Radio World

Some 120 broadcast engineers, equipment manufacturers, academics and students traveled from as far away as Japan and South Korea to attend this year’s BTS Symposium.

Convening for the 69th time in as many years, this year’s IEEE Broadcast Technology Society’s annual fall Symposium brought together some 120 engineering personnel from as far away as Japan and South Korea to exchange information about developments in disseminating information and entertainment to mass audiences.

Although the ATSC 3.0 and 5G rollouts got the lion’s share of attention this year, contemporary radio technology and issues were visible, with presentations ranging from IP connectivity to network security, remote monitoring, emergency alerting and regulatory matters. 

Frank Foti led off presentations on a day of the conference devoted primarily to radio, with an update on the initiative by the Telos Alliance to assist broadcasters in moving to all-IP transport platforms. 

[Read: The Value of Standards]

“I just recently finished up some pretty cool research work that I want to share that ties in with (the transport of) the FM multiplex signal,” said Foti. “Moving from multiplex over AES 67 to IP is a natural progression, and (this) technology slashes the amount of bandwidth needed for distribution by nearly 84 percent to a remarkable 320 kbps. It’s a remarkably efficient payload.” 

Foti said that the µMPX technology was designed for FM transmission applications and was devoid of traditional psychoacoustic artifacts, with those that were generated being masked by the FM reception process. He also noted that by using the technology, which supports the embedding of the pilot, FM broadcasters could gain 1 dB greater loudness in their signals.

Frank Foti. “With this [µMPX] technology we’re able to get that 1 dB loudness legally.”“In the FM stereo system (with) 100 percent modulation, it’s basically 90 percent audio and 10 percent pilot,” said Foti. 

“In this system we’re embedding the pilot instead of adding it. The equivalent would be modulating at 110 percent to get that added loudness. With this technology we’re able to get that 1 dB loudness legally. I’m not up here to (push) loudness, but we live in a competitive world. This is dense audio; you shift it 1 dB and the program director says ‘Wow’! In an age where broadcasters are fighting in every way to retain listeners, I think added loudness is a benefit to the industry.”

MP11

The NAB’s David Layer teamed with Xperi’s Harry Chalmers to provide a report on testing of a high bitrate (100 kbps core and 48 kbps non-core) HD Radio operating mode that was defined in the NRSC-5 IBOC standard but had not been tested until now.  

Layer noted that the testing was a cooperative effort of Xperi, Nautel and NAB Pilot, and utilized the Pilot radio test bed set up at the Cavell, Mertz & Associates offices in Manassas, Va. 

David Layer. “We needed to characterize the performance of MP11 before it’s supported by manufacturers of receivers and transmission equipment,”

As explained by Layer, this MP11 mode accommodates hybrid analog/digital broadcasting and operates within the same RF bandwidth (193.3 kHz) as the established MP3 transmission mode. 

“We needed to characterize the performance of MP11 before it’s supported by manufacturers of receivers and transmission equipment,” said Layer. “The first five modes of FM HD radio have always been supported, but there was no software written for this sixth mode (MP11).” 

The main objectives of testing were to determine the impact of the MP11 digital sidebands on the mainstream FM analog audio signal and the RDS component, as well as the possible effect of the analog FM signal on MP11 digital sidebands. 

[BTS Explores Tech’s Role in Content Wars]

Layer said that part of the testing involved using real-world program formats (including classical, country, urban and others) in addition to periods of silence (no modulation) and discrete tones (for measuring signal-to-noise ratio). The testing utilized six different FM receivers (a mix of analog-only and HD Radio-capable) and compared performance of the MP11 mode with established MP1 (no extended sidebands) and MP3 (some extended sidebands) modes of operation.  

Chalmers revealed that the signal-to-noise performance of one of the receivers used was inconsistent with that of the others, and that the analog-only receivers involved were most affected by the MP11 signal.

Harry Chalmers. “As a result of this study, Xperi is planning to commercialize this technology. We’re now including MP11 in all chip uploads that we give to manufacturers.”

“We spoke with the manufacturers, and they said that this was correctable,” he said. 

Layer said that in listening tests, any differences in analog component performance that might have been caused by the MP11 component were not noticeable, and that the study to determine effects of the analog FM signal on the MP11 signal was equally encouraging.

“The results were quite positive,” he said, adding that iHeartMedia is now doing some field testing, with station WTUE in Dayton, Ohio, acting as host.

Alan Jurison, senior operations engineer, engineering and systems integration with iHeartMedia and chair of this IEEE Broadcast Symposium session, said that iHeartMedia “did a driving test from Cincinnati to Dayton and the results were good. At the time of the symposium, WTUE has been operating (with MP11) for some 90 days and there have been no listener or automobile manufacturer complaints.”

Chalmers added, “As a result of this study, Xperi is planning to commercialize this technology. We’re now including MP11 in all chip uploads that we give to manufacturers.”\

AM PROTECTION CONTOURS

In the conference devoted to regulatory matters, the FCC’s 2018 Second Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) addressing “revitalization” of the AM broadcast band came under the spotlight, with a report by Tom Jones of the Carl T. Jones Corp. consulting firm.

He said that this second NPRM focused on changes to protection contours of existing Class A 50 kW stations, and would affect their protected operating contours during all operating modes (daytime, critical hours and nighttime), and reported that a large amount of feedback had been received during the comment period.

“Numerous thoughtful and informative comments were received in response to this ‘Second Further Notice,’ both in support of, and in opposition to, the proposed changes in interference protection afforded to Class A stations.” He said the most complete technical comments opposing the rule changes had come from a group called the AM Radio Preservation Alliance, and the most technical comments had been filed by several engineering consulting firms.

[Upgrading an AM to All-Digital: Why, How and Lessons Learned] Tom Jones. “The tradeoff is pushing noise away from your transmitter while creating interference elsewhere.”

Jones presented a list of the various pros and cons offered by the two dissenting groups, which include “adoption of the proposed change to the daytime contour for Class A stations would potentially allow other Class B and D stations on the channel to substantially increase their daytime power and thus better serve their communities” and “failure to protect a Class A AM station’s 0.1 mV/m daytime groundwave contour would eliminate massive amounts of current AM service, while only resulting in modest gains for non-Class A stations.”

He said that some of the strongest comments opposing the rule change came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA said that such changes would “decimate the system developed and funded by FEMA, under the mandate of Congress, for a robust communications distribution network (allowing U.S. citizens to receive) under all conditions, a presidential message in time of national emergency.” 

FEMA added that millions of dollars had been invested on this network, “which is reliant on skywave signal coverage by Class A AM stations.”

Jones said, “I would advise anyone interested to review these comments, which are on the FCC’s website.” If the changes were to be enacted, “the tradeoff is pushing noise away from your transmitter while creating interference elsewhere.”

The post Symposium Examines Changing Radio Landscape appeared first on Radio World.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Monday, Nov. 18, disclosed his plan for reallocating part of the C-band spectrum (3.7–4.2 GHz) for 5G use.

In a letter to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Pai said the FCC will auction 280 megahertz of spectrum for 5G. An additional 20 megahertz will be used as a guard band with the remaining upper 200 megahertz available for the continued delivery of programming for radio and television.

[Read: New Bill Would Force C-Band Auction]

The FCC told reporters on Monday that with broadcast satellite services being downsized to just 200 MHz of spectrum a repack of the space will be required. There are more than 16,000 registered receive-only dishes in the field that currently use the C-band, according to NAB. They are used to receive national and syndicated programming for TV and radio.

The order is expected to be considered by the full commission early next year, according to an FCC official. FCC staff will be tasked with carrying out the public auction, which is expected to commence prior to the end of 2020, according to an FCC official. The FCC will accept public comment before any new rules are adopted.

