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Jim Coloff, right, accepts a donation from Diya Pradeep of Cedar Falls, who for her 10th birthday asked friends to donate to the charity instead of giving her a gift. She raised $1,000.

A station can only be honored with the NAB Crystal Heritage Award after receiving five Crystal Radio Awards for outstanding community service. KCVM(FM) in small-market Cedar Falls, Iowa, is the latest station so honored.

How small is Cedar Falls? If one combines it with the population of the larger nearby city of Waterloo it is still only Nielsen Audio market 237. Yet, Jim Coloff, owner and general manager of KCVM, is able to run that station and three others in his cluster, make a profit and still devote hundreds of hours each year to public service for his communities.

“Yeah, I love small markets,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s more difficult than operating in a large market, but we all do have to wear more hats.”

[Read: Crystal Radio Awards Winners Announced]

“We have smaller staffs, we don’t have big budgets, but we sure have a diverse workday because we all do a little of everything. I will say we have fewer employee-type headaches so in that sense it may be easier! But if we’re doing the right job, we might be the only game in town, the only local media voice and the only local access these communities have.”

Magical Mix Kids

Coloff came by radio and public service naturally; his parents Tony and Sue Coloff started a station in 1978 in Forest City, Iowa. Jim joined the company in 1991 and partnered with his parents until purchasing the Coloff Media Group in 2017.

Fun at a Magical Mix Kids event.

“My parents, mostly retired at this point, used to work as volunteers for various causes when I was growing up. I was raised with the belief that you support the community that supports your business. So I immediately got involved and now I require the same of my staffs, here in Cedar Falls and in the other markets where we own stations.”

Coloff Media owns stations in other Iowa mini-markets including Britt, Charles City, Forest City, Manchester, Mason City and New Hampton. The group now includes 12 stations, all of which follow the “give back” directive from the Coloffs.

KCVM took its desire to help the community a step further 20 years ago when it began its own charity, Magical Mix Kids, a 501(c)(3) organization.

School fundraiser organizers are interviewed on 93.5 The Mix.

“Magical Mix Kids, named after the station’s designation as ‘93.5 the Mix,’ is similar to the national Make-A-Wish, but the difference is that our kids are not necessarily terminally ill,” said Coloff.

“Most of our kids are suffering from chronic and life-shortening conditions as well as terminal conditions. We feel the psychological and financial stress that is put on these families makes them deserving of a respite from their troubles. What better place to send them than Walt Disney World?”

“This is the biggest activity we’re involved in, and every year we send these kids and their families, about 80 or 90 people in all, on that trip. It takes the entire year to raise the nearly $100,000 it takes to accomplish that.”

Smart Hiring

Getting good personnel is a challenge in any market, and in a small town there’s always the danger that the best people will want to go elsewhere to make more money. Add to that Coloff Media’s special criteria for all employees.

Bob Westerman conducts interviews during a broadcast from the site of a flag mural on a local Amvets post in Cedar Falls.

“We’ve had some people who moved on to larger markets, but we scout like everyone else at the college level and we go to the recruitment fairs,” said Coloff.

“We check out the workforce development sites and work fairs, but I tell you, it’s not so much where we look but the kind of people we’re looking for that matters. We want people who need to make a difference in their community,” he continued.

“Of course they have to have talent, but we would take someone with less training and experience but who is willing to learn. And most of all they have to have already been involved their community. Some of our people have been with us 15, 20, 25 years, and it’s because they are talented enough but they decided that this community is where they want to raise their families.”

Kim Manning is manager of the Cedar Falls Tourism and Visitors Bureau and a frequent collaborator on promotions with KCVM.

“All we have to do is pick up the phone and call the station, and anyone there will be willing to help us, not just Jim,” she said.

Volunteering at a food event to help the needy are station staff, from left, Janelle Rench, Mark Simpson, Lori Payne.

