Industry News

By Rob Dumke

AKRON, OHIO — Travel 20 minutes to the northeast of this Ohio city, and you’ll reach Kent State University.

It’s the home of a Class B FM that offers “Public Radio News for Northeast Ohio,” primarily to Akron and Canton and also to the Cleveland market due north of campus.

That programming isn’t likely to change anytime soon. But, the ownership could be, following the initiation of a “public service operating agreement” at the end of the month.

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An American flag is shown unfurled at the Pentagon in 2018 to mark the anniversary of 9/11. Nearly 3,000 people died in the terror attacks. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

It’s remarkable and unsettling to think that 20 years have passed since that day.

Like most of us over the age of 35 or so, I know exactly where I was on 9/11. Shortly before 9 a.m., I was settling in for a day’s work in my Radio World office overlooking Columbia Pike in northern Virginia.

My colleague Terry Scutt called in from her desk near my office door, telling me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.

I immediately pictured a small single-engine aircraft, though my mind also turned to the B-25 bomber that had struck the Empire State Building in 1945. In that tragedy, which took 14 lives, the ESB itself, though seriously damaged, withstood the crash. I knew that story because I was born in Manhattan and have always held a special feeling for the city.

Vaguely uneasy, I tried to envision what the World Trade Center would look like after a plane had struck it.

Of course I went online to see if I could learn more about what had happened, but the internet was locked up.

Now people were talking in the hallway, saying unbelievable things. That this maybe wasn’t an accident but an attack. Though my memory is fuzzy about the sequence, at some point someone turned on a television, and I no longer had to try to imagine what a skyscraper looked like after being hit by an aircraft.

Unbelievably, within 17 minutes, a second plane struck, and then we knew for sure that these were no accidents. Like the rest of the country, I and my co-workers felt a rising sense of fear along with our horror.

[Related: A Timeline of 9/11]

What we didn’t know in the office was that, even as we tried to absorb these two stomach-wrenching developments, Flight 77, coming from the west, was making a looping maneuver almost directly above our own heads — not once but twice. More murderers were pointing another plane at another target.

Radio World’s office sat 4.7 miles from the home of the American military. The road outside my window pointed directly at the Pentagon, and the jet was now flying directly parallel to that road.

Shortly after it passed over our heads a second time, it struck.

What follows in my memory is even more blurred. Sirens began to scream on Columbia Pike as emergency vehicles rushed to the northeast. Some of us went to the roof and could see smoke rising from the crash site. Office mates were crying and trying to call their spouses and children. Rumors flew in our hallways of yet more planes taken, more terrorists in the air, a threat to the White House. Someone said a bomb had gone off at the State Department.

All this while, images on the TV showed the two towers burning, with people visible in the upper floors, waving, pleading for help. We knew there had to be hundreds if not thousands of people in there. The news anchors were talking in hushed, frightened voices.

Without mercy, the hammer blows continued.

A tower, astonishingly, collapsed in front of our eyes.

A fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania.

A second tower crumbled.

And all under that bright-blue, cloudless sky. Forever, the blue sky of late summer in Virginia will remind me of that day.

The attacks involved the broadcasting industry not just because it was news but because WTC was home to significant television and radio infrastructure.

That infrastructure was lost and stations were knocked off the air. But human beings tended those transmission plants. Bob Pattison, Don DiFranco, Steve Jacobson, Bill Steckman, Rod Coppola and Isaias Rivera were among the almost 3,000 people who died on Sept. 11, 2001.

Shock. Fury. Numbness.

How does one speak about the unspeakable? I feel nausea coming back even as I dig up these memories.

What lesson is to be learned?

To never forget? Certainly. To honor those who died, and to revere those who rush toward such disasters, rather than away from them, to help? Yes. To cherish our lives every day, to try to remember in these divisive times that some values bind Americans together, and that we should be kinder to one another? To work against hate and fanaticism and those who would attack our home and our values?

Of course.

