most important features of hybrid radio. Xperi says its hybrid radio system create a “two-way feedback flow” that is measured and sent to the radio broadcaster. 

Bob Dillon, senior VP of Connected Radio for Xperi, wrote about the capability in a guest commentary for Radio World earlier this year: “The radio station can learn when people tune in and what made them leave. Did they tune in another radio station? Shut off the car, or did they drive out of coverage? How long did they listen? Ultimately, that’s all available audience flow data over time. Hybrid radio is able to provide measurement of their total audience and how that audience flows in and out of their station throughout the day.” 

In addition, Radioline, in collaboration with Panasonic Automotive Systems Europe, announced this spring it was launching a hybrid radio application, which is compatible with Android Automotive OS.

Xavier Filliol, Radioline COO, told Radio World in an email “all usage data could be collected from listeners of the app.”   

Pilot Work

Meanwhile, the NAB’s innovation initiative, known as PILOT, continues to chart the way through a variety of hybrid radio industry initiatives and is working with RadioDNS on the hybrid radio rollout. 

Its Connected Radio Evaluation Unit (CREU) project, using a CREU device provided by Xperi, wrapped up its work in 2019, Layer said.

“The PILOT CREU project resulted in a ‘proof of concept’ hybrid radio user interface (UI)  and was conducted under the auspices of the NAB Auto Initiative Committee. Some features supported by the UI include on-demand content (instant traffic and weather, podcast content) and a TEXT button which sends the metadata for the currently playing song to a user’s smartphone,” Layer said.

To support hybrid radio services, broadcasters will need to register with RadioDNS and publish the necessary metadata and streaming URL information in a secure and controlled manner to ensure ease of access and consistency for the in-vehicle implementations, according to NAB.  

Several sessions from the online NAB Show Express in May featured hybrid radio presentations. Layer said during one session that “U.S. broadcasters are really not positioned yet to fully take advantage of hybrid radio technology, so there is an opportunity to start developing the technology to take advantage once there is a greater percentage of hybrid radio receivers in the market.”

There are differences in how RadioDNS works with multiple aggregators and the DTS Connected Radio platform, according to NAB. Those include how internet data is provided to the receiver, Layer said.

“The Audi vehicles will actually have an online radio button. DTS’s plan is to be more broadcaster-focused and only provide the streaming audio versions of the over-the-air signals,” Layer said.   

Broadcasters will need to register with RadioDNS and then develop a service information (SI) file, Layer said, which includes all the information on finding station logos as well as the broadband stream for hybrid radio receivers.

 The NAB Show Express session identified several technology developers, including Quu Interactive and Pluxbox, capable of helping broadcasters with RadioDNS registration and developing the SI file. 

Meanwhile, Xperi says it maintains a global database of radio station frequencies, formats, artwork and audio streams to provision hybrid in-vehicle radios using its DTS Connected Radio platform. 

Nick Piggott, project director for RadioDNS, emphasized during an NAB webinar the importance of U.S. broadcasters signing up for hybrid radio.   

 “In the connected car the dashboard presents visually rich navigation, a consistent experience and often personalized, which means the challenge for radio is to improve its functionality and presentation to remain prominent in the dashboard,” Piggott said.    

RadioDNS, whose membership includes iHeartMedia, Beasley, Entercom and Cumulus, allows “agile reception” for the listener, Piggott said, which means a hybrid radio receiver can switch between broadcast and streaming, depending on the best experience for the listener. 

SIDEBAR STORY: Hybrid Radio, Some Context

For more context about the above story, Radio World asked James Cridland, a consultant and radio “futurologist,” about the state of hybrid radio.

Radio World: Can you break down what hybrid radio is?
James Cridland: The word “hybrid” means different things to different people. With a typical analog FM receiver, when the radio tunes into 104.9 MHz it knows nothing about the radio station other than the fact it’s on 104.9 FM (and, perhaps, an RDS signal).

With a hybrid FM receiver, when the radio tunes into 104.9, it then goes onto the internet to find more detail about what the station is. That might mean a station logo or more program information. But your radio might also discover where the station is streaming, so that you might leave your home in San Francisco listening to 96.5 KOIT, and once you’re out of the coverage area on FM for the station, the radio might switch automatically to the internet stream, so you stay with your favorite station without any fiddling with your mobile phone or hitting buttons.

Importantly for broadcasters to know, hybrid radio receivers prefer broadcast radio, so they will switch back to terrestrial FM as soon as it can.

