Industry News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Members of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) elected three experienced media executives to serve on the ATSC Board of Directors for three-year terms that begin in January 2022.

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On Dec. 2, Croatian media regulator Agencija za Elektroničke Medije (AEM) announced plans to consider applications for national DAB+ concessions, as well as local DAB+ concessions in Zagreb and nine counties. Applications for the 20-year concessions are due by year-end.

According to a report in the newspaper Glas Istre, AEM believes there is public interest in launching new digital radio services, especially in the Zagreb region, despite the low number of DAB+ receivers in the country.

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A new partnership between Triton Digital and Pocket FM will give media buyers additional access to the digital audio space in India.

The agreement will make Pocket FM’s OTT platform — a free podcast app and audio show that has grown into the largest audio OTT platform in India, the company said — available on the Triton Audio Ad exchange, giving buyers access to Pocket FM’s inventory through more than 30 demand size platforms via Triton.

According to the company, Pocket FM has become a top-ranking music and audio app, clocking in more than 40 million downloads and 2.7 billion monthly listening minutes. Listeners have access to more than 100,000 hours of programming via long-format content, audio shows, stories, novels and podcasts in eight languages through Pocket FM.

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Through the partnership, the companies said, Pocket FM media buyers will have access to Triton’s Yield-Op capability, an audio-first supply-side platform built for broadcasters, podcasters and music streaming services. Yield-Op offers users controls to set up deals, manage demand and optimize yield. Users will also have access to Triton’s Tap OnDemand, which enables streaming audio services and web-only audio publishers to streamline advertising trafficking and maximize revenue with dynamic audio ad insertion (DAI) as well as coordinate campaign trafficking, delivery and reporting.

“Consumption has grown significantly over the past 24 months, making digital audio an important medium for marketers seeking to reach this engaged and growing audience,” said Aditya Summanwar, director of market development for Triton Digital, adding that 57.6 million people in India as of 2020 were consuming podcasts on a monthly basis. “That makes India the third largest country for podcast consumption, following the U.S. and China,” Summanwar said.

Rohan Nayak, co-founder and CEO of Pocket FM, said that the new partnership with Triton Digital will offer media buyers and publishers a deeper look into validated measurement of India’s growing digital audio consumption market. “In the coming months, Pocket FM intends to achieve 100 million users and introduce more genres on the platform, building the largest community of writers, artists and homegrown authors in India,” Nayak said.

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The newest version of the Global Radio Guide is out.

Penned by author Gayle Van Horn, this edition of the publication lists by-hour schedules that include language services, frequencies and world target areas for more than 500 stations. The guide includes listings of DX radio programs, websites, entries for time and frequencies for many stations as well as a group of unique transmissions available on shortwave radio bands.

The guide includes articles that look at the current state of shortwave receiver technology, technology product reviews, a guide to shortwave music programs from around the world, and current radio news.

In this issue, Van Horn delves into covering the radio broadcast services of the People’s Republic of China, looking at the local, regional and international medium-wave and shortwave networks run by China’s Communist Party, including the country’s largest and most widely broadcast radio station, China Radio International.

The 17th edition also includes introductory articles on traveling the world via shortwave radio broadcasts, tips on monitoring shortwave action bands and a frequency list of high-frequency non-broadcast radio stations worldwide.

The current edition of the Global Radio Guide is available on the Teak Publishing website and via Amazon.

The post Newest Edition of Global Radio Guide Hits the Streets appeared first on Radio World.

 

Work is done on a 3.8-meter single-feed antenna aimed at satellite SES-11. This particular facility in Christmas, Fla., supports a Hearst Properties site for WESH(TV).

USSI Global said it has helped satellite company SES complete the first phase of the FCC’s accelerated C-band clearing and relocation activities.

As part of the FCC’s program to encourage the rollout of 5G, SES is seeking to clear 280 MHz of the C-band spectrum. Broadcasters with satellite infrastructure are among the business sectors that have been affected by the overall process, as Radio World has reported.

