Industry News

On October 15, three FEMA representatives will be on hand to help commemorate the launch of “an all-hazards upgrade” to what is considered to be a “Primary Entry Point” facility at the heritage home for News and Talk in New England — iHeartMedia-owned WBZ-AM 1030 in Boston.

FEMA and iHeartMedia Boston are teaming for the event, scheduled for 11am on that Friday in mid-October. It will be held at the WBZ transmitter and “PEP” site, in Hull, Mass.

According to iHeartMedia, the modernization to the emergency studio increases WBZ Radio’s resiliency to continue broadcasting under all conditions, including natural disasters and acts of terrorism.

The facility is one of 77 across the country that serve as a National Public Warning System Primary Entry Point (PEP) station, participating with FEMA to provide emergency alert and warning information to the public before, during and after incidents and disasters.

This makes WBZ Radio the 13th station in the nation to work with FEMA to complete the all-hazards upgrade, which includes increased sheltering capabilities, expanded broadcast capacity, and sustainable power generation for all types of hazardous events.

A ribbon cutting, official remarks, a Q&A session for local media, a tour of the facility, and a live demonstration at the WBZ PEP station emergency studio are scheduled.

Speakers include Antwane Johnson, Director of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System; FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Nick Russo; IPAWS Program Manager Manny Centeno; iHeartMedia EVP of Engineering & Systems Integration Jeff Littlejohn; and iHeartMedia Boston Market President Alan Chartrand.

Politicians set to appear include Sen. Ed Markey, State Senator Patrick O’Connor, State Representative Joan Meschino, and Hull Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Jennifer Constable.

WBZ on-air host Dan Rea will also be in attendance.

This month Andrea Cummis will be sworn in as president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. She will be the first woman to hold that office.

Cummis, CBT, CTO, has been chief technical officer of PBS39 WLVT(TV), in Bethlehem, Pa., since 2017, and she is a member of SBE Chapter 15 in New York City. Her responsibilities include technical oversight at NPR affiliate WLVR(FM).

She was unopposed in the SBE election and will take office on Oct. 18, succeeding Wayne Pecena, who served two terms and remains on the board as immediate past president.

Cummis has a breadth of expertise, holding degrees in electrical engineering and in law and technology, as well as an MBA. She has worked for more than two decades in engineering, operations and new technology in television, radio and new media.

She and her husband Renard Fiscus also own AC Video Solutions, a systems design and integration firm. Its customers include Christian Faith Network, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, All Mobile Video, M&T Bank, and Raritan Valley Community College.

Cummis spoke with Radio World Editor in Chief Paul McLane.

Radio World: You’ve done quite a bit of systems integration and design, as I understand it.

Andrea Cummis: Lots and lots. Many, many years.

RW: How did you get into broadcast engineering in the first place?

Cummis: Oh, it’s a funny story. I was in my eighth-grade history class and we were doing projects; you got up and showed your project.

Someone dropped off a cart of equipment — a camera and an old black-and-white reel-to-reel deck — but none of it was put together, it was all just on a cart in a box. I thought it was really interesting. I went over and put it together and started recording the projects.

I went over to the librarian and said, “Do you need help with this?” And I became the AV person for the junior high.

I would record all the school plays and do the audio recordings for concerts.

When I was ready to go to high school, the librarian called them and said, “Don’t mess around, just let her do video stuff when she gets there, don’t make her wait.” So I started running a four-camera video studio as soon as I got to high school. I was TD’ing and directing four-camera shoots for the school plays and running monitors backstage. I just figured it all out.

RW: A lot of people in our business would know what that high school AV closet looks like! Yet in 2021 there are still very few women in the field. Why do you think that is?

Cummis: It’s really hard, and pretty physical, and you don’t get paid that much.

If you’re studying engineering in college, why wouldn’t you do chemical engineering or IT, where you don’t have to be on your feet all day and work crazy hours and be on call weekends and nights and probably get paid a lot more?

I think we as engineers are very undervalued in how hard we work and how much knowledge we need, how we have to work under pressure and respond really quickly.

It’s a very unusual job. I wish I knew why more women didn’t do it. I don’t think they have the opportunity. Maybe a lot of people don’t know that this job exists, they were never exposed to it.

RW: As you come in as SBE president, what are your priorities?

Cummis: Well, for me as the first woman president of SBE, I would like to figure out how to diversify and get more women, more minorities, different ages, and people who aren’t necessarily “straight engineering” but have other technical jobs in broadcasting. I think it’s been our goal as a society for a long time, but it feels really important right now.

Andrea Cummis at work for “The Today Show” in China in 1987.

RW: Certainly there’s been no lack of good intentions on the part of the society over the years, but these also are issues in our broader culture. Those are not small obstacles.

Cummis: No, absolutely.

