Radio World

It’s not easy to get the FCC’s Media Bureau to cancel a forfeiture. But a broadcaster in Alabama has done so after pointing out a problem with the commission’s own online database system.

The commission had issued a notice of apparent liability to Autaugaville Radio, which owns AM station WXKD in Brantley, Ala., and an FM translator in Troy. The FCC said the broadcaster had failed to file for license renewal by April 1 as required, so it was apparently on the hook for a $4,500 penalty.

The station wrote back saying its attorney had thought the deadline was in June and that it did file on June 18. That explanation alone would be unlikely to impress the commission; but the station also told the FCC that until June 16, the FCC’s own LMS filing database did not reflect the actual expiration dates of the licenses.

“Instead, LMS listed the stations’ licenses as expiring on April 1, 2028,” according to a commission summary. “The licensee states that, until this error was brought to the attention of the bureau staff by licensee’s counsel, and corrected on June 16, 2021, LMS would not accept applications to renew the stations’ licenses.”

The bureau staff found that this was, in fact the case.

“While the licensee could have discovered this issue sooner if it had correctly calculated the deadline for filing applications to renew the stations’ licenses, the licensee brought the error to our attention upon its discovery, and filed the applications to renew the stations’ licenses two days after the error was corrected,” the commission wrote.

So the FCC has canceled the NAL and admonished the broadcaster for violating the rules.

The post Station Avoids Fine Thanks to FCC Database Error appeared first on Radio World.

Erica Farber

Erica Farber and Bill Siemering, prominent figures in U.S. commercial radio and public radio, respectively, are among eight new members of the Radio Hall of Fame.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications also named its first 33 “Legends” inductees, one for each year of the hall’s existence.

Farber is president/CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau and the former publisher/CEO of Radio & Records. Siemering played a critical role in the founding of National Public Radio.

Bill Siemering

The other inductees are air talent. They are Brother Wease, Elliot Segal, Dan Patrick, Kim Komando, Javier Romero and “Preston & Steve,” aka Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison.

All will be honored at a ceremony in Chicago in October. The Radio Hall of Fame was founded by the Emerson Radio Corp. in 1988. The museum has run it since 1991.

The Radio Hall of Fame also decided to recognize of past innovators who have since died.

“While the industry celebrates 100 years of existence, the industry’s Hall of Fame is only 33 years into existence. The centennial milestone provides an opportunity to recognize the talents and efforts of 33 individuals in 2021, as well,” it stated.

The Legacy inductees are:

• Aku aka Hal Lewis, air personality in Honolulu in 1960-1980’s on KGU and KGMB;
• Raul Alarcon Sr., radio executive and founder of Spanish Broadcast Systems (SBS);
• Jackson Armstrong, air personality in Cleveland in 1960–1980’s on WIXY, WKYC, WKBW and other
• stations;
• Dr. Joy Browne, syndicated talk radio air personality based from WOR-AM / New York City;
• Frankie Crocker, air personality in Buffalo and New York City in 1950–1980’s on WUFO, WWRL,
• WMCA  and WBLS-FM;
• Don Cornelius, air personality, WVON-AM, Chicago;
• Tom Donahue, air personality in San Francisco in 1960– 1980’s on KYA, KMPX, KSAN;
• Bill Drake, programmer and founder, Drake-Chenault Enterprises;
• Arlene Francis, air personality in New York City in 1930-1960’s and first female host of NBC’s
• Monitor;
• Barry Gray, talk radio air personality in 1940-1980’s in New York City on WOR and WMCA;
• Toni Grant, talk radio air personality in Los Angeles in 1970-1980’s on KABC-AM and others via
• syndication;
• Petey Greene, air personality in Washington D.C. in 1960-1980’s on WOL-AM;
• Maurice “Hot Rod“ Hulbert, air personality in Baltimore and Memphis in 1950 -1970’s;
• Jocko Henderson, air personality in Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore in 1950-1970’s;
• Rodney Jones, air personality in Chicago in the 1960’s on WVON-AM;
• Chuck Leonard, air personality in New York City in 1960-1970’s on WWRL, WABC, WXLO, WRKS,
• WBLS and others;
• Melvin Lindsey, the originator of the “Quiet Storm“ late-night music programming format and
• Washington D.C air personality    the 1970-1980’s;
• Ron Lundy, air personality in New York City in 1960–1980’s on WABC and WCBS-FM;
• Mary Margaret McBride, nationally syndicated talk personality based in New York City, 1930-1970’s;
• Ruth Ann Meyer, programmer of New York City radio stations in 1950-1960’s;
• Murray “Murray the K” Kaufman, air personality in New York City, 1950-1980’s on stations WINS and
• WOR-FM;
• Manuel “Paco“ Navarro, air personality in New York City in 1970-1980’s on WKTU-FM;
• Pat O’Day, air personality, station owner and concert promoter in Seattle in 1960-1980’s;
• Eddie O’Jay, air personality and pioneer of R&B radio in Milwaukee and Cleveland in 19960-1980’s;
• Stu Olds, radio executive and CEO, Katz Media 1970-2010;
• Alison Steele, air personality in New York City in 1960-1980’s on WNEW-AM and WNEW-FM;
• “The Real” Don Steele, air personality in 1950-1980’s in Los Angeles on various stations;
• Martha Jean “The Queen“ Steinberg, air personality in Memphis and Detroit in 1950-1980’s;
• Todd Storz, radio executive and owner of Storz Broadcasting Company;
• Jay Thomas, air personality in New York and Los Angeles in 1970-1990’s;
• Rufus Thomas, air personality in Memphis in 1950-1980’s;
• McHenry “Mac” Tichenor, radio executive, broadcast station owner of Tichenor Media (Heftel);
• Nat D. Williams, air personality in Memphis in 1940-1970’s on WDIA-AM.

Museum Chairman David Plier said, “The combined list is the most diverse group of nominees in the hall of fame’s history, which is reflective of the audiences that are and have been listening to radio stations across America all these years.”

The post Radio Hall of Fame Announces 2021 Inductees appeared first on Radio World.