“Phase I required SES to relocate all of its existing services that are received by Incumbent Earth Stations out of the 3700–3820 MHz band,” USSI Global stated in a press release. “USSI Global made the necessary equipment changes on all associated Incumbent Earth Stations.”

SES selected USSI Global as its primary vendor to help manage and execute the transition of Incumbent Earth Station filtering to mitigate risks of 5G interference.

“USSI Global served as the lead project management firm and was responsible for outreach, IT systems integration, field support management and status reporting.”

The work included research about site-specific details, and then design, procurement, installation and commissioning of 5G filters and antennas. USSI Global supported approximately 600 Phase 1 Incumbent Earth Station site transitions, which helped SES meet eligibility for the first accelerated relocation payment from the government.

The company said it also has supported the clearing of more than 100 Phase II sites so far.

The post USSI Global Supports SES in C-Band Transition appeared first on Radio World.

The Poynter Institute for Media Studies has named the 40 public radio stations, 16 public television stations, and 19 joint licensees participating in the Digital Transformation Project.

Funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Digital Transformation Project is a virtual training program for public media senior leaders and their staff looking to apply best strategies and tactics to transform their organization’s digital operations and culture.

“CPB’s commitment to advancing innovation and diversity continues to be reflected through our strategic investments helping system leaders advance a digital-first, audience-centric approach,” stated Patricia Harrison, CPB president and CEO in a release.

The five National Multicultural Alliance Organizations — Black Public Media, the Center for Asian American Media, Latino Public Broadcasting, Pacific Islanders in Communications, and Vision Maker Media — will join the 75 stations to form four cohorts of 20 public media leaders participating in the nine-month program. The first cohort begins training in January with additional cohorts starting the program every three months.

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In addition to one-on-one and peer group coaching sessions, the program includes a series of educational webinars, work exercises, and resource materials that span the program curriculum.

“The selected participants are some of the nation’s most trusted sources citizens turn to for local news and information,” stated Poynter President Neil Brown. “Our partnership with CPB will help public media outlets build digital-first strategies that inspire an even greater — and more sustainable — connection to grow with their communities.”

According to Poynter, each public media CEO will work with their team on a specific digital performance challenge with clearly defined business outcomes, such as attracting and growing new and diverse audiences, increasing audience engagement, converting audiences to loyal members, and driving new revenues from digital channels.

“A focus on digital transformation will pay off for public media by establishing even greater audience engagement and loyalty,” Brown stated.

The 75 participating stations/networks are:

Alabama Public Radio
Alaska Public Media, Anchorage
Arizona PBS
CapRadio, Sacramento
Classical KING FM, Seattle
CoastAlaska, Southeast Alaska
Colorado Public Radio
GBH News, Boston
Idaho Public Television
Illinois Public Media
Interlochen Public Radio, Michigan
Iowa PBS
KAWC/KOFA, Colorado River Public Media/Border Radio
KAXE/KBXE, Northern Community Radio, Northern Minnesota
KCUR FM, Kansas City, Mo.
KGNU FM-AM, Boulder/Denver, Colo.
KJZZ FM and KBAQ FM, Phoenix
KLCC-FM, Eugene, Ore.
KNBA FM, Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, Anchorage
KOSU-FM, Stillwater, Okla.
KPBS TV-FM, San Diego
KPCC FM, Southern California Public Radio
KTSU 90.9 FM, Houston
KUER-FM, Salt Lake City, Utah
KUNC FM and The Colorado Sound, Greeley, Colo.
KVIE TV, Sacramento
Maine Public
Marfa Public Radio, Texas
Mountain Lake PBS (WCFE), Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Nashville Public Radio
Nine PBS, St. Louis
NJ PBS
Northern California Public Media (KRCB/KPJK)
NPR Illinois
Oklahoma Educational Television Authority
PBS Fort Wayne
Pioneer PBS, Granite Falls, Minn.
Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting (WESA-FM and WYEP-FM)
Radio Milwaukee
St. Louis Public Radio
Twin Cities PBS (TPT)
USC Radio Group: KUSC, Los Angeles, and KDFC, San Francisco
Vegas PBS
WAMU FM, Washington, D.C.
WCNY TV, Syracuse, N.Y.
WDSE TV-FM, Duluth, Minn.
WERU Community Radio, Blue Hill, Maine
WFYI Public Media, Indianapolis
WGLT FM, Bloomington-Normal, Ill., and WCBU FM, Peoria, Ill.
WGVU Public Media, Grand Rapids, Mich.
WHUT TV, Washington, D.C.
WITF Public Media, Harrisburg, Pa.
WKAR Public Media, East Lansing, Mich.
WKMS FM, Murray, Ky.
WLIW TV/FM, Garden City, N.Y.
WMHT Educational Telecommunications, Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.
WNET/Thirteen, New York, N.Y.
WNIJ FM, DeKalb, Ill.
WPSU TV-FM, State College, Pa.
WQLN PBS/NPR, Erie, Pa.
WRTI FM, Philadelphia
WSHU Public Radio, Westport, Conn.
WTCI-TV, Chattanooga, Tenn.
WUNC FM, Chapel Hill, N.C.
WUSF Public Media, Tampa, Fla.
WUWF Public Media, Pensacola, Fla.
WUWM FM, Milwaukee
WVIK, Quad Cities NPR, Iowa/Illinois
WVPE FM, Michiana
WVTF FM (Radio IQ), Roanoke, Va.
WXPR Public Radio, Northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
WXXI Public Media, Rochester, N.Y.
WYES TV, New Orleans
WYPR FM, Baltimore
Yellowstone Public Radio, Montana

The post 75 Public Broadcasters Selected for ‘Digital Transformation’ appeared first on Radio World.

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — Some 75 public media stations have been selected to participate in the Digital Transformation Program, a virtual initiative developed by the Poynter Institute to educate, assist, and coach public media senior leaders and their staff on the best strategies and tactics to transform their organization’s digital operations and culture.

The training is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

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“The global economy has recovered in-line with expectations and, in most markets, so has marketing activity and advertising spending.”

That’s the key finding from the December 2021 MAGNA Advertising Forecasts report. It shows that growth was particularly strong wherever COVID vaccination was fast and deep.

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Audio-Technica has long made well-regarded pro microphones with prices to match, but also has a growing presence in the prosumer realm, creating products at more retail-oriented price points intended for bedroom producers, content creators, streamers and the like. In recent years, A-T has been engaging the podcasting world with its AT2020 and AT2035 condenser mics, and now has stepped it up even further with the introduction of the AT2040 hypercardioid dynamic podcast microphone.

Audio-Technica AT2040 Hypercardioid Dynamic Podcast Microphone

Costing a very reasonable $99, this XLR mic does a nice job of providing its target users with a microphone attuned to the spoken word, while also landing under $100, thus attracting customers for whom the top feature is the price point. At that cost, yes, it’s entry-level, but it’s “good” entry-level, providing a decent product for those who will only ever buy one mic, while providing a solid first experience for emerging audio pros who will dive deeper into the company’s product ranges in years to come.

Out of the box

Right out of the box, the AT2040 makes a good first impression — it has a sleek design that looks good on camera, whether it’s a video podcast, work-from-home environment or Twitch stream. (The priority, of course, is how it sounds, but visuals are a valid concern for on-screen content creators.) The black finish isn’t easily dinged or scratched, and at 5.72” long and nearly 22 oz., it has a real heft to it.

Pulling it out of the box, it simply feels like you’ve purchased something of significance. The thick metal casing and strong grille are joined by a hard plastic AT8487 mounting clamp already attached, so it’s clearly made to withstand some abuse. The AT2040 is solid enough that if you accidentally bang it around, it will put a dent in your desk rather than the other way around.

