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Entered into a Consent Decree to resolve pending matters concerning San Tan Educational Media (San Tan), licensee of low power FM (LPFM) Station KFXY-LP, Mesa, Arizona (Station)

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The author is membership program director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. NFCB commentaries are featured regularly at www.radioworld.com.

The news cycle over the last week has been filled with disturbing images depicting the devastation wrought by Hurricane Dorian. It is the latest in a string of natural disasters that have struck the nation, but they surely will not be the last.

Such moments cause great stress in cities and towns. While many states have endured wildfires and earthquakes, hurricane season sparks a visceral reaction in many of us. That’s because, as we have witnessed over the last few years, no coast is safe from monster storms threatening life and property. And the damage done to one state will have ripple effects in neighboring states. This was the case with Hurricane Katrina, which smashed Louisiana in 2005, but prompted residents to flee to Texas as well as northward.

Beyond the economic effects of recovery, the regions damaged by hurricanes are financially reshaped forever. Cities affected by Hurricane Ike in 2008, for example, completely changed as a result.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: In It Together]

Hurricane season continues until Nov. 30. Unfortunately, it is nearly certain that a community radio station like yours may be asked to cover the issues of your community should a disaster like a hurricane strike.

Is your community radio station ready to respond? Here are few tips:

The SAFER (Station Action for Emergency Readiness) manual remains a go-to guide for community radio. Originally a joint project of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and National Public Radio, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting-funded project has an array of guidance for stations in dealing with their practical needs, so that journalism can continue to flow.

Poynter provides a helpful place to start if your radio station is figuring out how to cover hurricanes. In addition to suggesting websites like that of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, the variety of free community-sourced resources may help your station tremendously.

Speaking of Poynter, this article on fact-checking during hurricane coverage is essential reading. Online rumors, doctored photography and panics are commonplace in the digital era of natural disasters. Clearing up confusion is one of the best services a community radio station can offer during its hurricane coverage.

If your community radio station is facing capacity issues, particularly if you broadcast to underserved areas, consider seeking funding for your work. The ProPublica Local Reporting Network, Report for America and Solutions Journalism Network are just a few of the nonprofits providing logistical and financial support to media groups with ideas and initiatives. These and many more having rolling grant cycles. NFCB highlights more grant opportunities regularly as well.

However, do not forget to ask closer to home about funding in times of need. County and state resources may be available to your station when it comes to emergency broadcast reporting and journalism. Your station is always encouraged to be responsible with your ask — meaning, do not seek monies for journalism and funnel it elsewhere — and have a firm strategy of where you need the most assistance.

And finally, there is a noncommercial station’s most solid support, its listeners, that can be appealed to for a big project like a disaster journalism effort. Any fundraising professional will tell you donors like to give to something tangible. Few station endeavors are more ambitious or reflect your values quite like funding journalism to tell stories in the midst of and the aftermath of a hurricane or other natural disaster. Audiences demand more contextual coverage. Your station, with the right plan and appeal, can deliver.

Hurricanes seem to be becoming more frequent each year. Even if your community is not in the line of fire when a storm hits, there’s quite a possibility that your listeners will be affected. Ramping up to address the scourge of weather will only remind audiences of your relevance to their lives.

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The post Community Broadcaster: Rain Down Reporting appeared first on Radio World.

HOUSTON — At Entercom Houston, our studio facility might best be described as “vintage.” Originally built in the mid-’90s as a duopoly facility for two AMs and two FMs by Westinghouse/Group W, it was expanded several times by subsequent owners, eventually growing to house six stations and 15 studios.

The studios were built on custom raised floors, which over the years had become soft in many spots. Efforts to repair the soft spots proved unsatisfactory, so eventually, we decided to scrap the floors and rebuild all the studios. A 15-studio build anywhere is a major effort, but making it happen while several live and local, high-profile stations, including two sports talk stations and the radio network for an NFL team are broadcasting from them requires careful planning and execution. Any time-saving advantage you can get is welcomed.

I’ve known David Holland and his guys at Omnirax for many years, and their solutions have helped greatly during a few challenging builds. Many years ago, while working for another company, I was tasked with building a new facility for four stations in a medium-sized market. We had a few months to plan and stage equipment, but the new studio building was handed off to us by the contractor just two weeks before a hard deadline to vacate the old facility — during the Christmas holidays. Omnirax helped us meet the deadline.

For this project, our biggest challenge was budget. We had a number we needed to stay under. Omnirax worked with us to design furniture that met our needs, fit our budget and looked great — all without sacrificing their consistent quality.