The FCC Media Bureau has found an FM translator permittee liable for $3,500 for apparently willfully violating FCC Rules regarding filing a renewal license.

The bureau issued a construction permit for FM translator station W285FR in Palatka, Fla., to Natkim Radio in 2018 with an expiration date of Jan. 17, 2021. However, Natkim did not file a covering license application by that date and the permit expired. Nearly two months later Natkim filed a petition for reconsideration demonstrating that the translator was built and that they wanted to proceed with licensing. The bureau treated the petition as a waiver request, granted it, reinstated the permit and gave the permittee until Aug. 13, to file a covering license application. Just before the deadline, on Aug. 12, Natkim filed the application.

[Read: For Willfully Operating Without a License, Permittee Handed $3,500 Forfeiture]

But the permittee failed to file a covering license as required by FCC Rules and continued transmitting for nearly a month after the permit expired.

As a result, the Media Bureau issued a Notice of Apparent Liability. The commission’s Forfeiture Policy Statement establishes a base forfeiture amount of $3,000 for failing to file a required form and a base forfeiture of $10,000 for construction or operation without a permit. Based on its review of the facts and circumstances, the bureau found that a $7,000 base forfeiture is appropriate because the licensee failed to file a covering license application for the translator and engaged in unauthorized operation after the permit expired.

Taking into consideration all of the factors required by the Communications Act, the bureau decided to reduce the forfeiture further to $3,500 because the station is a translator and as such the station provides a secondary service.

As a result, Natkim Radio has 30 days to pay the full amount or file a written statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the proposed forfeiture.

 

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Taking its name for Austin’s legacy area code, 512 Audio, based in that city, introduces itself with a handful of products, notably a pair of microphones.

Of chief interest to Radio World readers would be the Limelight microphone (shown). Roughly resembling a black version of a well-known radio broadcast mic standard, Limelight has a hypercardioid pattern with a dynamic capsule that “meets the needs of today’s podcasters, broadcasters, and streamers,” according to the company.

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

It has a built-in pop filter and low-frequency cut filter at 100Hz. The company specs Limelight 50 Hz–15 kHz.

Also coming out of the 512 Audio stable is the Skylight, a large diaphragm cardioid studio-style microphone. Both mics go for $199.99.

512 Audio is also offering a set of headphones, along with a boom arm and a metal mesh pop filter.

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

Info: www.512audio.com

 

The post Introducing 512 Audio appeared first on Radio World.

State broadcast associations are telling the Federal Communications Commission that its planned increase in regulatory fees will be harmful to radio and TV stations at a time when many stations face “an increasingly precarious situation.”

They also want the commission to start a proceeding that would lead to fees being allocated more fairly across industries that benefit from the FCC’s work.

[“Broadcasters Face Higher FCC Regulatory Fees”]

The leaders of several associations met via tele-conference calls last week with staff members of three FCC commissioners. The associations include those in Indiana, Minnesota, Georgia, Montana and Missouri.

The state groups echoed arguments that have been made to the FCC — so far without success — by the National Association of Broadcasters.

The associations described financial challenges facing broadcasters, especially those in small markets, where stations may be the only source of local news and information as well as a balance to misinformation on social media.

According to ex parte filings summarizing the calls, the associations complained about increases of “double-digit percentages year over year” and said that the FCC’s published Broadcast Totals “show a loss of at least 122 full-power commercial AM and FM radio stations since 2019, demonstrating the increasingly precarious situation many stations face.”

They also noted that the FCC’s most recent auction failed to attract a bidder for any of the offered AM station authorizations and for a third of the FM station authorizations.

This, they said, “further confirms an increasingly obvious fact: that the FCC’s proposal to charge broadcasters 16% of its operating costs while those same broadcasters hold only 0.07% of the spectrum regulated by the commission is an unsustainable approach to funding the commission’s operations.”

They also said that the fee increases “are due almost entirely to the commission’s decision to treat its work under the Broadband DATA Act as commission ‘overhead,’ to be spread across all FCC regulatees despite the fact that broadcasters have no connection to, and do not benefit from, that work in any way.”

That, they say, is contrary to the will of Congress.

“The commission’s traditional license-centric approach to setting regulatory fees is neither legal nor sustainable,” the associations wrote in their filings.

They said that approach “merely forces broadcasters to subsidize through excessive regulatory fees their fiercest competitors: social media and technology companies that consume vast amounts of the commission’s time and resources while paying no regulatory fees whatsoever.

“This subsidy is particularly offensive when some of these resources broadcasters are paying for are being used to encroach on broadcaster’s spectrum through unlicensed uses, reducing the ‘benefit’ of that spectrum to broadcasters while simultaneously benefitting technology companies who conveniently avoid having to pay for the cost of those proceedings since they are not an FCC licensee.”

The associations told FCC staffers that current law now requires it to diversify its portfolio of regulatory fee payors.

They want the commission to start a proceeding to examine how to bring its regulatory fee processes into compliance by expanding the universe of regulatory fee payors and acknowledging that the amount of fees must be governed by what is called the “touchstone” of the benefit the commission delivers to the payor.

[Read one of the ex parte summaries as filed with the commission.]

 

The post State Associations Push Back on FCC Fee Increases appeared first on Radio World.

Cornelius Gould has joined Angry Audio with the title of audio processing architect. Among his jobs will be helping to develop products for new media content creators.

Angry Audio is a Tennessee-based company founded in 2019 by Mike “Catfish” Dosch. It specializes in making “gizmos and gadgets.”

“Broadcasters around the world know Gould for his Omnia.11 work,” the company said in a press release. “What they may not realize is that he has been designing, building and tuning audio processing for decades. In fact, he is considered by many to be one of the world’s foremost audio processing authorities.”

Dosch said Angry Audio has a lot of customers working in podcasting and live-audio streaming. “With Corny on board, we have some new product ideas that should be real eye-openers,” he said.

Gould is best known in radio for his decade-plus at Telos Alliance. Before that he founded a streaming company and worked as an engineer for CBS Radio. More recently he was with Futuri Media in an R&D role; he also co-hosts a podcast about rocketry.

