Industry News

Strengthening our Communications Networks to Meet Consumers’ Needs

That’s the key topic up for debate and conversation at an upcoming legislative hearing announced late yesterday by the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the head of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

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The local broadcast TV industry in 2022 will generate $21 billion in advertising revenue, with $19.3 billion in over-the-air (OTA) revenue and $1.7 billion in digital.

Those fresh estimates are courtesy of BIA Advisory Services. And, they point to a healthy 26.5% increase over 2021 for the industry.

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Microphone maker Shure is filling out the nooks and crannies of its microphone lineup. The latest is the MV7X.

While it has the readily recognizable shape of its well-known broadcast veteran cousin, the SM7B, the MV7X is aimed at the podcaster market, though Shure feels that broadcasters, streamers and musicians would also find it of interest.

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

It is a dynamic cardioid mic with an XLR connector mounted on the rear. Its output is analog thus requiring a preamp or digital audio converter.

Shure specs the MV7X at 50 Hz–16 kHz. It has a metal body like the SM7B and its sister, the MV7. It ships with an adjustable yoke. Price: $179.

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

Info: www.shure.com

The post Shure Ships Podcast Microphone appeared first on Radio World.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Enforcement Bureau of the FCC has entered into a Consent Decree with ViacomCBS that settles an investigation over violations of the Commission’s accessibility rules at the company’s Pluto Inc. TV service.

As such, ViacomCBS is paying a civil penalty to the U.S. Treasury and is not being fined by the Commission. A compliance plan has also been agreed to by both parties.

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Three leaders associated with the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) have submitted comments with the Commission in response to a Media Bureau docket that seeks a review of EEO compliance and enforcement in the broadcast and multichannel video programming industries.

In short, the MMTC leaders believe that, “While data collection is one essential element of an EEO compliance program, it is hardly the only element.”

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Zoom fatigue entered our lexicon early in the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Dry eyes, neck pain, and dysmorphic disorder spiked as we overdosed on video conferences.

In case you’re wondering, the latter symptom of video meeting exhaustion has to do with obsessive attention to perceived defects in our facial features. Cosmetic surgery boomed during the pandemic.

More than a year later, Zoom burnout persists as virtual meetings have become a daily fixture of remote and hybrid work environments. This column from Rosemary Ravinal offers a half-dozen ways to combat Zoom fatigue.

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The Phoenix-based production and broadcasting studio used by a popular host known for the latest news on everything digital — including technology, and security threats and scams — is for sale.

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Student-run noncommercial radio stations still must adhere to the FCC’s rules. The case of a college station in Montana reminds us of that afresh.

The Audio Division of the Media Bureau said it has reached a consent decree with Montana State University Northern, the licensee of KNMC(FM) in Havre, Mont., over compliance with FCC rules for filing for license renewal and maintaining an online public file.

The license renewal should have been filed by Dec. 1, 2020, but was not filed until four months later. The commission also said the station had failed to place any issues and programs lists in its online public file before this April.

In the consent decree, the school stipulates that it violated the rules and will pay a penalty of $500. It will also put in place a compliance plan that makes sure the violations don’t happen again.

If it seems like the station is getting off easier than others might, it’s because the commission has a policy about certain cases that involve first-time violations by student-run NCE radio stations. In such situations it may offer a consent decree with terms like those that KNMC agreed to.

KNMC was started by English and speech instructor W.E. “Bill” Lisenby in the early 1950s and came to the FM dial in 1978.

The post College Station Signs FCC Consent Decree appeared first on Radio World.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Legislation that two House Members who sit on the powerful Energy & Commerce Committee say would free up new airwaves for wireless broadband use by the public has been teed up in the lower body of Congress.

For the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology’s Chair, the legislation would “make as much spectrum as possible available for improved broadband service for consumers and to promote new, innovative uses of our airwaves.”

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In August, a coed, Catholic Benedictine boarding and day school for students grades 9-12 along Narragansett Bay surrendered its license for its 360-watt Class A FM, ending student-run programming that could be heard in nearby Bristol and in Fall River, Mass.

A change of heart came earlier this month, however, and the private school rescinded its request. Its license was restored. But, it has nothing to do with Portsmouth Abbey School wanting to keep operating the FM.

It’s just been sold to the regional NPR Member operation.

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