Radio World

The author is chief technology officer, Great Eastern Radio.

What a difference a year makes.

Before COVID-19, the ideal console was one that could fit every conceivable studio permutation from here to the next decade. In fact, that’s what we got when we purchased the Wheatstone D75 consoles and TDM router system for Great Eastern Radio’s regional studios in West Lebanon, N.H.

That worked until last March, when we sent our staff home and discovered that we didn’t need all the studio space we thought we did. We decided to rent out half of our three-story facility to a bank and consolidate studios for eight stations into a little over a floor.

I had 30 days to move six studios into half the space.

Custom Interfaces

Those big, capable D75s had to go, along with miles and hundreds of pounds of wiring, which would be replaced by one Cat-5 cable.

I have been buying WheatNet-IP I/O Blades one or two at a time over the years to manage HD Radio audio, figuring the TDM router would eventually be replaced by WheatNet-IP audio networking. I already had one foot firmly in the IP world, so it was a simple matter of adding to that world with an IP-12 console for the main studio.

The IP-12 is a nice entry-level IP audio console that takes up a lot less space than the D75, but because it is self-contained, it has a similar feel as the D75.

[Read more Radio World articles about audio consoles and mixers]

I ordered the IP-12, plugged it into my existing Blades, and an AoIP studio was born. For talent, the change was minimal, which was great, because I had some big changes in store for the rest of the move.

Due to COVID it had become increasingly evident that talent could do a lot from home, but at times they still needed to be able to voicetrack or produce a show in an acoustically treated room with all the right mixing and processing tools.

So we purchased 4 x 8-foot WhisperRoom with a small dropdown table where our talent could park their laptops or tablets, plug into the WheatNet-IP through an Ethernet connection and call up sources and route audio and processing from a virtual mixer on their laptops that I created using ScreenBuilder.

The idea of setting up “glass” consoles in Whisper Rooms was partially borne out of the necessity to save space and partly because these could serve a real need. Wheatstone’s ScreenBuilder made making a custom “glass” console with a touchscreen interface fast and easy.

ScreenBuilder is an app for building your own interfaces into WheatNet-IP. In my case, I was able to drop and drag metering, faders and buttons onto a screen and script them to tie into the elements in the studio.

For example, I tied in virtual tallies to the Comrex Opal codec gateways in the main studio/rack room so that when a guest joins a show remotely, our talent will be able to see that he’s connected.

Most of the scripting was done using ScreenBuilder’s Wizard although I did create a few lines of code myself and “borrow” a few lines from a Wheatstone integrator (thanks, Danny Teunissen) for a few minor customizations.

Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.

More info: Jay Tyler at Wheatstone in North Carolina at 1-252-638-7000 or visit www.wheatstone.com.

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Future Plc, the parent of Radio World, announced the appointment of Cindy Davis as content and brand director of AV Technology.

Since 2015, she has been a contributing editor to Future’s AV Technology (AVT) magazine, writing features and its Manager’s Guide series, as well as contributing articles to sister publications Systems Contractor News (SCN) and Sound & Video Contractor (SVC). In 2016, she helped launch the AV/IT Summit. She also developed and moderates the New Era AV/IT webcast series.

As the principal of CustomMedia.Co, Davis created multiplatform content for AVT, SCN, SVC and consumer electronics publications TWICE and Residential Systems.

The announcement was made by Carmel King, vice president of the company’s B2B Tech Group.

Davis is former publisher and editor-in-chief of Electronic House. From 2009 to present, as principal of CustomMedia.Co, she developed content for associations such as IEEE Standards Association and AVIXA, for Future and for numerous AV/IT companies.

The post Future Names Davis Content/Brand Director of AVT appeared first on Radio World.

Stories of advertising success abound across the radio industry — if you know what you’re doing. That’s one assessment from Veritonic, a marketing company that tracks trends in audio and identified 10 brands that “got audio right” in the first half of 2021.

Thankfully for the industry, there continues to be an increased focus on audio marketing, the company said in a recent blog post — despite the changes wrought by the pandemic. Podcasts, for one, have held their worth throughout the pandemic; according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, podcast advertising revenue is expected to exceed $1 billion this year and $2 billion by 2023.

Veritonic compiled a list of the top 10 podcast advertisers, noted for at least one creative attribute, be it aesthetically appealing audio, a humorous spot or successfully persuasive ad.

Top 10 Podcast Advertisers
Salesforce
chiliPAD
Zander Insurance
TD Ameritrade
Fundrise
Mini
NetSuite
Cash App
Hyundai
Parade

The software as a service company Salesforce, for example, jumped from the number eight spot in 2020 to number one in 2021 due to its ability to consistently create ads with strong recall. Other companies like the cool bedding company chiliPAD saw its advertisements score well because of the emotional attributes they built into their advertising, including a sense of familiarity and the jovial conversational tone between its podcast hosts.

Veritonic also ranked the top 10 radio advertisers for the first half of 2021. The industry can expect to see a 10% increase over the course of 2021, something the company calls a “considerable rebound” after the setbacks that were wrought by the pandemic.