Send announcements for People News to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Corny Gould Joins Angry Audio appeared first on Radio World.

The Media Bureau has agreed to cancel a Notice of Apparent Liability against the licensee of an low-power FM station in Florida for a renewal violation — but not before the station was admonished by the Federal Communications Commission for operating without a license.

The bureau sent a liability notice to Minority Broadcasting Association, licensee of LPFM station WPJM in Palatka, Fla., for apparently willfully violating the FCC Rules by failing to file a license renewal application on time and engaging in unauthorized operation of the station.

[Read: LPFM Station Allowed to Resume Operations]

According to the rules, the bureau has the authority to set a base forfeiture of $3,000 for failing to file a required form. The guidelines also specify a base forfeiture of $10,000 for construction or operation without authorization. In Minority Broadcasting’s case, the bureau proposed a reduced forfeiture amount of $3,500 since the station is an LPFM and is providing a secondary service.

Minority Broadcasting responded to the commission’s notice and responded that its failure to file the application was not willful; rather, it resulted from unintentional oversight and argued that the commission did not give them enough opportunity to achieve compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act. Minority Broadcasting also requested cancellation of the notice due to an inability to pay.

But the bureau said that violations resulting from failure to become familiar with the FCC’s rules are still willful violations — even if the licensee didn’t intentionally set out to break the rules. As a result, the commission said it was not persuaded by Minority Broadcasting’s argument that the mistake was just an accident.

The bureau also said that Minority Broadcasting’s interpretation of the Administrative Procedure Act is also incorrect. The rules state that the suspension of an license is lawful only if the licensee has been given notice and an opportunity to achieve compliance. But here, the commission is not attempting to revoke or cancel the station’s license, so in this case the act has no standing, the bureau said.

The bureau also explained that in order for the commission to consider reducing or cancelling a forfeiture, the licensee must submit federal tax returns for the last three years or some other objective documentation showing the licensee’s current financial status. Minority Broadcasting said its financial status was clear: it doesn’t have a bank account and any funds needed for station operations are obtained through donations.

The commission accepted Minority Broadcasting’s showing that payment of the proposed forfeiture would create a financial hardship. The bureau also agreed to cancel the proposed forfeiture but not before admonishing Minority Broadcasting for its violation of the rules.

 

The post Florida Low-Power FM Station Has Liability Canceled by Media Bureau appeared first on Radio World.

To address misinformation about COVID-19 in local areas, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is awarding a total of $275,000 in emergency grants to 14 public media stations across the country.

The grants — up to $20,000 each — will go to public television and radio stations in areas with low vaccination and high infection rates or in hotspots with a growing number of coronavirus infections.

Funding will be used to produce or extend programming about the pandemic, to organize community outreach efforts about vaccines and to develop multiplatform public service announcement campaigns.

“Public media stations, locally operated, work with their communities through partnerships of trust,” said Patricia Harrison, CPB president and CEO. “General managers of stations serving America’s communities that are hard hit by the pandemic are committed to breaking through the cycle of misinformation regarding the COVID-19 vaccine and are providing information that is saving lives.”

Some of the 14 grants include Mississippi Public Broadcasting in Jackson, Miss. The station will produce a series of radio and television broadcast specials focused on COVID-19. The station will also host a virtual town hall with medical experts and produce a social media campaign designed to combat information. Others, like Wyoming Public Media is Laramie, Wyo., will spotlight personal testimonials about COVID infections and increase newsroom reporting on the pandemic’s impact on the state economy. In the east, West Virginia Public Broadcasting in Charleston, W.Va., will orchestrate a multiplatform outreach effort to younger audiences in communities that have been vaccine hesitant.  The station will also work with kids programs like PBS KIDS to reach families with young children.

Other station’s include Arkansas PBS in Conway, Ark., Boise State Public Radio in Boise, KERA in Dallas, Nine PBS in St. Louis, KRSU in Tulsa, Okla., KOSU in Stillwater, Okla., Louisiana Public Broadcasting and WRKF in Baton Rouge, WBHM in Birmingham, Ala., WCTE in Cookeville, Tenn., and WJCT Public Media in Jacksonville, Fla.

 

The post Grants to Help Public Stations Address COVID Misinformation appeared first on Radio World.

Getty Images/Dmitri Lobyrev Eyeem

The author of this commentary is communication lecturer and faculty director at WGSU(FM)  at SUNY Geneseo, Rochester, N.Y.

Many years ago, more than I care to remember, I heard a radio interview with a major rock artist of the time. I think it was the late Tom Petty. As I recall, the interviewer asked about his politics. His response was something along the lines of, “Man, I’m for everybody.”

It was an astute reply by a savvy public figure recognizing: a.) He was a music artist, not a politician or expert on all things; b.) He had fans of, undoubtedly, many political stripes; and c.) He didn’t want to alienate any of those fans, which was smart — if in a purely financial sense.

Four decades later, celebrities, corporations and, yes, even radio stations big and small seem to glom onto the latest social fad, fancy or frenzy by posting symbols such as colorful flags or raised fists.

Is it wise for radio stations?

Signaling virtue?

The marketers might say so. After all, what’s more important than connecting with the “youth audience” no matter the cause, wrongly viewing “youth” as a monolithic group.

I think they’re wrong — and that Tom Petty was right.

Customizing social-media logos, for instance, to conform with the latest cultural or social fad often represents, at best, virtue signaling — potentially alienating up to half a station’s listeners or more, if many — including those supporting a particular cause — view it as disingenuous corporate pandering, which, let’s be honest, it frequently is.

Consider the reactions to some of the most inane virtue-signaling social-media posts by big corporations. When followers asked Oreo, for instance, “But what does this have to do with cookies?!” … it’s a really good question. And how many radio stations shared rainbow-flag images in June but were too afraid to post the U.S. flag on Memorial Day, Flag Day and Independence Day, even though most of their listeners are Americans … living in America?

This isn’t to suggest that radio stations should avoid ever taking a stand on anything, which would be rather bland — especially for formats, such as talk, with consistent political slants.