One of our goals is to have a strategic planning process that will open things. In the past, we’ve flown people into one place, trapped them in a room and talked all day. But with all the virtual meetings we have nowadays, it’s a great opportunity to be able to invite more people and do sessions in different jobs and locations — really open it up so that we can get a better understanding of what people need, what they think we could do to be better and attract other kinds of people.

RW: You certainly are coming into this position at an interesting time nationally, given the pandemic and the effect it’s had on events, meetings and working remotely.

Cummis: We’ve done really well at SBE with having virtual meetings, it’s been very successful for us.

For me, the interesting thing being in charge of a facility is having to deal with all the COVID stuff and keeping your facility safe and your people safe. A lot of chief engineers and other members have been thrown into being COVID experts and having to figure this out.

Are your people working remotely successfully? Are you increasing your cleaning?

For example I found these really cool wraps that you put around handles that are supposed to keep everything clean magically. I don’t know how they work but it’s amazing technology. I even had to take COVID certifications including a session with a doctor, a nurse and a lawyer; you had to pass a test.

There’s so much to know and it changes so fast. It really has changed what our job is in ways you never could have predicted.

RW: We often hear of the traditional divide between IT and broadcast engineering. Many of those skillsets and interest areas now overlap. Is the divide getting any closer?

Cummis: In some cases it’s totally merged and there is really no divide; and in other places that are union shops, they can’t get together because they’re not allowed to. That’s where it gets messy, because the broadcast engineers have a specific domain, the IT guys are on the other side, and there are times they have to work together. But then there’s times where you get finger-pointing: Who’s in charge of this or that, and who’s assigning IP addresses or anything else that crosses over.

I think you’re always going to have two paths.

RW: As you look across media technology, are there particular areas where you think SBE members ought to be paying closer attention for their careers?

Cummis: Well, the ATSC 3.0 stuff is coming up really fast. A lot of places are already starting to implement it. There’s so much to know and it’s so complicated, so many ways to use it. Each organization is going to have to figure out why they’re doing it and what they’re hoping to get out of it.

Then having to keep the ATSC 1 going while you’re doing ATSC 3. It’s years and years that you have to overlap, and nobody’s helping you pay for it. How do you do it? How do you “lighthouse”? Are you doing it with somebody else or can you do it with just what you own?

Just taking a webinar is not going to be enough for anyone. There’s an awful lot to know, and it’s going to keep changing. It will be probably be a few years of people watching to see how’s somebody else rolling it out, and was it successful? How long did it take? What did it cost?

We’re looking at it here at WLVT, but we’re part of a big channel share. It’s going to be hard to do that with nine channels on our one piece of bandwidth now; how would you ever lighthouse that?

RW: You mentioned webinars. SBE has done a great job of putting together comprehensive training materials on many radio and TV technical topics. Are there other issues that you want to mention?

Cummis: I think overall we’ve made some really good decisions in the past few years. Our new membership enhancement, SBE MemberPlus, which includes all the webinars, has been really successful. All our education certification, all our big initiatives like the Technical Professional Training Program have been terrific and are continuing — we just started ATSC 3.0 certification, something I should probably take at some point!

There are a lot of things we do really well. I hope to continue those and grow in other places.

[Related: Read our 2014 interview with Wayne Pecena on the occasion of his receiving the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award.]

SBE Presidents List

Andrea Cummis 2021–

Wayne Pecena 2019–2021

Jim Leifer 2017–2019

Jerry Massey 2015–2017

Joe Snelson 2013–2015

Ralph Hogan 2011–2013

Vincent Lopez 2009–2011

Barry Thomas 2007–2009

Christopher H. Scherer 2005–2007

Raymond C. Benedict 2003–2005

Troy D. Pennington 2001–2003

James “Andy” Butler 1999–2001

Edward J. Miller 1997–1999

Terrence M. Baun 1995–1997

Charles W. Kelly Jr. 1993–1995

Richard Farquhar 1991–1993

Bradley Dick 1989–1991

Jack McKain 1987–1989

Richard Rudman 1985–1987

Roger Johnson 1984–1985

Doyle Thompson, Sr. 1983–1984

Ron Arendall 1981–1983

Robert Jones 1979–1981

James Hurley 1978–1979

Robert Wehrman   1977–1978

Glen Lahman   1975–1977

James Wulliman 1973–1975

Robert Flanders 1971–1973

Lewis Wetzel 1970–1971

Al Chismark   1968–1970

Charles Hallinan 1966–1968

John Battison, P.E. 1965–1966

The post Cummis Set to Take the Lead at SBE appeared first on Radio World.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FCC has announced the winners of the agency’s Excellence in Engineering Awards, which recognize Commission staff who have made outstanding engineering, scientific or technical contributions.

Julia Tu and Ryan Hedgpeth from the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau share the 2021 Excellence in Engineering award for their work on the Commission’s technical investigation into the nationwide outage of a major wireless network.

