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Media Bureau reinstates certain vacant FM allotments

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The DRM Consortium recently concluded its General Assembly. Seventy people from 13 countries participated.

Chairman Ruxandra Obreja said the past year has been the busiest for DRM since the consortium was founded.

She reported “excellent progress” over that time in countries including India, South Africa, Indonesia, Pakistan, Brazil, Russia and Hungary.

[Read: StarWaves Introduces DRM SoftRadio App]

Obreja also cited prototypes, updates and developments announced by receiver and chipset manufacturers including Gospell, RF2Digital, Inntot, Cambridge Consultants, NXP, Fraunhofer IIS and StarWaves.

She also noted the announcement of a project to test the DRM framework within ATSC 3.0 digital television, which would give access to DRM content on various devices and platforms.

And she said interest was strong in the recent trial of DRM for FM in India, which she called a success and which also featured head unit radios with both DRM AM and DRM FM integrated.

 

The post DRM Consortium Sees “Excellent Progress” appeared first on Radio World.

On April 9, the media company known for more than 50 years as Entercom Communications officially changed its ticker symbol to “AUD” to reflect its new corporate identity, Audacy.

On Tuesday, trading in AUD hit a fresh post-rebranding low, bringing it to its lowest price since the first day of March.

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The Federal Communications Commission has taken the unusual step of cancelling two proposed forfeitures — but not without admonishing the licensees for their violations.

In both cases, a Notice of Apparent Liability was issued by the Audio Division of the Media Bureau for the same violation: failing to file a license renewal application in a timely manner.

In the first case, the Bay City Public Schools district in Bay City, Mich., failed to file an application to renew the license of station WCHW(FM) on time. The same error was made by Billy R. Autry, licensee of two Mississippi stations —  WKRA(AM) and WKRA(FM) in Holly Springs, Miss.

[Read: Four Stations Receive Forfeitures for Same Alleged Violation: Late Filings]

The FCC Rules are clear when it comes to submitting license renewal applications: the request must be submitted on the first calendar day four months prior to the expiration of the license.

In Bay City’s case, that meant that the application should have been filed by June 1, 2020, to prepare for the station’s Oct. 1, 2020, license expiration date. That application was not filed until the day before it expired: Sept. 29, 2020.

For Autry, the renewal applications for the two stations should have been filed by Feb. 3, 2020, in preparation for a June 1, 2020 license expiration date. Those applications were not filed until May 20, 2020.

In both cases, the bureau proposed a forfeiture of $3,000 per station. Both licensees were given 30 days to pay the full amount or file a written statement as to why it should be reduced or cancelled.

For the Bay City Public Schools district, it blamed the coronavirus pandemic.

The school wrote to explain that its employees did not have access to the station for four months in early 2020 because of restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The district also had the impression that its filing deadline was July 1, 2020, and believed that it had already filed its renewal application on June 29.

It turns out that the licensee had saved the application in the commission’s Licensing and Management System database but it had not formally turned it in. Mistakes that result from unfamiliarity with the FCC’s requirements are still willful violations, the bureau said. “[C]onfusion or difficulties with the commission’s electronic filing system are not grounds for reduction or cancellation of a forfeiture,” the bureau said.

But the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic held sway; the bureau moved to cancel the forfeiture and granted the renewal application. But it admonished the licensee for failing to file on time.

In Autry’s case, the bureau proposed a $6,000 fine for failing to renew the two stations’ licenses and gave him 30 days to pay the full amount or explain why the forfeiture should be reduced or cancelled.

Autry responded by saying that he was not aware of the filing deadline because a notification was sent to a former employee of the stations. He also asked the bureau to cancel the proposed forfeiture based on his inability to pay and included copies of federal tax returns for 2017, 2018 and 2019 in support of this request.

Being unaware of a deadline is not enough to excuse the violation, the bureau said. Violations resulting from error or unfamiliarity are still willful violations.

But the bureau will consider a reduction or cancellation of a fine if the licensee can demonstrate a legitimate financial hardship through three recent federal tax returns. After reviewing those, the bureau found that payment of the proposed forfeiture would create such a hardship. As a result, the bureau cancelled the proposed forfeiture and granted the renewal applications — but not before admonishing Autry for his violations.

 

The post FCC Admonishes Licensees for Missed Deadlines — but Agrees to Cancel Forfeitures appeared first on Radio World.

Starwaves and Fraunhofer IIS announced an Android app that allows reception of Digital Radio Mondiale transmissions on mobile devices, when used in conjunction with an RF dongle.

“Starwaves enables Android phones and tablets to receive entertainment, text information and emergency warnings via DRM Digital Radio — without costly data plans, independent from cell phone network availability, and based on innovative Fraunhofer technology,” Starwaves said in its announcement.

 

A promo image from the Starwaves website.