But, for others, especially music-formatted stations, first know your audience, and ask yourself beforehand: Is it worth it? Do I really want to potentially alienate up to half — or more — of my listeners? Then think about your own motivation: Is it genuine? Or could it be seen as “jumping on the bandwagon” and pandering, if, deep down, there’s a good chance it is?

For many consumers, virtue signaling (“woke smoke” from “woke capitalism”) is growing wearying and off-putting, with a strong chance of backlash. So whether selling Oreo cookies or trying to reach radio audiences in especially challenging times for legacy media, why make the effort even harder by potentially alienating half your customer base? Instead, consider adhering to the venerable business-school advice: “Stick to the knitting“ — with what you know.

Tom Petty had it right: Just be “for everybody.”

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

The post Radio, Stick to Your Knitting appeared first on Radio World.

Joe Schifano

This is one in a series of interviews with companies planning to exhibit at the 2021 NAB Show in October.

Joe Schifano is senior director of business development at NPR Distribution.

Radio World: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends that radio professionals should be watching for at the show?

Joe Schifano: The convergence of broadcast radio and IP delivery of audio. Automobile dashboards are becoming an entertainment center, and broadcast radio will need to remain a player in the automobile.

RW: What will be your most important news or message for attendees?

Schifano: The move of our Hub product from a standalone service to sharing the same platform as our flagship public radio product ContentDepot. The move to the ContentDepot platform will greatly improve the user interface. It will also enable us to share features of ContentDepot such as MetaPub, permissioning of programming, receiver monitoring as well as spot insertion.

RW: What specifically will be new? And how is it different from what’s on the market?

Schifano: We are in the final stage of upgrading our Hub product. What we are finding are that networks that have been supporting their own content distribution — satellite and/or terrestrial — do not want to be in the uplink business anymore. They want someone else to manage their distribution system so that they can concentrate on other parts of their business — like creating revenue.

The great thing about the Hub is that the content creator maintains control of the content, and who it’s delivered to, without the headache of managing an uplink operation.

No more cap-ex discussions or maintenance of an aging infrastructure. No more calls in the middle of the night because of an uplink problem that needs to be taken care of immediately. No more paying for never-ending support contracts on the system you purchased or worrying about software upgrades.

Promotional image for NPR Distribution Hub.

The only piece of equipment needed at the content provider’s location is an audio codec. Everything else is located at our facilities in Washington, D.C. Additionally, we are fully redundant with a manned location in St. Paul, Minn. Our new interface simplifies the process of scheduling programs, spots, cues and more. Localization of programming and spots becomes much easier, which in turn enables more revenue opportunities.

RW: Affiliates of the public radio satellite system have been in the process of completing a major receiver switchover. What’s the status of that?    

Schifano: The project is complete. Our headend was completely replaced, as well as all the receivers at nearly 400 public radio stations. We are now fully redundant at our primary location and backup location.

RW: Will your booth or customer interactions change because of the pandemic?

Schifano: Although we will have a team on the floor in the Central Hall, it probably will not be our complete team. At least for the October show, we will be making use of remote meeting technology to answer any questions that may come up.

After a long 18 months of the pandemic, our team is anxious to see both our existing customers as well as prospects in person. Although we have survived in the virtual world, we really are looking forward to things getting back to normal.

Readers looking for more information on NPR Distribution’s Hub service can visit https://www.nprds.org/hub.

The post NPR Distribution Improves Its Hub appeared first on Radio World.

Ben Palmer, right, succeeds his late father Mike as president of Arrakis Systems.

Benjamin Palmer has been named the president of Arrakis Systems, following the death of his father, founder Michael Palmer.

The firm’s ownership remains in the Palmer family. Siblings Aaron Palmer and Melissa Freeman also work at the company, in software development and automation respectively.

[Read: Mike Palmer, Founder of Arrakis, Dies at 69]

Ben Palmer joined the company in 2008 after graduating from Brigham Young University with a degree in manufacturing engineering. His roles have included worldwide sales manager, webmaster, sales engineer and vice president.

During his tenure, Ben Palmer developed software for the web-based Arrakis inventory control system, and was buyer and manager of purchasing for manufacturing. He developed software for employee time accounting, and created the Arrakis music libraries. He was the sole hardware design engineer for the DARC surface AOIP mixing console, ARC-5 analog console, Harmony Soundcard, Harmony Switcher and dual channel mic preamp; and completed the software design for the DARC Virtual AoIP console software product.

 

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Liz Muller and C.E. Simon

During the global pandemic and under lockdown, theatrical stage director and performer Liz Muller had to find a fresh medium to express her creative vision. In starting this new chapter, she co-produced four immersive audio podcasts — “Three Ghosts” and the trilogy “AFTERWORDS.”

“Three Ghosts” is a musical based on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The cast included 46 people worldwide, and they all recorded independently during the height of the pandemic. It was released Dec. 20, 2020.

“AFTERWORDS” is described as “emotional, hilarious, scary, sad and totally vulgar stories.” Episode 1, The Mouse & The Cat, was released on May 31, 2021.

No stranger to immersive productions in a theatrical setting, it wasn’t a stretch for Muller to take the leap into audio storytelling. She already had the basis with Pipe Dream Theatre, the production company she co-founded with collaborator, partner and composer C. E. Simon.

Live theater, immersive audio

However, it was a distinct challenge to be able to take live theatrical productions and adapt them to immersive podcasts.

Theatrical productions often involve 40 to 50 actors speaking their lines, vocalists, musicians, as well as a composer and sound designer.

As Muller explained, it was no small feat to be able to corral all of that talent, remotely, let alone secure recordings.

“To jump into 3D sound and decide to create immersive podcasts of that nature was an undertaking for certain,” said Muller. “Everyone’s got GarageBand, but a lot of people have never touched it, or they don’t have a microphone, or they’re recording on their iPhones, which is wild.”

She added, “Nobody is ever in a studio with me. I record the entire show, all parts, all voices, everything. And then I chunk it up into phrases, and I send it out to all of the cast members. And then they record themselves independently. Then I receive massive amounts of dialogue, and then compile it.”