Top 10 Radio Advertisers
Owning
Brakes Plus
CuriosityStream
Pennzoil
Little Caesars
LinkedIn
Roman
Cabinet Discounters
Sit ’n Sleep
PNC Bank

Companies with strong advertisements included Little Caesars, which uses humor and sonic branding (think of that “Pizza–Pizza” tune) to set itself apart from the competition. Other strong advertisers include LinkedIn and Pennzoil, which both enticed listeners with offers for free deals and promotions.

In its blog, Veritonic also reiterated the success that advertisers are having with sonic branding. It pointed to a recent study that found that consumers were more consistently able to identify a brand when the name of that brand was tied to an audio melody.

A weekly rating of audio advertisements are searchable on the Veritonic website including sample clips and a description of the audio scoring system that the company uses.

The post Brands that Cracked the Advertising Code in 2021 appeared first on Radio World.

Over the last 24 years our little local radio station grew from serving a single city to having a network of 13 radio stations with studios in five cities.

Whether we were doing a live remote down at a local car dealership or trying to air live content from another city, it always involved having an operator in a local studio monitor levels and turn channels on or off on the board.

Then COVID hit, and addressing concerns that had lingered for a very long time became urgent. Fortunately, we had been researching options that would afford multiple personnel the flexibility to monitor, operate and execute full control of the network from any remote location.

[Read more Radio World articles about audio consoles and mixers]

Remote control of on-air programming has been around a long time, so that was no issue. Remote operation of control room mixers has been around a little while, and remained an option. But to truly give full control of the entire radio station (and network) to all our on-air staff consecutively narrowed things down to only a few options.

We wanted the ability to “do radio” without a “physical radio station.”

One of them was a clear winner. We took the leap and ordered the Axia iQs virtual mixing console. In a nutshell, the iQs is a 1RU computer that is routed to a central switch. It utilizes as many xNode Livewire digital network interface units that you may require, each capable of four inputs and four outputs of digital or analog audio signals along with GPIO options all routed to the switch.

Once set up, you have a virtual mixer that you can operate from a touchscreen monitor in a traditional radio studio, or from a laptop in your house, or from a cellphone on your boat. At your disposal are all of the capabilities of a large-scale studio (or network of studios), and you are able to configure and control them from anywhere.

The xNodes have a proven track record of reliability, but having a small one-rack unit replace a four-foot radio console with 300 wires attached to it was a bit of a stretch. And to think that the only cable attached to this “virtual console” was a single about the width of a straw.

Removing the miles of cables running to our studio and replacing a $20,000 18-fader digital console with a touchscreen monitor took a little faith. Especially when we were told that we were the first station in Canada to do so.

We anticipated a steep learning curve and were prepared to spend a month converting our main studio, four sister studios and 13 broadcast locations. But the engineers at Telos Alliance have made this system so user-friendly that we were using it within seven days of installation.

Axia has made this system user-definable and expandable. iQs has our staff amazed at its simplicity, our engineer thrilled with its flexibility and our accountant happy as a clam with the price.

Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.

Info: Cam Eicher at The Telos Alliance at 1-216-241-7225 or www.telosalliance.com.

The post User Report: KFM Takes Leap of Faith With Virtual Mixing appeared first on Radio World.

The FCC’s Media Bureau is extending comment and reply deadlines for the update of the 2018 Quadrennial Review.

Originally set July 1, for Aug. 2 (comments) and Aug. 30, (reply), the new deadlines are now Sept. 2 (comments) and Oct. 1 (reply).

[Read: FCC Wants More Input Before Finishing Rule Review]

On July 12, the FCC was petitioned by Common Cause, Free Press, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, and the National Association of Broadcasters for the extension. The groups suggested the dates accepted.

According to the FCC, “The Joint Filers explain that, as more than two years have passed since the original comment cycle in this proceeding was completed, there have been many economic and legal developments in the media industry in that time. The Joint Filers state that they and other interested parties need additional time to address the many complex economic and legal issues through research, updates to previously filed material, and new information.”

[Read: Further Relaxation of Ownership Seems Unlikely]

The Media Bureau said that while it doesn’t normally grant extensions, “an extension should enable interested parties to present more complete and thoughtful comments to the commission, we agree with the joint filers that both the parties commenting in the proceeding and the commission should benefit and that the extension should not disadvantage any party.”

The post FCC Media Bureau Extends Deadlines for 2018 Quadrennial Review appeared first on Radio World.

Marking the company’s 25th anniversary, RME has launched the Fireface UCX II, featuring 40 I/O channels in a compact half-rack size.

The unit offers up to 20 recording and 20 playback channels, SteadyClock FS, built-in parametric EQ, USB direct recording and full standalone functionality.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

The Fireface UCX II houses two mic/line preamps in XLR combo configuration on the front panel, along with two digitally controlled line/instrument inputs, followed by a headphone jack, various control buttons, a display, and the main volume knob. At the rear is a set of 10 analog balanced line inputs and outputs, MIDI I/O, ADAT I/O, AES/EBU and S/PDIF I/O, USB 2.0 as well as a switchable Word Clock I/O.

The onboard digital DURec (Direct USB Recording) functionality allows any input or output of the Fireface UCX II to be recorded directly to a USB storage device. This means DURec uses the integrated DSP which provides standalone operation without the need for a computer.