 

The company noted that it has been active in DRM radio receivers for years. Johannes von Weyssenhoff is founder of Starwaves, which was founded in Germany in 2005 and subsequently moved to Switzerland. Its early products included Starwaves Prelude, a DRM-DAB receiver, and Carbox, an automotive DRM-DAB with analog shortwave. The company was also involved in Africa’s first DRM trial in the FM band in South Africa.

[Related: “Sinclair, Fraunhofer Will Integrate DRM in ATSC 3.0”]

The new app provides listeners with access to the DRM digital radio standard, across all transmission bands from DRM on longwave to FM band and VHF band-III. The app is available on the Google and Amazon Android app stores.

The app supports DRM features like Emergency Warning Functionality, image slideshows, station logos, and service descriptions including Unicode support.

“To provide all these services, the app only requires a standard off-the-shelf SDR RF dongle that is attached to the device’s USB port,” it said.

DRM’s largest market is India, where it is heard on mediumwave and has recently been tested for possible use on the FM band. The DRM Consortium recently concluded its General Assembly, which also reported on projects in Indonesia and Pakistan as well as a DRM trial on FM in Russia and another on shortwave in Brazil.

The post StarWaves Introduces DRM SoftRadio App appeared first on Radio World.

It boasts a Construction Permit for a 4kw signal from a tower in the heart of the Ozarks’ resort region of Missouri.

Now, it is being spun from one not-for-profit operation to another.

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DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. — Tune to 1230 kHz in Westchester County, and you’ll hear a Cumulus Media Sports Talker using a facility licensed for 1,000 watts from 1 tower located between the Sprain Brook Parkway and Interstate 87.

Its signal also reaches Rockland County, N.Y., and Bergen County, N.J.

Come May 24, it will become the third AM station in the nation to abandon its analog signal.

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Commissioner Brendan Carr is objecting to what he says is politically motivated pressure for the FCC to reject the sale of a Miami radio station.

Carr, a Republican, cited news reports that members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus want the commission to reject the sale of WSUA, “Caracol 1260 AM.”

“According to the Democrat representatives, the FCC must block this change in ownership to prevent what they view as a progressive broadcast station from beginning to air conservative viewpoints to Miami’s Hispanic community,” Carr stated in a press release.

He cited quotes in Newsweek’s reporting from Florida Democrats “sounding the alarm” including a quote from Former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell that “To win in 2022 this must stop!”

[Newsweek: “Florida Democrats Sound the Alarm After ‘Spanish-Language OAN’ Buys Miami Radio Station, Fires Liberal Host”]

Carr called it an attempt by Democrats in Congress to block the sale of the Spanish-language station based on its projected political viewpoints.

“The FCC has no business doing the Democrats’ bidding or using our regulatory process to censor political opinions that Democrats do not like,” Carr wrote.

“What’s worse, the Democrats appear to be treating the FCC as merely an arm of the DNC — expressly pressuring the agency to take action that they believe will increase their electoral odds in Florida in 2022.”

He called it a “deeply troubling transgression of free speech and the FCC’s status as an independent agency” and asked his FCC colleagues to the effort.

Newsweek reported that the buyer plans to change the name of Caracol 1260 AM to América Radio.

 

The post Carr Calls Foul on Congressional Democrats appeared first on Radio World.

The individual who has served as SVP/General Manager of NBC Sports Chicago, the Comcast-owned RSN serving the Windy City, has been appointed President/GM of the two NBC-owned stations housed on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.

Getting the new duties, putting him in charge of NBC O&O WMAQ-5 and Telemundo sibling WSNS-44 is Kevin Cross.

He’s a veteran Chicagoland media executive and takes the job as David Doebler will retire, effective June 1, after eight years in the role, longtime Chicago media reporter Robert Feder reports.

Cross will retain his NBC Sports Chicago role, adding the WSNS and WMAQ duties.

Cross began his career at the former SportsChannel Chicago as a producer, in 1993. It became Fox Sports Chicago in 1998, and rose to Senior Producer.

Later, he held the role of President/Executive Producer of Timeline Productions and as Executive Producer of Sports for CLTV.

 

A first-of-its-kind demonstration is scheduled for the ongoing NAB Show Premiere virtual conference that aims to show how news companies “can embrace the interactive content opportunities of NEXTGEN TV to fight misinformation as the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard continues its national rollout on a voluntary basis.

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Standard Media Index has just released its March 2021 data, and the total monthly media investment was “way up,” it reports.

In fact, it was up 22% versus March 2020, which was down 13% from a year earlier as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived on North American shores.

The gains in the last month of Q1 2021 lifted this year’s ad investment higher than pre-pandemic levels, SMI notes: March 2021 investment was up 6.3% versus March 2019.

