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Times-Citizen Communications, Inc. enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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Powell Broadcasting Company enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

The audio media company’s shares have enjoyed a slow, steady rebound since sinking to $3.35 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic some 11 months ago.

Now, Cumulus Media will reveal its fourth quarter and full-year 2020 results in exactly two weeks.

The company led by CEO Mary Berner will host a conference call on Tuesday, February 23 at 8:30am Eastern to discuss those results.

But, there won’t be much time for analysts and investors to digest the results prior to the call. That’s because a press release containing a summary of the Cumulus results will be issued approximately 30 minutes before the call starts.

What can those who own CMLS or wish to buy it anticipate? Berner on the Cumulus Q3 earnings call said that as the company moved into the fourth quarter, “positive momentum in bookings, driven largely by political,” was being seen.

Still, overall improvement across all categories was a factor — even though pacing was down in the mid-teens on a year-to-year basis.

“While we hope for continued improvement, our performance will remain highly sensitive to the shape and pace of external events,” Berner said.

CMLS finished Tuesday’s trading at $10.34, up 2.8% from Monday. That pushes Cumulus shares ever-closer to the all-important $11 mark – last seen nearly one year ago.

Diverse representation matters.

That’s been the mantra across the advertising industry and all facets of Corporate America for the last 8 to 10 months, and rightfully so, says Louis Maldonado, partner and Managing Director of multicultural advertising agency d expósito & Partners.

“The challenges and atrocities that we’ve collectively experienced in that timeframe have led to a social awakening,” he says.

Why, then, were the Super Bowl LV spots such a letdown?

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Travel an hour south of Norfolk via U.S. Highway 17 and you’ll end up in Hertford, N.C. — a major agricultural town in the Elizabeth City region.

Here, you can listen to “The Bull” if you don’t see one, thanks to its presence at 99.3 MHz on a Class A based in Gatesville.

At least, that’s the case today. The FM has just been sold.

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BOCA RATON, FLA. — In 1972, West Palm Beach saw the arrival of its own NPR Member station. On May 25, 2011, West Palm Beach lost its own NPR Member station, as Barry University sold what was then WXEL-FM 90.7 to Classical South Florida.

Today, that signal is WFLV, the home of Educational Media Foundation‘s “K-LOVE” and, on its HD4 signal, a unique feed from the NPR Member station based in Miami is rebroadcast on an FM translator EMF owns, filling the void left by WXEL’s demise.

Soon, this NPR station will own the translator outright. And, it will be shifting its originating digital multicast station to an iHeartMedia property in the market.

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He’s no stranger to Wedel Software, as he had a hand in several company projects over the last few years.

Perhaps that made him a top candidate for the role of Director of North American Sales, a position that he’s now accepted.

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The author is chairman of Digital Radio Mondiale.

Radio is more than 110 years old; the World Radio Day, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly as an international day in 2012, will be 10 years old on Feb. 13 (while the life-changing pandemic is only one though it feels like a hundred).

While we read about the excellent results of Spotify in Q4, the spread of podcasting, are we celebrating or commemorating radio? It all depends on whether we look back at the past or try to reinvent radio for the current times and the future.

[Read: WRHU to Go Worldwide on February 12–14]

The international, not-for-profit DRM Consortium feels totally in tune with the three 2021 WRD themes: evolution, innovation and connection. They are wide and lofty enough so that any new technology or platform could subscribe to them. But we are demonstrating practically how radio can evolve and invent what is needed now.

The compression delivered in digital enables up to three audio DRM programs and one data channel on one AM or FM current analog frequency. DRM has been mainly tested, and rolled out for its excellent audio qualities, even in the less forgiving shortwave and medium-wave analog bands DRM delivers combined information like audio and data (i.e., text, pictures, maps etc.) that can enable vital services like the Emergency Warning Functionality to be received on digital radio sets.

It is the pandemic that has forced us to look at the DRM audio and data combination in another context, as an innovative learning platform for all. We looked more closely at the data carriage channel. Data means files, and files represent anything from pop song titles and singers’ pictures to stock market prices or maps and the RSS feeds made available through the universal medium of radio. At least this was the kind of illustration we used to give before 2019. In 2020 we realised that this unique combination of audio and multimedia services, available on a standard digital radio set delivered via terrestrial broadcasts (i.e., one to many, and as many as needed), can offer a real solution for distance learning where the internet is patchy, non-existent or the modern gadgets are rare and unaffordable.