RW: Tell us what you know about RadioDNS and what auto manufacturers in the United States are looking at. Could we have competing hybrid radio systems in different auto manufacturers’ cars in the States?
Cridland: RadioDNS is one of the data sources that Xperi uses for DTS Connected Radio. With RadioDNS, broadcasters themselves have total control of their data: They publish it on their own servers, and RadioDNS tells computers where to find it. The data is freely available to anyone who wishes access to it.

The DTS Connected Radio platform uses a lot of different data points from a variety of places, including their own proprietary data work, as well as RadioDNS data. RadioDNS’s data is authoritative, from the broadcaster themselves, so typically companies like Xperi or Radioplayer will take data directly from RadioDNS where it exists, and fill from other sources where it doesn’t.

For the car manufacturer, their choice is to implement RadioDNS’s tools (which are open and designed not to require a central server system); or to implement similar services from Xperi or Radioplayer’s WRAPI, which are more complete, but which have a commercial model.

For the broadcaster who wishes to retain full control of their data, they should implement RadioDNS’s tools, which will help keep your data updated on these other services as well.

RW: Is two-way “interactive” connectivity for terrestrial radio a “must have” capability in hybrid radio?
Cridland: Depends what you mean by interactive. RadioDNS allows broadcasters to, as one example, make a button that would allow me to request more information about what I’m hearing, which might be a commercial, might be a song or maybe be a talk topic.

Broadcasters can deal with that request however they like, whether that’s to send a push notification to your phone, or to send you an email. The technology certainly allows that kind of interaction, and some broadcasters have experimented with it; but there’s a chicken/egg scenario here. Until the majority of broadcasters support it, it’s unlikely to be built-in to receivers. There’s also, to be honest, a question of whether audiences want it.

RW: Hybrid radio has been a big part of NAB’s “automotive initiative” in the States to keep radio relevant in the dashboard. How do you think the plan is unfolding?
Cridland: Broadcast radio’s ideal would be to have one simple preset list in the car — one that allows my favorite FM station right next to my favorite SiriusXM station, and perhaps an internet radio station there, too. A hybrid receiver that uses FM and IP means that old-fashioned FM looks and works just as well as SiriusXM or even Spotify in the same vehicle; bright and vibrant artwork, clear audio that never disappears, stations which are easy to find.

The post Hybrid Radio Picks Up Momentum appeared first on Radio World.

A nationally syndicated weekly radio show, “Dan Sweeney’s One Hit Wonders” showcases forgotten “one and done” U.S. Billboard Top 40 hits.

Free to air and currently distributed to almost 60 stations in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany and New Zealand, each program is approximately 55 minutes and features unique stories for almost 2300 one hit wonder artists and songs, including “where are they now” updates.

In March, “Dan Sweeney’s One Hit Wonders” was selected as “Best Community Volunteer Program” by the Intercollegiate Broadcast System during its annual convention.

Produced with segments containing trivia, one-hit wonder interviews, jingles, birthday greetings and movie and pop culture news from the showcased years — 1995 to 2015 — each show is available with two song and artist summaries, poster art and a YouTube video link for social media use.

For more information about the show, email Dan Sweeney at djsweeney.ds@gmail.com or call 1-760-809-4861.

The post “Dan Sweeney’s One Hit Wonders” Available Free to Broadcasters appeared first on Radio World.

The annual HEAR Now audio festival is happening now and runs through the weekend. Its organizers are conducting the festival as an online event this year, and they have snagged Ed Asner as a headliner.

“In an effort to overwhelm the creative stifling associated with coast-to-coast stay-at-home orders, ‘HEAR Now Online’ will include audio arts luminaries teaching face-to-face audio storytelling, audiobook narration and audio production workshops while spotlighting and awarding accolades on some of the best audio storytelling performers in the audio arts industry,” they stated in an announcement.

Asner will be the guest on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Central time) for a live video session called “Ask Ed,” in which he’ll answer questions submitted by attendees earlier. In addition to his well-known television work, Asner has done voice work on “a plethora of audio plays, animated series and feature animated films.”

The organizers at the National Audio Theatre Festivals call the annual event “the audio equivalent of a film festival for contemporary audio storytelling in all its forms: live and scripted solo performances; multi-voiced, classic radio drama; experimental narrative; and much more.” It is normally held in theaters and other listening venues in Kansas City.