“He has instilled this attitude across his entire staff; and if an event will benefit the community, they are always onboard. For example, we all worked together on Pedal Fest, which is a cycling event we started five years ago. It’s free and this year it’ll be every weekend in September. Jim Coloff attends just about every auction in town, and he’s active in Rotary Club and  other service organizations. He’s always there for anyone who needs him.”

The KCVM calendar can be found on the station’s site www.935themix.com, and in normal nonpandemic times is full of events like blood drives, Kiwanis meetings, fundraisers and pancake breakfasts.

Radio stations must still pay the bills and meet payroll. Here is what Coloff says about radio’s viability and how it is tied to his goals for the community.

“I can’t speak for every market in the country or every radio station, but I think if radio is done right, and if the stations are involved in their communities, and make that goal part of the culture of the radio station, radio can be a huge part of its listeners’ lives.”

“Our stations provide a locally connected community delivered via live and local audio, available on every distribution channel including terrestrial radio, mobile/PC stream, enabled devices and even video. I think a radio station can be a driving force in a community’s success in a lot of ways, but you have to be committed to spending time and resources on becoming involved and doing hyper-local programming.”

Ken Deutsch is a former disc jockey and former TV director who also ran a jingle studio for 24 years. In fact, he says he’s now a former almost everything. 

 

The post KCVM Is Part of Life in Cedar Valley appeared first on Radio World.

The author is Radio Marketing Specialist for Lawo AG.

Radio has always been a vital source of news and information when crises hit. California’s public broadcasters have traditionally been prepared for nearly any eventuality, such as disasters like earthquakes, floods and wildfires. And now they must be prepared to inform listeners during a pandemic as well.

KQED’s remote control center at Sutro Tower. The Sapphire mixer on the table is a remote control for the sapphire located in the station’s Master Control Room. The three screens are VisTool GUIs that control all of the mixing and peripheral devices in the three on-air studios used for the “Forum” call-in program.

In San Francisco, NPR member station KQED observed other stations in the U.S. where personnel were unable to access their facilities due to COVID-19 shutdowns, and took action to ensure remote access to their FM‘s Master Control Room and adjacent production facilities.

“We had to ask ourselves what we would do if one of our staff members tested positive for the virus. How would we produce our daily programming if the facilities were off-limits?” says Donny Newenhouse, executive director of broadcast engineering and operations at KQED.

“We knew we would need the ability to run our Master Control Room from a remote location. We also needed to remotely-control the three production studios where our daily call-in program, “Forum,” originates. All of these rooms have Lawo sapphire mixing consoles, so we called Lawo and asked – how can we do this?”

“There wasn’t an off-the-shelf solution to remote-control the sapphire consoles and also control the integrated networked systems, but our engineering staff had some ideas,” says Herbert Lemcke, key account manager/president, Lawo Corp. Americas. “A key aspect of the solution was to use KQED’s spare sapphire mixing surface as a remote for the one in MCR by using CANBus-to-IP converters to connect to and control the station’s console core and Nova73 router.”

KQED’s engineering space at Sutro Tower (the main transmission site for many Bay Area TV and FM stations) hosts the emergency remote setup, a solution already employed by KQED’s television operations, which have a backup TV Master Control at Sutro. Using the sapphire surface installed at the tower site, KQED’s operators can directly control the operation of the sapphire located in the station’s MCR for complete control of all satellite feeds and local programming sources.

The second part of the project — creating a “virtual studio” at Sutro for operators to produce the daily “Forum” call-in program — required a different kind of remote control. For this, Lemcke and Lawo R&D engineer Andreas Schlegel designed a touchscreen mixing console interface using Lawo’s VisTool GUI Building software.

This connects via IP from the Sutro Tower site to KQED’s downtown studios, which should give complete access to all mixing functions and console resources in the station’s three control rooms, including the codec pool, broadcast VoIP phone system, Dalet playout system — even talkback and mix-minus channels.

Lawo engineers were able to give KQED the solution they needed: the entire physical and virtual remote control solution was executed, tested and proofed in under a week’s time, and reports from operators on the virtual studio implementation have been very positive.