For most, e-learning means nowadays something done via the internet. But internet penetration varies between about 95% in the United States (where 73% own a personal computer), to slightly above 50% in Asia and under 40% in Africa. And this has created yet another information and education gap, as amply documented elsewhere.

Can DRM Be the New Teacher?

DRM can deliver typical classroom education, as well as lessons for personal self-study. Instead of giving the same FM content, or similar, on one of the two extra digital channels, a broadcaster might choose to use one of the available DRM digital channels to broadcast lectures or lessons at certain times of the day. In parallel, complementary lesson notes, full textbooks including graphics and formulas, illustrative images, quizzes etc. can be displayed and cached after being loaded and made available through the Journaline application. As the data is repeated on carousel, they can also be used as notes to the lesson to be referenced during the class or be accessed for self-study at any time and as many times as needed afterwards. The Journaline application helps with the structuring of the information by language, class level, subject, and chapters, for easy navigation by students and teachers, too. The idea has certainly got a lot of attention in India and some African countries.

DRM School Demo

If a DRM receiver is not available or too expensive for individual students, DRM radio sets that are optimized for the radio schooling use-case may provide a built-in Wi-Fi hotspot feature, allowing anybody nearby to access the full DRM audio and textbook content. This means a single DRM receiver can be used for communities, households, or classrooms, still giving every student or user full control over navigating the content at their own pace.

Digital Radio Distance Education

In this instance the digital receiver functions as a “mini-station” that feeds cheap Wi-Fi devices or a larger screen placed in a community center where, if allowed, many students can enjoy informative, modern lectures.

DRM digital radio cannot mirror the richness of internet when this is available, affordable and working. DRM or digital radio e-learning is a more compact offer. It needs a highly structured presentation of the essential content with only the key notes, images and notes available. The information is presented in a logical and structured way. Maybe this is the essence of good and intelligent teaching and learning. Synchronization of audio and visual material broadcast terrestrially is a challenge and has its own limitations, so less is more as quality always trumps quantity.

On Feb. 13, the World Radio Day, we are highlighting DRM as a distance learning platform by launching our education DRM ebook, DRM for Education.

Being a “one-to-many” platform, digital radio can deliver audio and text over vast areas and, therefore, to all the schools and students in villages far away or in busy cities, with the same content and quality and without any discrimination.

On Feb. 13 we are also launching in parallel with our ebook, DRM Delivers Education for All Initiative, which is a project you may want to learn about, get involved in, support and implement. If so, please contact us at projectoffice@drm.org.

World Radio Day is a celebration. And what better way to support evolution, use innovation, and enhance connection than through DRM, a sure way to bring a 100-year-old friend to the new generation in the guise of a knowledgeable and encouraging teacher!

 

The post World Radio Day – A Commemoration or a Celebration? appeared first on Radio World.

Mark Cuban is famous for many reasons. He first gained notice as a streaming audio pioneer. Later, he earned fans through ABC (and, later, CNBC) airings of the show Shark Tank. He’s also the owner of the Dallas Mavericks National Basketball Association franchise.

Now, Cuban says he will be investing in a brand-new podcast platform — one that sounds a lot like News/Talk/Sports radio at its best.

In an interview with The Verge, Cuban revealed that he’s investing in Fireside Chat.

It’s described as “a socially responsible platform” on a placeholder website.

 

Importantly, it appears to be different from Fireside — a podcast service that dates to 2016, with metrics and analytics alongside hosting capabilities available. That similarly named company was founded by Dan Benjamin and is headquartered in Austin, Tex.

Rather, Fireside Chat is a project Cuban is co-founding with Falon Fatemi.

In an email obtained by The Verge, Cuban describes Fireside Chat as a “next-gen podcast platform” that facilitates live conversation.

Possible creator partners received the electronic communication.

As The Verge notes, Fireside Chat is similar to Clubhouse, backed by such social media and marketing stars as Gary Vaynerchuck.

The key difference is the Fireside Chat ability to natively record conversations.

A launch is in the works for sometime this year.