That said, radio broadcasting executives should not get too excited, as Digital continues to lead the growth, rising 27% in March versus last year. Further exacerbating matters for the Radio industry: TV’s “very strong” March, rising 13% versus 2020.

This, SMI says, is the “first real year-over-year increase in over a year,” excluding a 1% increase in August 2020.

To view SMI’s report, with graphics, please click here

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A promotional image from the Audioburst website.

Audio search and delivery firm Audioburst now is available on the Harman Ignite Store connected vehicle platform.

Separately, Harman also opened a hub for Android Automotive developers.

“The Audioburst Android Automotive app is now available through the Harman Ignite Store to augment vehicle infotainment systems, providing drivers and passengers alike with unprecedented personalization and access to the world’s largest searchable library of talk audio content,” the companies announced.

The company’s AI listens to podcasts and radio stations, analyzes and indexes the long-form content and cuts it into short-form audio clips called bursts.

“Keywords, entities, sentiment and additional metadata features are extracted to ensure the most accurate topical segmentation,” the company explains. “The bursts are then grouped together into playlists to provide listeners with a recommended content stream based on trending topics, past behavior, and defined keywords and interests. These can be as broad as ‘Tech’ and ‘Business’ or as specific as ‘Ariana Grande,’ ‘LA Lakers,’ and ‘Pfizer stock.’”

Audioburst CEO Amir Hirsh was quoted saying this approach means drivers don’t have to browse podcasts and radio stations “in futile, and at times dangerous, attempts to find relevant content,” thanks to personalization and discovery capabilities.

Audioburst said its APIs also “provide OEMs with powerful user analytics and unique monetization opportunities.” OEMs can collect info about content consumption that can be used to inform subscriptions or advertisements.

Albert Jordan, VP of the Harman Ignite Store business unit, said the purpose of its platform is to connect drivers and passengers to their favorite apps and media.

Harman International is a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics. Samsung Venture Investment is an investor in Audioburst. Harman says 50 million cars on the road have its audio systems. Its brands include AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon, Mark Levinson and Revel.

Reflecting the growing importance of the Android Automotive OS, Harman also announced a Harman Ignite Store Developers Portal, a hub for Android Automotive developers.

“Those developing to the Android Automotive open operating system can deploy automotive apps, which OEMs can then easily scale and manage to drive new digital touchpoints with their customers through the Harman Ignite Store.”

 

The post Audioburst Joins Harman Ignite Store appeared first on Radio World.

A spare transmitter blower is a great idea. Pre-wiring it is even better!

If you’ve never lost a blower motor in a high-power transmitter, your time probably is coming!

It is a helpless feeling when the transmitter completely shut down. Then add the frustration of trying to find a replacement, not to mention removing the old motor and assembly.

Honolulu contract engineer Dale Machado found a replacement blower and motor assembly to keep on hand, and added to the insurance policy by pre-wiring it. Adding the wiring harness is one less thing to think about when you are off the air.

In the case of three-phase motors, pre-wiring also reduces the chance you’ll miswire the phase, causing the motor to run backwards!

Data points

Consulting Engineer and frequent Workbench contributor Frank Hertel of Newman-Kees RF Measurement and Engineering compiled useful information for engineers working with AM stations. Frank bases the information on his own experience and on documents available from Kintronic Laboratories (www.kintronic.com).

Frank has been called in after lightning hits to repair a number of antenna tuning units at the base of AM towers. Lightning knows no season! Frank’s summary keeps things simple and easy to understand.

First discussed are estimated impedances for a single reference tower that is series-fed, and operating at 1000 kHz (1 MHz) at heights of 150, 90 and 60 electrical degrees. Under these conditions, the values in the first table are typical:

(150 deg. height)     782R      –j13         (Capacitive Reactance

(90 deg. Height)     44R        +j18         (Inductive Reactance)

(60 deg. Height)     11R        –j113       (Capacitive Reactance)

If you are using an isocoupler on your (single) series-fed tower, it is assumed that the isocoupler has a typical capacitance of around 100 pF (or more). Thus, the isocoupler will present its added shunt value, to your single series-fed tower.

When the isocoupler’s shunt value is added in parallel to the impedance of your single series-fed tower, the addition of the isocoupler will shift the single tower’s impedance and typically yield the approximate values in the second table:

(150 deg. Height)      623R    –j315       (Capacitive Reactance)

(90 deg. Height)        45R      +j17         (Inductive Reactance)

(60 deg. Height)        10R      –j105       (Capacitive Reactance)

Frank adds that a single 90 degree height, series-fed tower will normally use a simpler ATU matching circuit. This circuit may be more efficient as a result of needing fewer components and lessened power loss, but this is debatable.

A single series-fed tower that is shorter than 90 degrees will yield a low R value with capacitive reactance. A single series-fed tower that is taller than 90 degrees will yield a higher R value with capacitive reactance.