AUTOCAD

If I could pick just one word to describe working with Omnirax, that word would be easy. You send them a floorplan of your facility, then log into David’s AutoCAD machine, and work through design options with him. Not long after, he gets back to you with finalized plans, and your new furniture moves into production.

The whole process is efficient and easy.

Assembly is easy too. Everything arrives clearly marked, with photos detailing every step of construction, and a couple guys can assemble the furniture for an average studio in about an hour. Everything fits together flawlessly.

When the furniture is assembled, you don’t have to worry about cutting holes for consoles, or wire runs through the countertops — it’s already done for you — all planned out during your AutoCAD session.

Over the last 25 years, I’ve been involved with a lot of studio renovations — sometimes with new furniture, but sometimes not. Many times, when rebuilds didn’t involve new furniture, I’ve been left scratching my head when contemplating the furniture designer’s decisions. When assembling studios around Omnirax furniture, I often find myself marveling at just how thoughtful and functional their designs are.

Given the opportunity, I always choose Omnirax.

For information, contact Philip Zittell David Holland at Omnirax in California at 1-415-332-3392 or visit www.omnirax.com.

The post User Report: Omnirax Eases Rebuild for Entercom Houston Cluster appeared first on Radio World.

CEOs from the three of the largest radio broadcast groups — iHeartMedia, Entercom and Cumulus Media — will headline the Radio Show session “2020 and Beyond: Insights From the Top.” The luncheon program, held on Sept. 25, will address the future of the industry in what is described as a candid conversation about strategies for success in today’s constantly shifting audio landscape.

[Read: Radio Show Announces Tech Program]

Moderated by NBC News’ Stephanie Ruhle, the panel consists of Mary Berner, president and CEO of Cumulus Media; David Field, president and CEO of Entercom; and Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia.

These top CEOs will offer insight on tactical partnerships, best platform choices, talent recruitment, imaginative programming and creative sales approaches, among other topics.

The Radio Show will be held September 24–26 in Dallas and is produced by the National Association of Broadcasters and the Radio Advertising Bureau.

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The post Radio Execs Look at Industry’s Future at the Radio Show appeared first on Radio World.

The FCC is extending its disaster data collection to additional counties in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina for Hurricane Dorian.

The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission had announced the activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System in response to Hurricane Dorian on Sept. 2. DIRS is a voluntary, web-based system that communications providers, including wireless, wireline, broadcast, cable and voice over internet protocol providers, can use to report communications infrastructure status and situational awareness information during times of crisis.

The FCC requests that communications providers that provide service to any areas listed below expeditiously submit and update information through DIRS regarding, inter alia, the status of their communications equipment, restoration efforts, and power (i.e., whether they are using commercial power or back-up power).

Communications providers can accomplish this by accessing DIRS at https://www.fcc.gov/nors/disaster/. Providers that have not previously done so will be asked to first provide contact information and obtain a user ID when they access DIRS. There is a link on the login page that will allow them to obtain a user ID and password. If a user does not remember his/her password, he/she should use the forgotten password link on the login page.

Communications providers are reminded that for providers that participate in DIRS, the separate Network Outage Reporting System obligations are suspended for the duration of the DIRS activation with respect to outages in the counties/municipalities where DIRS has been activated. Reports are requested beginning at 10 a.m. on Sept. 5, and every day after that by 10 a.m. until DIRS is deactivated.

Communications providers that serve an area listed below and that have already provided contact information in DIRS will be sent an email requesting that they provide the above-referenced status information through DIRS. For any communications providers that have not already logged onto DIRS to input their contact information, the Commission encourages them to do so as soon as possible.

Counties of Interest for This Activation Include:

Florida: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Clay, Collier, Desoto, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, Putnam, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, Union and Volusia.

Georgia: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Montgomery, Pierce, Richmond, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Ware, Wayne and Wheeler.

South Carolina: Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Hampton, Horry, Jasper, Lee, Lexington, Marion, Marlboro, Orangeburg, Richland, Sumter and Williamsburg.

North Carolina: Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Tyrrell, Washington, Wayne and Wilson.

If your station has any hurricane-related news or pictures send to radioworld@futurenet.com.

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The post FCC Expands DIRS to Georgia and the Carolinas appeared first on Radio World.

The Synergy Mini is said to be a full-featured digital broadcasting center.

Available from Russian firm Tract and German company Digispot System GmbH, the unit provides a comprehensive set of integrated tools that lets station staff produce and broadcast live and automated radio programs.