But the feeling is so empty. The loss was so pointless. Americans seem angrier with one another than ever.

And the years move on.

Wherever you find yourself tomorrow morning, please join me and Radio World in remembering those who died; those who lived and saw their lives shattered; and those who answered the call for help.

Paul McLane is editor in chief of Radio World.

 

The post Memories of 9/11 Haunt Me Still appeared first on Radio World.

Neal Scarbrough is joining American Public Media business news franchise, Marketplace. He comes over from FOX Sports where he was VP and Executive Editor.

“We are excited for Neal to come on board as Marketplace’s new Vice President and General Manager. He has an extensive background in media, broadcast journalism and a strong track record when it comes to innovation, program development and building audiences,” said Dave Kansas, President of American Public Media. “In addition, Neal is a proven culture leader, with a deep devotion to diversity and inclusion. We are excited to have him joining the APM leadership team and look forward to adding his gifts and talents to all that we do at Marketplace and APM.”

“What we thought we knew about our economy changes every day, and Marketplace has established a gold standard using interviews and storytelling to make real sense of it to real people,” said Scarbrough. “It’s a big win for me to be able to work with such a dynamic collection of talent, producers and editors.”

Scarbrough will oversee a team of broadcast and digital journalists, editors and producers across radio and on demand in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, London and Shanghai.

Hearst Television has promoted Eric Meyrowitz (left), SVP Sales, and Ashley Gold (right), VP Sales, to Executive Vice Presidents and group heads of the company. In their new roles, Gold and Meyrowitz will share oversight of Hearst Television’s 33 television stations and two radio stations along with Michael J. Hayes, EVP.

“For the last five years, Ashley and Eric have been a fantastic team leading our sales organization to new heights,” said Hearst Television President Jordan Wertlieb. “I am truly excited that both will join Mike Hayes in providing outstanding leadership and assistance to our local operators. Our ability to have such accomplished executives, who have successfully served in both station sales management and general management, seamlessly step into these important roles speaks to the outstanding depth of talent in our company.”

The promotions come on the heels of Frank Biancuzzo, a longtime Hearst Televison EVP, being

This week marks the 20th Anniversary of ‘The Sean Hannity Show’ in syndication. The Premiere Networks syndicated talker is heard on more than 650 stations.

“But for this audience, I would not be where I am today,” shared Hannity. “I am humbled and grateful for the men and women who give me this microphone every day, and to the greatest country in the world, that allowed me the opportunity to pursue this dream. Thank you.”

“Sean is one of the most talented personalities in all of talk radio, and we couldn’t be happier to mark this special milestone with him,” said Julie Talbott, President of Premiere Networks. “His passion for talk radio and dedication to his audience continue to drive growth and success for our station and advertising partners.”

Along with being a member of the Radio Hall of Fame, Hannity has been honored with two Marconi awards.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is offering comment on the Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), on a number of broadcast radio technical rules under consideration for elimination or adjustment.

“NAB appreciates the Commission’s goal of eliminating or updating unnecessary or outmoded regulations and supports many of the changes proposed in the NPRM. However, given the thousands of radio stations currently operating in the U.S. under challenging economic conditions, it is critical that none of the changes cause any unanticipated consequences.”

Several of the proposed changes noted in the NAB comments:

The Commission Should Eliminate the Maximum Rated Power Limit for AM Transmitters-
“The rated power of a transmitter has nothing to do with compliance with the station’s license terms, and elimination of this rule is not likely to result in increased noncompliance. Further, elimination of this rule should broaden the market of transmitters available to stations and enhance the secondary market for AM transmitters by allowing stations of any class to use transmitters of any rated power. Elimination of this rule may also improve the economics of running an AM station and may reduce the number of transmitters scrapped.”

The Commission Should Harmonize the Second-Adjacent Channel Protection Requirement for Class D (FM) Stations-
“NAB submits that the interference potential for Class D stations is no greater than for other classes and there is no reason to have a different second-adjacent channel protection requirement, particularly given the demonstrated success of the less restrictive requirements for other stations. NAB also observes that few, if any, new Class D licenses have been granted in the past decade and therefore the impact of this rule change will be minimal.”