SteadyClock FS on the unit is the latest clock and jitter rejection technology from RME. Based on a femtosecond clock, SteadyClock FS reportedly reduces jitter when converting from and to analog over digital formats.

The unit also comes with the TotalMix FX DSP mixer offering routing and monitoring options, as well as the DIGICheck analyzer allowing it to measure and analyze the digital data feed in both directions.

Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

Info: www.rme-usa.com and U.S. distributor www.synthax.com

The post RME Launches Fireface UCX II USB Audio Interface appeared first on Radio World.

Acoustical design in podcast and webcast studios is the topic of an upcoming online presentation by the AES NY Section.

It will be presented by Sam Berkow of SIA Acoustics, a division of Robert Derector Associates, and hosted by David Bialik.

“When considering setting up a podcasting studio, equipment selection is often the first, second and third consideration. However, to achieve high-quality sound, the acoustics of the space should also be considered,” the organizers wrote in an event summary.

“We will discuss the design issues of smaller studios. Issues of room acoustics, acoustic isolation and ambient noise levels all should be part of the planning for a pod/webcasting facility. Practical solutions for addressing these issues will be presented.”

It will be shown on the AES NY Facebook page on Wednesday July 28 at 3 p.m. Eastern, and is open to anyone to watch.

The post Berkow to Speak About Designing Podcast Spaces appeared first on Radio World.

Continental Electronics says high-frequency radio communications can be used to protect the satellite network that provides connectivity for America’s military.

The manufacturer, which is noting its 75th anniversary, notes that satellites are susceptible to jamming, eavesdropping and futuristic warfare tactics such as electronic A2AD, or “Anti-Access/Area Denial,” attacks.

But it says Wide-Band High-Frequency (WBHF) technology in particular can help ensure secure communications.

Given Continental’s history in broadcasting, Radio World caught up with President Dan Dickey for an emailed update.

Radio World: Dan, happy 75 to Continental. Radio engineers familiar with Continental will be interested in learn about what the company is doing in the area of wide-band high-frequency technology.
Dan Dickey: For Beyond Line of Sight Communication (BLOS), the military has been using high-frequency technology since the 1930s. Typically, these radios would transmit with a bandwidth of 3 kHz. This equates to a slow 9600 bps data transfer rate.

When you put this into perspective, this is slower than dial-up modems we used in the early 1990s.

CEC has developed a state-of-the-art, solid-state transmitter capable of operating at 48 kHz, which equates to a transfer rate of 240 kpbs. This provides a much faster data link, and with the known resilience of HF BLOS communication, old HF communication networks are becoming new technology again. It has become a resilient alternative to vulnerable satellite communication systems.

CEC’s digital HF solid-state transmitters incorporate many features that CEC has proven in the field for other transmission bands for other applications. CEC has applied its vast digital signal processing experience to create a very linear, low-noise system. CEC’s HF broadband experience makes operating anywhere in the 2 to 30 MHz range fast and effortless.

In addition, by implementing our proven solid-state amplifier liquid-cooling approach, CEC is offering an extremely efficient and power-dense solution, requiring much less floor space than previous air cooled systems.

RW: Who are the typical users of this technology?
Dickey: The military and disaster response teams use high-frequency radios for communications. This is a very robust and secure form of long-distance communication that does not rely on satellites. Instead, it uses multiple HF transceivers in various locations to form a digital wireless network, except the distances between nodes is hundreds or thousands of kilometers.

With the growing threat of satellite jamming and manipulation, HF communication is seen as a low-cost secure alternative. However, higher transmission bandwidth is needed to carry the desired payloads across long distances. In the past, 3 kHz was a typical bandwidth for the analog HF communication links. With WBHF, the payload bandwidth is extended up to 48 kHz allowing more information to be transmitted increasing the value of this robust form of communication.

RW: Can you give an example of a recent sale or installation that typifies this application?
Dickey: We are in the process of assembling a prototype system for testing and evaluation. We will be releasing more information on our solution in coming months.

RW: A common comment we hear is that “shortwave is dying.” You presumably feel otherwise, so how would you answer such comments?
Dickey: It is true that over the past several decades, the number of shortwave broadcasters has reduced.

Our opinion here at Continental is that many of the European and American broadcasters believe that they can reach their audience or listeners via the internet.

However, this is not true for many listeners outside of North America, Europe and developed Asian countries, such as Korea and Japan.

Imagine how many billions of people in Asia, Africa and South America do not have access to the internet. Typically the broadcasters who want to reach these people across oceans and borders are either nonprofit or government broadcasters. People in these regions rely on shortwave radio to receive information. Many of these systems have been in operation for many years and we are seeing an increase in demand to upgrade these transmitter systems.

RW: Is Continental still active in making and selling to the broadcast marketplace?
Dickey: Absolutely. CEC remains true to our broadcast origins back to our founding in 1946. We continue to supply shortwave transmitter systems around the world, with our most recent installations in Korea, Saudi Arabia and most recently, a complete 500 kW transmitter system in the U.S. CEC also re-entered the TV market in 2017 with our CTX line of transmitters.

