Industry News

Broadcasters are among the first sources of information citizens turn to during emergencies. A new survey from advocates of NextGen TV illustrates broadcasters’ vital role and what consumers are looking for in how they get their information and what specifically they want.

In a survey conducted by the NextGen Video Information Systems Alliance (NVISA), and  sponsored by Sinclair Broadcast Group’s subsidiary, ONE Media 3.0, consumers were asked about what types of information they would look for in a mobile app that provides the type of granular information provided by NextGen TV.

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On the top of the list, almost two-thirds said they wanted “the ability to receive geo-targeted alerts,” while more than half wanted “the ability to select only the alerts they want to receive” and “the ability to opt into a constantly updated stream of emergency information.”

Reliability was next on the list, with almost half of those surveyed wanting “a system that keeps working when their Internet goes down,” and more than a third wanting “a system that keeps working when their cellular phone service goes down.”

Consumers were also surveyed on what features in a new advanced emergency information app would motivate them to use it. With the ability to provide street-level geo-targeted information, NextGen TV offers the types of features consumers want, the report said, with almost two-thirds of those surveyed saying the costs of such targeted services were not seen as a deterrent.

When asked how much more they would be willing to pay for their next mobile phone purchase to deliver critical information in an emergency, almost two thirds of American consumers said they would pay an extra $5 and almost half said they would pay an extra $10.

Mobile First
Whether consumers get their information from a traditional broadcaster, streaming broadcast or mobile app, the survey proved what has been known for a long time: mobile devices are the first source consumers turn to during emergencies.

“This study gives broadcasters a wake-up call on the need to improve their mobile services,” NVISA said in its study, noting that the youngest survey respondents were the least enthusiastic about turning to local broadcasters as the “first stop” to get information. “These younger viewers are very mobile-centric. ATSC 3.0 will enable broadcasters to add the interactive features to their mobile apps that younger viewers expect,”  NIVSA said.

When it comes to getting NextGen TV onto smartphones, manufacturers have resisted the call to integrate chipsets into their devices. The only such device announced so far is the ONE Media Mark One phone that Sinclair developed in partnership with Saankhya Labs in India that includes support for NextGen TV. When it was announced in the fall of 2020 Sinclair said at the time that it was “in talks with two large MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators)” but no progress has been reported since then.

To overcome this hurdle then, broadcasters will need to find alternatives such as third-party cloud-based apps that can be used on mobile devices. However, the notion of broadcasters monetizing emergency information through an app could cause some blowback from regulators in particular.

But there could also be an opportunity to provide value-added information beyond basic emergency alerts, according to John Lawson, executive director of AWARN, a consortium of broadcasters, manufacturers and associations tasked with developing and promoting NextGen alerting technology.

“There could be acceptance of a business model that led to the provision of emergency information after the disaster strikes,” he said. “In other words, people might need information about where they can find generators or plywood or tarps for shelters—that could be a model that would be acceptable and make sense.”

The bottom line is that during emergencies, consumers look for the most trustworthy information available and the survey showed that broadcasters are among the most trusted sources and that they need to promote that capability, Lawson added, citing research from Dennis Mileti, a world-renowned expert on disaster communication.

“The research of Dennis Mileti tells us that the first time a consumer sees an alert it is important that they know where it comes from,” Lawson said. “If they do not recognize the branding of its source, they will keep milling around looking for a completely credible source… alerts that go out with branding that is clearly recognizable on the local level will have the most impact.”

The study is available here.

A version of this story first appeared in our sister publication TV Technology.

The post NextGen TV Survey Details What Consumers Want in Emergency Information appeared first on Radio World.

Is Netflix so powerful that it is impervious to anything negative offered by a respected financial analyst? That appeared to be the case on Friday, as shares in the dominant on-demand visual content creator and distributor rose by nearly 3% before cooling off as trading for the week neared its conclusion.

The growth came despite a notable note of wariness from MoffettNathanson Senior Analyst Michael Nathanson.

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On Tuesday (1/11), the Cogeco-owned cable TV operator known as Atlantic Broadband shed its name, becoming Breezeline. The move was tied largely to the acquisition in late 2021 of WOW! systems in Ohio. But, Breezline President Frank van der Post explained, “We’ve long offered much more than broadband, so our company identity must evolve with us.”

In contrast, five MVPD providers have combined forces to operate under a single name — one that puts “Broadband” front and center in its new identity.

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Over half of U.S. consumers have expressed an interest in receiving features of a “NextGen Broadcast Emergency Information service.”

That’s among the key findings from new research unveiled this week by the NextGen Video Information Systems Alliance (NVISA), sponsored by Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary ONE Media 3.0.

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Inovonics is out with two new HD Radio modulation monitors.

The company says the Models 551 and 552 are targeted for advanced FM and HD Radio signal monitoring applications.

