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John Whittingdale

The United Kingdom’s Office of Communications is asking for comments about its plan to relicense the country’s two national commercial radio DAB multiplex licenses.

Ofcom is hoping to gather opinions from stakeholders about different roadmaps to renew the national commercial digital radio licenses held by Digital One Limited and Sound Digital Limited. Together those organizations provide access to 40 free-to-air commercial digital radio stations across the nation.

Digital One Limited launched in 1999 and carries three national analog commercial services — Classic FM, TalkSport and Absolute Radio — as well as 17 other services, reaching around 91% of UK homes. Sound Digital Limited launched in 2016 and currently reaches 83% of UK homes. The Digital One license is set to expire in November 2023 while the Sound Digital license will expire March 2028.

The aim of the review is to seek views and collect information in an effort to better inform decisions about the licensing process, said John Whittingdale, OBE MP, minister of State for Media and Data for the UK, who posted a wide-ranging document on the issue. It describes the policy and regulatory issues, lists policy options for consultation and sets out a series of key questions.

He said the goal is come up with a plan that will clarify that the relicensing process for these national radio multiplexes works in the best interests of the commercial radio industry and audiences across the UK.

“We believe it is appropriate to give consideration to the policy on the licensing and renewal of the national DAB multiplex licenses to give the commercial radio operators who use these networks clarity and certainty about the future of the platform and ensure there is no disruption of the services broadcast on the network,” he wrote.

The department is seeking views on three potential options: one, to allow the two licenses to expire and be re-advertised through an open competition every 12 years; two, to amend the Broadcasting Act of 1996 and allow both companies to renew their license until December 2035; or three, amend the broadcasting act so that both licenses have a matching expiry date of December 2030.

A longer renewal term would provide national broadcasters and license holders with stability that in turn would help support the government objective to support a listener-led transition of radio to digital, he said.

A shorter license renewal term would harmonize the expiration dates and allow for a more strategic approach to be taken in regard to the use of broadcast spectrum by commercial radio in the 2030s; for example by allocating more spectrum to national, local or small scale DAB services.

The department is also seeking views on other issues such as whether a renewed license should include obligations for a higher level of DAB coverage, and whether in offering a renewal to 2030 or 2035 there is need for a mechanism to protect stations that are carried on either multiplex from future carriage fees charged by the national commercial radio multiplex operators.

The review period is open now and runs until Sept. 14. Responses can be sent to nationalmultiplexconsultation2021@dcms.gov.uk.

The post UK Looking for Opinions on Relicensing of DAB Radio Licenses appeared first on Radio World.

COVID has disrupted another broadcast event. The Alabama Broadcasters Association has postponed its annual conference until January.

“While we are disappointed to have to make this change, it is in everyone’s best interest,” ABA stated in an email. “The surge in the rate of infections and hospitalizations has to be addressed. We’ll all do our part and put off our gathering for a few more months.”

The conference was to have been held Aug. 13 and 14. It will now be held on Jan. 21 and 22 at Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa in Birmingham.

Companies of interest to Radio World readers that were listed as exhibitors for the event include BGS, Bonneville Distribution, Dielectric, GatesAir, Nautel, RCS, SCMS, Shively, Telos Alliance and Tieline.

The association said people who have already registered can email ABA either to hold the registration for January or request a refund.

Meanwhile, 680 miles to the southwest, the Texas Association of Broadcasters opened its two-day convention and trade show in Austin on Tuesday.

The post Alabama Broadcast Conference Postponed appeared first on Radio World.

The National Association of Broadcasters supports the proposed use of a new wireless microphone technology if the Federal Communications Commission allows it on a “secondary basis” with “prudent restrictions” on its operations.

The technology is called the Wideband Multichannel Audio System. It was first proposed by Sennheiser and is being actively supported by Shure, which has made several presentations to FCC staff about it.

The commission has been taking comments on whether WMAS technology should be granted on a licensed basis in frequency bands where wireless mics are already authorized. This includes TV bands, the 600 MHz duplex gap and in portions of the 900 MHz, 1.4 GHz and 7 GHz bands. The NPRM also looks at using WMAS on an unlicensed basis.

In comments filed Monday, the NAB said WMAS could help relieve spectrum congestion in situations where a large number of wireless microphones are needed.

But because WMAS “has a greater potential for interference and is not compatible with legacy narrowband wireless microphone deployments,” NAB said, the FCC should put restrictions in place to “help reduce the potential for interference to primary spectrum users and to ensure that spectrum efficiency is actually improved.”