Able to also be used as a rebroadcasting device, the mixer handles parallel microphone recording and works with both analog and digital signals from satellite receivers or internet streams.

The companies say additional features, such as ease-of-use, optimal functionality and a reasonable price, make it versatile and suitable for FM radio, internet radio, podcasts, outside broadcasting tasks, corporate radio and educational purposes.

Synergy Mini includes AoIP functionality with a driver called ,,Foxwire” and the free automation software system, Digispot Synergy. The result is a “complete solution” able to manage different tasks.

The FM-starter studio package includes a suite of software and hardware tools designed to work together with the mixer. The package includes a multifunctional touch display with onscreen level metering, three microphones with windshields; three microphone stands; three pairs of headphones; a pair of active loudspeakers; and a mic live indicator and a fully integrated playout system. This solution, add the firms, is appropriate for both novice and experienced staff and lets operators create a valuable radio station.

IBC Stand: 8.D14

Info: www.tract.ru; www.digispot.com

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The post IBC Sneak Peek: Tract and Digispot Showcase Synergy Mini appeared first on Radio World.

LONDON — The Spectrum Radio Network has completed a move to new studios in the center of the United Kingdom’s capital city.

John Ogden is network director for Spectrum Radio. All photos: Rebecca Turpin/Orange Media Co.

Launched in 1990 as a multiethnic radio station broadcasting to London on 558AM, Spectrum has recently relocated as part of a plan to transform its business. “We now see ourselves as a facilities provider to anyone who wants to broadcast to London, the U.K. or any other territories” says its network director, John Ogden.

“We’re all broadcasters ourselves here, so we know what stations want — that’s economies of scale and a clear path to getting on air. It means you don’t have to worry about sourcing studios, internet connectivity or disaster recovery.”

Radio Baikal studio at Spectrum includes the Axel Oxygen 3000 console.

CENTRAL LOCATION

Ogden explains the need for the move from its former location in Battersea, a southwest London suburb, to the new location on the South Bank, close to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern art gallery. “Being in central London now means we are more attractive to staff, clients and advertisers. We were becoming restricted in how we could expand — we needed to take our technology to the next level. The move gives us much more flexibility to create something that really ticks all the boxes.”

Spectrum’s seven studios are currently home to 12 stations, including U.K. services Fix Radio, which targets tradespeople and those working in the construction sector in London and Manchester, and Love Sport Radio, alongside Middle Eastern broadcasters and the Russian pop station, Radio Baikal. Spectrum also has its own channel on the Switchdigital London 2 DAB digital radio multiplex, carrying a range of global broadcasters. The network’s staff include Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese and Spanish speakers.

Paul Miller is head of broadcast operations at Spectrum Radio Network.

Moving these services to a new home meant the network needed a clear map of what was required. Security was a critical consideration, says Ogden: “I needed to be able to say to clients that we have gold-standard connectivity. We had to have a series of fail-over systems in place to keep stations on air and give peace of mind that nothing is going to compromise their broadcast.”

Ogden praises the network Head of Broadcast Operations Paul Miller, for transforming the facility into what he calls a “world hub.”

“What Paul’s created with this architecture is something that just works.” This included overcoming some unusual challenges — for Middle Eastern stations broadcast in the U.K., Miller had to devise a way of including the Azan call to prayer at the correct time for listeners in London. The answer was unique software, which looks at the phases of the moon to calculate the daily prayer times.

Graham Mack of Fix Radio broadcasts from Spectrum Radio’s studios.

It then automatically fades the broadcast at the Middle Eastern timings, covering it with other content, and inserts the Azan at the correct times for London. Ogden says: “it’s a highly sensitive maneuver for such an important part of the programming.”

THE GEAR

The new studios feature a range of equipment covering different client requirements. From Axia, this includes iQ mixers, Pathfinder software, and xNode IP audio interfaces. Sonifex products include S2 mixers, RB-DA6 distribution amplifiers, plus silence detectors and profanity delay units. The facility also uses Electro-Voice RE20 microphones and Broadcast Bionics PhoneBOX software. One studio features a custom system installed by the Italian broadcast company Axel Technology, including its Oxygen 3000 mixer.

Studios at Spectrum Radio Network feature the Sonifex S2 mixer.

Spectrum also uses the ISDN replacement service ipDTL for simple, low-cost remote broadcasts. Miller reports one client station, Love Sport Radio, used the IP streaming service for recent broadcasts from Madrid: “The presenter had the ipDTL software on his phone with an IK Multimedia iRig interface — I have to say it was really reliable.”