As Fatemi sees it, Fireside Chat creators “will be able to broadcast, record, and monetize conversations while using Fireside’s built-in analytics tools to figure out what content performs best,” The Verge says.

A source tells The Verge that creators “will be offered various deals and ways to monetize, and the app won’t let just anyone speak publicly. It’ll be a highly curated experience.”

Cuban and Todd Wagner in 1999 pocketed $5.7 billion from the sale of streaming audio innovator Broadcast.com to Yahoo!

iHeartRadio has launched a big 3D audio effort and announced a “strategic expansion into binaural podcasting.”

It promises to put listeners “into the middle of an audio soundscape, immersing them in the story like never before.”

It released this audio sample to promote it. “Put your headphones on,” it states.

The company plans to introduce a slate of podcasts using this technique.

“Binaural, or 3D audio, creates a sense of movement, location and triggers other senses,” the company wrote in its announcement, “enhancing listening experiences and providing a new way for people to hear high quality, surround sound, immersive content, and reproducing real-life experiences, much like virtual reality has done for video, right in their own homes.”

The announcement was made by Conal Byrne, president of the iHeartPodcast Network. Byrne was quoted describing the technology as “virtual reality for the ears,” a more immersive way of listening.

It said its binaural audio series “13 Days of Halloween,” produced with Blumhouse Television, drew 2.8 million listeners and that it will expand te franchise to other holidays.

“The new iHeart 3D Audio slate will also include the upcoming podcast ‘The Mantawauk Caves,’ a co-production with Blumhouse Television, as well as a series of bonus 3D episodes across the year for hit shows like ‘The Ron Burgundy Podcast,’” it stated.

A company spokeswoman wrote in the announcement, “The tech has been wildly underused in podcasting, and the move makes iHeart the first company to carve out a substantial stake in the space.”

 

The post iHeart Hails “Virtual Reality for the Ears” appeared first on Radio World.

Jeff Welton and Wayne Pecena are shown in a past discussion about IT security.

Tuesdays are for transmission at Nautel.

Well, every day is probably for transmission at Nautel; but Tuesdays are when the RF manufacturer runs its series of online roundtables about transmission topics.

Jeff Welton hosts and brings in various guests.

Discussions in February are covering site maintenance, SNMP and IT security. Past topics have included minimizing costs; grounding and lightning protection; and site monitoring. Webinars are archived on the Nautel site.

Attendance qualifies for a half credit for SBE certification. Details are on the company website.

The post Nautel Explores SNMP, IT Security appeared first on Radio World.

On December 16, 2020, concerned Comcast customers who receive broadcast TV stations through Xfinity in one Massachusetts county breathed a sigh of relief. There, Hearst Television‘s biggest station, ABC affiliate WCVB-5 in Boston, was set to be replaced with a Rhode Island ABC affiliate. Among those offering words of frustration: Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.

It appeared that a fresh retransmission consent arrangement keeping Hearst stations from “neighboring designated market areas” where citizens desired the station more than a closer, albeit out of state, choice was reached.

Now, Comcast has confirmed that “some TV stations” from neighboring markets will “soon no longer be available.”

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Tom Lawler is a contract studio/RF engineer who builds and maintains analog and AoIP radio and home studios for broadcast; his full-time job is in field technical services for RCS. We spoke to him for the Radio World ebook “Trends in Audio Processing for Radio.”

Radio World: Tom, what do you see as the most important trend in the design and use of processors?

Tom Lawler: With the development by leaps and bounds in flexibility — between insert patch points for ratings watermarking, multimode boxes, as well as being able to do MPX over AES or AoIP — modern processors have become virtual Swiss Army knives. Not to mention that devices like StreamBlade from Wheatstone or software processors like StereoTool let your online presence have just as much punch as the OTA signal. 

It wasn’t that many years ago where the only option was to try and adapt an FM box or use a PCI card that couldn’t be easily updated.

RW: What should readers know about the differences in processing needs for analog over the air, digital OTA, podcasts and streaming?

Lawler: Every medium requires a different approach, but they all require you to have as clean a source material as possible. 

With analog OTA you can get away with clipping/limiting to achieve loudness without introducing fatiguing artifacts — but that approach won’t work with digital OTA as artifacts will cause issues with the bit-reduced codec. For podcasting, use a gentle multiband to smooth over transitions between segments/presenters — resist the urge to treat it like FM! 