“With the combination of hardware remote control of Master Control, and VisTool virtual control of our studio mixing consoles, our contingency plans are in place and ready should we need them,” says Newenhouse. “But we hope we never will.”

The post Lawo, KQED Ready Remote Radio Master Control appeared first on Radio World.

Communications attorney Richard Hayes has been busy during the coronavirus pandemic, sending a letter to the FCC with a number of suggestions, many, if not all of which would help his clients survive. See here.

 He has now sent a more detailed letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai concerning, temporarily at least, relieving stations of EEO regulations while the coronavirus pandemic continues. This idea was outlined in the previous letter.

 Here follows the text of the latest letter.

Everyone in the radio industry appreciates your proactive stance in helping stations survive during this virus by eliminating unnecessary and burdensome rules. Please keep up the good work. There is more you can do and that is the reason for this letter.

I represent about 100 different radio stations across the country. They are struggling more now than they ever have in the 38 years I have been practicing communications law. Station revenues are down 50, 60, 70 and 80%. Many small stations, particularly standalone AM and FM broadcasters, were struggling before the pandemic and the likelihood that some will financially survive is doubtful. If the crisis continues, you can expect to see stations filing Special Temporary Authority requests to shut down until they can operate profitably. Some are already in advanced discussions to go silent.

Here is a big way you might be able to help. From what I have observed, the EEO program, as it applies to broadcasters, is a total waste of time. First, broadcasting is not a suspect industry which requires such monitoring.  Second, the EEO program is toothless. What other industry has to jump through these pointless hoops? Suggesting that the EEO program prevents discrimination is not supported by any data and no data has ever been provided to the public to show that the EEO program, as administered by the FCC, is in any way effective.

Widely recruiting for specialized positions is an empty gesture and solves no discrimination problems. Forcing stations to conduct meaningless EEO initiatives is also counterproductive. Before the pandemic, conducting a job fair when the station had no job openings really annoys the public and irritates the radio station. Now that we are facing extreme unemployment, I doubt that any of the EEO initiatives are appropriate. Stations will hire back their furloughed employees. I note that there has been some relief for broadcasters in this regard as the commission has stated that there will be a 90-day window in which stations may hire back their furloughed employees without having to recruit. They planned to do so, anyway. This relief doesn’t go far enough.

Yesterday [May 20], I completed an EEO Public File Report for a small cluster of stations in rural Indiana. That report was 324 pages long! All of those pages were necessary to complete the report. Two months ago, for the same cluster of stations, I prepared a detailed Audit Response. These reports provide nothing regarding the prevention of discrimination. They are composed of page after page of advertising “copy” with hundreds of pages showing the exact times each announcement was aired. The report detailed EEO initiatives with “copy” and exact times despite the fact that the stations have had to furlough employees and drastically reduce expenses just to stay on the air.

The EEO program is a pointless burden which the commission cannot rationally defend (other than politically). That small, rural cluster of Indiana radio stations had to pull one employee from other critical duties for more than a week in order to assemble all of the EEO materials required for the report. Other employees such as news directors and traffic personnel were also required to divert their attention to the EEO report’s compilation. This is a total waste of resources, especially now.

Please consider suspending the EEO rules for the duration of the crisis. It would also be helpful if the entire EEO program was placed under review to determine if it is actually making any difference or if it just squandering limited financial and personnel resources for nothing more than a political benefit.

Thank you for your consideration.

 

The post Today, EEO Rules Are Harming Stations appeared first on Radio World.

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Al Shuldiner, chief of the FCC’s Audio Division

Radio World talked with Al Shuldiner, chief of the FCC’s Audio Division, about how the commission was coping during the coronavirus shutdowns, as well as about various regulatory issues before the commission.

The commission effectively shut down its headquarters and moved to teleworking, like much of the radio industry. It sought to provide some relief to broadcasters, granting a series of waivers and extending the deadline for the quarterly issues and programs lists. It also eased the public file requirements placed upon broadcasters.