On Nov. 18, the FCC called the process a “complicated rulemaking” that took over two years and raised a number of economic, legal, engineering and policy issues.

Pai in his letter to Congress outlined four principles that the FCC should advance in the rulemaking: “First, we must make available a significant amount of C-band spectrum for 5G. Second, we must make C-band spectrum available for 5G quickly. Third, we must generate revenue for the federal government. And fourth, we must protect the services that are currently delivered using the C-band so they can continue to be delivered to the American people.”

The public auction of the 280 megahertz for 5G (3.7 to 3.98 GHz) will be administered by the FCC. The commission determined an auction is preferable to a private sale, according to the FCC official. The C-Band Alliance, led by Intelset, SES and Intel, had previously proposed to split the band frequency to accommodate 5G services, with the alliance handling the private sale of spectrum.

The FCC on Nov. 18 said the repack of broadcast services to the upper 200 megahertz (4.0–4.2 GHz) has yet to be defined. The FCC official suggested that with the use of high-resolution video compression, the 20 megahertz guard band, the installation of filters on earth-stations and the launching of several new satellites, can compress all of the existing services and content currently delivered over the C-band into the upper 200 megahertz.

The FCC did not disclose whether incentive payments would be made to incumbent satellite providers affected by the repack. It is also not clear if there will be an independent facilitator appointed to oversee the clearing of the band.

NAB asked the FCC in an early filing during the proceeding to ensure “costs for implementing such a plan should be entirely borne by the beneficiaries of any private or public spectrum transaction: either the satellite operators or the mobile carriers who acquire spectrum usage rights.”

National Public Radio earlier pressed the FCC for clarity in its final decision when it comes to the financial ramifications of a massive C-band migration of satellite earth-stations caused by a repack. The Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS) depends on C-band for distribution of programming to approximately 1,275 public radio stations, said Adam Shoemaker, counsel for NPR, according to an FCC filing.

While the FCC’s plan on the repacking of broadcast services is unclear, the commission does expect to fully protect all incumbents currently relying on the C-band for video and radio programming, the FCC official said.

 

 

The post FCC Announces C-Band Repurposing Plan appeared first on Radio World.

Sofie Engelen hosts Willy’s morning drive

VILVOORDE, Belgium — The plan to launch a new radio station dates back from 2017, when Kevin Moens, music director with Joe, and a group of radio creatives came up with the idea.

“We felt we were missing something,” Moens said. “Both Qmusic and Joe have well-defined formats, but we couldn’t find a ‘guitar-focused’ station on the Flemish radio scene — part of the audience was left in the cold.”

NEW MARKET Willy’s on-air cast includes presenters, musicians and media personalities

The idea initially faced some criticism. “A third FM station for our media group was not the option, there was no room in the existing frequency plan — and streaming the signal was not enough,” Moens explained. “But gradually, the idea to serve a new segment alongside Joe and Qmusic became reality.”

When, in 2018, DPG Media decided to fully go ahead with DAB+, and with Alain Claes as head of the group’s innovation department, opportunities for new stations were created. “We launched the new Joe channels and DAB+ also became a facilitator for a new station,” said Moens.

“We wanted something novel — and Willy became the group’s first digital-only station, broadcasting via DAB+, streaming and the Radioplayer platform,” he said.

“Willy was part of a business plan,” added Claes. “This has to be seen as a long-term investment and although we offer a modest program today, the new station has received a lot of enthusiasm from advertisers because it offers a new potential audience market. With DAB+ tripling its penetration here, we are confident in Willy’s future.”

Willy is complementary to Qmusic and Joe. With the tagline “Music Matters,” the new station targets the “music lovers” audience bracket. “It’s all about music and people talking about it,” continued Moens, who is Willy’s music director.

MODERN STRUCTURE Editors were the first international band to take the “Free Willy” studio

The station invited a cast of music and media personalities to host its Friday program roster. Musicians like Triggerfinger’s Ruben Block, television director Tim van Aelst and presenter Sofie Engelen received “carte blanche.”

Moens added that the only prerequisite is that “they are passionate about music and their playlist includes a guitar segment.” The rest of the week, Willy offers a no speech music format. Friday night’s “Free Willy” show is the platform for bands, interviews and album presentations.

Although Willy wasn’t planned when Joe and Qmusic moved to the Sound Park studio landscape, the new station benefits from the future-proofed structure.

“To be honest, when we planned the studios, we knew new activities would be coming our way,” said Alain Claes. “In-house production of commercials and jingles, podcasts, micro-podcasts — they all require studio space and today, it’s nice to see that we have the capacity.”

Willy broadcasts from one of Sound Park’s studios, which the broadcaster build this summer. The station makes use of a DHD RX2 console, Dalet Galaxy playout system, Neumann TLM102 mics and a Technics SL1200 turntable.

The post Music Matters to Willy appeared first on Radio World.

With a move to a new location already on tap, Lincs FM in the United Kingdom recently updated six of its studios with audio over IP equipment from AEQ and Dante.

Working with service provider Broadcast Radio, Lincs FM installed a Forum IP Split consoles that uses Dante AoIP Network signals and works with a central Routing Network Matrix Netbox 32 MX.

All signals in the studio, except for “local” microphone inputs, are exclusively in Dante and are concentrated to/from the Netbox 32 MX. The Netbox system provides 64×64 channels program and antennae matrix at the same time as it interconnects all the studios in the network.

As a result of the flexibility of the installation, all signals in the network can be shared with any studio. Routing and summing of all network signals is done through the Netbox 32 MX, which can be executed either manually or automatically from any mixing console or with the stations group also newly acquired Myriad 5 Playout automation system. Additional features like alarms and level monitoring are also possible through the Netbox platform.

Lincs FM is now operating out of a new studio complex facility that also houses Dearne FM, Ridings FM, Rother FM and Trax FM.

The post Lincs FM Group Updates Studios With AEQ, Dante AoIP Tech appeared first on Radio World.

Illegal broadcasting and media modernization continue to be top of mind at the Federal Communications Commission, as evidenced by recent remarks delivered by FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly when he addressed the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association’s annual Sound Bites event. His speech centered on pirate radio, payola concerns and media modernization efforts, among other policy updates of interest to broadcasters.

O’Rielly noted the spread of illegal radio stations from large to smaller markets, in addition to ever-increasing sophistication on the part of unregulated operators. He said the commission is “playing a long game here, and there is reason to be optimistic,” especially now that “Senate passage of the PIRATE Act is imminent.”

[Read: NYSBA Honors Native Son O’Rielly as New Yorker of the Year]

He explained that the PIRATE Act’s fine increases are meant not only to punish offenders, but to make sure these cases get on the radar of the Department of Justice. Additionally, O’Rielly said the act will speed up and streamline the commission’s timeline to file notices of apparent liability for pirates. He also cited the forthcoming list of licensed radio operators (required by the PIRATE Act) as another enforcement tool, one which citizens and advertisers can use to distinguish between legitimate stations and savvy pirates.

However, O’Rielly conceded that legislation alone won’t eradicate the problem, so the commission is “also deploying state of the art technology to make it very difficult for pirates to escape scrutiny.”

O’Rielly also addressed the issue of payola as it relates to the current broadcast laws and streaming. The practice was outlawed in 1960, and O’Rielly said he plans to explore whether the issue persists or if record companies have instituted policies that prevent the bribery — and if so, what are these safeguards.

Payola is a legacy regulation, and he questioned whether it might not fall under the umbrella of Chairman Pai’s Media Modernization initiative. But until the issue is addressed, O’Rielly pointed out, “there will continue to be two different sets of rules based on whether listeners tune in over-the-air or stream programming online.”