The Commission Should Not Eliminate the Regulatory Requirement to Consider Proximate Transmitting Facilities-
“The Commission proposes to eliminate a section of the rules, which provides that applications proposing the use of FM transmitting antennas in the immediate vicinity of other FM or TV broadcast antennas must include a showing as to the expected effect, if any, of such approximate operation. The Commission concludes that the rule is unnecessary because broadcast radio antennas within this physical proximity are unlikely to create interference problems. NAB respectfully disagrees. We submit that this requirement provides an important legal tool for defining interference protection rights. NAB believes that eliminating the rule is tantamount to instructing applicants not to worry about the potential effects of their operation on existing stations.”

Other proposed changes addressed in the NAB comments included concerns that broadcasters in the Canadian and Mexican border areas should not be adversely harmed by “Spacing” changes in the regulations.

You can view the full comments from the NAB HERE.

How much value does a 1,000-watt Class C AM serving half of a major metropolitan area have in 2021?

For one Hispanic broadcaster in an area with a fast-growing populace of Spanish speakers, there’s a lot of value — as reflected in the price of a transaction seven years in the making that has just been filed with the Commission.

It’s the best Hispanic Radio Conference ever, and you won’t want to miss a minute of it. Join us later this month in Miami!

 

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Screenshot of an SDR receiver on shortwave with the signals of broadcasts and amateur radio signals.

Surprise! Shortwave radio as a broadcast medium is holding its own, despite the intrusion of the internet, transmission cutbacks by major broadcasters such as the BBC World Service and Voice of America and abandonment of the SW bands by other state-owned broadcasters.

Meanwhile, the ways in which people listen to SW radio transmissions are evolving, because SW receiver manufacturers are keeping up with the technological times.

Stayin’ alive

There is no doubt that the variety of stations on the SW bands has declined, due to the end of the Cold War — the propaganda war of which drove the medium in the 1950s and 1960s — and the emergence of the internet.

Nevertheless, “Even with many stations that are long gone, there is still quite a lot to listen to on the SW radio bands,” said Gilles Letourneau, host of the OfficialSWLchannel on YouTube (25,600 subscribers) and editor of the CIDX Messenger magazine column “World of Utilities.”

“You have stations like Radio Romania, Voice of Turkey, Radio Prague, Radio Slovakia and  Radio Tirana, Albania, while WRMI in Miami has popular listener-created programs like Voice of the Report of the Week,” he said.

“The big broadcasters are there as well but they don’t target North America anymore. Still, I get my share of BBC World Service, Radio France International, Voice of America and Vatican Radio mostly targeting Africa, Middle East and Asia but still listenable here at certain times of day.”

“There’s still a lot to listen to,” said Jeff White, WRMI’s general manager and chairman of the High Frequency Coordination Conference.

Most of the stations that have left shortwave, he said, are government-owned or -operated services like Radio Canada International, Channel Africa, Radio Portugal, the Voice of Russia and Radio Australia. But others remain on the air with reduced services, languages or target areas including the VOA, Radio Deutsche Welle (Voice of Germany), Radio France International, Radio Exterior de España and All India Radio.

“Others are operating at near-normal levels, such as Radio Japan, Radio Korea, Radio Romania International, Radio Havana Cuba, the Voice of Turkey, Radio Taiwan International and many more,” White continued.

“Some stations don’t use shortwave transmitters in their own country, but they use overseas relays, including Radio Prague International, Radio Slovakia International, RAE Argentina to the World and Radio Tirana.”

Further, many former government-owned shortwave transmitter sites — such as Radio Netherlands in Madagascar and sites formerly operated by the BBC, Radio France International and Deutsche Welle sites —have been privatized and are selling airtime to private religious, commercial and cultural broadcasters.

The SW bands are still alive with content.