Harnessing ambience

Muller said that because studio sessions weren’t possible, all of the voiceover work is recorded by the talent on readily available USB microphones and other devices. Studio treatments are encouraged, and audio is cleaned up afterwards.

“Most of our cast use their own USB microphones, since they are all over the world,” said Muller. “Some people are on their iPhones, and I’ve got them hanging a blanket up in a corner just to dampen the sound. And then we use effects and plugins, and get rid of gurgles, crackles, and whatever else is going on.”

Muller explained that there are a lot of variables when talent record their parts remotely.

“We still get these files with this crazy ambient noise and we’re like, ‘Are you at the airport?’” said Muller. “And it’s just like cleaning and mending, so that we can create the best product possible.”

Muller said that there’s also a challenge when you have so many recordings supplied from talent, all with different ambiences to contend with.

“Dealing with 50 different room ambiences is bonkers, and then getting that to sound like it’s even remotely in the same place. Sometimes it’s just trickery,” said Muller.

Theater informs storytelling

Muller said that C. E. Simon is involved in all aspects of the production. This includes writing, score, podcast sound design, Foley and mixing.

“He is the composer, he writes the script, he does all of the final podcast sound design,” said Muller. “He does all the Foley work and it comes from either libraries or subscription-based stuff. Or literally it’s us with a digital Tascam DR40, running around making noises and slamming doors and going up stairs, recording all of that.”

Muller and Simon both approach immersive audio storytelling much like they would approach a theatrical stage production or a musical.

“As a stage director, whenever I see words or hear music, I inevitably see the pictures of what people are doing,” said Muller.

“As Simon and I are working on the audio telling of a story, we look at each scene as we might as stage directors. Such as when there are two people in a room. They’re sitting down at a table and then they have to get up. There has to be movement. And now we’re just doing it with sound instead of visual.”

She added: “What we’ve learned is that it’s very hard to put a sound right in front of you. If there’s a human being in real life, right in front of you, you don’t hear sound like this. You hear sound globally, like it’s around you. A lot of times it’s more effective to pan it to the side or put it behind you because it’s a surprise.”

Some nuts and bolts

In terms of recording her own voiceovers, Muller uses a Shure Beta 58A mic through a Focusrite Scarlett Solo interface. The primary audio work is done in Logic Pro X. All of the assets from the remote talent are merged into Logic Pro by Muller. Muller then performs the pre-mixes for each scene, which includes the “comping” of the takes from the talent.

She puts together a first pass for timing, for tempo, and to capture the rhythm of scenes. Then she hands it off to Simon for further mixing and scoring. Simon uses the Accusonus ERA Bundle Standard for most of the audio repair. Once in the closing stages, Muller and Simon dial in the final mix of the podcast.

Muller said that if someone is planning to do immersive audio podcasts, especially on this scale, it’s a good idea to have others to help.

“Anybody jumping into 3D audio podcasts, get yourself a team,” said Muller. “It is not easy, and it’s time-consuming. It’s definitely different from working in stereo sound. But it’s so worth it.”

Ian Cohen covers pro audio, immersive audio, storytelling and music creation. He’s producer/host at Malibu’s 99.1 FM KBUU.

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The leaders of every state broadcast association with an annual summer or fall conference have been asking themselves the same questions lately, trying to determine the best and safest way to hold their events in light of the ever-evolving COVID situation.

The Georgia Association of Broadcasters is one of the associations with an event on the fall calendar. The challenges to show organizers are reflected in its latest email to members:

“The GAB board of directors, along with our staff and partners, have been in deep discussion on how best to approach this year’s convention, GABCON, the GABBY Awards banquet and our Hall of Fame luncheon,” wrote Bob Houghton and David Hart, GAB president and chairman, respectively.

[Visit the Radio World Calendar]

“At this time, we are continuing to move forward with our live, in-person events as scheduled for Oct. 22–23. Over the next few weeks, we will continue to monitor the current public health situation and make adjustments if needed.”

Local rules in Atlanta mean that unless something changes by October, GAB attendees will have to wear masks indoors at the conference, regardless of vaccination status, except when eating or drinking. Masks will be available on site. Visitors must also consent to touchless temperature checks.

Houghton and Hart encouraged members to register for the event, saying that if a person later changes their mind and wants to cancel, they will get a full refund without penalty. GAB also is offering a 50% registration discount through the end of August.

Other upcoming regional events on the broadcast industry calendar include the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Broadcasters Clinic and the Virginia Association of Broadcasters Annual Convention, both in September; the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association Sound Bites 2021 conference and the Midwest Broadcast & Multimedia Technology Conference, co-produced by the state associations of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, both in November; and the previously postponed Alabama Broadcasters Association conference in January.

Submit news about your event to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

The post GAB Moving Ahead With October Conference appeared first on Radio World.

The author is chief engineer of Minnesota Public Radio.

Legacy T1 circuits have long provided radio broadcasters with a reliable way to contribute and distribute program audio. The telecom industry’s transition to IP has introduced challenges to broadcasters with existing T1 infrastructures.

While many of these TDM-based networking and transport systems remain in service, the price of T1 circuits continues to rise while quality of service has grown uneven. Telcos have also shortened contractual renewals for these circuits, with an obvious eye toward a T1 sunset.

Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media, with 46 public radio stations and 41 translators serving listeners in eight states, are among those that retain a high-performing T1 infrastructure for audio contribution and distribution.

[Read More Buyers Guide Reviews Here]

We currently operate a hybrid infrastructure that includes IP codecs from a mix of vendors.

Management of our long-distance connections to the PRSS NOC is among my key responsibilities. Our APM program portfolio, which includes BBC World Service, C24 and Marketplace, reaches nearly 17 million listeners each week. To maintain that level of listenership we need to ensure our programs reach ContentDepot in Washington, and for this we have long relied on GatesAir Intraplex T1 equipment.

With T1 services fading, we are transitioning these circuits to IP with GatesAir. We now uplink a number of live streams using Intraplex IP Link 200 codecs. Full-time 24/7 streams include the BBC World Service and our own C24 Classical Music Service. BBC is delivered from London, while we originate C24 in our St. Paul studios.

