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BIN: Black Information Network, the iHeartMedia-owned national audio news and information service focused on African American consumers, has appointed a VP of News Operations while naming BIN’s first-ever Managing Editor.

Taking the Vice President post is Andrea Coleman.

According to iHeartMedia, she will “lead the charge in keeping BIN: Black Information Network front and center while guiding newsroom operations to optimize the network’s reach, scale and influence.”

Coleman rises from News Director as the Managing Editor role goes to Mike Stevens.

Stevens will work closely with Coleman to guide newsroom operations, as well as assign and coordinate national and local news coverage.

The shift in leadership structure comes after the passing of Tanita Myers, a seasoned network and local news manager, producer, broadcaster and anchor who joined BIN in June 2020 and was most recently serving as Vice President of News Operations until her death.

“A major part of Tanita Myers’ legacy at the Black Information Network will forever be the incredible depth of talent she hired. Following her passing, Andrea and Mike not only helped us to continue her work but have built upon this foundation,” said Tony Coles, President of BIN: Black Information Network. “It only felt natural to elevate both to these leadership positions and trust them to continue bringing BIN to new heights. I am excited to see two of our best journalists advance into these new roles, and I am confident we will continue to grow under their leadership.”

Andrea Coleman joined iHeartMedia as an anchor/reporter for the Black Information Network in Summer 2020 and formerly served as an anchor for CNN.

Stevens is a seasoned reporter with experience at organizations in New York City, Atlanta, Sacramento, Tampa, Flint, Columbus, Ohio and his native Philadelphia.

HOMESTEAD, FLA. — A Class C1 100kw FM radio station offering a mix of Christian Talk and Teaching and “the best music this side of heaven” will soon be making a bit of a programming change.

Instead of offering “Life”-affirming offerings in English, it will provide listeners in Miami-Dade and northern Monroe Counties estudias de la Vida, in Spanish.

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For a brief moment during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Thursday morning hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2021” earned another moment in the spotlight.

The legislation, introduced in March 2021 by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), was put on life support one week ago after Texas Republican Ted Cruz introduced an amendment, passed by the Committee, that would omit what the GOP believes is government policing of content on the internet.

Is Klobuchar’s bill getting an edit, and is ready to move forward? Yes.

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The Media Bureau enters into a Consent Decree with Deportes y Musica Comunicaciones LLC

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re: Actions on Pending Applications

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A brand new series of live events being launched this week by DTS Inc., the wholly owned subsidiary of HD Radio developer and licensor Xperi, will highlight next-generation in-cabin technologies.

The inaugural InCabin event is scheduled for Sept. 15 following the AutoSens conference at AutoWorld Museum in Brussels. The first of its kind event aims to rethink the in-cabin space, combining sensing with entertainment, DTS says. Subsequent events will be held twice a year, according to a DTS press release.

DTS, which has been developing in-car safety technology via its DTS AutoSense platform, is teaming with Sense Media Group, the producer of AutoSens conferences, to launch the initiative. The global series of events was sparked by a soaring interest in in-cabin monitoring and intelligent interior technologies, according to DTS.

The company says many future applications for safety, comfort and productivity will be enabled by sensors, processing hardware, AI software and algorithms.

“The InCabin community brings together experts from across all these technical disciplines and the whole supply chain to drive innovation and product development,” says DTS. “We see in-cabin sensing as a holistic solution which enable use cases around safety and user experience.”

DTS is expected to demo its DTS AutoSense Single Camera DMS OMS [Driver and Occupant Monitoring System], which can track the eye movement of vehicle occupants, at the InCabin event this week. 

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A promotional image from the Xperi connected car website

The company, which also has created the in-vehicle hybrid radio platform DTS AutoStage, believes the initial focus of the new series will be on technical applications related to sensing and safety, but evolve into in-cabin experiences of which DTS AutoStage will be a component.  

This week’s event in Brussels will include automakers among others like Bosch, LG Electronics, Sony, OMNIVISION, Optalert, EuroNCAP and Tobii. Sessions include “Humanizing the In-cabin Experience” and “In-cabin, From User Safety to User Experience.”