Streaming can be treated like FM, but make sure to use lookahead limiting instead of clipping — also, make sure everything is in-phase for when it’s folded down to mono on a smart speaker.

RW: How will the concepts of the cloud, virtualization and software as a service affect the processing marketplace? 

Lawler: I hope that it will lead to greater flexibility, redundancy and better quality. Imagine no STL issues to contend with (as long as your ISPs are up), and you now have the ability to make upgrades with the click of a mouse rather than having to physically rack up gear.

This is a great opportunity for users as well as vendors alike — users gain as much flexibility as they are willing to pay for, and vendors can have a reliable subscription income stream. Plus, there is no single point of failure like in a traditional plant.

RW: The pandemic is changing thinking about the need for big buildings and studios to make good radio. What does this mean for processing? 

Lawler: I think COVID-19 will accelerate moving to flexible software/cloud solutions for processing — and it will be more important than ever with the myriad of sources and level differences. 

Given that more and more talent is working remotely from home rather than at the studio it will be a challenge to keep everything sounding consistent from source to source. Not every home studio has mic processing, and many automation systems do not handle ducking gracefully. 

Adding processing in the cloud will be necessary to keep the audio consistent — more so now than before. This also means less in the racks to power and cool if done right.

RW: How is consumer behavior changing; for instance are younger consumers moving toward greater fidelity? 

Lawler: Things have come full circle almost. In the 1950s and ’60s you had a 3-inch mono speaker that went hand-in-hand with the explosion of top 40 radio. And now, we have smart speakers that are about the same size fueling another revolution in how audio entertainment is consumed. Apple and their just released new iPod touting greater fidelity, and the ability to pair them and create stereo, similar to other smart speakers. 

If this is how your audience consumes the station/stream/podcast, make sure to give them a download or on-demand stream that is easy to listen to no matter the environment. Make the most of the 3-inch speaker without sounding smashed. Do your content creators have access to the tools to process voice without making it sound unnatural? That is the trick with modern listening — making it pleasing while taking into account less than perfect conditions.

RW: In 2014 we did a story asking if processors had become as powerful as they could get. In 2020, where might further dramatic improvements come from?

Lawler: Never underestimate the ability to go further. My grandfather once believed that Cadillac would go no further than a dual points ignition setup — now look at what can be done with engine management! 

Tools like the limitless clipper in Wheatstone’s X5 or being able to generate a perfect composite FM signal from a 192 kHz PC soundcard with StereoTool. Six years ago everyone was asking what was next after the big three (Orban, Omnia, Wheatstone) took FM to as loud as could be asked — and all went in the direction of how to put the quality back in with such hyperprocessed source material from record producers. I can’t wait to see what the next six years bring!  

RW: What else should we know about processing for radio?

Lawler: Look at your entire audio path — from the quality of the files you are playing (WAV vs MP2/MP3), the STL, the exciter/transmitter, and even the antenna. Any one of those could be the reason you cannot achieve the sound you are looking for. And as the old saying goes “Garbage in, garbage out.”

Read what other thought leaders have to say in the ebook “Trends in Audio Processing for Radio.” Read it here.

 

 

The post Lawler: Listening Has Come Almost Full Circle appeared first on Radio World.

The new year seems to have started off with a bang for Skyview Networks, with the addition of The Weather Channel, The Associated Press, Hubbard Broadcasting and Carmen’s Calls.

What was the result of these new portfolio additions? That’s just one of the questions Steve Jones, President and COO of Skyview Networks, answers in this latest InFOCUS Podcast, presented by DOT.FM.

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Steve Jones” on Spreaker.

Jim Schultz primarily does electrical contract work of all types for broadcast stations and telecom and data facilities. Along the way he has been involved in several transmitter installs.

Jim confesses that radio has always been a first love. For him the relationship started, like many in the biz, with a Knight Kit wireless broadcaster kit when he was 9 years old, six decades ago.

Although he spent a few years on both sides of the mic in medium-market radio, he now has owned his own business as a Connecticut E1 Unlimited Electrical Contractor for almost 40 years. Let that be an encouragement to anyone thinking about starting a contract engineering business!