Chairman Ajit Pai said the commission was “acting quickly to make decisions” to help manage. During an online workshop in April, he said, “If there’s one area where bureaucracies struggle most, it’s doing anything fast. But during a pandemic, delays can be deadly. So the FCC has put a premium on making decisions as quickly as possible. We’re talking days, not months or years.”

Shuldiner said the chairman empowered the FCC’s division leaders to make regulatory decisions without the layers of review typically needed.

He spoke with Radio World’s Randy Stine in April.

Radio World:  You spoke with NAB members recently in an online chat about what the FCC has been doing publicly and behind the scenes in regards to coronavirus. Radio has been especially hard hit. What should radio broadcasters know?

Al Shuldiner: The FCC staff is very aware of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on broadcasters and the severe economic impact this is having on the radio industry. We are looking at ways that we can provide additional regulatory flexibility to help broadcasters navigate through this crisis.

Where stations have been able to provide us with specific information that the pandemic has impacted their operations, such as where stations have been forced to stop construction because key personnel have been infected and are quarantined or where parts have been delayed due to supply chain disruptions, we have provided regulatory relief where we can.

Similarly, we have worked with stations facing extreme economic problems to adjust their operations to save money. I encourage stations that are facing problems to contact us if they have approaches that might help save jobs or avoid taking a station off the air.

We have not provided relief in response to generalized requests based simply on unspecified impacts of the coronavirus, but we are prepared to respond quickly when broadcasters provide specific information and documentation that they have suffered a significant impact. And stations do not need to worry about making formal proposals. A number of stations have contacted me informally by email, and we have been able to provide prompt relief with minimal administrative delays.

RW: Will the FCC forgive or delay collection of regulatory fees, for radio stations hit by the economic downturn? How about the current license renewal process?

Shuldiner: We are looking at options to help broadcasters get through this economic downturn. I know there have been questions about regulatory fees, which Congress requires the commission to collect. While we are unable to waive these fees, the Media Bureau has been working with the commission’s Office of the Managing Director to help stations implement payment plans and to develop other relief to address cash shortages.

RW: Are there other postponements of deadlines or other regulatory processes? Are there Public File implications? 

Shuldiner: The Media Bureau delayed the deadline for stations to upload first quarter issues/programs lists to their online public inspection files. For stations that were required to file renewal applications by April 1, 2020, we did not grant a blanket extension of time, but we addressed extension requests on a case-by-case basis. We processed about 25 of these requests and in all cases, each was granted the day it was submitted.

We and the Video Division will monitor developments leading up to the June 1 renewal application deadline. I expect we will address any problems for that date on a case-by-case basis as well. Similarly, we have been able to handle a few construction tolling requests on an individual basis. I think the biggest current outstanding question about deadlines is the status of FM translator construction permits scheduled to expire in January 2021.

We are looking at the ability of AM stations to make those investments right now and understand the need to provide more guidance on this issue well in advance of the deadline. I hope to have input for broadcasters early this summer.

RW: Do the FCC modernization initiatives continue during the COVID-19 outbreak, like possibly streamlining the license renewal process?

Shuldiner: We are fully engaged in all our work, including ongoing rulemakings. I am not aware of any changes that have been proposed to the renewal process, but we are actively working to complete our rulemaking on the local public notices that broadcasters must provide for renewal and other applications. 

Our Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposed a number of changes designed to streamline our existing rules. We received a lot of supporting comments from interested parties and expect to release revised rules before the summer. In conjunction with the ongoing work in that proceeding and in recognition of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on broadcasters, we recently waived the requirement for broadcasters filing renewal applications in June 2020 to provide prefiling announcements of their renewal applications. 

We plan to continue to advance our important media modernization initiatives and to continue to provide the industry with regulatory relief where possible.

RW: The pandemic has led to a number of churches and other organizations doing local broadcasts to their parking lots. Have there been cases where you have relaxed Part 15 compliance?