Also on the agenda: Celebrating Mark Twain features the life and words of the great author brought to life by voiceover artists). Podcast Palooza features the premiere of “Debs in Canton” starring Phil Proctor as Eugene V. Debs. And “Annihilators Of Distance” is a re-streaming of the audio play about Nicolai Tesla and Mark Twain that originally aired during last fall’s AES show.

Many of the online events are free; some with limited access involve a nominal fee. Info is at hearnowfestival.org.

The post Ed Asner Is Featured in Online HEAR Now Festival appeared first on Radio World.

Paul Rotella is doubling down: He wants the FCC not only to suspend any increases in broadcast fees but to permanently restructure and reduce them.

He is president and CEO of the New Jersey Broadcasters Association, one of the organizations filing comments about this issue with the Federal Communications Commission.

[Read: FCC Proposes Regulatory Fees for 2020 Amid Uncertain Media Marketplace]

He and other broadcasters have been vocal that a hike in fees for broadcasters is not warranted, especially in the days of coronavirus; and as we reported earlier, Rotella had written to Chairman Ajit Pai recently asking the commission to hold off raising fees for radio and TV. But now, he writes: “Upon further reflection, restructuring and reduction in regulatory fees for broadcasters is warranted.”

For one thing, he said, “It is well known that the FCC’s attention and workload is now consumed with 5G wireless including C-Band, CBRS, Ligado and the various other spectrum-parceling efforts, and it is those 5G activities that should bear the brunt of FCC regulatory fees.”

He also argues that many concerns about fees that were raised last year by broadcasters have not even been addressed by the commission. “Broadcasters deserve some explanation of those points before any consideration is given to the exponential increase in regulatory fees.”

[Read: FCC Rule Suspensions Could Help Broadcasters Now]

Further, the FCC should consider an across-the-board reduction, “given the changing and increasing technological burden placed on the FCC by emerging technologies and the eloquent simplicity of regulating our industry, along with broadcasters’ longstanding special place in the fabric of American society. Couple this with the fact that the industry has not enjoyed any meaningful increase in revenue in a decade, and yet, fees keep increasing at an alarming rate.”

Among several more reasons, he noted that state broadcast associations earlier had asked for changes because, they argued, the FCC had based the fee structure on defective data, and said that the process used to allocate fees among industries unfairly shifted FCC “overhead” costs to radio and TV stations.

And Rotella said this is an issue for television as well as radio stations, which has tended to get the attention. “Although radio was hard hit with 50% increase in fees last year, the arguments are still the same,” says Rotella, “Especially during this time of catastrophic economic upheaval, coupled with the precarious economic forecasts ahead, is simply imprudent and will likely further hobble local broadcasters’ efforts to survive in the aftermath of COVID-19.”

The commission is taking comments about fees in MD Docket No. 20-105 until June 12, and replies by June 29.

The post NJBA Pushes Harder on Fee Cuts appeared first on Radio World.

Xperi Corp. and TiVo Corp. recently completed their merger. To learn more about how this might affect readers of Radio World, we asked Xperi SVP of Broadcast Radio Joe D’Angelo.

[Read: Xperi and TiVo Complete Merger]

Radio World: What relevance does the merger have for people who follow the technology of radio and audio consumption?

Joe D’Angelo: Xperi and TiVo have a long-shared history supporting the media and creative industries (i.e. films and music). With little overlap in our legacy platforms, we are able to complement each other to boost our portfolio of offerings. 

Most meaningfully to broadcasters, the combined company will facilitate the delivery of the highest-quality images and much richer, deeper metadata (i.e. genre, release date, songwriter).

This is, of course, great for listeners and has the potential to simplify the radio industry’s reporting obligations. TiVo’s metadata will also help broadcasters better organize their internal content catalogue, make more informed programming decisions, and improve reporting accuracy.

The merger will have benefits across Xperi’s HD Radio, DTS Connected Radio and digital platforms including apps and websites.

[Read: Xperi Announces $3B Merger With TiVo]

RW: What specific technical change or improvement will we see in either HD Radio or in the hybrid radio DTS Connected Radio platform as a result of this business development?

D’Angelo: The TiVo metadata will continue to complement the implementation of the HD Radio Artist Experience feature for broadcasters who have adopted our technology and will provide Xperi with the ability to ensure consistent delivery of deep track information on the DTS Connected Radio platform.

RW: How exactly does a “metadata platform” help improve future radio product?