The Model 551 HD Radio Modulation Monitor The Model 552 HD Radio Modulation Monitor

“Incorporating all the necessary features for station setup, regulatory compliance and remote monitoring, both models are on schedule to begin shipping mid-February,” the company stated in a release announcing the units.

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

The Model 551 has a 7-inch TFT touchscreen to display modulation data in a graphic format on the front panel; the same data is also available via a remote Web interface. In addition, full-time audio outputs are available for FM and digital channels HD1 through HD4.

Model 552 is for remote installations where the graphic Web interface will suffice. It also has a lower price point.

Beta units are in the field and Inovonics is using those to make final firmware tweaks before shipping, but the monitors can be ordered now.

President/CEO Ben Barber stated that the last two years have seen “great strides” in its mod monitor development work. He pointed to the dynamic web interface that can be accessed from a smartphone, tablet or PC, as well as its SNMP capabilities, as an example.

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

 

The post Inovonics Offers Two New HD Radio Mod Monitors appeared first on Radio World.

MIAMI — It’s described as “a new content brand designed to super-serve the full spectrum of today’s U.S. Hispanics.” And, it is an Over-the-Top (OTT) experience. But, it will not have an app of its own.

Introducing TPlus, which will be fully housed within the NBCUniversal Peacock platform upon its autumn launch.

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In early December 2021, RBR+TVBR shared the details on how a Class B FM once known for its rock ‘n’ roll programming and today offering programming of interest to South Asians became the first radio station in the U.S. to broadcast geo-targeted advertising.

Now, the station’s owner — Universal Media Access — is agreeing to an employee-led acquisition of the station that sees Sanjiv Gupta partnering with UMA’s COO and the company’s digital and programming leader.

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In a sign that the demand for syndicated weekend radio programs is strong, Compass Media Networks has turned to Townsquare Media in initiating the launch of six new offerings that are available now for new and current affiliates.

The six programs are weekend versions of weeknight programs produced by Townsquare that are already represented by Compass and air on a total of 381 affiliates across the U.S. — PopCrush Nights (with Hot AC and Top 40 format versions); Loudwire Nights; Ultimate Classic Rock; XXL Higher Level Radio; and Taste of Country Nights.

Each weekend show will have two five-hour episodes, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.

The Top 40/CHR version of PopCrush Weekends will feature the PopCrush Top 25 Countdown to kick off the show, voted on by listeners using the PopCrush mobile app. The countdown is hosted by SiriusXM air personality and iHeartMedia podcaster Donny Meacham. He’s also know as a “dating expert.” On Saturday nights, the show shifts into the “Three Hour Hit Mix from DJ Digital,” host of the Morning Buzz on “Hot 107.9” in Lafayette, La., and an official DJ of the New Orleans Saints. The countdown repeats on Sundays.

The Hot AC version of PopCrush Weekends features Nashville personality Lauryn Snapp, formerly of “CMT Radio Live” and “After Midnite with Cody Alan.”

XXL Higher Level Weekends brings XXL Magazine’s influence in Hip-Hop to the airwaves as weeknight showrunner Joey Ech takes the mic. Taste of Country Weekends is hosted by Jess Rowe, while Ultimate Classic Rock Weekends is helmed by Matt Wardlaw; Loudwire Weekends is hosted by Todd Fooks. 

The author of this commentary is a broadcast technical author in Australia, which still uses AM radio extensively. He has spent a lifetime in training technicians. He writes here in response to Larry Langford’s recent commentary “Time to Come Clean on AM Quality.”

Larry Langford’s brief history should have noted that AM was invented in 1901 and the first permanent broadcasts were 110 years ago. By comparison, cellphone companies switch off their oldest technology every eight years, leaving an operating life of 16 years.

The AM channels are spaced 10 kHz apart with a high-frequency audio limit of 10 kHz, so the transmission channels overlap the adjacent channels. This may have been fine in the past due to the quality of audio equipment, but now with audio processors there’s plenty of energy in the 5–10 kHz range to cause more audible interference to broadcasters in the adjacent channels. Outside of the Americas, spacing has been reduced to 9 kHz with a 4.5 kHz overlap on each adjacent channel.

Figure 1

This overlapping is the reason many AM stations must reduce power at night.

As the number of AM stations rose, it may have been better to put in a 5 (4.5) kHz brick-wall filter prior to transmission, which would have eliminated much of the interference. Without the brick-wall filter at the transmitter, the receiver manufacturers took the cheapest option and limited receivers to speech frequencies to stop the interference. This has made music sound dull. If instead they had installed a 5 (4.5) kHz brick-wall filter in the receiver, at least they could have maintained the much more important frequencies between 3.5–5 kHz.

Larry has been lamenting the lack of implementation of pre-emphasis in AM radio from the 1988 version of the NRSC standards, which were updated in 2018 to include HD Radio, NRSC-1-C, a voluntary standard. However, of the receivers on the HD Radio website, there are now only infotainment systems in vehicles, aside from Sangean and Insignia radios with HD capability.