RW: What else should we know about Continental’s current direction and business strategies?
Dickey: Organized in 1946, CEC is celebrating our 75th anniversary this year. There are thousands of CEC transmitters installed around the world. Today, Continental Electronics offers a full range of products for LF, VLF, HF, VHF, FM, S and X Band as well as high-power amplifiers for any applications in such markets as medical, science, industrial, government and military communications, space communications, PNT (navigation), and radar to name a few.

When customers need a high-power RF solution for their application, they come to Continental Electronics.

The post Continental Highlights Benefits of WBHF Technology appeared first on Radio World.

PromoSuite announced a product that it says enables radio stations to manage their digital creative process with customizable workflows.

“PromoSuite Digital allows teams to create, approve and post all digital assets from start to finish, without ever having to leave the platform,” the company said in an announcement.

CTO Chris Bungo was quoted saying the offering gives clients the ability to create custom order forms and workflows for each of their digital channels including websites, social media pages and YouTube channels.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

It’s described as a collaboration platform that connects members of a digital team who are involved in the process of selling, producing, approving and placing digital assets.

It was developed by a team led by VP, Product Design and Development Rey Mena.

PromoSuite Digital, PromoSuite Production and PromoSuite Promotions are built on the company’s PromoSuitePlus platform. The company says functions independently but can also work cohesively together. PromoSuite Promotions will complete the PromoSuitePlus platform next year.

Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

Info: https://promosuite.com

The post PromoSuite Introduces Digital Workflow Product appeared first on Radio World.

A discussion about updating the commission’s personal radio service rules will be part of the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Meeting on Aug. 5.

The commission is considering granting three petitions of reconsideration to the Part 95 Personal Radio Services Rules, a set of guidelines last updated in May 2017 when the FCC reorganized and amended rules governing various short-range, low-power radio services — including the CB radio service, general mobile radio services (GMRS) and family radio service (FRS).

[Read: Rosenworcel Wants to Update Political Programming Rules]

The changes up for debate would allow FM to be used as an optional modulation scheme for all existing CB radio service channels and allow automatic or periodic location and data transmissions in the GMRS and FRS, which are channels often used during recreational activities and during emergencies and natural disasters.

The order would also correct typographical errors and rule changes to Part 95 that inadvertently changed the medical device radiocommunications service rules, also known as MedRadio.

The commission decided that the public interest would be served by making some additional rule changes as suggested by the three requests for reconsideration filed by Cobra Electronics, Motorola Solutions and Medtronic.

When the FCC last considered changes to Part 95 rules surrounding CB radio, the commission declined to permit use of FM frequency modulation, leaving AM amplitude modulation and SSB single side band as the only permitted voice emission types. At the time, the commission concluded that such a change might substantially change the character of the service, saying that the “alternative modulation techniques would be incompatible with the existing equipment base.”

Soon after, a petition for reconsideration was filed by Cobra requesting that the commission reconsider and permit FM operation as part of an optional dual-modulation scheme for CB radios, meaning that a CB radio could have both AM and FM capability. In its filing, Cobra stated that this “would allow users to enjoy the benefits of FM, if they so choose, while ensuring every new radio sold could communicate with all the existing radios in the field.” The company pointed out that a dual-modulation approach has been used successfully in other countries for many years and would benefit both professional and recreational CB users in terms of providing better quality and clarity.

The commission agreed and concluded that allowing manufacturers to add FM as an optional modulation scheme will not substantially change the fundamental nature of the CB radio service and would improve the user experience.

“Continuing to mandate AM capability while permitting dual modulation will provide benefits to CB radio users who will have an additional modulation option, while maintaining the basic character of the service,” the commission wrote in its order on reconsideration. “The addition of FM as a permitted mode will not result in additional interference because users who hear unintelligible audio on a particular channel can simply select another channel or switch modes.”

The commission said that parties planning to incorporate FM mode into CB radios will need to obtain a grant of certification under the commission’s equipment authorization rules.

The commission will also consider allowing automatic or periodic location and data transmission on all GMRS channels, even though in its previous report and order it concluded there was not enough formally recorded discussion in the FCC comment database to consider it. Based on the supplemental record received in this new proceeding, however, the commission concluded that the public interest will be furthered by allowing automatic or periodic location and data transmission on all GMRS channels. This is in contrast to the earlier changes, which only permitted manually initiated data transmissions.

The safety of radio users in remote, outdoor locations will be increased by having more frequent location information available without repeated manual requests, the commission said in its report. In addition, in an emergency situation involving individuals who are disoriented or otherwise unable to send manual transmissions, the automatic transmission of location information could enhance search and rescue operations.

The commission also agreed to fix typographical errors, clarify language within the Part 95 rules and correct unintended substantive changes made in earlier changes as part of this petition for reconsideration.

The post FCC to Consider Changes to Part 95 Rules appeared first on Radio World.

Marketplace is partnering with Westwood One to offer a 60-second “Marketplace Minute” to public radio stations.

“Twice daily, the one-minute program provides up-to-the-moment economic news in Marketplace’s signature accessible style. ‘Marketplace Minute’ will be available on participating public radio stations starting in August,” the organizations announced.

[Read: APM Picks Riddle]

It is a co-production of American Public Media and the Cumulus Podcast Network. The show will also publish three times daily as a podcast and as a smart speaker briefing on Amazon, Google and Apple devices. It’s available on Apple iPhones through Siri.