Software-defined radios

Technologically speaking, the big trend in SW radio receivers is the ongoing move to software defined radios.

SDRs harness the processing power of personal computers to perform the majority of their tuning, visual display and audio reproduction features. All that is added is a piece of plug-in hardware that contains the specific radio receiver hardware, and a connection to an outboard antenna of the user’s choice.

Because SDRs leverage the power of users’ computers, they can do much more than conventional standalone SW radio receivers, and at a much lower price.

“Software-defined receivers have had a really big impact on the shortwave listening hobby,” said Letourneau.

“A $200 SDR can rival a much more expensive tabletop receiver in performance. Add the flexibility of viewing a large bandwidth of frequencies in real time on your computer screen, and it all adds to the experience of listening. You can see where a signal has popped up and just click to listen in.”

White agrees. “I think SW SDRs are a major trend that seems to be growing every year. Since most people have personal computers nowadays, it’s a more practical option, and at a quite reasonable cost. As well, SDRs have made dozens of remote-control online SDRs possible worldwide, enabling listeners to tune shortwave receivers halfway around the world on their PCs or telephones and hear shortwave stations that they can’t normally hear in their own area.”

Like standalone shortwave receivers, the shortwave SDR market offers a range of models to choose from at various price points.

“These can be something as compact as a USB-based ‘radio on a dongle’ to a more self-sufficient ‘Kiwi WebSDR’ that is not only a wideband receiver, but also has a Linux-based backbone processor called the ‘Beagle Bone,’ which is very similar to the Raspberry Pi,” said Colin Newell, editor/creator of the DXer.ca website.

“Not only is the Kiwi a 10 kHz to 30 MHz radio, but it is also remotely accessible and controllable on the internet. There can be as many as eight listeners tuning it remotely, so it is virtually eight radios in one.”

Meanwhile, the Perseus line of SDRs can actually capture and record large swathes of the SW radio spectrum at a time.

“Much like the VCRs of old, ‘spectrum capture’ now affords the ‘recording’ of the entire radio spectrum over time for later listening and uncovering of exotic targets,” Newell said.

SDRs can also provide active noise cancelling to eliminate problems with local noise sources from electronics, and support co-channel cancelling to receive a weaker station completely overlapped and buried under another stronger station.

The price of entry-level SDRs can be ridiculously low. For instance, the RTL-SDR Blog 3 “radio on a dongle” is a credible SDR SW receiver and costs $25.

Carl Laufer, owner of the company, says, “The RTL-SDR Blog V3 is one of the cheapest, yet most versatile SDRs on the market. At its core it’s an RTL-SDR that has been heavily modified for better performance and to have additional features. One feature is the ability to easily activate in software the ‘direct sampling mode,’ which allows users to receive SW radio frequencies without the need for an upconverter that would be required by other RTL-SDRs. Granted, the receive performance of direct sampling mode is nowhere near comparable to the high-end, higher-priced SDRs, but it can be a very cheap way to receive SW.”

Conventional radios remain popular

The SDR trend is definitely changing the way that many people listen to SW radio. Still, the complexity of these units for non-technical people, and the fact that they need to be connected to computers, have kept many SW fans tuned to standalone radios.

In this area, portable SW radios are enjoying the most popularity, because the computer technology that has made SDRs possible also supports the manufacture of sensitive, precise portable radios at very affordable prices.

“It has never been so inexpensive to get a decent radio that will get most of what you want on the bands,” said Letourneau.“The trend is towards DSP-based receivers because they are cheap to build and perform quite well. Hundred-dollar radios today perform better than expensive radios of the past.”

The power of DSP and other digital technologies underpins Sangean’s new ATS-909X2 portable SW receiver. At $449.99, the ATS-909X2 is priced below a top-flight tabletop receiver. Yet it does everything a tabletop receiver can do, and more.

Sangean’s ATS-909X2 portable shortwave receiver retails for $449.99 and is heavily featured.