In his speech, O’Rielly also proposed “a guaranteed right at license renewal for a station to supplement its Issues Programming List” in order to make the documents less “over-inclusive” out of fear. O’Rielly acknowledged the Media Bureau’s efforts to help stations come into or stay in compliance, but indicated he believes this formalized system makes more sense.

The post O’Rielly Tells MBA “We Are Playing a Long Game” Against Pirate Operators appeared first on Radio World.

Acoustic treatment manufacturer GIK Acoustics has introduced an acoustic foam option for its Impression Series and Alpha Series room treatments.

Both the Impression and Alpha Series of acoustic panels utilize front plates with designs cut into them to both absorb low-to-mid frequencies while diffusing high frequencies simultaneously.

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

Available in squares measuring 23.5 inches x 23.5 inches and 2.25 inches-thick, the newly added acoustic foam option was characterized as “lightweight, versatile, affordable, and effective” by Glenn Kuras, president of GIK Acoustics.

The Impression Series is available in a dozen patterns, while the Alpha Series is available in three mathematical patterns and five different plate finishes.

Info: www.gikacoustics.com

 

The post GIK Acoustics Adds Acoustic Foam Option 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.

The recent announcement by a London radio station that it will build its full schedule from podcasts certainly garnered some attention. It comes not many months since iHeartMedia’s announcement over the summer that its stations would broadcast some of the company’s podcast properties.

If you’re a media company, these moves make sense. Since podcasts are the hot commodity at the moment — it stands to reason that radio wants to grab some of that attention. What’s stopping community radio from making more of its broadcasts to be podcast-first propositions too?

[Read: Community Broadcaster: Money Moves]

To be clear, there are a few stations that do the preproduction work typically associated with podcasting and use the finished mixdowns in their broadcast schedules. Richmond’s low-power FM station WRIR pops to mind as a station that has done this successfully. A few other stations, like WXPR, create podcasts that are aired at times. Community radio podcasting, in this regard, is not unheard of.

What are the obstacles to a community radio station going all podcast?

A station must overcome the structural issues it would have to deal with. Podcast production is a lot of work, and producing 168 hours a week of quality local podcasts is no small feat. A station could partner with local podcasters, but there are still particular broadcast and federal regulations to follow, should such podcasts become broadcast material. Rules around payola, indecency, plugola, obscenity and lobbying are just a few areas podcasters have far more latitude than a noncommercial educational broadcaster. There’s orientation and training, as well as quality assurance for everything on air. Such a commitment is not impossible. A community radio station going all-podcast could experience a unique set of challenges.

As an extension of local partnerships, and beyond, a station could opt to just air podcasts it finds online. Obtaining permission to air their work, and ensuring all podcasts meet broadcast regulations, are issues to be considered, though.

In a few other instances, whether community radio stations air all or even a few podcasts may be a cultural question. Over time, I have gotten the impression that some stations believe their brand and what people look to them for is live radio. While I think that opinion is a stretch — how much of the public, frankly, can ascertain live radio from the dozens of prerecorded “live” spots commercial radio has exposed them to for years? — the belief in live radio as “a thing” a community radio station is known for is not an isolated opinion. Implicit here may be the idea that podcasts sound polished while live radio sounds rougher, more organic or more like what longtime listeners associate with community radio.

I gently suggest that sounding less than top-flight may not be something to aspire to, however. Public tastes have grown sophisticated, across many generations and demographics. People expect more these days. A raw sound we may think is community radio may not be as appealing to others. Moreover, I can hear that aesthetic on YouTube, Instagram Live and Facebook. We may not be able to hang our hats on the “radio” sound anymore.

Podcasts to broadcasts are done in limited ways in community radio today. The barriers to greater adoption may lie in costs and having the necessary staffing. Yet the moves happening in other media, and the natural fit local podcasts and local community radio could have, should inspire all of us to dream bigger.

The post Community Broadcaster: All-Podcast Radio appeared first on Radio World.

A Florida FM station’s CP extension request was denied after the station failed to properly prove its construction efforts were impeded by Hurricane Michael.

Back in May 2015, the Federal Communications Commission granted a construction permit to Florida Community Radio, permittee of WRBD(FM) in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., for a three-year-term expiring in May 2018. In April of that year, FCR filed a request to extend the date of its construction permit deadline by arguing that construction was delayed due to Hurricane Irma in September 2017. Also, due to the FCCs recent elimination of the main studio rule, FCR argued that it no longer would be required to build a main studio in Horseshoe Beach. Instead, it requested to apply for a studio-to-transmitter link license to deliver content from its new main studio location to the transmitter site. The Media Bureau agreed and extended the waiver of the construction permit by six months to November 2018.

[Read: FCC to Two AM Licensees: Pay Fees or Nixed Licenses Could Be Next]

Then came hurricane Number 2. In October 2018, FCR requested a second tolling based on construction delays caused by Hurricane Michael, which landed near Horseshoe Beach in October 2018. The bureau granted that request and extended the permit another six months.

FCR then asked for additional construction time to perform a structural analysis through a Request for Extension for Tolling. The station wanted to perform an analysis to determine whether to place its power lines underground instead of on a power pole and to determine the impact of a future storm on the station’s antenna.

But before agreeing, the Media Bureau asked for more specific information regarding construction delays. It wanted to see a direct connection between Hurricane Michael and the permittee’s inability to construct the station. But according to the bureau, no detailed information was forthcoming from FCR.

As a result, the bureau denied additional tolling for FCR to conduct the requested studies.

The reason? The bureau said that FCR failed to demonstrate that delay in construction was directly related to the prior storm. It also said that any electrical service studies should have taken place earlier. Plus, the bureau noted that any type of Act of God encumbrance, like a hurricane, only applies when the permittee can demonstrate that construction progress was impossible.

In a follow up response, the licensee said — for the first time — that Hurricanes Irma and Michael prevented construction of the station because they created long wait times for contractors to construct the facility. But the lateness of that response led to the bureau dismissing the petition because “it relies on new arguments not previously presented to the bureau,” the commission said.

In addition, the bureau only considers petitions for reconsideration when the petitioner shows either an error in the original order or raises new facts not known or existing at the time. “Here, FCR has neither demonstrated that the [bureau] erred in denying tolling to conduct studies on the effect of future storms, nor provided additional facts that were not known at the time of FCR’s [request].”

As a result, the bureau denied FCR’s petition.

 

The post Construction Extension Request Denied Despite Hurricane Impact appeared first on Radio World.

When we saw a photo of Jim Natoli’s radio-themed headstone, Radio World asked contributor Dan Slentz to find out more about the man it memorializes.

The late Jim Natoli.

Nestled in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, are the twin communities of Uhrichsville and Dennison. Here stands an AM/FM station built by a broadcast engineer.

The local industry was clay pipe; and the engineer was Ignasio Natoli, whom everyone called Jim. He was a first-generation American; his mom and dad came from Sicily.

Jim served during World War II as an Army staff sergeant in the Signal Corps, then attended Akron University; he also worked in the FCC’s Detroit office administering tests and with regional administration.

In the 1950s, according to family members, Jim took a job as a cameraman at WKYC(TV) in Cleveland; he eventually graduated to engineer over his 30 years there.

Meanwhile, in 1959, Jim and his mother Mary formed Tuscarawas Broadcasting Company with the hopes of putting an AM radio station in their community. After nearly four years, they succeeded in launching 1540 WBTC, which stood for Wonderful Beautiful Tuscarawas County. Jim continued to work for the TV station, commuting that hour drive from home in Uhrichsville and his AM station, and his other job in Cleveland.

WBTC’s building as seen in 1963. It looks much the same today.