“Their efforts will help ensure that rapid, efficient, nationwide radio communications service is available to all the people of the United States,” the Commission said. Their work on the project will help to avoid similar outages in the future, including through recommendations to service providers regarding periodic improvements to network diversity, validation of software upgrades in a lab environment, and active monitoring of 911 network components, the FCC added.

“Every day, the FCC benefits from the immense source of talent working within the agency,” acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said at the September Open Meeting, held last week. “I’m proud to recognize Julia and Ryan for their commitment to using their creativity and ingenuity in service of the public.”

Radio TechCon, which bills itself as the “UK radio and audio industry’s technical and engineering conference” has announced Nov. 29 as its date for a virtual gathering.

[For News on This and Other Shows See Our Show News Page]

Organizers are still putting together details. There will be speeches, interactive sessions and presentations along with breakout rooms and special events from sponsors.

Committed sponsors of the show include Broadcast Bionics, RCS, Lawo, Arqiva, The Institution of Engineering and Technology, Broadcast Radio and Vortex Communications.

The post Radio TechCon Scheduled for End of November appeared first on Radio World.

FEMA and iHeartMedia will cut the ribbon later this month on an upgraded “Primary Entry Point” facility at WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Boston.

WBZ is the 13th U.S. station to work with FEMA to complete an “all-hazards upgrade,” which includes increased sheltering capabilities, expanded broadcast capacity and sustainable power generation for hazardous events.

[Related: “WLW PEP Station to Test New Studio Shelter”

“The modernization to the emergency studio increases iHeartMedia’s WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Boston’s resiliency to continue broadcasting under all conditions, including natural disasters and acts of terrorism,” they announced.

“This facility is one of 77 across the country that serve as a National Public Warning System Primary Entry Point (PEP) station, participating with FEMA to provide emergency alert and warning information to the public before, during and after incidents and disasters.”

The ribbon cutting will be open to news media but not the general public.

 

The post WBZ to Cut the Ribbon on Upgraded PEP Facility appeared first on Radio World.

GettyImages/wildpixel

FCC Form 395-B is intended to gather workforce composition data from broadcasters, including race and gender, but hasn’t been collected since 2001. It might be coming back.

The FCC has been contemplating its return since releasing a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) in July to refresh the existing record regarding collection of the EEO data. The collection of the form, which gathers workforce composition from broadcasters with five or more full-time employees, was suspended two decades ago because of a legal ruling and other unresolved issues.

[Read: EEO Supporters Lay Out Their Wish List]

While none of the major radio broadcast groups filed initial comments on the FNPRM, the NAB says it “does not object to the commission reinstating the FCC Form 395-B,” so long as station data is kept confidential while any related information made publicly available “is provided on an anonymous, aggregated basis.”

The group says the revitalized form is “likely to merely increase paperwork burdens without offering much corresponding value” that is duplicative of EEOC requirements. “The left hand of the government should be talking to the right one, instead of putting unnecessary additional burdens on broadcasters,” NAB wrote in comments to the FCC.

In addition, NAB says the FCC’s FNPRM provides “no evidentiary support for why such a data collection is necessary or how it will help further the goal of increased diversity in the broadcasting industry.”

“No one contests whether the industry should continue to strive to hire, retain and promote more women and people of color,” NAB wrote. It adds “broadcasting is replete with opportunities for talented individuals of every race, ethnicity or gender.”

In fact, the group suggests a better option for how the FCC can help increase diversity within the broadcast industry.

NAB states: “Rather than focus efforts on reporting data that is already largely apparent, a far better use of the commission’s time would be to reach out to broadcasters and ask exactly how the commission can be helpful to our efforts to increase diversity.”

It also renewed the group’s concern that making publicly available the required employment data on a station-attributable basis “will unlawfully pressure broadcasters to adopt race- or gender-based hiring practices” and that “publishing the racial composition of each broadcaster’s workforce would clearly exceed the FCC’s authority.”

NAB punctuated its argument by highlighting the EEO efforts of some of its members. For instance, Audacy provides yearlong fellowships that provide “diverse candidates early in their career access to resources, support and professional networks” they might not otherwise experience in a typical internship or entry level position. “Currently, 10 fellows started work on September 13, 2021, in [Audacy’s] news, sports content, digital, and ad sales departments,” NAB stated in its comments.

In addition, NAB says iHeartMedia invests resources to further the broadcaster’s commitment to inclusion, and credible, sustainable efforts to foster a diverse workforce culture. “(iHeartMedia) recently launched a DE&I Plan that includes measures committing to more diversity on their company’s board of directors to requiring that diversity be a part of recruiting, hiring and promotion decisions,” NAB wrote the FCC.