The new short-form content joins the stable that also includes “Marketplace,” “Marketplace Morning Report” and “Marketplace Tech.”

The announcement was made by Chandra Kavati, vice president of distribution and underwriting at American Public Media, which distributes Marketplace programming. She said it means stations can offer timely updates throughout the day.

Here is a sample of “Marketplace Minute.”

The post Public Radio Gets a “Marketplace Minute” appeared first on Radio World.

Wheatstone said it plans a million-dollar investment to increase its production capacity.

The company, headquartered in New Bern, N.C., said it is making large component buys and an investment in new factory equipment.

“The goal is to double production in its New Bern factory where all Wheatstone and Audioarts products are made, from machining, fabrication, screening and circuit board surface mount to final testing and AoIP system configuration,” it stated in a release.

[Read: Wheatstone Rolls Out the Blade 4]

Wheatstone quoted Production Manager Matt Wilson saying that by keeping manufacturing in-house, it can respond more quickly to changes and have better control over a “volatile” supply chain.

Additions to the factory include a second multi-axis CNC mill and a larger-format brake press for precision metal work. Wheatstone also was an early adopter of surface-mount manufacturing technology, and plans to add another surface-mount machine to its floor to support manufacturing of its consoles, Blades and audio processors.

The company said its recent orders include a multimillion dollar contract that includes WheatNet-IP audio console surfaces, network devices and system preconfiguration for 24/7 studios in 32 U.S. markets, “with the majority of completed systems to ship through September.” It did not identify the customer.

Manufacturers of broadcasting equipment are among those hit by the global instability in component availability. “Lead times on everything down to diodes and capacitors are insane,” Wheatstone’s Dee McVicker said, so the company has increased its materials inventories. “We’re sitting in a really good place, having been able to meet the requirements for one of our largest orders to date plus meeting all of our usual production runs with plenty of parts to spare.”

The post Wheatstone Beefs Up Factory Capacity appeared first on Radio World.

Digital Alert Systems is reminding users of DASDEC and OneNet EAS devices to update their IPAWS digital certificates.

“As you probably know, an IPAWS digital certificate expires on 21 August 2021. It is urgent that EAS Participants update their IPAWS digital certificates by or before that date,” wrote the company’s Edward Czarnecki.

[Read: National EAS Test Will Focus on Broadcast Chain]

“For DASDECs, we have an updated IPAWS digital certificate bundle that is now available and downloadable. There is no charge for this certificate update.”

If you don’t upload it by Aug. 21, CAP alerts from FEMA will not properly validate and will be rejected.

The certificate bundle can be applied to Version 3 or Version 4 software.

“If you are still running Version 3 software, the NPT test will be properly processed, however we still recommend you consider upgrading to V4 software,” Czarnecki said, noting that V3.0 was issued five years ago. Version 4 includes a completely upgraded operating system, plus numerous security, functional, and regulatory updates.

Sage Alerting Systems issued a similar notice recently, as we’ve reported.

The post DASDEC Users, Update Your IPAWS Certificates appeared first on Radio World.

The Federal Communications Commission is considering updating its political programming and recordkeeping rules for broadcast licensees for the first time in 30 years.

Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said two specific changes are designed to comply with statutory requirements and account for modern campaign practices.

The August commission meeting agenda has been released. It includes a notice of proposed rulemaking that, first, would revise the definition of “legally qualified candidate for public office.” If ultimately passed, this proposal would update the list of activities that may be considered in determining whether an individual running as a write-in has made a “substantial showing” of their candidacy. It would add use of social media and the creation of a campaign website to the list.

[Read: Changes to Radio Technical Rules Advance]

“At the time our current rules were drafted, social media and campaign websites did not exist,” the draft NPRM states. “Media coverage of recent campaigns on the national, state and local levels indicates that the use of social media has become an activity that bona fide candidates routinely use to solicit support, financial contributions and votes. Recent articles reveal that bona fide political campaigns use major social media platforms to advertise, connect with supporters, and fundraise, and that such engagement in social media use, for example, by creating a Twitter or Facebook account, typically increases donations for new politicians … In addition, social media platforms enable political campaigns to build support by disseminating campaign updates and targeting advertisements to potential voters, and they provide sophisticated tools to regularly measure user engagement.”

The draft NPRM also would also revise the FCC’s political recordkeeping rules to conform with the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 to include any request for the purchase of advertising time that “communicates a message relating to any political matter of national importance” (i.e., issue ads) and specify the records that must be maintained. The commission said the current rule language does not reflect the federal law on this question.

If this NPRM is approved in August, these proposals would then be opened for public comment before the FCC would take action. In addition to radio and TV stations, the changes would apply to cable system operators, Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) service providers and Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service licensees.

The commission noted that it had not has done a formal review to update the political programming and recordkeeping rules in 30 years.

A PDF of the draft NPRM is available on the Radio World website.

The post Rosenworcel Wants to Update Political Programming Rules appeared first on Radio World.

The author of this commentary is chair of the Digital Radio Mondiale consortium.