Finally, it is worth noting that a tower height of slightly more than 90 degrees should yield an R value of approximately 50 ohms with a manageable reactance value.

Spring is in full swing for many readers. If you find yourself doing AM work and needing AM components, visit the Kintronic site.

Unbalanced-to-balanced adaptor

San Francisco contract and project engineer Bill Ruck has built a number of unbalanced-to-balanced adaptors over the years. He is careful to pay attention to absolute phase — if you’re not, the design can invert the audio.

There is an easy fix to this; the input inverting op amp output is connected to Pin 3. The inverted unity gain IC connection is Pin 2. Swapping Pins 2 and 3 will ensure that the output is in absolute phase with the input signal.

Bill prefers to use +/–15 VDC as a power source, but he has also used inexpensive DC-to-DC converters to take a nominal 9 to 12VDC signal and make +/-15VDC.

And Bill has found it wise to add a small capacitor across the op amp feedback resistor in order to limit bandwidth and make the amplifier stable. Although this is not critical, he tries to pick a capacitor value to be equal to the resistance at around 150 kHz.

Storage strap

Over the years, we’ve shown a variety of cable management solutions from brands like Velcro and other hook-and-loop manufacturers. But the one in Fig. 2 serves a dual purpose.

A heavy-duty hook-and-loop cable organizer.

The metal grommet helps organize and hang bundles of remote broadcast cables. In the Technical Operations Center, the grommet secures large bundles of cables, especially of the Ethernet variety. The fastener secures the cables without deforming the wire wrap. This heavy-duty nylon strap is available from Koppy and they come in small, medium and large sizes. There is a quantity discount. Go to https://koppy.co/ .

John Bisset, CPBE, has spent over 50 years in broadcasting and is in his 31st year of Workbench. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance. He is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award.

Workbench submissions are encouraged and qualify for SBE recertification. Email johnpbisset@gmail.com.

The post Workbench: Blower Motors and AM Tips appeared first on Radio World.

Deloitte has released the results of its 15th annual Digital Media Trends Survey.

It reveals how COVID-19 and shifting generational preferences are reshaping the U.S. media and entertainment landscape. How this may impact the future growth of broadcast television and radio makes this essential reading for your organization.

 

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Eleven years ago, an influential Member of the House of Representatives crafted legislation passed into law by President Obama designed to eliminate those jarring commercial breaks where the audio is out of sync with the regular programming — and much louder in volume.

In recent months, however, jarring TV spots have reemerged at over-the-air and cable TV, leading this politician on April 14 to seek — for the second time — an FCC investigation into the matter.

The Commission has now agreed to do so.

On April 14, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.)  sent a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel specifically requesting the Commission investigate ” a reported increase in complaints related to loud television advertisements that may violate the CALM Act.”

The jump in complaints came concurrent to the COVID-19 pandemic, with more people sequestered in their homes and watching television. Thus, the loudness issue could have predated the arrival of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. It was the virus that likely exposed the problem to a greater degree.

Eshoo became aware of the problem. On July 21, 2020, she wrote to then-FCC Chairman Ajit Pai requesting information about complaints related to and enforcement of the CALM Act.

The Pai Commission did not act.

On March 31, 2021, online publication Business Insider followed up on the complaints by offering a lengthy feature story that examined the four-month period from November 2020 to February 2021. In this timeframe, FCC complaints of loud commercials increased 140% compared to the same period a year ago — more than double the volume of complaints.

For TV broadcasters and cable operators, the CALM Act requires any station to abide by the A/85 standard approved by the ATSC, the Advanced Television Systems Committee. The FCC is the enforcement agency.

Eshoo was quoted in the Business Insider article, which makes the assumption that “2021 is poised to be the worst year since the initial rollout” of the CALM Act.

Fueled by the online report, Eshoo then pleaded to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “This worries me a great deal,” she wrote to Rosenworcel.

It appears the FCC under Democratic Party influence is worried, to. On Monday (4/19), the Media Bureau moved forward with the issuance of a public notice inviting comment from consumers and industry leaders on whether any updates are needed to the Commission’s rules implementing the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act.

Comments are due by June 3. Reply Comments are due by July 9.

“We seek comment on the extent to which our rules have been effective in preventing loud commercials,” the Media Bureau states. ‘In particular, we invite consumers to tell us their experiences as they watch programming provided by television broadcasters and MVPDs.”

In response, Eshoo said, “I welcome the FCC’s action to protect consumers from the vexing issue of loud TV ads. I authored the law to put an end to this national irritant, but complaints are rising again. I welcome the decision of the FCC to hear complaints from the American people. I urge everyone who is annoyed to submit their complaints to the FCC about loud ads to ensure violations of the CALM Act can be investigated.”