The reliability of IP-type circuits is proven, but giving up the circuit diversity that T1 offers was a concern. We have found that the IP Link 200 does the job well, including the transatlantic hop from London.

We have also established a bidirectional link between Washington and Los Angeles, and we intend to serve more points from St. Paul with additional codecs. We expect to have more than 20 IP Link 200s in service before long.

We’ve gained experience with codecs over the years, and the IP Link 200’s feature set is impressive. It’s ideal for our deployment strategy with its advanced functionalities, including two bidirectional feeds and additional front-panel monitoring/GUI features when needed.

Most important is GatesAir’s Dynamic Stream Splicing software, which lets us send multiple identical streams over two separate paths to borrow data from each other in compensation for packet loss. We also use Intraplex LiveLook software to monitor stream performance and network conditions. Both systems, notably DSS, have been invaluable to our daily operations and stream reliability.

The DSS software adds even more value when using public internet. Experience has confirmed that the IP Link 200 performs reliably and consistently over two public internet circuits with stream splicing. I expect that our first IP-based STL will be GatesAir as well.

Our initial goals with the T1 to IP transition have been modest. We wanted to efficiently and reliably deliver program audio from point A to point B, and show our staff the potential these units offer as we expand our contribution and distribution services. The IP Link 200 has encouraged us to look beyond T1 and transition more of our contribution and distribution services to IP.

Info: Contact Keith Adams at GatesAir at 1-513-459-3447 or visit www.gatesair.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 User Report: MPR Tackles T1 to IP Transition With GatesAir appeared first on Radio World.

As director of Omnia radio processing sales for Telos Alliance, I get to talk to some very IT-savvy engineers who have either moved their audio processing into virtual environments or are flowcharting future deployment.

From these conversations, I created a checklist of some things you should consider before virtualizing your audio processing.

Before we dive into the list, however, we should answer the most often-asked questions: “What is this virtualization business? And why is it useful?”

Virtualization

Virtualization is the concept of taking a server and, with the help of virtualization software, partitioning it so that it appears as several virtual servers running their own operating system, allowing the user to employ the server for several different applications instead of just one.

As applied to audio processing, imagine running hundreds of FM, HD or stream-processing instances, delivering content where needed and backed up on-premise or off-premise (cloud).

Why virtualize?

There are a number of good arguments for virtualization. Among them:

• Less dedicated broadcast hardware. Saves on IT costs and electricity, too.
• Backup, disaster recovery, redundancy and uptime. Think multiple servers to load balance or for failover, keeping your infrastructure more available and allowing for multiple backups or cloud deployment.
• Local studio rule changes. Send FM composite direct to transmitter sites over redundant paths using Omnia’s µMPX codec (MoIP or Multiplex over IP).
• Combine all efforts for FM-RDS, HD and streaming! Run multiple instances on one server. Smaller footprint, easier to manage, provides consistency.
• Spin up or turn off instances as needed, operate on-premise or in the cloud. Need a holiday stream?
• Sign-on a new station or format? Changes like these can be handled quickly.
• Future-friendly. With software, we can add new features as standards or operating systems change.

Just over a year ago, Omnia released its first virtual audio processing ecosystem, Omnia Enterprise 9s, which is designed for high-density or virtual deployment. It’s based on the sound, performance, features and interface of our famous Omnia.9 hardware audio processing platform.

Pictured in Fig. 1 is the interface of the Omnia Enterprise 9s, which, if you are familiar with an Omnia.9, is identical.

Fig. 1: Omnia Enterprise 9s interface showing Omnia.9 display metering with processing activity, I/O loudness readings, and frequency analysis for one station. Up to eight are available from this interface and NFremote.

However, look closely and you will see one major difference: options for Stations 1 through Station 8. That’s separate processing paths for eight radio stations, all running on one server.

Checklist to Deploy Processing Virtually

1- Bandwidth — Not everyone has access to fiber. With the Omnia µMPX codec in the Enterprise 9s, you don’t need that kind of bandwidth to send the entire FM baseband with RDS and stereo pilot across a link. With µMPX, it passes at a low bandwidth of 400 kbps without degradation of the audio baseband or transcoding artifacts. FLAC can be sent at 800 kbps.

2- Secondary ISP — Seriously consider a secondary ISP to carry your content or composite signal in the event of main failure. You’ll find two NICs on the rear of the Omnia MPX Node for full redundancy capability. For that matter, Starlink (from Elon Musk) may soon become an option for transmitter sites way past “the end of the internet.”

3- Appropriate Server, CPU or Host — Assuming you are running a virtualized environment for your audio processing. In our cloud testing of Omnia Enterprise 9s, moving from one physical server to another requires little or no “hit” or downtime. For users deploying one instance of Enterprise 9: each FM and µMPX output requires four CPU cores and 500MB total RAM.

4- Handling I/O — In the Omnia Enterprise 9S environment, here’s what is available today:

Input  — Livewire, AES67 and Windows drivers. Stream receiver.

Output  — For true MPX out, including pilot and RDS, you will need to license the µMPX codec for FM transmission over some type of IP link with Omnia MPX Node hardware deployed at the transmitter site (Fig. 2). In that figure you also see an Omnia.9sg deployed (optional). The Omnia Enterprise 9s software can encode a lossless FLAC stream, which the 9sg can use to make composite at the transmitter site.

5- Handling EAS and PPM — EAS: If your studio or program feed is generated elsewhere, current solutions include having your EAS unit at the transmitter, on its own separate local audio processor.

Watermarking: Stations in PPM metered markets that want to virtualize their airchain will need a way to properly watermark their signal. Full market testing has rolled out in a couple of large markets for MRC accreditation with Nielsen. While not released yet, this initiative will put the watermark where it belongs, inside the audio processor. (Our Linear Acoustic TV processors have had Nielsen watermarking for some time.) This also eliminates maintaining a hardware watermark encoder.

6- Appropriate IT Department — Do I have the appropriate IT talent to maintain the IP paths to where audio, or composite, is delivered?