Thank you to David Fernandez Quijada of the EBU for giving a bird’s eye view (“EBU Finds That Radio Is in the Air”) of live radio and its strong place in people’s lives, or — more precisely — only the billion or so lives concentrated primarily in the high-density developed countries of Europe, examined in detail with Eurocentric magnifying glasses.

What definitely caught the eye of DRM Consortium members was the figure of 90% of terrestrial broadcasts using analog FM (at least in the 56 EBU member countries surveyed, accounting for less than the population of India, though the report’s data source is not referenced in the article). This is astounding, and represents an enormous opportunity for DRM, where three digital broadcasts can be made from the same FM transmitter. This provides for significant energy savings with minimal additional investment while using only half the analog FM bandwidth and while one single FM transmitter can carry multiple DRM transmissions e.g., 18 audio and six data channels.

[Read: Digital Radio Mondiale in Focus in India]

It is surprising how strong analog FM still is, when so much has been said and done to promote digital broadcasting, mainly DAB/DAB+, in the EBU space where it is hailed as the standard of choice. Only about one-tenth of radio services available are digital, and the bulk of these are in the U.K.; this must be considered a bit disappointing after so many European countries have adopted DAB over the past 30 years.

The author, rightly, sees menacing clouds for FM and a downright dark future for analog networks in longwave and medium-wave, where U.K. alone is still operating 69 services.

As the author knows, by lumping together analog AM with FM and digital radio (Read:DAB+), whose growth was from ground zero upwards but remains in that 10% niche space, he is inevitably comparing apples and oranges.

Summer is not like winter and FM and DAB+ are not like AM. Around 900 DAB+ transmitters provide public radio programs to around 5 million people in small- to medium-sized countries like Norway. Thirty-five medium-wave transmitters offer broadcasts and services to about 800 million people in India. One of the North African countries surveyed is currently in the process of getting a huge project of shortwave and medium-wave installations off the ground to cover its widely dispersed population.

Big countries cannot simply switch to FM or other short-range, local digital solutions and achieve total country coverage, unless their budgets and patience reserves are bottomless. China and India are not part of the EBU survey but worth mentioning for their huge investment in digital AM (DRM in shortwave and medium-wave). Alone, China and India account for over a quarter of the world’s population and cannot be dismissed simply because they aren’t in Europe. This fact might be more relevant than Mongolia’s unique attachment to longwave broadcasting!

When considering shortwave, relegated to a footnote in the article, it might be useful to mention that the vast majority of shortwave transmitters being currently shipped or on order are DRM-capable, as there is renewed interest in digital SW post-COVID. As to the cost of local digital compared to large coverage with DRM, it would be useful to research cost per square kilometer rather than cost per listener. Shortwave can compete per listener, too, if only transmitting at lower power into a city. And while the author correctly identifies religious program as content, he fails to mention all the international news services (e.g. BBC World Service, Radio New Zealand, KDDI, KBS, Voice of America, Radio Romania International), current affairs, music, cultural and educational broadcasts to populations with few other sources of information or connectivity, presumably because they aren’t relevant to European audiences.

DRM has been embraced as a viable digital alternative to shortwave, not just in the center of Europe where FM and the internet are almost universally available, not in the current context of the pandemic, where 20% of the world’s poorest children could not go to school, and not that of 20 years ago when DAB/DAB+ announced it was the standard of the future.

Taking a holistic and nuanced look at radio and supporting its transition from analog to digital using best suited platform is what we expect of neutral EBU, its talent and resources.

Such a look should stress that radio remains a vibrant and successful platform, reaching well beyond line of sight and, with a digital transformation, providing a valuable service also to those unable to access the internet. This new radio platform is providing interference-free reception, tuning by brand and not frequency, energy and spectral efficiencies with opportunities for many more channels and data, the driving forces and universal benefits supported by the DRM consortium.

Radio World invites industry-oriented commentaries and responses. Send to Radio World.

The post EBU Puts Radio Finger in the Air? appeared first on Radio World.

Angry Audio is adding to its StudioHub line of studio interconnects with four rackmounted XLR breakout boxes.

Each one rack unit high, 19-inch-wide powder-coated steel box features XLR connectors on the front panel and RJ45 connectors and DB-25 D-subs on the rear.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

Angry Audio explains the configuration choice, “RJ45 connectors in the StudioHub+ format accommodate mono and stereo analog and digital audio signals. DB25 connectors are in the popular AES59 standard (Tascam format). Plus, we even give you RJ45 connectors in the new AES72 standard.”

The four versions offer front-panel complements of 16 female XLR connectors (XLR_16F); 16 male XLR connectors (XLR_16M); eight female and eight male XLR connectors (XLR_8FM) (pictured); and two groups of four female and four male XLR connectors (XLR_4FM).

Contacts are gold-plated. Price: $295.

Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

Info: https://angryaudio.com

The post Angry Audio Adds to StudioHub Line appeared first on Radio World.

“America is getting out on the open road and time spent in vehicles continues to climb.” That’s Brad Kelly, managing director, Nielsen Audio, commenting on the results of a survey done by the company.

“More road trips, commuting to work, visits to family and friends and trips to stores means more listening to broadcast radio and an opportunity for advertisers to capitalize on America’s increasing consumer confidence as we emerge from the pandemic.”

