Industry News

AEQ’s new digital audio mixer Atrium is specifically designed for on-air audio production at radio and television stations.

According to the company, Atrium is able to manage up to 1000 audio channels of local content and is AoIP-controllable through one or several control surfaces, each with up to more than 90 motorized faders with pages for snapshots or memories.

The mixer features a set of pre-configurable touchscreens, encoders, indicators and keys. This, says the firm, allows users to dynamically adapt each function according to specific requirements, maintaining the necessary information visible so operation is simple and safe.

What’s more, Atrium’s AoIP capabilities mean users can manage signal inputs/outputs as well as control elements on different, even distant equipment.

The new mixer incorporates tools that provide redundancy at all levels, as well as snapshots, physical and virtual control, automatic mixing and level adjustments.

IBC Stand: 8.C55

Info:  www.aeq.eu

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The post IBC Sneak Peek: AEQ Announces Atrium appeared first on Radio World.

Inovonics is unveiling the INOmini 661 DAB+ monitor-receiver at IBC2019.

Specifically designed for the European market, Inovonics says the new INOmini 661 DAB+ monitor-receiver complements its 662 DAB+ SiteStreamer for remote monitoring.

Replacing the model 660, the INOmini 661 DAB+ monitor-receiver boasts many new enhancements at an attractive price, the company adds.

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Improvements include a larger LCD Display. better resolution, flashing red alarm message. It also features independently adjustable analog L/R and digital-AES audio outputs as well as additional measurement metrics added for more information. Firmware is field upgradeable via USB.

IBC Stand:8.B38

Info: www.inovonicsbroadcast.com

The post IBC Sneak Peek: Inovonics Adds to DAB+ Range appeared first on Radio World.

IBC2019 is almost here. Between now and then Radio World will conduct several short Q&As with manufacturers about their plans and offerings, to help you get the most out of the big annual trade show. Jay Tyler is director of sales for Wheatstone.

Radio World: How has business been for the company since last year’s IBC Show? 

Jay Tyler: One word: Up! Business is changing and we are seeing the last of the analog studios leap into the world of IP audio.

Radio World: What are you hearing from your customers about their business outlook this year? In what areas should we expect growth or the most interesting projects?

Tyler: Customers are still saying budgets are tight but that they have to keep progressing technology-wise or they will be left behind. We see people installing modern infrastructures as a way to leverage technology, and they are reducing cost with these systems.

Radio World: Within the last year or so the two large station ownership groups have emerged from bankruptcy. Are you seeing any increase in equipment sales or interest? What is your feeling for the overall health of the radio industry?

Tyler: If you were an outside investor, you might think that radio is not where you’re going to make a quick buck. But for those of us in the industry, we are seeing an increase in spending due to the fact that many broadcasters held off upgrading their studios for years and kept some equipment longer than they should have.

[Read: IBC Exhibitor Viewpoint: Werner Drews, 2wcom]

Radio World: You’ve been active in the equipment manufacturing market for years. What’s the biggest problem or challenge facing manufacturers right now? Does the trade row between the United States and China greatly affect you?

Tyler: I think the biggest problem manufacturers are facing is obsolete parts. The manufacturers of the parts we use in audio equipment is changing too, so at Wheatstone we have a full-time person who deals with finding new parts to replace the old ones and making sure they work with our current designs. The whole electronics industry has felt the pain of “trade wars” but we have adjusted and moved on and business is getting back to normal.

Radio World: What new goodies will your company be showing? Why should attendees visit your booth?

Tyler: We are showing at IBC for the first time our Glass LXE, which is a multitouch virtual console that is a studio-ready standalone UI into the WheatNet-IP audio network. We are showing a new AoIP appliance called SwitchBlade that anyone replacing ISDN lines or looking to expand the studio beyond the usual four walls will be interested in. We are also showing for the first time this IBC the Strata 32, our new TV audio console that packs 64 channels and the latest IP audio innovations into a very compact frame. We’ll have the new X5 FM audio processor, which is really something and all I can say is you’ll just have to hear it for yourself. Finally, we’ll show our VoxPro 7.0 audio recorder/editor, which has a few new moves that we didn’t have last year. Wheatstone is in stand 8.C91.

Radio World: Going by the interest on our website, AoIP technology is on the top of the list for product acquisition and upgrades. Is that something you are seeing and if so, how are you addressing that?

Tyler: We have been full on AoIP for over 10 years and we just see it as a continuing area of interest for all broadcasters. I think broadcasters are getting a sense that if they’re not AoIP, they’ll be left behind because so much of what they will be able to do to keep up with changes going on around them will start with AoIP.

Radio World: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trend at the 2019 IBC Show?