In 1970, Jim added 95.9 FM to the AM station, with the call letters WNPQ, which stood for New Philadelphia Quakers. The station was licensed to nearby New Philadelphia; the Quakers was the team name for the high school sports.

Jim retired from WKYC in the early ’80s but continued to manage his AM and FM station with the love and passion of a parent. He never married nor had kids, so these stations were truly his love. He continued to work at them until 2016 when he turned 98; he was a daily part of their operation until an injury put him in assisted living. Jim recruited some relatives and trusted friends to keep the station running.

When he died, Jim Natoli’s niece paid tribute to her uncle through the design of a unique headstone.

He passed away just short of his 99th birthday, which would have been July 4, 2017. His relatives were willed the station and have taken on the responsibility of keeping WBTC and WNPQ on the air and growing with a small staff. The stations carry classic hits and Christian programming, respectively. Jim’s dream continues to this day.

When he died, Jim Natoli’s niece paid tribute to her uncle through the design of a unique headstone appropriate for a man who lived a life dedicated to his radio love, WBTC(AM) and WNPQ(FM).

Got an idea for a story in Radio World? Many of our best articles were prompted by reader ideas. Email Editor in Chief Paul McLane at radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Jim Natoli’s Lifelong Love Was Radio appeared first on Radio World.

The New Jersey Broadcasters Association sounded an alarm about New Jersey’s emergency alert system in its latest  e-newsletter, stating that “EAS failure” might occur as soon as the New Year unless something changes in the state.  

The current EMNET-EAS is more than a decade old, and NJBA President Paul S. Rotella wrote that it “has flaws that make it unreliable.” Therefore, the association is lobbying state officials and lawmakers to augment, upgrade or replace the system as soon as possible. 

[FCC Reveals 60-Day Grace Period for IPAWS Update]

In its member communiqué, the NJBA suggests New Jersey seek to apply funds from post-Superstorm Sandy community block grants toward this endeavor.

The post NJBA Warns About EAS Potential Failure appeared first on Radio World.

Nielsen’s latest Audio Today Report offers yet more data points to fend off radio naysayers. 

This report focuses on medium- and small-market radio consumers in the United States and tracks listening behaviors and related demographics. 

Nielsen Audio Managing Director Brad Kelly writes in the report’s introduction, “Radio is not simply resting on a hundred years of legacy or its enviable place in the dashboard. Radio is evolving in new and different ways that are resonating with both consumers and advertisers alike.”

Radio’s continued ubiquity in small-town USA is evident: In medium and small markets, 98% of adults 18+;  94% of adults 18-34; and 99% of adults aged 25-to-54 listen to radio monthly.

And while rural areas have a reputation in some circles for being slower to adopt new technologies, Nielsen says that consumers in these markets are “sophisticated audio users” who have also added podcasts and smart speakers to their routines. These consumers’ podcast affinity also makes sense when you consider that news/talk radio is the second-most popular radio format at 11.8% in medium- and small-markets. These listeners haven’t abandoned radio, however. 

[Smart Speakers Grow in Importance]

According to the report, 90% of podcast listeners continue to tune in to radio, and the same is true for 92% of smart speaker owners. 

Kelly also points out that radio hasn’t abandoned listeners who have adopted these new technologies: “Radio companies are developing interesting new digital brand extensions and delivery platforms including streams, podcasts, and voice-activated assistants.” That’s especially good news, considering that smart speakers were found in 29% of U.S. homes as of Q2 2019, according to the Nielsen MediaTech Trender. 

Learn more about these and other insights in Nielsen’s Audio Today Medium & Small Market Edition report.

The post Nielsen: Radio’s Evolution Is Resonating With Consumers appeared first on Radio World.

LATE ISSUE

Paul, recently, it seems that I receive print editions of RW describing meetings or conventions that have already happened by the time the issue hits my mailbox. Has it been decided that print readers won’t attend anyway, so why give them a heads up on content? It seems that the print timing is at least a month out of sync with reality, for no apparent reason, compared with the digital. It’s not clear to me why the digital and print versions aren’t more or less synchronous, with a mailing delay for the print.

Gary O. Keener
Keener Technical Services
San Antonio, Texas

Paul McLane replies: Thanks Gary. Nothing has changed in our planning of content (and no one hates more than I to see a well-researched show preview article reach readers after the event). We’ve been experiencing shipping delays that put recent issues, one issue in particular, in the hands of readers too late. We also have had some disruption around a move of our offices from northern Virginia to downtown D.C., which now is complete. I’m monitoring though to keep our online and print content in better synch. Sorry for the inconvenience. Remember too that you can access a digital version of any current issue at radioworld.com under Resources, if a print copy is running late.

 

REMOTE CONTROLS

I really enjoyed reading the article by Tom Vernon, “Remote Controls Have a History All Their Own.” It brought back fond memories of some Good Old Days when the remote control equipment mentioned was in production. I was the project engineer for all of the analog remote control apparatus listed for Moseley Associates. Nice photo of the TRC-15; that unit sold over 4,500 units while in production.

Tom managed to write an article that covered a wide field of equipment from several manufacturers and he did it very well, accurately and completely. Congrats, Tom!

Jim Tonne

The post Reader Shares Late Issue Concerns appeared first on Radio World.

Slightly more than 100 years ago, on Feb. 17, 1919, station 9XM at the University of Wisconsin in Madison broadcast human speech to the public at large.

The cover page of the book “9XM Talking” by Randall Davidson.

9XM was first experimentally licensed in 1914, began regular Morse Code transmissions in 1916, and its first music broadcast in 1917. Regularly scheduled broadcasts of voice and music began in January 1921. That station is still on the air today as WHA.

In 2019 we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of Radio World International, but we mustn’t forget the whole story that began many years before.

TIME-LAPSE CAMERA

The first years of radio were undoubtedly flavored with a pioneering spirit, with new discoveries and technical advances. This led to more listeners and the beginning of modern broadcast radio.

About 60 years ago, radio was in nearly every home and radio engineers already had a thorough understanding radio frequency propagation and broadcast principles and tricks. So, having secured the transmission chain, attention could be shifted to indoor studio equipment.

If someone had installed a time-lapse camera in a radio studio 60 years ago, a review of all those images would display three main, well-defined periods. For the sake of simplicity, let’s consider the technical room, usually deployed at larger facilities, as part of the radio studio itself.

The first successful practical medium for music was the lacquer disc. After World War II the vinyl disc would be developed and refined into the “long-play/LP” and “45” to facilitate an explosion of music-based radio stations.

The TEAC A6600 AutoReverse, a workhorse tape recorder, provided many radio stations with hours of unattended playout.

The industry practice would distill into a two-turntable arrangement to seamlessly transition from one song to the next one while the talent on air was speaking. Adding a third turntable with disc-cutting capabilities allowed for making recordings of programs.

“Automation” first became available also for smaller stations in the shape of large reel-to-reel tape recorders, which allowed the facilities to go on-air even when no one was in the studio.

The slow rotation of tape reels, as well as their size, resembled the rotation of records on turntables. That’s right, 60 years ago radio was based on rotation.

ROTATION

This first era lasted about 30 years, up to the late 1980s. Some 30 years ago, CD players started becoming popular in radio studios. Turntables stayed there for a few years, but they were eventually blown away by CDs, which offered more reliability, a compact size and were easier to use.

Cassette changers gradually replaced reel-to-reel recorders in radio studios for unattended playout.

Reel-to-reel tape recorders suffered from the appearance of the first robotized cassette machines, which soon replaced them as backbone of “automation” systems.

By the end of the 1980s and beginning of 1990s the second period in modern radio began. The first issue of Radio World International appeared at that moment, when radio was still based on rotating devices, but the magic was becoming smaller and increasingly invisible since almost everything was bunkered behind the glowing front panel of CD players and cassette changers.