Rounding out the accessories in the box are a threaded adapter for the clamp and a mic pouch.

In use

The AT2040 sports a hypercardioid polar pattern that does a nice job, even capturing the voice at a moderate distance and off-axis up to 90° (with the expected change in timbre, of course), as happens with users who aren’t disciplined about staying on-mic or perhaps don’t want the mic blocking them on-camera. However, when used like a proper broadcast mic, the AT2040 captures the voice very naturally; its large diaphragm gets the low-mids warm and out front, while the highs are curled back to provide shape but not rough edges.

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One place where the mic particularly shines is its handling of plosives — pop filtering is provided by a multistage foam mesh windscreen inside, and it yanks plosives’ impact right down. The AT2040 does pick up stray clatter from usage, however. While there’s integrated shockmounting to reduce that, the mic is still best left untouched once it’s in a mic stand or boom, as handling and cable noise are readily picked up.

Overall

In all, it’s a solid first microphone; for many of its intended users, particularly the podcaster or streamer, this is all the mic they’re ever going to need. Meanwhile, for aspiring audio pros, it will make for a positive introduction to the Audio-Technica brand.

The post Audio-Technica Offers ‘Good’ Entry-Level AT2040 appeared first on Radio World.

The Opal on one end of the “Great Night” production.

We started our podcast “Great Night” in January of 2009. We’ve gone through several names, and along the way we’ve had several Billboard-charted comedy albums and have developed a large and loyal subscriber base. Currently, we’re doing a live variety show every Tuesday night, with a video component that we stream over Twitch and publish on YouTube.

For 11-and-a-half of those 12 years, we lived in different states. For much of that time, we were doing the thing that has essentially become the default podcast comedy technique during the pandemic: We were using Skype and recording our audio locally, then editing it together in post-production.

But the delays and hiccups caused by Skype were intrusive, and we wanted to find a full-duplex solution.

We learned about the Comrex Opal from a friend of ours who works at The Blaze. We had some challenges configuring our IP networks, but once it was set up, it was easy for everyone to jump onboard and learn how to use it.

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We would use video from Skype and connect our audio through the Opal, and there was an immediate difference in our audio quality. Even when Skype was failing, the Opal audio would continue to be precise with low delay, and it felt as though we were in the room with each other.

Skype has been the standard for podcasting forever, but not because anyone likes it. If you get a group of podcasters together in a room, eventually they’re all going to complain about Skype. People use it because it works well enough and most of us know how to fix it when it’s broken.

But every conversation, every interview, every interaction has an ebb and flow that happens in the milliseconds between moments. Just as it’s not possible to have an in-depth conversation over walkie-talkies, it’s equally impossible to preserve that nuance over Zoom and Skype. You need full-duplex real-time audio if you want to create real magic in audio.

Only Opal has brought us that experience.

When we shifted to Opal, our audience noticed. We got a lot of feedback from our listeners about the change — they couldn’t identify exactly what was different, but it felt electric. Suddenly we were both able to talk at the same time without any delay.

We have this weird fixation on Billy Joel, and we’ve been making Billy Joel jokes and singing parodies of Billy Joel songs for a while now. Suddenly, once we got Opal, we could harmonize. We could overlap our jokes and pick up on what each other were saying without having to deal with Skype ducking our audio. We were finally able to do our material in the best way possible.

A lot of podcasters think audio quality issues can be solved by local recording, and certainly that can be edited together even though it adds another layer to post-production. But they really don’t realize what an audio delay does to active conversations.

In a medium that is all about where a conversation goes, whether it’s comedy or a panel discussion, high-quality and low-delay audio is irreplaceable. Opal is the solution that every podcaster doesn’t realize they need.

Info: Contact Chris Crump at Comrex at 1-978-784-1776 or visit www.comrex.com.

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

The post User Report: Comrex Opal Makes Full-Duplex Audio Magic appeared first on Radio World.