Software-designed receivers have made discussion of pre-emphasis irrelevant because there is no intermediate frequency filter. They use the homodyne or direct conversion system to convert the signal directly to audio. This makes any out-of-channel signals supersonic, thus inaudible and easily filtered digitally. SDRs are used in cellphones and infotainment systems, as they have a typical frequency range from almost “DC to daylight,” i.e., 100 kHz–2 GHz. If the broadcaster uses pre-emphasis and a standard SDR receiver, which has no de-emphasis, the sound will be excessively bright.

Because SDRs perform most functions digitally, they contain a specialized microprocessor that can be loaded with digital radio firmware such as Digital Radio Mondiale, DAB+ and HD Radio, as well as FM and AM. This is a single chip!

Figure 2

Pre-emphasis is used to minimize the characteristic hiss in FM and in AM to try to overcome the filtering effect of the intermediate frequency filter used in common super-heterodyne receivers.

There is a disadvantage to the use of pre-emphasis and de-emphasis in FM and AM. All broadcasters use sound processors that employ nine-octave-wide compressors. This will increase the level of high frequencies, which if boosted by pre-emphasis can overload the transmitter and cause interference. So the processors must not boost high-volume, high-pitched sounds. This results in dullness on loud sounds. Digital transmission systems do not use pre-emphasis as it is unnecessary; so it will sound “brighter,” particularly on drums, tympanies and piccolos, as they do live.

AM has a number of disadvantages:

It originally contained a carrier to provide DC bias for the “crystal” diode detector to prevent severe distortion. Modern AM and HD Radio AM receivers still use a detector diode buried in an integrated circuit. This is expensive for broadcasters and causes electric companies to produce lots of carbon dioxide on their behalf.

SDR radios when tuned to Digital Radio Mondiale and DAB, use some low-powered pilot tones to control the recreation of the carrier, because there is no wasteful carrier transmitted.

Also not mentioned by Larry Langford was the effect of increased interference and poor vehicle antennas, making reception unpleasant. “Static” from lightning has always been present.

There’s no immunity from noise, which has been increasing since the invention of the switched-mode power supply used in nearly everything powered by electricity, including electric vehicles and lighting. In addition, there are now many more electrical lines with high-voltage insulators to arc!

Beyond all this, AM has issues because the overlapping channels cause many broadcasters to reduce their coverage areas at night. It has high audio distortion levels and no stereo sound. And, as discussed above, there is a lack of high-frequency sound.

Hybrid FM, hybrid AM and pure digital FM HD Radio systems use overlapping channels, so, interference will remain, forcing broadcasters to hire lawyers. Lawyers are not required for the pure digital AM HD Radio, which has a low data rate mode, keeping the transmission within its channel.

The solution to this is to use the old analog TV Channels 2–6 (VHF Band I), where only 41 medium-power and 61 very low-powered transmitters still operate in North America.

One TV transmitting channel contains 58 DRM transmitting channels, which can carry three stereo music channels each. There are 208 DRM channels available in Band I in the Americas. One transmitter can carry six DRM transmission channels or 18 programs. All programs from one site will have the same coverage area, unlike the current HD1–HD4 channels, which are transmitted at a very low power to prevent interference to their own and other broadcasters’ signals.

Many AM broadcasters have obtained FM translators, choking the FM band, whereas Band I is virtually deserted and has more channels than the number of AM and FM channels combined. Since Band I is virtually deserted and the 100 kHz wide channels do not overlap, the FCC can allocate the power required to fill the license area without restrictions. It is also possible to use a low-powered repeater transmitter on the same channel within the coverage area for blackspots.

A decade ago in the United States, the telcos pushed government and broadcasters to complete the conversion of all television stations to digital.

Similarly, for AM radio, I propose the FCC provide a free DRM Band I license for every radio broadcaster for 10 years, provided they begin broadcasting in that band within five years. They would be allowed to simulcast with their existing broadcasts for 10 years, after which all existing AM/FM broadcasting will cease.

After five years it would be illegal to sell radios (including in vehicles) that cannot receive DRM Band I. Capable receivers already exist. There are more DRM radio models on the market than HD Radios, and in India 4 million cars have been factory installed over the past three years at no extra cost. For older cars, a Starwaves TukTuk receiver is available that converts the DRM signal into FM stereo.

Given the competition from audio on-demand services and the telcos, isn’t the dramatic drop in transmission costs and greenhouse pollution enough to convince the FCC to take this step?

This should be a task for the new president/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters.

Comment on this or any article. Write to radioworld@futurenet.com.

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Gray Television has asked the FCC to give its blessing to a pair of VHF-to-UHF transitions for a pair of FOX affiliates it gained through its acquisition of Meredith Corp.

On delegated authority, the Video Division of the Media Bureau has granted the request.

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