7- Can I get this in a container? — This is on our roadmap.

To help illustrate redundant paths to the transmitter site, Fig. 2 shows two ways to generate composite with Omnia Enterprise 9s on a server, feeding:

• µMPX Codec over IP to Omnia MPX Node: Omnia MPX Node encoder and decoders come with support for NET1 and NET2 ethernet jacks, for full redundancy using two IP paths.

• Omnia Enterprise 9s to Stereo Generator: The other path shown would send FM out from the Omnia Enterprise 9s as audio to an Omnia.9sg. FLAG encoding/decoding is another option to form your own STL.

Fig. 2: Two ways to generate composite with Omnia Enterprise 9s on a server.

It’s fascinating to see stations using this Omnia Enterprise 9s product in so many different ways and workflows. It’s a credit to the ingenious radio engineers in the industry that no two deployments have, so far, remotely been alike.

Questions about this article? Email Paul Kriegler at paulkriegler@telosalliance.com or Mary Ann Seidler at maseidler@telosalliance.com.

The post Virtualizing Your Audio Processing: A Checklist appeared first on Radio World.

Webster identifies the word as an adjective and gives the definition as being so in effect, although not in actual fact or name.

We hear the word a lot in today’s culture. Virtual reality has moved from hard-core gaming to the more mainstream with headsets and adaptors that can turn our smart phones into VR engines.

We ask our virtual assistants for directions or to change the channel on the TV. You can get a virtual pet or send someone a virtual gift card.

Since the start of the pandemic, virtual meetings have become everyday events. I have participated in countless virtual training sessions, virtual conferences and even the virtual NAB show earlier this year.

So it would seem that we now live in a virtual world, and perhaps some do. But not me. I’m more of a brick-and-mortar kind of guy — I like real things that I can see and touch, things that exist in the real world and not just in lines of code and ones and zeros.

That’s not to say, however, that I don’t find many of those virtual things useful. I very much do, and I appreciate them.

For example, in addition to some of the things I listed above, I use a very capable flight simulator, which you might categorize as a virtual airplane, to keep my flying skills sharp between real-world flights. Now that has value.

So you might say that I’m warming to the idea of a virtual world.

In our biz

In recent years, and especially since the pandemic came along, broadcast equipment manufacturers have been coming out with all kinds of virtual devices. Some of these things exist only in cyberspace, and some have real-world components.

One thing all these virtual devices have in common is that they all have real-world application. We’re not talking about video games here. We’re talking about top-tier products that perform critical functions in the broadcast infrastructure.

In that sense, they depart from Webster’s definition in that they do exist in actual fact … just not in the traditional physical form.

Apps like Wheatstone’s ScreenBuilder can pull information from many locations, inside and outside a facility, including from one or more virtual consoles, to produce a “one-stop” display of important data.

For some time now, AoIP has been making inroads into broadcast infrastructure. I have been involved with this personally and can tell you that all those virtual connections beat the heck out of punch blocks and switchers.

Our cable ladders are almost empty, now with just small bundles of Cat-6 wires rather than huge bundles of audio and AES cables. Most any engineer who has been blessed with AoIP infrastructure will likely sing its praises, especially the ease with which “wiring” changes can be made, often from the comfort of his or her home or office.

A number of manufacturers have come out with virtual mixers, virtual boards, virtual control surfaces or whatever name you want to give them.

I suspect that the impetus for most, which likely predated the pandemic, was for remote operation or facility consolidation. But when COVID came along, a whole new need for that kind of thing presented itself. People were working from home, far from the faders, switches and knobs that they would normally manipulate with skilled hands.

Dreaming big

In recent days, I have read of PPM watermark insertion that will soon occur “in the cloud.” That, apparently, is one of those hybrid applications I mentioned where some real-world hardware is involved.

It is intriguing, and I’m all for eliminating a piece of equipment in the air chain along with its connectors and potential points of failure.

Virtual consoles like this Axia IQs are now a real-world thing.

And of course we have seen audio playout or digital media systems moving into the cloud in recent years. That’s a little scary for me; I like everything to be under our own roof where I can lay hands on the infrastructure and be responsible for its safety and security. But undeniably, that’s the way it’s all going.

I think the days of the on-premises file server based digital media system are numbered. Maybe, just maybe, that’s a good thing. I’m adjusting to the idea.

Our phone vendor tells me that equipment manufacturers have warned that their on-premise system assembly lines will, in the next couple of years, be no more, and all our telco service will be cloud-based. Letters I get regularly from carriers confirm this —“traditional” telco services are going virtual, and we had better be prepared to make the switch.

Now, we’re seeing virtual audio processors. In the Aug. 11 issue of Radio World Engineering Extra, you can read about Omnia’s enterprise audio processor, which exists in cyberspace. This is another hybrid virtualization, as real-world I/O has to exist, at least for the time being. But how long will it be before our exciters could simply connect to the network with no real world I/O at all besides the obligatory RJ-45 connector? That’s an exciting prospect.

Last issue, I left you with the way-out-there idea of high-power RF over IP. I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen, ever.

But what about a virtualized transmitter? That would be a hybrid application for sure, and if you think about it, many of the components are already in place in some production transmitters: single-board computer, web interface, SNMP control and monitoring.

You would need real-world power amplifiers, combiners, low-pass filters and control/monitoring hardware for sure, but could we move exciter, control and diagnostic functions completely outside the transmitter cabinet and into the virtual world?

Is that something that could happen someday as we continue to virtualize broadcast infrastructure? It’s certainly something to consider.

Personally, I’m hoping for a virtual phasor and virtual ATUs. Now that would be cool.

But seriously, folks, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Way back in 2001 and again in 2006, Mario Heib presented papers at the NAB Broadcast Engineering Conference proposing a digital phasor with variable phase/variable output power amplifiers at the tower bases. I can see virtualizing every part of such a system other than the actual power amplifiers and matching networks.

We’re headed for a point where cutting-edge facilities will have mostly empty equipment racks. I think that is something to get excited about.

Cris Alexander, CPBE, AMD, DRB is director of engineering for Crawford Broadcasting and tech editor of Radio World Engineering Extra.