“Automotive has connected the vehicle exterior, but the next evolution is all about solving the vehicle interior, especially its role as a third space,” said Adi Capata, DTS senior vice president of engineering. “Sensing technology is critical to the in-cabin future, with significant implications for consumers, OEMs and technology providers. The applications are numerous from vehicle safety, to health care and wellness, to immersive entertainment, which it why DTS is so proud to be a founding partner of InCabin.”

DTS said it believes “tomorrow’s vehicle can become a very safe third space rather than just a transportation device – with the cockpit a place of relaxation, where content consumption, working or socializing can take place. One that is personalized and allows a seamless transition from at-home to in-vehicle, with the vehicle sensing all the music and comfort preferences of the driver/passengers, then automatically adjusting.”

The advisory board of InCabin includes experts from Volvo and General Motors, according to DTS.

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The post DTS Launches New “InCabin” Series of Events appeared first on Radio World.

With an all-but certain delisting from the NYSE, short a reverse stock split, coming for Audacy Corp., the company’s beleaguered shares suffered another big dip in Wednesday’s trading. The result — a new all-time low for AUD.

Wednesday wasn’t exactly a great day for Beasley Media Group‘s stock, either.

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It offers what it calls “schizoelectic radio” that saw the station at 1:13pm Pacific today play Ramblin’ Jack Elliott’s version of the Rod Stewart song “Reason To Believe.” It claims to have a national streaming audio audience.

Alas, that appears to be not enough to save “Jive Radio” on a broadcast facility using a Class C3 signal to cover a portion of the Columbia River Gorge due east of Portland, Ore.

The station is being sold to Educational Media Foundation.

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It’s back, and the Democratic Senator from Minnesota that ran for U.S. President in 2020 will likely do her best to move forward with legislation first introduced in March 2021 with bipartisan support that unexpectedly “blew up” on September 8.

Another Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2021” will be debated and discussed is scheduled for September 14.

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Looking for ways to make your LGBTQ+ advertising strategy more effective?

Here are three tips from the team at Kantar worth considering, if this high-income, big-spending consumer group is of interest to your broadcast media properties.

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Election Day 2022 is 54 days away, and if you’ve watched any local broadcast TV station of late, there’s a very good chance you’ve seen an ad for a political candidate or issue on the ballot this campaign season.

According to newly released data from BIA Advisory Services, some viewers are poised to be “inundated” with more political advertising than others. While Virginia will be tepid with respects to political spots, Maryland has a gubernatorial and Senate campaign in progress, making activity more active.

Yet, that’s nothing compared to five other states, including Georgia, BIA has singled out as election-dollar windfall locales.

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Former Summit Director of Engineering Dennis Sloatman, now retired, encountered an annoying issue familiar to any of us who have home offices. Whenever he sent a job to his Brother laser printer, he had problems: monitors blanking, UPS units beeping and lights flickering.

Dennis found the cause. When the printer comes out of sleep mode, a fairly large current spike (some 11 amps) is generated.

His solution involved an NTC Thermistor #3D-25. This thermistor is rated for 9 Amps continuous.

This circuit provides a soft start to a current-hungry laser printer.

“NTC” stands for Negative Temperature Coefficient. So the resistance drops as temperature (caused by the current) goes up. 

The thermistor chosen has a quiescent resistance at 25 degrees C of 5 Ohms, so, when the 11-amp surge rises, it drops 55 volts to the laser printer, but only for a millisecond or so, and gradually allows the normal 120VAC through (or nearly so).

He fixed the issue as depicted in the accompanying schematic. Dennis envisions many applications for a circuit of this type; and of course, there are a range of thermistors available for various applications.

Dennis built his circuit in a quad electrical box with a duplex outlet and extension cable. Let me and your fellow Workbench readers know if you come up with other applications for this circuit.