The company just conducted a webinar about the results of its sixth Audio Consumer Sentiment survey, conducted in late June. It included discussion of its latest data about overall radio listening trends.

[Read: Nielsen Has Good News in May Numbers]

“Consumers 18 and older now show high optimism as the COVID crisis abates,” it found. “The survey looked at three segments reflecting attitudes about the pandemic: People who are ‘Ready To Go,’ those who ‘Proceed With Caution,’ and consumers who ‘Wait And See’ when it comes to resuming normal activities.”

During the peak of the lockdown, U.S. consumers were roughly equally divided among those three groups. In June of this year, the Ready To Go segment “reached a new high of 90%, of American consumers, reflecting rising optimism,” Nielsen Audio said.

It found most people starting to resume more normal activities, that towns are “emerging from the crisis,” stores working to get back to normal activities and more people saying it was safer than a month ago. “The study showed that 26% of consumers are spending more than an hour in their vehicles in June 2021 compared with 14% in April 2020. Heavy radio listeners are far more likely to spend more than an hour in their vehicle (40%) compared with total consumers (26%).”

Below are more highlights as provided by Nielsen in a summary of its webinar:

Vaccines — Two thirds of consumers have gotten the vaccine or plan to. Uncertainty with regard to vaccines in June is now half (13%) of what it was in March (26%) 2021. “Among those who have gotten the vaccine or plan to get it, 73% expect to resume MOST normal activities and 72% say they expect to resume ALL normal activities.”

Economic Outlook — With fewer restrictions and the rollout of vaccines, half (48%) of consumers anticipate an improved economy in the months ahead, which is two thirds greater than the 29% who say it will remain unchanged and twice as many as those who expect it to get worse (23%). “Consumer expectation about the economy often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, which bodes well for the recovery,” Nielsen said.

Employment — Two thirds of employed (67%) people now work outside the home vs. four in ten (39%) in April of last year. “This is a leading indicator of audience growth, since consumers spend more time with radio when they travel in vehicles to get to work.”

Public Transportation — “Each of our segments (Ready to Go, Proceed with Caution and Wait and See) say that their use of public transportation has decreased much more so than those who say it’s increased due to COVID-19. More than a third of the most conservative group (Wait and See) say their use of public transit has decreased compared with 6% who say it’s increased since the pandemic. Even among the most optimistic Ready to Go group, 25% say they use public transit less compared with only 5% who say it has increased. Since people still need to get places, decreased use of public transportation means more time in vehicles.”

Schooling — In October 2020, when Nielsen first asked about how children attend classes, there were more children attending virtual-only classes than those who attended in-person. “In June 2021, that pattern reversed itself. Now 38% of kids attend in-person classes compared with 14% who go to virtual only classes.” Also, in October 2020, nearly as many kids were getting to school on a bus as those who were getting rides from a family member or in a carpool. This changed significantly in June 2021, with twice as many kids driven to school (65%) versus those who took the bus (32%). “With more kids attending class in person and more getting to school in vehicles, there are more opportunities to listen to radio on the way to school. Nearly nine in ten consumers that the radio is sometimes or always on during the drive to school.”

Local Shopping — Nielsen asked consumers how they get the things they purchase. “In a good sign for retail, in June 2021, 82% say they shopped in-store which is a ten point gain since March 2020. However, online shopping has become a bigger factor in consumer’s lives than it was prior to the pandemic, with 77% ordering online and getting goods shipped to their home compared with 70% before the pandemic.” While stores are open, it said, the convenience of hybrid shopping remains with 32% buying at a local store and having it delivered, 38% picking up items in-store and 36% doing curbside pickup.

Top weekly activities — The study looked at the top 10 activities consumers engaged in during the past week in June and compared it to April 2020. “There were big gains in activities that were restricted a year ago such as shopping for groceries at the store (84% in June 21 vs. 70% in April 20), getting together with friends and family (59% in June 21 vs. 18% in April 20), dining out (43% in June 21 vs. 2% in April 20), shopping for clothes (30% in June 21 vs. 6% in April 20), going to coffee shops (25% in June 21 vs. 7% in April 20) and planning vacations (15% in June 21 vs. 3% in April 20). Plus, there was a 10 point jump in driving in vehicles (77% in June 21 vs. 67% in April 20) as people have returned to the road.”

Listening to AM/FM Radio — Radio reached 122.1 million consumers in PPM markets during an average week in May 2021, which was an 8% Year-over-Year increase vs. May 2020. “Radio’s average quarter-hour (AQH) audience peaked at 7.8 million people in PPM markets in May 2021 which was a 20%  year-over-year gain vs. May 2020.”

The post Nielsen Cites Improving Consumer Sentiment appeared first on Radio World.

Rob Atkinson, K5UJ, is an engineer out of Saint Charles, Ill., and one of the many readers who enjoy the DIY projects we feature from time to time in Workbench.

He writes in to say that he admires Frank Hertel’s ingenuity in home-brewing the LED dimmer circuit that we told you about in the May 26 issue. However, as a ham Rob is concerned about the RFI that variable square waves cause and that there was no mention of RFI mitigation measures in Frank’s submission.