Soon after — and RWI was there to welcome that revolution — computers and digitized music reinvented both the practice and layout of radio studios.

VIRTUALIZATION

Suddenly, radio content no longer rotated. Everything became static and remote.

Radio studios still hosted the physical surfaces and PC monitors to control the whole system, but the system itself was usually installed into a separate room.

Software-based playout automation and music recommendation tools introduced a paradigm shift and dramatically changed the way radio professionals managed their stations. Digital audio formats completed the migration of radio studios to a static, software-centric model.

Just 10 years ago, a further revolution knocked at the industry’s door. Now we call this “virtualization,” but at the time the idea was just to have some software steps, each one capable of performing one of the routine tasks of a radio station’s everyday activity.

Telephone hybrids, microphone processors, mixing consoles, content players, STLs, etc., everything could run on off-the-shelf computer-based digital hardware devices, provided there was a proper network connection to the rest of the production facility and to the web.

For the first time ever, radio was able to do without single-purpose dedicated hardware, with exception of the control surfaces (since the real mixing was likely performed in the machine/server room). The next step along this path dates back to a few years ago: software developments and the availability of high-performing mobile devices, properly backed up by the ubiquitous availability of high-speed internet connection, opened the studios’ doors to virtual consoles.

Further, they allowed almost any station to set up a complete remote studio virtually everywhere. Through a single laptop PC or Mac a single person had full control of anything that could usually be done at the station’s studios or a group’s technical operations center, including airing a number of separate channels.

JUST WORKFLOW

A comprehensive virtualized approach can minimize equipment requirements. A fully featured radio station, including a visual channel and intense social media interaction, only needs a microphone, camera, headphones and a computer and a reliable internet connection.

DJ “Jivin’ Gene” spins records at the WWOZ studio in early 1980s. Photo CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Radio infrastructures and studios are not just virtualized, they are now dematerialized. They still exist but they lie in a nomadic “somewhere” in the cloud.

The first 40 years of radio needed a common layout and equipment to run a radio station and a radio studio. The last 60 years have been all about evolving and transforming both that layout and equipment as well as adapting and enhancing the relevant workflow.

Today so much of traditional studio gear no longer exists in a physical shape. The effort in radio production has become a matter of “workflow.”

Yet, while hardware and software may have moved to the cloud, radio is still here. The competitive landscape of the medium has also evolved enormously. Since the ubiquitous availability of internet, a number of competing platforms have begun offering audiences new kinds of audio services.

This may scare some radio broadcasters. But one must consider that in any market segment fair competition usually enhances the quality of the end product and fosters consumer loyalty. Why shouldn’t it be the same for radio?

TALKING TO

So, what will happen to radio over the next 30 years?

In the future the concept of “audio consumption” will replace the idea of “radio listening.” The distribution mix and the fruition model of radio will probably experience a dramatic change. But we don’t have to confuse radio with its receiving device.

Radio is not just news, talent talk and music. Radio is storytelling and the ability to entertain and engage a target audience through the appropriate blend of stories, news and music.

A multitude of distribution platforms means a multitude of ways to reach our target audience. But while a customized playlist is “for” a specific listener, radio “talks to” the same listener. No matter if five- or five million people are listening, radio individually “talks to” each of them.

For many years, the sound of radio was the sound of vinyl records and turntables.

That’s the magic of radio, and that’s what radio stations have to preserve and even enhance. Using a radio station to broadcast a playlist turns that station into a music streaming service, just far more rigid than a streaming service. This is because listeners have no way to customize it.

A streaming service offering true storytelling through stories, news and music, de facto is a radio station. It’s our model with just a different distribution mix. But, again, radio refers to the content, not the distribution mix.

WHERE THINGS HAPPEN

Looking forward, the number of available stations will continue its rise with new stations targeting very specific audiences. The cost for producing content will significantly decrease, thus making it affordable to deploy many flavors of the same station, each of them targeting small or niche audience.

The overall audience numbers will probably remain similar to the present numbers, even if listening figures will be jeopardized through a much higher number of stations and channels. Future radio stations will probably be 100% virtual, with physical studio gear (if any) used for backup purposes only.

[Read: Radio World International Celebrates 30 years!]

The easiness to report from virtually everywhere, as well as to deploy a mobile studio, will move radio stations to be closer to where people meet and where things happen.

There will certainly still be RF transmitters and on-air broadcasts, as well as receivers featuring a return channel via IP to interact directly with the station. This will open new possibilities to engage the audience, offering them tailored information and content.

Overall operating cost per listener will not greatly vary in the future because the ongoing reduction in production and distribution costs will compensate for the need to produce much more content and to air more channels.

CALL FOR YOUTH

Provided radio succeeds in preserving its DNA, there is still one key item. Radio continues to lose its appeal with young listeners. Nowadays youth consumes more audio content than ever, but not radio.

This is happening in virtually every developed market, and thus far broadcasters have failed in reversing this trend.

This is most likely not because of the scarce appeal of radio content itself, but rather a matter of distribution channels and content format. Using various distribution platforms requires radio stations to properly repurpose their content to best fit each specific distribution channel. This may be the biggest challenge for radio in the future

Today’s youth are tomorrow’s listeners. According to radio listening reports per age group, their parents and relatives still listen to radio, both in car and at home. It is therefore natural that they are familiar with radio and have experienced a sort of endorsement for it.

The same thing happened to their parents, when they were young and that “imprinting” worked. The reasons why those premises are failing with today’s generation are still unclear.

Recently, the universal popularity of mobile devices across any age group drove many radio executives to trust that a well-shaped radio app could be an effective shortcut to bring radio back to the youth.

The results generally scored below expectations, probably because — once again — radio has been confused with its receiving device, while the crucial item is content.

A possible key to catching young peoples’ attention is through engaging apps and content designed and shaped in the way they want and are looking for.

 

The post The Lasting Tale Of Radio appeared first on Radio World.

KISS FM, the flagship radio station of Kenya’s the Radio Africa Group, recently installed a RƎLAY Virtual Radio system from Lawo in what it says was an effort to modernize.

RƎLAY is a mixing console that runs in a virtualized PC environment on a PC or laptop. It features a multitouch-enabled screen interface that can control things like voice processing and mix-minus. When paired with a third-party playout system or other third-party broadcast software, users can essentially run a broadcast studio through a single computer.

KISS FM designed its new studios around the RƎLAY virtual mixing console. All PC sources and outputs use AES67 as the Lawo A_line AoIP node translates microphones and other line-level sources to AES67. These are then available to RƎLAY via Ethernet and a network switch.

RƎLAY has features built-in audio shaping tools allowing for individual adjustment of all microphone parameters, including Lawo Automix and Autogain features.

Because RƎLAY uses standard AES67 networking, Radio Africa’s systems can be expanded to add more PCs and sources as their operational requirements change.

 

 

The post Kenya’s KISS FM Updates With Lawo RƎLAY appeared first on Radio World.

Jim Leedham is a contract engineer in Omaha, Neb., and maintains many transmitter sites. Several have Broadcast Electronics transmitters. To keep memory presets in the event of a power failure, these rigs have a 9V battery located behind the hinged control panel. As a part of his maintenance procedure, Jim replaces the batteries yearly.

Fig. 1: Forget about replacing this battery. It destroyed the battery socket.

Recently, Jim performed this maintenance task on a BE FM1C1 1kW FM transmitter. However, when he attempted to remove the battery, the battery terminal came with it, seen in Fig. 1. One of the two sockets that make up the battery terminals actually broke off, shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2: A close-up of the “memory keep-alive” battery terminal.

This battery is important. It keeps transmitter presets alive, should there be an AC mains power failure.