Shuldiner: We have encouraged churches and other organizations that have asked us for permission to broadcast to an audience to use streaming or call-to-listen services, or to partner with an existing broadcaster rather than relying on Part 15 devices.

I was very interested to learn recently of an initiative where a broadcaster is working with local schools in the communities it serves to air lessons on AM and FM stations during part of the day to ensure children without access to the internet can continue to complete their schoolwork. Using existing stations for this effort avoids the need for special authorizations.

Also, often low-cost Part 15 equipment being offered to churches and other organizations is not legal for use in the U.S. A properly certified and labeled Part 15 device comes with a permanent, manufacturer-affixed label certifying that the device complies with Part 15 of the FCC rules and displays an FCC ID number. Those devices should be able to provide a service radius of up to 200 feet under ideal conditions. Anything claiming to provide service beyond that distance is likely in violation of FCC rules.

Although we have provided a very limited number of special authorizations for governmental entities and medical centers with a public health need to broadcast using power levels that exceed Part 15 criteria, we are not able to provide other organizations with licenses for larger coverage areas, due to the public safety and broadcast interference concerns.

RW: If the FCC allows that option, what can you say to radio broadcasters concerned about possible interference?

Shuldiner: We review all requests to ensure they are on channels that minimize the potential interference. Any special authorizations we provide are on a noninterference basis. And the stations we have authorized at this point are operating at power levels that are extremely unlikely to cause interference. However, we remain prepared to address any interference that arises and will work with broadcasters to address any problems they experience.

RW: New rules were put in place last year to streamline the sometimes contentious process of working out interference complaints around FM translators. Can you report on how that›s going? Has the frequency of complaints changed?

Shuldiner: We have seen some additional claims from stations, but my sense is that the volume is pretty consistent with what we have seen for the last few years. The new rules have not created a spike in complaints but have helped us weed out some of the less sustainable complaints.

In our experience, most interference problems can be resolved by the stations, and our new rules strongly encourage stations to attempt to resolve problems without the FCC. But there are cases where we have found real interference problems and taken appropriate action to remedy the problem.

In the most contentious cases, the parties often do not act reasonably and engage in an endless war of pleadings and accusations. This is not an effective way to work with commission staff or to resolve the matter. I encourage all parties to work with us to find productive solutions.

RW: We’ve seen at least one ruling where it appeared that the company raising a complaint had provided documentation but that the petition to deny was refused because they didn’t follow every letter of the process. Is it possible the system is too stringent now?

Shuldiner: I don’t want to comment on the merits of a particular case, but we think it is important for stations filing interference claims to comply with the procedural requirements we adopted. We believe that will help avoid invalid claims and avoid wasting time and resources for all parties.

RW: The comment period on allowing all-digital on the AM band has closed, and most of the comments were clearly in support. It seems likely that the FCC will confirm its tentative plan soon. What can you share with us?

Shuldiner: There were a number of comments and reply comments filed in that proceeding. It’s a little premature to share the staff’s thinking on the outcome of the proceeding, but the staff members responsible for that item are reviewing the comments and hope to have more guidance for AM broadcasters later this year.

“We do not view waivers as a workable solution for something as significant as a new class of service, particularly when there is an open rulemaking on the same topic.” — Al Shuldiner

RW: What is the status of the FM Class C4 proposal? Is it possible a waiver approach could be used in the interim for those FM stations interested?

Shuldiner: Although a number of broadcasters have expressed support for a rulemaking on Class C4, there also has been significant opposition from other broadcasters, particularly on the issue of Section 73.215 of the commission’s rules.

We do not view waivers as a workable solution for something as significant as a new class of service, particularly when there is an open rulemaking on the same topic. We will continue to study this issue to see if we can determine a way to proceed.