Dennis’ completed project. Don’t get screwed again

From Malaysia, Workbench regular Paul Sagi sends a link to a professional-grade kit for extracting broken bolt and stripped screws, and it costs under $30. 

The  Alden 8440P Grabit Pro Broken Bolt & Damaged Screw Extractor 4 Piece Kit is made in the USA of high-quality tool steel. The extractors are designed to fit into a variable reversible drill but can also be used with a 1/4-inch hex screwdriver. 

Bolts and screws as small as No. 10 can be removed easily. The bits are designed to work with not only slotted and Phillips heads, but also Hex, Torx, Tri-Wing, Pozidriv, Fearson and most tamper-resistant screws.

The standard Grabit has been advertised on television for years, but the Pro model is tempered twice to provide multiple uses per tool. The 8440P has four bits; you can also buy packages of one to three bits.

Testing, testing

In a previous column I lamented the demise of the Fox and Hound audio signal tracer. 

Bob Clinton of technical consulting firm Cavell Mertz & Associates tells us that Fluke manufactures at least three versions of a similar signal tracer.

If all you need is tones, the Fluke Networks Pro3000 Tone Generator will fit the bill. If you need a generator and signal sniffer, the Pro3000 line also includes a kit that includes the tone generator and a filtered receiving probe. See various options by searching Pro3000 here. And for more advanced signal tracing, look at Fluke’s MT-8200-60.

Fluke’s MT-8200-60 kit locates cables safely and effectively on active networks.

Klein Tools has an advanced circuit tracer that can be used on both energized and non-energized circuits. Search ET450 in the search block here. There are YouTube videos showing the ET450 in action — tracing wiring that’s underground and even behind walls in conduit. 

Bob adds that if you are troubleshooting AES signals, check out the Whirlwind Qbox-AES. This test instrument includes a microphone, a speaker, a test-tone generator and outputs for standard headphones.

Finally, NTi has a Minirator, model MR-PRO, that provides a range of audio test signals.

Thanks to Bob for these choices. Cavell Mertz & Associates maintains the free and useful website FCCInfo.com, which provides searchable information on AM, FM, TV and even Auxiliary Services like RPU and STL channels. Radio World uses it all the time. Find it at www.fccinfo.com.

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Cool over the collar A very practical job site accessory.

If you wear a hard hat or safety helmet regularly, you may want to consider Klein Tools’ Cooling Fan for Hard Hats and Safety Helmets. 

I stumbled across this as I was researching Bob Clinton’s Klein signal tracer suggestion. Model 60155 is a dual-fan design for efficient airflow on the head, neck or face, providing up to six hours of continuous runtime. It uses a modular rechargeable battery. The easy mount design permits either front or back mounting. Find out more here.

A tale with a twist

Before we wrap, I have to tell you my Klein story.

Many engineers own a pair of 9-inch Klein Journeyman pliers. They are big and beefy — as the Klein website describes them, they have “a precision-hardened plier head, for on-the-job toughness.” They’re a must-have for electrical work.

Well, a former business associate told me about the time a co-worker was accosted. But the victim used that “precision-hardened plier head” to grab a bit of the accoster’s abdominal flesh, pinching and twisting it and bringing the troublemaker to his knees. Talk about “concealed-carry.”

From then on, my associate keeps his own “Kleins” in his back pocket more often.

Tips please! Workbench submissions are encouraged and qualify for SBE recertification credit. Email johnpbisset@gmail.com. 

The post Here’s a Circuit to Snub Those Surges appeared first on Radio World.

Radio World’s “Guest Commentaries” section provides a platform for industry thought leaders and other readers to share their perspective on radio news, technological trends and more. If you’d like to contribute a commentary, or reply to an already published piece, send a submission to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The author is a semi-retired engineer who has been a chief, assistant chief, contract engineer and TV network engineer.

In an earlier letter to the editor, Michael Baldauf told of a disappointing interaction with the support department of a transmitter manufacturer.

When I worked at a TV network, we expected support from our vendors and manufacturers. Contracts didn’t always go to the low bidder; support history played a significant part in our choice of equipment. There were companies with whom we stopped doing business because of unsatisfactory support. 