Jim was able to cobble a replacement socket until the actual part arrived from BE. But in sharing this tip with Workbench readers, he offers a couple of warnings.

First,  place a label on the front panel noting that a battery is inside. Do this as a courtesy to other engineers who may not be familiar with this equipment.

Second, if you maintain these transmitters and encounter a power failure, beware! If the battery is dead, when power is restored and you attempt to restart the transmitter you’ll get zero RF output!

Since the battery kept the memory preset, if there’s no battery voltage, there’s no preset; the power goes to zero. It’s a simple process to press the “RAISE” power pushbutton, until the appropriate power level is achieved. As engineers, however, we always seem to look for the worst. It could never be as simple as just pressing the “RAISE” power button!

Jim is right, I had this problem on a higher-power BE unit years ago, and wasted time trying to troubleshoot why I had plate volts but no plate current or RF output. Talk about feeling foolish.

So now you know. Replace those batteries. Note the date of replacement on the side of the battery with a Sharpie or other brand of marker. If you make a chart of equipment needing batteries, you can replace them all, along with your smoke and fire detectors, at the same time each year.

What’s nice about the BE product is that you can replace the battery any time, not just during a maintenance session; that front panel is not interlocked. And if your timing is such that the power fails while you’re in the process of replacing the battery, at least you know how to get the transmitter back on the air.

By the way, if that scenario happens to you, make sure you buy a lottery ticket!

 

***

 

Frank Hertel, principal of Newman-Kees RF Measurements and Engineering in Evansville, Ind., has an older computer in his shop that is loaded with a 32-bit version of Windows 7. It is using a known “valid” issue of the operating system.

Recently, while on a phone call with a fellow engineer, Frank turned this computer on and noticed it was sluggish. He traced the slow speed as being due to the computer performing an update.

Frank continued to watch the process, while the long update continued. When it finally rebooted, the computer displayed a persistent screen message stating that his computer had an “Invalid Key.” It further stated that it was operating with an “Invalid Copy.”

The computer seemed to function normally, but it now presented the persistent message “ — Invalid — ” in the lower right of the screen. At various intervals Frank’s work would be interrupted by the presentation of a large message block in the middle of the screen. Canceling the message would let you continue to use the computer. There are other things it also did to try to get Frank to buy a “New Key.”

So, Frank went online to seek a fix. He located this site that repaired the problem: https://www.itechfever.com/how-to-fix-windows-7-not-genuine-error/.

If your valid issue of Windows 7 all of a sudden is nagging that your computer has an “Invalid” issue of Windows 7, you might give one of the methods on the site a try.

 

***

 

I really enjoy finding topics that generate great reader comments. The sticky issue of removing audio tape cartridge labels turned out to be one of those topics.

Curtis Media’s Dave Dalesky wrote that a former PD showed him how to apply either oil or peanut butter to the old label so it would come off easily. Maybe so, but I also envision the hungry overnight jock licking the carts. Maybe it’s a good thing we now trust computers with our audio playout!

Send Workbench tips and high-resolution photos to johnpbisset@gmail.com.

John Bisset has spent 50 years in the broadcasting industry and is still learning. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance. He holds CPBE certification with the Society of Broadcast Engineers and is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award.

The post A Dead Battery Can Ruin Your Station’s Day appeared first on Radio World.

John Storyk

Last year, 61% of the podcast fans who responded to a survey by Discover Pods reported they spent more time listening to podcasts than watching TV. According to the company’s Podcast Trends Report 2019 that number has climbed to 66%. Also this year, 82.4% reported they listen to podcasts for more than seven hours each week.

Have you and your station or company considered podcasting as a way to reach a larger audience? How do you get a podcasting program off the ground? The Video Show, a two-day event in Washington, Dec. 4–5, 2019, will feature an entire track on the basics of podcasting.

The session “Podcast Studio Design: Necessities, Variations and Options,” presented by John Storyk, a founding partner of Walters-Storyk Design Group, is a great place to get started. He’ll discuss how the company’s expertise developed studios from the ground up for both Stitcher and Spotify’s Gimlet Media, answering the unique needs of professional podcasting.

The Video Show caught up with Storyk for just a minute ahead of the show.

The Video Show: Your presentation at The Video Show is a case study on how you designed multiple studios/production workspaces for two of the biggest names in podcasting — Stitcher and Spotify’s Gimlet Media. Is creating a facility for podcasting much different than, say, creating one for recording music?

John Storyk: Super question… in many respects, the process is identical to recording studio (content creation spaces) design. All the aspects of the process have to be addressed — programming, pre-design, schematic design development, value engineering (budget!) construction documentation, construction administration, final commissioning, etc.

Many of the acoustic issues in studio design are also the same, but some differences do exist.

1. Podcasting environments are mostly associated with the spoken word. In fact, in one respect this makes things a bit easier — limited frequency range for design considerations. However, a new issue exists when creating multiple room facilities (such as Gimlet and Stitcher). The multiple podcasting rooms need to sound virtually identical. This is not always the case in small-room design for studios (i.e. multiple vocal booths). We will discuss this in more detail at the symposium in Washington.
2. Typically, podcasting rooms are small and for some reason podcasting companies frequently do not allow quite enough space for all the rooms including well-isolated construction (thicker than average walls); door swings, ADA requirements; sound locks, etc.
3. Podcasting rooms need to be very quiet — NC 15 is our starting point — not too different than many studios, but there is little room for negotiation here.

These are just some of the issues. Always a challenge!

The Video Show: The podcasting world is rapidly changing and maturing, as evidenced, for instance, by the fact that Spotify purchased Gimlet in the middle of your project. Did your clients find their expected needs for the studios changed during the design process?

Storyk: Not sure at all how to answer this — both Gimlet and Stitcher are in new facilities that have not been operating that long. I cannot imagine any studio that, when it opens it doors, does not see something they would like to have done a different way. We have tried to future-proof both facilities. Time will tell.

The Video Show will feature more than 100 sessions on nine presentation stages, as well as a dedicated screening room, demo areas, streaming studio and dynamic exhibit floor. Want to hear more about this topic? Visit the website to learn more and register.

The post The Video Show: One Minute With John Storyk appeared first on Radio World.

The Federal Communications Commission has set deadlines for filing comments and reply comments to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking about whether it should eliminate or revise its requirements for access to broadcast antenna sites as part of its media modernization efforts. 

The NPRM was adopted Oct. 25 and published in the Federal Register Nov. 6. Therefore, comments are due by Dec. 6 and reply comments must be filed on or before Dec. 23.

[70-Year-Old Antenna Site Rules Up for Debate by FCC]

The current rules (found in sections 73.239 and 73.635) prohibit the FCC from granting or renewing a TV or FM station license if the applicant/licensee controls an antenna site that is suitable for broadcasting in the area and does not make the site available for use by other similar licensees.

The post Commission Announces Antenna Site Comment Deadlines appeared first on Radio World.

The author is general counsel of the Society of Broadcast Engineers.

There is a lot of inaccurate or misleading information being circulated, mostly within the land mobile radio community (but elsewhere as well), about your obligation to paint and light “short towers” (i.e. those between 50 and 200 feet in height) that are not located in close proximity to an airport or heliport, but which are located in rural or agricultural areas.

Here is what broadcast engineers need to know: You may have to register your short broadcast tower in an FAA database depending on its location, but you do not have to paint or light it unless it is near an airport.

CROPDUSTERS

It all started back around 2013. States became concerned that low-flying agricultural aircraft were hitting meteorological evaluation towers (METs). There is no history of aircraft hitting short towers generally; the only problem was with respect to METs.

These are temporary structures, often erected in rural areas on short notice, with very low visibility, and they are very hard for pilots to see. They are not on any maps; and for cropdusters and other low-flying aircraft, they posed a real threat if not near other structures.