Rob points out that any kind of control circuit based on square waves can be a terrible spectrum polluter, especially if the leads to the device being controlled are long and unshielded. His concern is that these ideas often end up on the internet, where they are repurposed by unsuspecting shortwave or medium-wave hobbyists.

Frank Hertel responded: “Since hams sometimes work with receiving weak signals” — which, by the way, Frank does when measuring distant AM and FM signals — “I can relate to Mr. Atkinson’s concerns.”

Frank says Rob is right. See Fig. 1, the dimmer schematic. The 555 Timer IC does produce a fairly square wave output, so filtering is important. However, the 6.8K resistor that is in a series with the 555’s output to the MPF102 MOSFET’s gate is bypassed to ground with a 1 MFD (nonpolarized) capacitor and does a pretty good job of turning the square wave into a semi-sine wave (non-symmetrical shaping).

Finally, an additional damping filter capacitor, the 100 MFD capacitor at the D718 emitter to ground that connects to the LED light fixture, does a bit more filtering.

Frank realizes that he could have fabricated a more sophisticated output filter network, but he found that any emissions from the dimmer circuit were consistent with the emissions of commercial dimmers and commercial dimmable LED lamps, so that is where he decided to leave it, as you see in the schematic.

In these scope photos and spectrum analyzer shots, the probe is connected across the 555 output/LED fixture at different LED intensities.

The Enemy of LEDs
San Francisco contract and project engineer Bill Ruck was interested in Frank’s dimmer circuit interesting, but even more so in the super-flexible silicone wire used. At Amazon.com, type “B07K9R9LBV” in the search field to find this 22-awg silicone electrical wire. Frank used 22 gauge but other gauges are available.

Bill inquired because most of the “zip” red/black cables that he has seen are relatively stiff. He points out that most LED fixtures have a built-in regulated current switching supply. If the fixture just had a current limiting resistor, it would dim gradually.

Bill related a personal experience in which he replaced his circular kitchen “dome” fixture with LEDs. It turns out the two round “Circline” fluorescent bulbs are no longer manufactured by GE, so Bill bought a “2600 Lumen 30W Super Bright Cool White LED” from MJPA (Item #31327 OP at mjpa.com) with the appropriate power supply. He then used the fixture can to build a LED-based lamp.

The lamp worked great for about six months, then failed. This time, he spaced the LED assembly below the ceiling with an extension box. This, too, failed in time. The repair saw Bill adding heat sinks around the LEDs.

The moral to the story? Heat is the enemy of long-life LEDs! Next time, Bill will rebuild the fixture and put the heat sinks on the outside of the can to better dissipate the heat.

John Bisset, CPBE, has 50 years in the broadcasting industry including 31 years writing Workbench. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance and 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: Capacitors Damp Square Wave Output appeared first on Radio World.

Studio Float is offering IsoRafts, a new line of wood and silicone vibration isolation products.

Intended to be an inexpensive sound-absorbing solution, the line is centered around simple “blocks” constructed from wood and silicone, which reportedly provide accurate predictive acoustic performance. The line is geared towards studio designers and builders for private or commercial production/performance venue projects.

According to Studio Float, IsoRafts are intended to make a space more acoustically efficient, and are to prevent sound from leaking into adjacent areas, in turn isolating a facility from the outside world.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

During a facility’s construction phase, the IsoRafts get attached directly to the side of studs and joists using standard fastening techniques. The aim is to decouple floors, walls and ceilings from a main structure, effectively “floating” them and preventing sound transfer between spaces.

Three types are available: Deck IsoRafts (for floors) are available in three sizes ( 2-inch, 3-inch, 4-inch) and height options of low 1-1/4-inch height profile or high 2-1/4-inch profile for handling underfloor cabling. Meanwhile, Wall IsoRafts feature a 1/4-inch offset to provide an air gap, and Ceiling IsoRafts are available for use with hanging acoustical panels or with a threaded rod insert. The Wall IsoRaft may also be use in a ceiling application.

All IsoRaft products are designed and built in Hanover, Mass., and tested at Riverlab Acoustical Laboratories in Illinois. Prices per IsoRaft range from $7.65 to $11.70.

Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

Info: https://studio-float.com

The post Studio Float Launches IsoRafts appeared first on Radio World.

The Federal Communications Commission has released the latest broadcast station totals for the United States.

Notably, the number of licensed FM translators and boosters continues to grow; that category added more than 300 just in the past year.

Though the commission doesn’t separate translators and boosters in this report, the growth is understood to be mostly in translators. A Radio World analysis of FCC data shows that the number of translators and boosters has grown 40% over 10 years. That growth is due in part to the use of translators in rebroadcasting HD Radio multicast channels as well as the use of translators in AM “revitalization.”

The number of licensed stations in each broadcast category as of June 30 is shown below. The data in parentheses are one year earlier, for comparison.

AM stations — 4,533 (4,570)

FM commercial — 6,681 (6,706)

FM educational — 4,214 (4,197)

Total — 15,428 (15,473)

FM translators & boosters — 8,614 (8,303)

LPFM — 2,093 (2,146)

[See how these categories have changed compared to 20 years ago.]

The post FM Translators Continue to Proliferate appeared first on Radio World.