“The ATS-909X2 is the next generation from its predecessor, the ATS-909X, which has been Sangean’s flagship model for the past 10 years,” said Vince Marsiglia, Sangean America’s sales and marketing manager. “Quite a few upgrades were implemented into this new model.”

They includes a bigger LCD screen, better reception, air band for certain regions and 1674 station presets with three individual memory banks.

For long-distance listeners, many excellent DXing digital receivers can be purchased below this price, putting the reception of distant SW stations within the reach of most listeners.

“Meanwhile, many of the cheaper Chinese radios, often with analog dials, are available at popular markets in Africa and other parts of the world for as little as three dollars,” said White. “Built-in telescopic whip antennas on portable shortwave receivers are often very good now, making external antennas less essential.”

Shortwave portables in the collection of Gilles Letourneau include, from left, Tecsun PL-990x, Eton Grundig Edition Traveller III (front), Radiowow R-108, Tecsun PL-680 and PL-330, XHDATA D808, C. Crane CC Skywave SSB, Eton Grundig Executive SSB and Tecsun PL-380.

Some top-performing tabletop SW receivers are still being made, “but only for the radio geek that can afford them,” said Letourneau. “They do offer a slight edge in their options and flexibility, but for most people, shortwave works just fine on an inexpensive portable that is very surprisingly good in sensitivity.”

And for those who yearn for the elegant SW tabletops of old?

Thanks to the durability of this technology, many older models are still available for purchase.

“The retro market in radio is very big, from used tabletop models like Yaesu, Kenwood, Icom, Drake and used portables from Sony, Panasonic and Grundig,” Letourneau told RW. “Old tube receivers are also very in right now, like old Hallicrafters, for example.”

“Radio sales in general, including SW radios, have seen an uptick in sales since COVID-19,” said Marsiglia. “Individuals working and staying at home crave some form of connection more than ever. Turning on a radio is the easiest way to connect with your favorite music, sports, news and so much more.”

The post Shortwave Radios Keep Up With Tech appeared first on Radio World.

The entity that calls itself the “only” sports betting network dedicated to providing real-time news and analysis across every major sport 24/7 has signed a content distribution deal with YouTube TV.

The arrangement means that subscribers have access to the DraftKings Inc. subsidiary’s sports betting and entertainment programming.

To view VSiN’s content, a YouTube TV Sports Plus add-on package for $10.99 per month is required.

“VSiN is incredibly excited to bring its new 24/7 fall lineup of premier sports betting analysis to YouTube TV,” said Brian Musburger, founder and Chief Executive Officer of VSiN.  “As the first sports betting content provider of the streaming service, we look forward to delivering original programming from some of the biggest names in the industry to the millions of YouTube TV subscribers and the growing number of fans who wager on sports across the country.”

The VSiN channel on YouTube TV gives subscribers access to such talk personalities Mitch Moss and Pauly Howard, sports betting analytics expert Gill Alexander, former football executive Michael Lombardi, and veteran sportscaster Brent Musburger.

— RBR+TVBR West Coast Bureau

Marketplace named Neal Scarbrough as its new vice president and general manager. He succeeds Deborah Clark.

“Scarbrough will oversee a team of broadcast and digital journalists, editors and producers across radio and on demand in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, London and Shanghai,” the organization said in an announcement by Dave Kansas, president of American Public Media.

He cited Scarbrough’s background in media, broadcast journalism and audience and program development.

[Visit Radio World’s People News Page]

Scarbrough most recently was VP and executive editor at Fox Sports, where he also co-founded and co-chaired the Fox Sports Inclusion Council, focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the organization.

Earlier he directed broadcast operations for the New England Sports Network and was senior executive producer at Al Jazeera America. He also was VP of digital media for Comcast’s Versus Sports Network, worked at the Denver Post and was editor-in-chief at ESPN.com.

Send news of engineering and executive personnel changes to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

The post Scarbrough Takes VP/GM Post at Marketplace appeared first on Radio World.