States that have rural, agricultural areas became concerned that short towers that are not near airports did not have to be lighted or painted according to FAA regulations. Colorado, Washington state, Idaho and a few other western states enacted statutes that regulated all short towers.

In the wake of agricultural aircraft collisions with METs, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended in 2013 that states enact laws (cropduster statutes) requiring marking and registration of METs. FAA Advisory Circular 70/7460-1L concerning Obstruction Marking and Lighting, released Oct. 8, 2016, urged, on a voluntary basis, the marking of METs (only) less than 200 feet or 61 meters in height.

The basic premise for the cropduster statutes was that short towers are not regulated by the FAA. That was inaccurate. Towers less than 200 feet in height are regulated by the FAA (and notification to the FAA is called for by the FCC) if a tower shorter than 200 feet is to be located in an area that the FAA has determined constitutes a danger to air navigation: that is, where the towers are located within the glide slope of an airport or heliport (see FCC rules, Section 17.7). The glide slope is 100-to-1 for a horizontal distance of 6.10 kilometers from the nearest point of a runway of an airport or heliport, and less for towers closer to the airport or heliport.

Unless such short radio towers were located within the glide slope of airports or heliports, they were not required to be painted or lit because they were not deemed to be an air hazard.

THE FINAL SAY

The FAA has preemptive federal jurisdiction to protect air traffic as necessary in a reasonable exercise of its discretion. The comprehensive regulation of tower height, marking and lighting by the FAA (in conjunction with the FCC) leaves no room for the states to supplement it. The Supreme Court has concluded that Congress intended to preempt states with respect to aviation safety.

Perhaps because these state cropduster laws were subject to challenge, it enacted H.R. 636, the FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act of 2016 (Reauthorization Act) in July 2016. Section 2110 of that act instructed the FAA to enact rules by July of 2017, requiring painting and lighting of short radio towers that were located in rural areas.

The 2016 act defined towers that are covered as self-standing or guy wire-supported structures: (1) 10 feet or less in diameter at the above-ground base (excluding concrete footing); (2) more than 50 and less than 200 feet tall; and (3) with accessory facilities mounted with antennas, sensors, cameras, meteorological instruments or other equipment.

Covered towers were those located (1) outside the boundaries of an incorporated city or town; (2) on undeveloped land; or (3) on land used for agricultural purposes. Undeveloped land was defined as a geographic area where the FAA determines low-flying aircraft are operated on a routine basis, such as low-flying forested areas with predominant tree cover less than 200 feet and pasture and range land.

Exceptions to the covered tower definition include: (1) structures adjacent to a house, barn, electric utility station or other building; (2) structures within the developed area of a farm immediately surrounding a house or other dwelling such as a yard; (3) structures that support electric utility transmission or distribution lines; (4) structures that are wind-powered electrical generators with a rotor blade radius exceeding six feet; or (5) street lights erected or maintained by government entities.

This was a huge problem of course. Short broadcast towers, if they had to be painted and lit, would have to be removed from most locations due to local land use regulations, and the cost of painting and lighting short towers was prohibitive for most users of them.

With help especially from Sen. James Inhof of Oklahoma (himself a pilot), the NAB, the SBE, the Association of American Railroads and others, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 was enacted. It amended and clarified the 2016 act by revising the requirements for covered towers, as long as the FAA administrator determines they pose no hazard to air navigation.

The legislation requires covered tower operators or owners to either submit the tower’s location and height information into a database to be established by the FAA, or mark the tower consistent with the FAA’s 2015 advisory circular (AC 70/7460–IL). Only METs have to be painted and lit.

The FAA has not yet developed its database, which will contain only the location and height of each covered tower. Covered tower operators or owners who elect to submit tower information to the FAA database must do so within one year of the availability of the FAA database. The 2018 act also excludes towers located within the right-of-way of a rail carrier and used for railroad purposes.

This article originally appeared in the SBE Signal newsletter. Visit sbe.org.

The post Clearing the Air on Short Towers appeared first on Radio World.

The author is with WorldCast Systems.

BIELEFELD, GERMANY — ams-Radio and MediaSolutions is a radio solution provider for seven local radio stations around Bielefeld, Germany, as well as a technical support provider to 12 area radio stations. ams-Radio and MediaSolutions is one of the WorldCast Manager’s early adopters and a user since 2017.

Mario Schoemitz, IT business manager, responsible for the broadcast technology area, shared his company’s experience using the WorldCast Manager platform.

As a solutions provider for radio broadcasters, ams-Radio and MediaSolutions is entrusted to oversee, across multiple sites, FM broadcast equipment from different vendors for applications such as IP transport, media processing and FM transmission.

In 2017, the company was looking for a new, reliable, and easy-to-use monitoring solution which would provide them real-time status, alarms, and other advanced modules to optimize their workflow, maximize equipment uptime, and provide overall support in delivering the best service to their customers, at the level expected of a reputable solutions provider.

UNIFIED, END-TO-END MONITORING

The WorldCast Manager is an enterprise, end-to-end and multivendor monitoring and control software for broadcast and media. It enables users to oversee their entire ecosystem across a single unified view, to centralize data, and to streamline the management of IP-enabled gear and technology. The scalable WorldCast Manager plugs in to any third-party or in-house technology with open protocols and APIs, and functions on an open-driver policy.

Its combination of modules enables users to:

● Maximize their equipment uptime thanks to real-time alarms, notifications, time-based reporting and root cause analysis;
● Save time for operations with time management features, event resolution tracking, and advanced control for remote actions over connected equipment with industry standard protocols;
● Make intelligent decisions by aggregating data from multiple units and locations, then transforming that data into comprehensible, visual insights and reports.

ams-Radio and MediaSolutions primarily uses the WorldCast Manager for monitoring, reporting, and analyzing events for their customers. It directly informs their technicians in the case of major events, enabling fast intervention.

The WorldCast Manager has, according to Schoemitz, significantly improved his team’s workflow. Thanks to the platform’s user friendliness and range of functions, it makes it easy for everyone at the company to oversee all events at each transmitter site, across one, single view.

“We’ve recently upgraded to the newest version and we are very excited about the new modules. The best aspect for us is the analytics. We can compare all events in the timeline and see the relationships between events.”

The new reporting module is designed to save time and quickly generate updates for customers.

“I recommend the WorldCast Manager as a very powerful tool for all broadcasters; it is very easy to use and gives users all the information that they need for monitoring multiple sites,” he said.

For information, contact Tony Peterle at WorldCast Systems in Florida at 1-305-249-3110 or visit www.worldcastsystems.com.

The post WorldCast Manager Sees the Big Picture appeared first on Radio World.

VILVOORDE, Belgium — In May, commercial radio stations Qmusic and Joe started broadcasting from their new studios, on the ground floor of the DPG Media (former Medialaan) building.

Joe Presenter Alexandra Potvin broadcasts from the new “green” Joe studio, which boasts lots of daylight and state-of the art equipment.

The new setup comprises 10 broadcast studios and production rooms (with Europe’s first DHD Audio RX2 mixing desks), editorial offices and meeting places.

The “Sound Park” caters for two FM frequencies, nine DAB+ channels, 20 streaming channels plus additional production assignments.

Omnia 9 MKII multiband processors are located in DPG Media’s datacenter.

Last year DPG Media gave the green light for new radio studios, serving both Qmusic and Joe. “The studios on the building’s top floor were installed more than a decade ago,” said Bas Boone, project leader Sound Park for DPG Media.

“Moving the radio studios to the ground floor required quite some research and design, the key options being visibility and lots of daylight. During the building, Joe and Qmusic continued broadcasting from their ‘old’ on-air studios.”