To support the move, Spectrum rebuilt its spectrumradio.net website, with a new look and logo, and is also branching into the fast-growing podcast world. “Our first new offer as a facilities provider is to make highly professional podcasts,” explains Ogden. “At any one time there’s now over 700,000 podcasts out there — so quality is really important. We can advise on editing and uploading to whichever channels clients prefer.”

As for the future, Ogden says: “our ambition would be to develop more studios — to see more international stations using our facilities for broadcast across London and around the world. And we want to help podcasters and marketing companies with studio hire, outside broadcasts and radio promotion days. We’re really looking forward to the next stage of Spectrum’s development.”

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The post Spectrum Radio Network Unveils New London Studios appeared first on Radio World.

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FCC adopts Order and Consent Decree with Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc., resolving an investigation into compliance with children's television programming rules and requirements

FCC adopts Order and Consent Decree with Word of God Fellowship resolving an investigation into compliance with children's television programming rules and requirements

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We can’t fully appreciate the importance of news from home to those who served in World War II. In the Pacific campaigns, G.I.s, sailors and Marines fought bloody island-hopping battles; as each island was cleared, garrison troops and hospitals moved in and carried on their own war against mosquitoes, isolation and boredom. The island fighters were fortunate if dated mail caught up with them before they moved on to the next target. Timely personal-level communications were pretty much absent.

Possibly the earliest military station in World War II — this one located in the Panama Canal Zone.

Radio programming from America was available but only on shortwave. And shortwave radios were not generally available. The fortunate few had been issued “Buddy Kits” that included a radio, a small PA system and a record player for discs sent by mail. But for most there was no way to receive short-lived information such as news and sports. They were left with enemy radio propaganda such as Japan’s “Orphan Ann/Annie” (aka one of several Tokyo Roses) and the “Zero Hour” program.

No wonder that the idea of having a local island radio station doing “live from home” was so fiercely supported. Enlightened commanders saw the idea as a terrific morale-builder. The only problem was how to pull it off.

A solution, not uniquely, came from within the ranks. It started with the work of some bored but talented soldiers in the Panama Canal Zone who in 1940 built a couple of 50 W transmitters and put them on the air without authorization, labeling them “PCAN” and “PCAC.”

GIs listen to a radio, possibility one of the AFRS broadcasts.

In Alaska, 7,500 miles northwest of Panama City, what started as programming through a loudspeaker system became a bootleg radio operation at Kodiak. Coming on the air in January 1942 and calling itself “KODK,” it delivered a whopping 15 watts to the troops. Sources with hindsight later said that the Armed Forces Radio Service (“AFRS”) was born here, when one of its progenitors visited the Alaska operations and “came up with the idea.”

There were similar stations in Hawaii and the Philippines, including the ill-fated island of Corregidor, where a station called “The Voice of Freedom” was an AM repeater for shortwave broadcasts from the U.S.

As troop buildups began in the South Pacific, joint Allied radio operations were established, notably in New Zealand and Australia. These stations were popular with Americans but they also kindled an appetite for “real radio from the States.”

Soldiers in the field listen to a broadcast.

Meanwhile things were happening in Washington. The government’s “Morale Services Division” had been created in 1940, though its mandate hadn’t focused on radio. But as cumbersome as government can be, soldiers’ demands for American radio content eventually reached the right people. Increased priority was given to the recording and distribution of network radio programs by electrical transcription. But that still wasn’t live broadcasting.

The Morale Services Division was renamed the “Special Services Division” (SSD) and tasked with live broadcasting. The broadcasting division of the SSD would become the fabled Armed Forces Radio Service.

AFRS began to place “local/relay stations” among the troops. In the Eastern theaters such stations often used existing facilities, but in the Pacific they had to build from the ground up. To facilitate the effort, AFRS created a “station in a box” package that included a transmitter, long-wire antenna and recording and reproducing equipment. Installation teams boated from island to island to plant these mini-stations. Most of them came alive in 1944 and 1945 and, as the island-hopping campaign moved toward Japan, many were soon abandoned, some after only a few months’ operation.

“Stations in a box” were first unpacked in Noumea, New Guinea; then it was on to New Caledonia where AFRS hatched the first of the “Mosquito Network” stations. As WVUS it was among the first such to be given an FCC license (most of the Pacific’s licensed-station calls would then begin with “WV”).