Jim has been following our discussions about bonding and grounding in Workbench and took note of Wayne Eckert’s drawing of a properly grounded pole in December.

Jim suggests adding a bonding kit where the coax feedline leaves the pole, and a #6 or larger copper bonding conductor from the grounding electrode to the power/telco/ CATV station ground.

Fig. 1 shows a typical ground kit, available from CommScope.

fig. 1: CommScope manufactures a variety of ground kits for different size cables. Zap!

Mark Jensen is president of MWB Broadcasting, which owns stations in Nebraska and Hawaii. On a recent Idea Bank conference call, Mark related that an abundance of flies had made working inside his transmitter building unpleasant. Not only that but the flies were getting sucked into the transmitter, causing expensive damage.

Mark’s solution was to install bug zappers inside the buildings. The light attracts and kills the flying insects, keeping them out of electronic equipment. Simple but efficient.

On the same call there was a discussion about keeping weeds down from around your transmitter building or tower.

Terry Barber is with Little Engine Broadcasting, in Montgomery, Ala. He has a billboard company nearby, with scores of old billboards on hand. The sections are of no use to the billboard company, so Terry has placed the old billboard sections on the ground, around his transmitter building, and covered them with gravel.

Since the weeds won’t penetrate the boards, any that do grow amidst the gravel can be pulled easily. Another inexpensive, effective, solution.

X marks the driver

You probably have a screwdriver set with both straight and Phillips drivers. You go to grab one and have to stop and look at the tip to see if it is the one you want.

Mark Peterson, engineer at WCTS(AM), in Plymouth, Minn., offers a solution: Take a Sharpie brand or similar permanent marker and mark the handles of the Phillips drivers. If you store drivers vertically, in slots or loops in the tool case, place a mark on the on the butt end of the driver — an “X” to indicate Phillips or a slash “/” for the straight blade.

Take a minute or two to do this and you’ll never grab the wrong driver again.

We love all these simple, yet useful, reminders.

Who needs a carwash?

Alan Peterson is the national production director for the Radio America Network and a longtime member of the Radio World family.

Our recent discussions about cleaning equipment using a hose or carwash reminded Alan of the time in the early 1990s at WLAD(AM)/WDAQ(FM) in Danbury, Conn., when an oil burner in the basement of the studios malfunctioned and filled the building with greasy smoke and soot.

Professional cleaning crews took care of the general office mess while, but the guidance of the late Tom Osenkowsky, Alan and a few other staffers took care of degreasing the electronic gear.

As Alan related the experience in the pages of Radio World, a reader suggested that a suitable way to clean an ITC triple-deck cart machine was to remove all rubber parts like pinch rollers and rubber feet, and run it through the dishwasher!

Alan fortunately hasn’t had a second shot at a station fire to test the idea, and cart decks have gone the way of the Conestoga wagon, so we can’t report any outcome of the proposed experiment. Perhaps Workbench readers can share one.

Smart water sensors

Jose Luis Bolanos is with Broadcast Services LLC. He attended a Zoom meeting for the Grand Rapids SBE chapter recently on which I spoke.

In the presentation on AoIP, I also mentioned the use of water sensors to protect both studio and transmitter sites from water damage.

Typically, these floods are caused by clogged condensate drains, but roof leaks in seldom-visited sites can be just as costly.

Jose Luis has been using water sensors in facilities as well, but his are battery-powered (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: WER makes this Wireless Water Leak Sensor Alarm with 90 dB buzzer. We saw it on Amazon for less than $30 for a four-pack.

They will wail/beep when they come in contact with water. You’ll find them described at this Amazon link: https://amzn.to/37qSwQD. This set includes four sensors for under $30. Note that batteries are not included.

Jose Luis places the sensors in strategic corners or near AC condensate drain pipes — he had one of those clog once, and it started to drip water inside the transmitter building.

When the alarm starts, he can pick up the noise with a security camera that receives audio or an environmental monitor unit.

Nowadays, you can purchase water sensors that are connected through the internet (like everything else). These versions will send alarms to a smart phone/email.

Here is an Amazon link for these IP sensors, shown in Fig. 3, which cost less than $50 for three and come with batteries: https://amzn.to/3akUTWY.