BOOSTING VISIBILITY

The goal was to make both brands’ on-air studios visible by placing them in the main entrance hall (Qmusic) and the central corridor (Joe). “A first challenge was the entrance hall without any cabling or production facilities,” continued Boone. “We assigned acoustics company iDeal Acoustics to take on the building and acoustic research and calculations of the project.”

iDeal Acoustics started working in the DPG building last September. “We had to throw away old principles of hidden broadcast studios, replacing them by open on-air rooms, literally without studio doors, yet 100% acoustically perfect,” said Matthias Aerts, CEO of iDeal Acoustics. “The acoustic measures and elements had to fit the visual design made by architects Arf&Yes.”

Thanks to the flex desks, the Qmusic and Joe facilities offer lots of space for meetings and a large auditorium.

Initially, Aerts wanted to place both main on-air rooms as box-in-a-box, but with each on-air studio weighing some 17 tons, iDeal Acoustics had to review the plans. “The weight of the studios required us to reinforce the building’s floors,” he continued. “To place the double-glazed walls, weighing one ton each, we drove in a construction crane.”

Six radio studios, three production studios, the box-in-box artist lounge and control room, and a green key studio were all individually calculated in terms of acoustics and insulation. Each room was equipped with tailor-made bass traps, absorbers and custom-built wooden diffusors.

“No room is identical,” explained Aerts. “For Joe’s on-air studio, with a partially floating floor, the initial plan was to decorate it with green and plants. As this resulted in poor acoustics, we asked a company in Norway to grow a specific kind of moss, with optimal acoustic transparency, completely in line with Joe’s imaging. With Qmusic, we used customized felt, manufactured in the station’s branding.”

“We have a new broadcast site thanks to incredible team effort,” said Bas Boone, project leader Sound Park for DPG Media.

BASIC PRINCIPLE

iDeal Audio manufactured the studio furniture for the production rooms and the control room. It also handled the majority of the infrastructure work, carpentry and integration with a team of nine staffers working in the DPG Media building, in addition to the workers in the company’s factories.

The new radio floor was equipped with over 36 kilometers of data cables (mains, data and fiber were part of the building infrastructure). Amptec installed all of local cabling in the studios and the Netconnect-connection to the DPG Media datacenter. The company also managed the integration of the radio studios and complete system solution for the new radio environment.

Editorial staff, located in an open space next to the main on-air studio, has direct contact with the presenter.

The Sound Park serves both Qmusic and Joe in a similar architecture. With daylight being a crucial element, the complete 1,200-square-meter floor faces the street. The implementation of “flex desks” meant less office furniture was necessary. This resulted in more space for meeting places, an auditorium and conference rooms, offering room for 100 workers.

The broadcast and production studios are stretched alongside the main corridor, from the entrance hall to the back of the building.

“The basic principle was that our studios had to be used for both radio brands, offering identical basic functionalities and a standard presenter setup, the only difference is the size of each room. The on-air and production studios each have a DHD RX2 console, a Dalet Galaxy cart player, four fixed Neumann TLM 102 microphones and three Sennheiser HME 27 headset microphones, with Genelec 8351AP monitors,” said Boone.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Qmusic producer Elke Gyselen enjoys the daylight during her Workalicious morning show.

Every studio is equipped with a TC Helicon reverb unit, two Empirical Labs EL8 Distressors for processing and compression (in combination with the DHD RX2’s automix function), a DHD XC2 core, a Telos VX telephone hybrid, four silent PCs and an Adderlink XDIP KVM extender, linking the equipment in the  data center with the studio using KVM over IP.

Joe’s and Qmusic’s studios are among the first in the world to use the new RX2 consoles.

“In total, we supplied and installed seven RX2 mixing desks and nine XC2 cores. Six consoles plus cores are used in the radio studios, one RX2 and XC2 is used for staging and testing, one core serves 13 compact DHD 52TX multitouch-based consoles. One dedicated XC2 core is for HTML5-based programs using virtual consoles,” said Bart Lamberigts, Amptec broadcast business unit manager.

In addition, the broadcaster makes use of a Prodys Quantum 3RU frame with eight AoIP codecs for on-site broadcasts, OB vans or live reports, to connect with the DHD system via AES67.

“The whole radio infrastructure is a huge AES67 implementation — like the interconnection between Dalet Galaxy and DHD — we thoroughly tested the Dalet playout server using a Digigram AoIP board, which directly communicates with the DHD using the AES67 protocol,” added Lamberigts. “This assignment confirms our company’s leading role as supplier and system integrator.”

Both Qmusic and Joe’s main on-air studios use LIGA, an in-house developed central integration system. “It was engineered by our Dutch Qmusic colleagues and a big leap ahead towards maximum integration. The system connects with virtually all the digital tools like the Dalet Galaxy playout software, the DHD console, lighting, web APIs, the IT backbone and the videowalls,” added Boone.

All studios are equipped with Panasonic AW HE40 cameras for visual radio — the video signal uses IP connectivity using NewTek NDI technology. The system is steered by Microsoft Kinect sensors in combination with DHD’s level detector feature.

SIGNAL FLOW

The on-air audio signal is channeled over 11 Omnia.9 processors for the two FM frequencies and nine DAB+ feeds. “The Omnia.9 with the MKII upgrade is one of the most powerful multiband processors on the market,” explained Edo Dijkstra of studio integrator TVV Sound. “The MKII upgrade makes it AES67-compliant, alongside Livewire. This is one of the country’s most extensive Omnia.9 installations.”

TVV Sound also supplied five Telos Alliance Z/IP Stream R/2 streaming platforms, each with a capability of eight simultaneous streams, with incorporated Omnia.9 software. “Two Axia Pathfinder Core Pro engines act as virtual core for the studios and control the digital channels via either Livewire or AES67 — quite a unique concept allowing to integrate parameters and commands in case of signal loss, technical problems or off-air warnings,” added Dijkstra.

The Omnia processors, the playout storage devices and Dalet playout machines (one for each radio channel), as well as the encoders and the FM signal distribution (via Broadcast Partners’ transmitter park) and DAB+ (via Norkring) are stored in nine huge racks located in DPG Media’s data center.

“We have taken quite a few risks in the building process but everything turned out well, thanks to the thorough preliminary research, and the great team effort. External companies, some 30 DPG Media technicians and in-house engineers Kurt Vervondel for the audio engineering, Stefan Hessens and Tim Tuboville who supervised the playout and backbone,” underlined Boone.

“These new studios mean more than just shifting places. The technology we installed makes us more than future-proof, and ready for the digital future,” said An Caers, radio director for DPG Media. “In three years from now, 50% of the Flemish audience will listen to digital radio. It’s our ambition to be Flanders’ most inspiring and innovating audio company. The talent of our radio team in combination with groundbreaking technology is helping us to achieve that goal.”

 

Top Notch Recording Facility

There are a total of 11 DHD 52TX multitouch consoles in the radio and production studios.

The new broadcast site also features a state-of-the-art concert lounge and control room, combining the advanced technology with new equipment.

“There’s no radio station in the country offering this quality; it was a huge investment but this console will last for a lifetime,” said Iann Castelein, DPG Media radio project manager/sound engineer.

“We opted for this analog mixing console because of its supreme sound quality,” he added. “The audio output is AOIP-linked to our radio studio. We’ve already carried out many recordings and we are seeing artists coming specifically to record on the system here and then release the tracks commercially.”

Mathijs Indesteege, sales director & product support for SSL distributor Joystick Audio, who also handled the studio cabling and supplied the patch bays believes the SSL AWS948 console with Delta Control, featuring hands-on workflow and advanced DAW integration with automation, is ideal for DPG’s strict requirements.

 

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