Guadalcanal was the next priority for AFRS. Space precludes station-by-station descriptions, so I’ll use Guadalcanal as a definitive example. The “studios” were in a wooden shack humorously called “Radio City.” The first antenna was a 60-foot-high long-wire stretched between two palm trees (climbed by the more dexterous of the youthful assembly gang). Somehow the wire was “tuned” to work on 730 kHz. Later the antenna was raised to 90 feet and the frequency to 690 kHz. “AES-Guadalcanal” would be licensed as WVOQ.

The “studio” was equipped with a rudimentary mixing console and a Presto Model “Y” disc recorder that doubled as the program-transcription playback turntable. A good shortwave receiver was critical (a favorite shortwave receiver was the Hammarlund “Super-Pro”). Some stations actually built diversity-receive systems to improve reception.

A typical broadcast package: note the simple mixer and a turntable that pulls double-duty — able to cut or play back discs.

A staff usually consisted of five or six soldiers. The station kept an intermittent schedule based around troop down-time and usually went quiet around 10 p.m. local time. The typical broadcast week was 80 to 90 hours; part of that filled by shortwave programs from the states. Forty to 50 hours per week were taken by transcribed network programs shipped by AFRS, and the rest of the flexible schedule was “live and local” — GIs-talking-to-GIs (a precursor of “Good Morning Vietnam!”).

Power for the station came from a shared generator. At night, when the load on the generator often increased, record speed would vary with generator load.

Of course each island station had its own story to tell: soldiers shinnying up palm trees with a wire in their teeth; “studios” usually in tents (sometimes made more soundproof and weather-impervious by the addition of a second tent above the first). Some listeners may have had the “Buddy Kits” or perhaps a radio sent from home … or maybe something home-built by the tech-savvy soldier. The stations were also rebroadcast on hospital and mess-hall PA systems and on ships within reach.

It didn’t take long before each station had 100% listener penetration.

Live stateside programming was usually captured from shortwave stations in California (John Schneider and Dr. Adrian M. Peterson have told their stories in Radio World). There were, however, two problems with this arrangement: 1) Shortwave propagation to the Pacific was generally at its best during the period when American radio networks were silent and 2) the politics behind AFRS and the rules of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) dictated that programming must be shorn of its commercial content. This last was a new task for pre-eminent studios such as Radio Recorders in Hollywood. Such service providers had been recording network shows for delayed West Coast broadcasting. Deleting commercials from these disc-recorded network programs required them to learn “The Three-Turntable Two-Step.”

An affiliate of the Mosquito Network

Many of the Pacific island stations were informally part of the “Mosquito Network” or affiliates of the “Jungle Network.” Stations in the Central Pacific (often by and for the Navy) were part of “PON” (The Pacific Ocean Network).

Where radio goes, promotion follows — even in the military.

There were probably 50 or more island stations installed, removed and relocated in 1944 and 1945. Their numbers diminished rapidly as the Allies congregated closer to Japan. And as the war wound down and ended, the AFRS stations came together in the Philippines and Japan as the long-lived “Far East Network.”

Chances are that if your father or grandparents served in the Pacific during World War II, he, she or they would have been informed and entertained by these stations.

They brought the front lines just a little closer to home.

Mark Durenberger is a technology consultant with the Minnesota Twins and has six decades of broadcast and satellite experience. Mark began his contributions to Radio World forty years ago. Reach him at mark4@durenberger.com.

The post Meet the Mosquito Network appeared first on Radio World.

The FCC shouldn’t act like it’s haggling over a new car when it comes to the C-band spectrum, according to NAB’s Vice President of Strategic Planning Patrick McFadden. McFadden wrote a post on NAB’s Policy Blog on how in terms of the amount of C-band spectrum made available for wireless companies, the FCC must look at the facts on what amount is safe for broadcasters to effectively use the spectrum, not negotiate the best possible deal.

[Read: Cumulus/WWO Among Those Rejecting Fiber Suggestion as Replacement for C-Band]

In his blog, McFadden notes that satellite operators say that it is possible to make up to 200 MHz available for wireless companies, leaving 300 MHz for radio and television operators to continue using the spectrum without issue. He argues that it would be irresponsible for the FCC to try and debate over that number (or whatever it may be).

“Rather, the solution is to look at the information the operators have submitted regarding their transition plan and determine how much capacity can be made available without driving the entire America content ecosystem into a ditch,” McFadden wrote.

Read McFadden’s entire blog here.

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The post NAB’s McFadden Warns Against Negotiating Available C-Band Spectrum appeared first on Radio World.