The post Broadcasting — A Virtual World? appeared first on Radio World.

An Oklahoma licensee received a $3,500 notice of forfeiture for failing to file a license application for an FM translator on time.

Potter Radio submitted a construction permit for FM translator K236CT in Pawhuska, Okla., in January 2018 with a three-year expiration date of January 2021. On Aug. 4, 2020, Potter requested six months of additional time in which to finalize construct the translator due to construction delays caused by COVID. The Media Bureau agreed and extended the permit to July 4, 2021.

But according to the bureau, Potter Radio did not file a required covering license by that date and as a result the permit expired.

[Read: LPFM Sees Call Sign Deleted After Unauthorized Broadcasting Claim]

Later that month, Potter filed a petition asking the bureau to reconsider cancellation of the construction permit. The bureau treated the request as a waiver and agreed to reinstate permit, giving Potter until August 13 to file a covering license. Potter did so on August 2.

But when a permittee fails to file a covering license application on time — as required by FCC Rules — and instead continues operating, the commission considers it an act of unauthorized operation. In this case, the unauthorized operation lasted almost a month, giving the commission the authority to hold the party in question liable for willfully acting without a license and thus liable for a forfeiture penalty.

The FCC’s forfeiture policy statement establishes a base forfeiture of $3,000 for failing to file a required form and an additional $10,000 for operation without authorization. The commission also has the authority to raise or lower that amount as it sees fit. Based on the Media Bureau’s review of the facts and circumstances, it issued a $7,000 base forfeiture before again reducing that forfeiture to $3,500 because as Potter Radio is providing a secondary service as a translator station.

As a result, Potter Radio is required to either submit the $3,500 forfeiture or file a written statement seeking reduction or cancellation.

 

The post For Willfully Operating Without a License, Permittee Handed $3,500 Forfeiture appeared first on Radio World.

Progressive Concepts said it has been named master distributor and service center for North America by Italian broadcast equipment manufacturer RFE.

The product line includes RFE FM broadcast transmitters. The new DS Series FM Broadcast Transmitters uses sixth-generation LDMOS technology with color touchscreen control, built-in stereo encoder and Cosmic Four-Band Audio Processor. Ethernet and AoIP connectivity support worldwide remote control and networking.

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

The DS Series is available in power levels of 30 W, 50W, 100 W, 300 W, 500 W, 1 kW, 2 kW, 3 kW, and 6 kW. They are FCC and CCIR compliant and come with a two-year warranty.

Cosmic is a new audio processor made by RFE.

“This hardware component will be included as a standard feature in our FM transmitters, for audio signal control and stereo signal generation (A/D and D/A acquisition and conversion),” the company said. “This means higher audio quality and less distortion.”

Cosmic uses a DSP microprocessor to assure audio quality and extremely low distortion of 0.01%, the company said.

Extra “audio treatment algorithms” for the processing include AMC Automatic Modulation Control, in which the average deviation value is kept constant within preset limits in order to avoid annoying “overmodulation”

Peaks, as well as SFP Selectable Filter Profile, with which a drop-down menu lets you select four preset audio equalization profiles: Bass Enhancer, Hi Lift, Crystal Voice and Club.

Progressive Concepts is based in Illinois. Demos of RFE products are available.

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

Info: www.progressive-concepts.com or mailto:sales@progressive-concepts.com

 

The post Progressive Concepts Inks Deal With RFE appeared first on Radio World.

An image from the clearinghouse site shows the claims process. See the original at https://cbandrpc.com/resources.

The Relocation Payment Clearinghouse LLC is now accepting C-Band relocation claims through an online portal.

The RPC is responsible for collecting, reviewing and distributing payments associated with the relocation, as required by the Federal Communications Commission. This includes those who opted for the lump sum payment option.

“The RPC is ready to accept and review claims,” said Frank Banda, RPC program manager, in the announcement.

“If you have received your email invitation, we encourage you to set up your claimant profile as soon as possible. Setting up your profile and providing the requested information through our Coupa portal is the first step in requesting a lump sum payment or making a claim for reimbursement of actual relocation costs.”

This is the latest in a series of steps related to the FCC’s repurposing of the C-Band (3.7–4.2 GHz) by moving satellite operations to the upper portion of the band (4.0–4.2 GHz) and making spectrum available for other uses through auction.

The RPC website has information about how to establish a profile and submit a claim.

RPC LLC contracted with accounting firm CohnReznick LLP, law firm Squire Patton Boggs, satellite expert lntellicom Technologies Inc. and cable/broadband expert Reed Strategy LLC to perform the duties of the clearinghouse.

Across all users including radio, there are approximately 20,000 registered earth stations in the contiguous U.S. that are classified as incumbents for purposes of the C-Band transition, according to the FCC.

As of May, approximately 1,500 earth station operators, some with multiple licenses, had taken the “lump sum” election, according to data from the FCC. Those licensees that did not accept that option were able to work with their satellite provider or recoup justifiable filter, dish and labor expenses from the clearinghouse, for expenses associated with the transition or relocation.

 

The post C-Band Clearinghouse Opens Its Claims Portal appeared first on Radio World.

The National Association of Broadcasters has released a letter concerning protocols for the upcoming show, Oct. 9-13.

In the letter signed by NAB EVP & Managing Director, Global Connections and Events Chris Brown, he said “we will require all attendees and participants to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination.”

He added, “We think this is a positive step in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and will provide further details on implementation as well as other safety measures under consideration.” The letter did not address protocols issued at the end of July.

Brown cited consultations with “health and safety experts, gathering feedback from a range of exhibitors and attendees, and review of the safety measures recommended by national and local health authorities, including Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak’s important announcement this week regarding large events.”

Sisolak announced that large venues could eschew a mask requirement in exchange for COVID vaccination proof.

The NAB looks to be following the lead of the CES which earlier in the week announced a vaccination requirement for its show in January.

The Audio Engineering Society, with its annual show co-locating with the NAB Show, has also announced a similar vaccination requirement policy, excerpting the NAB letter in its announcement.

 

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