Tyler: More interoperability and control layers for AES67.

Radio World: You’re a show veteran, how has the show changed since your first visit?

Tyler: We are seeing many more visitors from Africa, Middle East and North America than years past and people wanting to extend AoIP outside the facility to connect cities and sites around the world.

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The post IBC Exhibitor Profile: Jay Tyler, Wheatstone appeared first on Radio World.

This ebook is nuthin’ but gear. It features editorial coverage of dozens of new products as introduced by the industry’s leading manufacturers in recent months, culled from Radio World coverage of the NAB Show, Radio Show, IBC, CES and other relevant trade expositions. You’ll find consoles, codecs, monitors, antennas, broadcast software, service providers and lots more. Technology ranges from analog to digital, including the latest in IP, with specs and company website information. You could almost build a whole radio station with the latest gear from these pages.

Sponsored by 2wcom, AudioScience, Bext, Comrex, Davicom, DJB Radio, Dielectric, ENCO Systems, Henry Engineering, Inovonics, Studio Technology, The Telos Alliance, Tieline  and Titus Labs.

The 2019 Fall Product Planner is free. Read it here.

The post 2019 Fall Product Planner appeared first on Radio World.

The author is membership program director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. NFCB commentaries are featured regularly at www.radioworld.com.

This fall, the good folks at marketing consultancy Hearken will host their first Engagement Innovation Summit. It is one of those rare moments to bring together public-interest media of all kinds to talk about audience engagement and, more importantly, how to involve the communities we serve in bold ways.

Hearken is, in so many respects, the conscience of journalism. Jennifer Brandel and team have prodded everyone from commercial to nonprofit media groups to think differently about our work and the communities we cover. Whether it is working with journalism organizations abroad or showing up at the National Federation of Community Broadcasters’ Regional Summit in Grand Rapids, Hearken is ever present. The firm’s message is important: journalism must listen more, and newsrooms can help to cultivate a more engaged community in the process.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: Turning It Up]

Given the media landscape, such conversations could not come at a better time.

Countless case studies share the woes facing media organizations. Growing numbers of content providers, polarized coverage and income inequality all are contributing to less revenue. Layoffs and further audience attrition are the outcomes ultimately. On top of that, the public is saying more and more that the news cycle has them beleaguered and tuning out coverage.

For community media, often on the periphery of the journalistic ecosystem, these trends create calamity as well as opportunity. Shrinking donations for community radio mean we have to be more responsive in how we create content and develop our storytelling. Finding ways to reengage people in media and discovering what is important to their neighborhoods must be a priority for all of community media.

The times also demand that community radio stations be very frank when evaluating how their engagement work aligns with their strategic goals. Are we realizing our full potential? I ask because, in my professional life, I hear of many stations that say they simultaneously involve wide swaths of their communities, are diverse, and provide space to everyone, and yet are also struggling financially for even the most basic needs. In all but a few cases, I encourage stations to take a long look at these two matters — the large community supporting the station and the fact keeping the lights on is a real question — and find avenues to be most relevant. Sometimes, improving fundraising is as simple as asking. More often, it’s talking with the people we serve and exploring how we could more inspire their confidence, trust and investment.

Fortunately, journalism outfits everywhere are trying to solve the puzzle of audience and money, As Hearken shares, listening is proven to pay dividends. Groups like the Membership Puzzle Project offer plenty of examples of media organizations stimulate new conversations with a goal of making journalism sustainable. All of this research, and the October gathering, should give community radio a lot of hope. While big, for-profit newspapers and public radio may feel miles away, many of them are working on the subjects of engagement and membership. Their studies benefit everyone.

Community radio stations are finding our groove in a media saturated and increasingly difficult world. Fortunately, our media fellow travelers are lending the support we all need.

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The post Community Broadcaster: In It Together appeared first on Radio World.

WTOP and its sister stations Federal News Network and The Gamut recently moved to its new, spectacular studio plant on the D.C./Maryland border. Knowledgeable radio industry visitors are walking away marveling about it.

Now Radio World readers can visit too thanks to this special one-hour, multimedia webinar tour hosted by Radio World Editor in Chief Paul McLane.

We take our video cameras inside — to the Glass Enclosed Nerve Center, the WTOP editor’s desk, the specialized production and support studios, and the technical operations center of this big AoIP-based specialty media facility.

We learn from WTOP Technical Operations Manager Brian Oliger about the design philosophy behind the project, and from RadioDNA President Rob Goldberg about the installation and integration challenges.

WTOP is a special success story. It was again the nation’s top-billing radio station in 2018, according to BIA Advisory Services; it was the only station in the top 10 that is not located in New York, L.A. and Chicago, and the only one not owned by iHeart or Cumulus; and it is consistently the No. 1 station in Nielsen’s 12+ ratings in Washington, a market of almost 5 million people.