Fig. 3: The Govee WiFi Water Sensor has an adjustable alarm but will also connect to WiFi and send emails, app notifications and alerts to your phone in the presence of a water leak. It’s around $50 for three. Note that it doesn’t support 5G WiFi.

Workbench submissions are encouraged and qualify for SBE Recertification. Email them to johnpbisset@gmail.com.

John Bisset has spent more than 50 years in the broadcasting industry and is in his 31st year writing Workbench. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance. He holds CPBE certification with the Society of Broadcast Engineers and is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award.

The post Workbench: Remember a Ground Kit at the Base appeared first on Radio World.

By Brian Galante
Special to Weekly Tech Roundup

Dielectric’s low-power TV and FM business continues to grow as the company develops and expands its antenna and RF product portfolio of lower-power broadcast systems.

Radio stations in Florida and Puerto Rico represent two recent examples of how Dielectric has improved signal coverage for FM translators in challenging coverage areas.

Hal Kneller, a broadcast industry veteran now working as an independent consultant, specified Dielectric DCR-T antennas for FM translators associated with WSRQ-AM, in the Sarasota market, and WMDD-AM, on the far eastern coast of Puerto Rico.

The DCR-T incorporates the benefits of Dielectric’s FM ring-style antennas, giving low-power FM broadcasters an alternative for single-station systems. This makes the branch-fed, circularly-polarized DCR-T a compelling option for broadcasters needing to improve signal coverage.

WSRQ’s translator for 106.9 FM (W295BH, in Sarasota) is part of a blended SFN and simulcasting network that synchronizes programming across four stations in the Sarasota-Bradenton radio market.

In an effort to improve coverage the 250-watt translator, previously located in Bradenton, W295BH was moved to Sarasota. While the move would establish a stronger signal with better building penetration in the hub of Florida’s Suncoast region, the existing “budget antenna” had suffered recent water damage.

Thus, it would not suit the signal’s new directional pattern.

Kneller kept the station on the air with a backup system while the one-bay DCR-T antenna was installed on its new tower, which he described as “very busy and loaded”. The compact DCR-T design was top-mounted on the 475-foot tower, using a tower pipe initially intended for cellular antennas. The top-mounted position, combined with the directional pattern designed for the translator, has substantially improved the translator’s effectiveness in the all-important Sarasota area.

Kneller also purchased two Dielectric FM filters for the Sarasota site’s transmitter building, with one feeding 106.9 and the other feeding a system on 99.1 FM. The two antennas are installed on the same tower at the same elevation. That generated significant interference concerns for both Kneller and the FCC, resulting in extensive intermodulation studies.

“The intermodulation concerns were legitimate and challenged us to choose carefully when it came to a filtering solution,” Kneller said. “While it made sense to go with Dielectric given our antenna choice, we still planned for extensive tests using parking lot simulations and by connecting the filters inside the building. We were relieved to learn that no interference or interaction between the two signals existed. Like the DCR-T, the Dielectric FM filters are compact and were easy to wall-mount inside an RF building with limited space.”

BORICUA BOOST

The WMDD system in Puerto Rico is also a “cross-service translator” that simulcasts the main AM signal on 106.5 MHz. Licensed to the city of Fajardo, the translator is located 30 miles outside of San Juan on the eastern edge of the island. The translator is located on the AM station’s 400-foot tower, and provides better sounding FM service to the local population.

“Puerto Rico is very mountainous and has a challenging terrain for FM coverage in the area surrounding Fajardo,” Kneller said. “We specified an omnidirectional two-bay DCR-T antenna with half-wavelength spacing, which directed the signal up and away from the ground. This is a common practice for translators and avoids interference with another radio station’s contour on the ground. Dielectric’s design solved these concerns up front, and they packaged and shipped the antenna in a way that helped us quickly bring all of the elements together. It took less than two days to install the antenna and new isocoupler, hang the two bays, and run the new 7/8-inch transmission line down the tower.”

And, while Kneller sees many broadcasters stick with “budget antennas” for translators, he singles out Dielectric for products boasting a professional stainless-steel design. In his view, it offers longevity for lower-power systems, along with the benefits of low VSWR, null fill and all of the other high-performance attributes that you expect for full-power FM stations.

Editing by Adam Jacobson, from Sarasota County, Fla.