“We recognize the transition from CDBS to LMS has not been a smooth one. No one is more frustrated with the pace of the transition or the glitches we have experienced than me.” — Al Shuldiner

RW: We are told by broadcasters they feel as if they are struggling with regard to Media Bureau databases for FM. Many filings have transitioned to LMS, but many CDBS records and fields apparently have not made the trip. Some broadcasters have found it necessary to run searches using both databases to be sure they pick up on all potential records, allocations and applications. What is the plan for completing this transition?

Shuldiner: We recognize the transition from CDBS to LMS has not been a smooth one. No one is more frustrated with the pace of the transition or the glitches we have experienced than me. I can assure you the Audio Division staff has put in a lot of hours to design and test the system, but sometimes we cannot anticipate all the problems.

It is important to note that information flows from CDBS to LMS but not the other way around. CDBS is still the best place to find older information, but anything that has been filed in LMS will not appear in CDBS.

Even with all of us teleworking, we are making good progress on the next phase of the LMS transition and hope to have the assignment and transfer forms working in LMS in the second half of the year. After that, we plan to transition our AM forms and historical information. As we move more and more functionality to LMS, the need to check CDBS will go away. But right now, it is best to check both databases for completeness.

I say thank you to all our users who have shown tremendous patience during this transition. But please do not suffer in silence — if people are experiencing problems, they should let us know so we can address them.

RW: One of the important tasks the Audio Division does is to process assignment and transfer applications for station sales. In January, one of your well-known attorneys who was responsible for supervising station sales, Mike Wagner, retired. Who in the Audio Division is taking Mike’s place, and have there been any issues with the transition?

Shuldiner: Mike Wagner’s retirement was a big loss for the Audio Division, but I spoke to Mike recently and was pleased that he is enjoying his retirement. In March, we were very lucky to have Chris Clark join the Audio Division from the Media Bureau’s Industry Analysis Division. Chris is our newest assistant division chief and has taken over responsibility for the assignment and transfer application process. He also is involved in our ongoing license renewal process and other matters.

The staff’s move to full-time telework in March made the transition a little complicated for us, but the overall transition has been pretty smooth, and the feedback I have received from broadcasters indicates our processing has not been an impediment to completing transactions. We are fortunate to have a skilled group, headed by Annette Smith, that can keep the process moving forward, even while working remotely. Chris and Annette are available to the public to answer questions and resolve problems relating to pending applications.

“We were told the FCC’s move has been delayed from the end of June until the end of the summer, but we are waiting to see if the pandemic has any further impact on that schedule.” — Al Shuldiner

RW: The FCC was scheduled to move from the Portals to a location north of Union Station in Washington, D.C., this summer. What is now the status of that, and do you expect to have any attrition of Audio Division personnel from the move?

Shuldiner: We were told the FCC’s move has been delayed from the end of June until the end of the summer, but we are waiting to see if the pandemic has any further impact on that schedule. I don’t expect any significant attrition as a result of the move. I know we have a few people that are getting closer to retirement age, so we may see a few retirements in the future. But we have been fortunate to have had a few engineers and attorneys join the Audio Division over the past year and a half. With that additional staff, we are well positioned to continue to handle our work even if we experience a little attrition from the move.

RW: Reasonable, accommodating and flexible. Several communication attorneys have used those words to describe the FCC in recent weeks. Do you sense a change in how some broadcasters perceive the FCC?

Shuldiner: I like to think that the Audio Division is always responsive and helpful. We have a tremendous group of talented and dedicated individuals. We cannot accommodate every request we receive, and sometimes we have to deny requests or take enforcement action against bad actors. But we try to be fair and reasonable.

The pandemic has allowed us to have more detailed discussions with broadcasters about individual needs and situations. And it has given us the room to be creative to find solutions to unusual and extreme problems. I hope we will be able to maintain that approach when we return to regular operations and that the radio industry will continue to view us as a resource that is looking for reasonable solutions.

The post FCC Seeks to Keep the Wheels Turning appeared first on Radio World.

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FCC dismisses and denies DBS Market Modification Application for Review involving three Georgia counties.

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