Originally airing Aug. 28, this 1.5-hour webinar is now available on-demand. See it here.

The post Inside WTOP: A Special Radio World Facility Tour Webinar appeared first on Radio World.

The new edition explores how to do emergency streaming on the cheap, as well as what’s new in broadcast studio furniture and accessories. It remembers the Mosquito Network, previews the fall AES Show and reports on the efforts by U.S.-based shortwave broadcasters to develop affordable DRM receivers.

REGULATION
Why I Believe the FCC Failed on Translator Interference

Engineering consultant Charles M. Anderson lays out his views on an FCC action that touches many users of the FM spectrum in the United States.

TECH EVENTS
AES to Shine in Big Apple

Conference No. 147 for the big audio organization is taking shape, and it again will be collocated with NAB Show New York.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• O’Rielly in Middle of C-Band Debate
• “Don’t Be Afraid of AoIP”
• Podcasting: Community Broadcast Rocket Fuel

The post Inside the September 1st Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.

Randy Stine reports on current contention about the fate of the C-band. Fred Jacobs explains why he is paying close attention to the latest SiriusXM app. ConnectedTravel explains its vision for the dashboard, and why radio should care. All this and much more. (Oh, and Legos, too!)

FACILITY DESIGN
What Do You Get When You Combine Legos and Radio?

WLGO is a miniaturized radio studio, created by a passionate broadcast pro.

ROOTS OF RADIO
Broadcast History Cards Provide Peek Into Past

Available online, these images offer a trail of tantalizing bits of info over many decades of radio.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• VB-Audio Software: France’s Best Kept Secret
• Bad Electrolytic Capacitors Can Cripple Your Exciter
• Summer of Products

The post Inside the August 14th Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.

The gas explosion that left 22 businesses homeless in Columbia, Md., last Sunday also wiped out a little bit of radio technical history.

The office and shopping complex that was so seriously damaged was also where HD Radio was invented and commercialized. Technology developer USA Digital Radio was based there in the early days of HD Radio.

“The entire system used today and approved by the FCC was developed there,” said Glynn Walden, the veteran broadcast engineer who was a key player in development of the in-band, on-channel digital radio technology.

“There were about 50 employees there. This was the home of USA Digital Radio during the development of HD Radio, which became iBiquity.” Walden’s office, other staff and leadership offices, and technical laboratories were located there at the time. The company later moved elsewhere and subsequently became part of DTS and then Xperi, which today maintains offices in another part of Columbia.

“All of the [IBOC] system that was approved by the FCC was developed in that building,” Walden continued. “The only real changes have been the implementation of the multicasting and data, which were part of the original design but were later added through the use of importers and exporters.”

The first IBOC test transmissions were done in the early 1990s. USA Digital Radio’s investors included radio broadcast groups seeking a way to deploy digital technologies that could coexist on the part of the spectrum where their existing AM and FM assets were licensed. The company filed a petition for rulemaking with the FCC in 1998, and the commission began the regulatory approval process the next year.

According to news accounts, the Lakeside Office Building and shopping center where the explosion occurred was home to a nail salon, day spa and an office for the Social Security Administration, among others. Residents at least a mile away reported their houses shaking from the explosion. No injuries were reported but parts of the complex were entirely wiped out.

Based on news photos, Walden believes that the second-story office space that USADR/iBiquity had occupied then was near the center of Sunday’s blast and probably totaled.

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The post Maryland Gas Explosion Site Was Birthplace of HD Radio appeared first on Radio World.

Win-Group Software says the WinMedia radio and TV automation software, on show at IBC2019, unifies the content chain by managing all aspects of media from acquisition and production, through to distribution, marketing, planning and dissemination.

The company promotes the software as a “complete solution,” which allows users to ingest and produce content for radio, TV, web and mobile in a single system.

By adding the WinCam module, the company offer its own visual radio system for radio broadcasters and easy-to-use camera management for visual radio.

WinCam allows users to handle up to eight cameras or inputs and broadcast the results on platforms such as YouTube and Facebook Live.

In addition, Win-Group offers the WinMam integrated newsroom computer system that is designed to let users manage library, logger, voice track or playlist functions via internet.

Finally, the firm’s WinSales web-based CRM manages all client sales activities. WinSales is a scalable solution that promises to streamline booking and billing operations by providing real-time online booking, tailor-made customer relationship management and a wide range of planning, management, billing and reporting options.

IBC Stand: 6.A26

Info: www.winmedia.org

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The post IBC Sneak Peek: Win-Group Offers Scalable Solutions  appeared first on Radio World.