But the world has evolved. In times past, businesses in the professional equipment world provided free, ongoing phone support; if the equipment was in use 24/7, support was available at all times. In the event of a fire or tower collapse, vendors would even get people out of bed to ship replacement gear. 

Today, while this may still be the case at some companies, many sell “pay for support” plans. The trend started with IT-oriented companies, often supporting corporate data centers. It spread in broadcasting to cover audio or video editing software, automation systems and such. An NPR station with which I was involved paid a considerable annual fee for support of its playout automation. 

What is “full” support?

One transmitter vendor states in its advertisement: “Full Support: You can count on us … A Support Level Agreement is also available for customized support and maintenance.” It’s not clear how much support is free (24/7?) and how much you get with your (presumably paid) SLA.

Another vendor advertises “24/7 service and support.” My experience with the company has been that its telephone service is free and forever; you may wait a bit for a return call if you call at 3 a.m., but they will call you back. 

So, is it possible that the vendor who told Michael Baldauf to “send us an email” did so because the owner hadn’t paid for an available support plan covering telephone support? Or was the vendor just too cheap to provide any support?

An equipment shopper or an engineer making recommendations should ask: What support is available for free, what’s available with a paid contract, and what is not provided? Also inquire of friends at other facilities regarding quality of support.

There is another consideration. What level of redundancy is built into your facility? 

If you have a redundant system, a backup transmitter etc., your facility may not need 24/7 support. You may have a more reliable operation and possibly save money on a support plan. 

Making an investment

Is that 3 a.m. situation an emergency only because the owner was unwilling to invest in a sufficiently robust, redundant plant? With modern remote-control equipment, you, the chief engineer, can probably avoid that 3 a.m. trip to a redundant facility by switching to a backup from home or even automatically. 

This is usually just a matter of money. Is the owner willing to spend to design and build a redundant facility with full remote/automatic control? Are you being adequately reimbursed for those overnight calls, particularly if you are on contract? How quickly are you really required to respond? 

If you have come to hate hearing your phone ring in the middle of the night, perhaps you should look to put your talents to work in a different, and perhaps better-paid, part of the electronics/IT world.

Last, if you are the designer/integrator or chief engineer and believe you have a redundant facility, double-check the design to eliminate, or at least be fully aware of, single-point failures. And check your backup equipment. Routinely run that backup transmitter on the air, not just into the dummy load, for several hours at least, not just a few minutes. Do routine under-load power tests for your generator by pulling the main switch and seeing what happens. Running the generator only with the “exerciser” unloaded is no real test. 

Don’t end up with self-inflicted wounds.

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The post When It Comes to Support, Caveat Emptor! appeared first on Radio World.

Nomono, the Trondheim, Norway-based developer of audio recording and collaboration products designed to assist both podcasters and journalists tell “immersive audio stories,” has closed a multimillion-dollar investment round led by Schibsted Ventures.

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Mark Durenberger, a veteran engineer and longtime member of the Radio World family, is a member of the board of the Pavek Museum outside of Minneapolis. In that role he has written an essay about radio station WLAG, which came into being 100 years ago this month, and about how that early station turned into what is now WCCO.

An excerpt:

“The Star-Tribune of Sept. 3, 1922 announced, ‘Hotel’s Giant Radio to Open with Concert’ and ‘New Minneapolis Set is One of Six Largest in the World.’ No high expectations here! … Johnson knew the mike in front of him was connected to a transmitter that could carry his voice across the country. Nonetheless at 9 a.m. on Sept. 4, 1922, he straightened his shoulders and announced, ‘WLAG, Your Call of the North Station.’ Mr. Johnson stepped back and thought, ‘Now what?’”

Mark’s 30-page essay helps answer that question. Fans of early radio history and of WCCO in particular will appreciate it. 

You can find the essay here in PDF form.

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The post Learn About WLAG, Precursor to WCCO appeared first on Radio World.