In conclusion, NAB says Form 395 is unnecessary since FCC already randomly selects approximately 5% of radio and television stations annually for a thorough EEO audit. “NAB estimates that the FCC has conducted EEO audits of at least 15,000 broadcast stations since this process was launched in 2003. To our knowledge, all of these investigations have resulted in fewer than 20 Notices of Apparent Liability or admonishments to broadcasters for EEO rules violations (0.1%), none of which involved a charge of discrimination.”

Meanwhile, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) other EEO supporters continue to push the FCC to do more to improve broadcaster diversity. MMTC in a group filing said they “enthusiastically endorse EEO data collection,” in their most recent comments last week to the FCC.

MMTC previously submitted to the FCC a list of nine proposals it says the commission should adopt to improve EEO compliance and enforcement.

Acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel supports Form 395-B’s return. “This data is a vitally important to assess the industry’s workforce diversity. Moreover, its collection is required under the law,” Rosenworcel said at the time the FNPRM was released this summer.

Reply comments to the FCC on this topic must be submitted by Nov. 1, MB Docket No. 98-204.

 

The post FCC Could Recommence Race and Gender Reporting for Broadcasters appeared first on Radio World.

The pro-MVPD American Television Alliance (ATVA) on Friday filed brief reply comments in response to the FCC’s quadrennial review.

To perhaps little surprise, the group, which counts ACA Connects as a member, blasted broadcasters for having “largely repeated” old arguments in support of their desire to relax or eliminate the duopoly prohibition.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

The latest quarterly broadcast station totals have been released from the FCC.

And, when one compares the numbers to the end of the second quarter of 2021, one big takeaway is obvious: There are more than 150 fewer radio and TV stations licensed in the U.S. than on June 30.

Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)

The company getting notice for its technology that empowers “dynamic visuals” to radio broadcasts has just signed up Cox Media Group as its latest clients.

Already, the company’s radio stations are using the Steve Newberry-led company’s patented web-based software to publish synched messages on vehicle dashboards.

The capabilities provided to such stations as Hot Talk WHPT “102.5 The Bone” in Sarasota/Tampa is courtesy of Quu Inc.

It uses “Visual Quus” to bring artist information, local promotions and, importantly, ads to the in-dash audio entertainment system. “Radio stations with Visual Quus offer a better user experience in the car and generate immediate incremental revenue by adding text, logos, and images to on-air advertisements,” Quu claims.

Quu CEO Newberry says, ”The opportunity for radio to use Visual Quus as a sales and marketing tool is huge — 80% of the cars on the road today can display text on the dash. We’re delighted that the innovative team at Cox Media Group has signed on as a long-term partner and look forward to evolving the future of our industry together.”

The year 2020 was a year like no other. A pandemic of global proportions coupled with a summer of activism brought on by social unrest and renewed questioning of the “status quo” resulted in a call to action as never before seen, at least not in our lifetime.

Brands are paying attention. Consumers are watching and listening to see how brands are reacting. Creative directors and media buyers are shifting greater focus and budget to better reach a more diverse audience and engage the same in marketing partnerships.

That’s why Forecast 2022 is poised to present 2021’s most provocative in-person conversation on the course of advertising — and what broadcast media leaders need to know.

Deborah Wahl, Global Chief Marketing Officer of General Motors, sits down with American Urban Radio Networks CEO Chesley Maddox-Dorsey for an exclusive conversation on GM marketing — how broadcast fits into its strategy, and what the major automotive company looks for in marketing partnerships. Wahl and Maddox-Dorsey also plan to discuss GM’s commitment to increasing minority media expenditures over the next few years.

They will be joined by Doug Ray, Chief Product Officer for Global Media at dentsu Americas.

Ray has been instrumental in the creation and launch of Project Booker, an initiative focused on African American- developed and -owned content that is being distributed on African American-owned radio and is leading the way in how the global media agency community is doing business with that minority-owned media. Ray will offer his agency perspective on a topic that has all of Madison Avenue rethinking and recasting their role in marketing to American consumers — and who those consumers are today.

Register now for Forecast 2022 and take advantage of early bird pricing. Registration includes admittance to the Broadcast Leadership Reception honoring the 2021 Top Radio and Television Leaders.

Always a great networking event, this year’s is even more important!

The Radio and Television Industry’s Financial Summit: Forecast brings together the best and brightest talent in broadcasting and advertising to forecast the coming year, and to discuss the trends and momentums that will affect ratings and revenue. From Washington to Wall Street, Forecast focuses on what’s ahead in the broadcast community’s future and how to prepare for its opportunities and challenges. Join today’s industry leaders and be part of the discussions and debates about what’s ahead for radio in 2022 and beyond.

Register today for Forecast 2022. The venue is small – demand is higher than usual – don’t be left out due to a sellout!

NOTE: The Harvard Club adheres to City of New York rules and regulations pertaining to COVID-19 vaccination. Please make your plans accordingly.