D’Angelo: Metadata is the key enabler for new digital platforms in terms of discovery, content identification, recommendations and personalization. Voice interfaces are also dependent on rich content metadata — think Alexi, Siri and similar. The metadata platform makes it possible to cut through the content chaos, brings content together, and makes it easy for listeners to find information specifically relevant to them.

RW: The company said that the solutions this merger is poised to bring “take radio and the digital dashboard to a completely new level of discovery and engagement.” Please explain.

D’Angelo: About discovery: Digital radio, both HD Radio in North America and DAB+ in Europe and Australia, has enabled a significant increase in the number of radio stations available to listeners in any given market. No longer is it viable to simply tune up and down a linear radio dial, frequency by frequency, to get a full understanding of all the programming on-air. In New York City, thanks to HD Radio, there are close to 100 FM analog and HD Radio stations; and in London, thanks to DAB+, there are now over 120 audio services.

With all this amazing new content, it is critical to provide new approaches to content discovery, navigation and selection. Metadata is the foundation to make this a reality.

Xperi is now able to present structured, searchable and categorized station information, including live now-playing data for display in the dashboard and driving voice interfaces. The end result is the most advanced and accurate digital program guide for radio to the dashboard.

As for engagement: Once the in-car user has identified and selected (queued) a radio station, Xperi’s platform elevates the audio experience with deep, engaging and informative text and images. This seamless and enhanced presentation becomes possible with the direct support of broadcast programmers, creative teams, and our rich metadata catalogue.

These enhancements, while common on other digital IP based services, are new and revolutionary for broadcast radio. We are now able to level the playing field with pure IP services and give listeners everything they could ask for from a digital audio platform, but from a free, over-the-air, live, and locally curated source. 

By using our platform, listeners will not only be able to get additional information about songs, events, topics, artists, and show hosts, but also interact with the programming by sharing feedback with the stations about song selections and discussion topics.

RW: What else should we know?

D’Angelo: This is just the tip of the iceberg in our combination of technology and services — we will be innovating on a number of fronts to ensure broadcast radio prominence in the dash.

[Read: Xperi Highlights Its In-Cabin Monitoring Efforts]

For example, we have recently won some in-cabin monitoring design-ins with key OEMs, and are looking to develop a feature where we combine that technology with our infotainment solution to provide a personalized user experience.

The post Q&A: Why the Xperi/TiVo Deal Matters for Radio appeared first on Radio World.

Great stories keep popping up about how radio stations have been involved in their communities during the COVID mess. Here’s one from Chippewa Falls, Wis.

WOGO, licensed to Stewards of Sound Inc. and heard on FM and AM, says it was approached by the local high school and asked if it would be possible to broadcast a graduation ceremony as it does football games.

“With so many schools going virtual-only for commencement, which disappointed many, they wanted to find a way to give their seniors something special,” said Sales Manager/Promotions Director Caleb Svendsen in an email about the event.

[Read: This Is the Time to Make Connections]

Sounds like it was a hit. The Chi-Hi “Drive-In Graduation!” featured more than 300 seniors and their families. They started in their decorated vehicles at a fairground; and with the familiar graduation song “Pomp & Circumstance” being played over the air, they processed through town escorted by police. “The community came out to yards and sidewalks to cheer on the Class of 2020 as they listened to the commencement broadcast on WOGO.”

The ceremony was carried on its FM and AM signals and online streaming. The station provided audio to the school’s video stream so relatives and pals could watch and listen. It even arranged for live drone footage that could be watched in real time.

WOGO had prerecorded speeches from the principal and valedictorian. “These speeches were aired as the cars prepared to embark on their procession, and during the journey to the high school to receive diplomas.”

The broadcast also featured senior sports highlights, honored faculty retirees, played the alma mater and school song, and featured student voicemails with “Senior Year Memories.” Music featured the school’s musicians including choirs, orchestras and marching band.

“As the graduates rolled through the bus loop in front of the school and received diplomas from their gloved-and-face-shielded principal, the WOGO graduation play-by-play crew provided live commentary for each and every senior: awards and commendations, future plans, their advice to next year’s class, teacher comments, etc.,” Svendsen wrote. “A percentage of all sponsorship revenue was set aside and, through short essays where seniors both applied and nominated a classmate, $1,600 in scholarships were awarded.”

Favorable June weather helped … and Svendsen adds that the ceremony was shorter than most and not in a hot gym. He called the effort “a collaborative labor of love with school, station and community.”

Tell Radio World about your station’s special event or project. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post How WOGO Helped a Wisconsin School Graduate Seniors appeared first on Radio World.