[Read the full filing.]

Notably, the NAB says the commission should limit WMAS operations to large events.

“WMAS systems occupy more spectrum than traditional wireless microphone systems. As a result, the use of WMAS systems has a preclusive effect on traditional systems where spectrum is limited. For example, if there is only a single 6 MHz TV channel available for use at a breaking news event, one news crew using a WMAS system could occupy the entire channel and prevent coverage by other news organizations.”

So the association said the commission should limit use of the technology to situations where a large number of audio channels are needed and all channels are under control of one entity, such as arena concerts, big sporting events, TV and movie production and major theatrical shows. It suggested that an appropriate threshold would be 10 audio channels in use by a single entity.

“As an added measure, NAB suggests the commission only authorize WMAS base stations that are designed to prevent transmission when fewer than 10 paired audio devices are detected.”

NAB also said the FCC should require a minimum efficiency of six audio channels per megahertz.

“The commission’s proposal of at least three audio channels per megahertz appears to represent no meaningful efficiency improvement, particularly if the audio channels are not of broadcast or production/performance quality. … Based upon marketing information from one of the petitioners, existing digital wireless microphone systems can support at least 47 audio channels in a six MHz RF channel, albeit with some restrictions, corresponding to a spectrum efficiency of 7.8 channels per MHz. NAB understands that WMAS can support up to 64 audio channels in 6 MHz of RF bandwidth, corresponding to an efficiency of 10.7 channels per MHz. A baseline efficiency requirement for WMAS of six channels per MHz would thus represent an improvement upon what is available using existing technologies but be comfortably below the theoretical maximum efficiency of WMAS technology.”

The association asked the commission to restrict WMAS eligibility to Part 74 licensees and to limit the new systems to 6 MHz bandwidth.

And NAB agrees with an FCC proposal to limit these systems to 250 mW EIRP in the UHF television bands, regardless of the bandwidth of the WMAS operation.

“NAB believes this 250 mW power level would be sufficient power to accommodate a large number of WMAS audio devices while reasonably limiting the co-channel interference potential to that of conventional wireless microphone deployments. An EIRP limit of 250 mW also maintains the necessary protection of WMAS to television stations operating on adjacent channels.”

 

The post NAB Supports WMAS, With Restrictions appeared first on Radio World.

In one of the more novel promotions to involve a radio brand in recent memory, the nation’s No. 1 owner of AMs and FMs has teamed up with the Connecticut Lottery on the rollout of an instant win scratcher game that could give the lucky winner a top prize of $10,000.

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The affiliates associations for ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX television stations have collectively filed a petition for clarification of the FCC’s Report and Order on its sponsorship identification requirements for foreign government-provided programming on broadcast UHF and/or VHF facilities.

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The sixth day of active bidding in the FCC’s “Auction 109” concludes with the 26th round of activity, a 30-minute window between 4:30pm-5pm Eastern.

Six more rounds of bidding are on the slate for Wednesday (8/4).

What’s the current snapshot from Washington? The nation’s No. 1 owner of radio stations could wind up winning a big FM in the capital of the Golden State, filling a void left by the company formerly known as Entercom.

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Gray Television just selected her to succeed the retiring Frank Brady, an individual at the helm of an NBC affiliate in West Virginia.

She, like Brady, has been at the station — WVVA-6 in Beckley, W. Va. — for 15 years.

What does the longevity of these tenures say about life at a small-market Big Four affiliate? Listen to this RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast, presented by dot.FM and hosted by Adam R Jacobson, and you’ll get the answer … and more!

Listen to “The InFOCUS Podcast: Charity Holman, WVVA” on Spreaker.

When it comes to retransmission consent agreement battles between broadcast TV stations and MVPDs, DirecTV under AT&T ownership was a difficult entity to negotiate with for a bevy of UHF and VHF owners.

With Tuesday’s creation of a new company named DIRECTV, following its spin from AT&T, will broadcast TV companies including Cox Media Group, TEGNA, Hearst and Cowles benefit when their next round of individual retrans talks start?

With private equity group TPG Capital fueling the $7.6 billion transaction, the DirecTV, AT&T TV and U-verse video services are no longer owned and operated by AT&T.

This creates a whole new company with approximately 15.4 million premium video subscribers at the end of Q2. To make the deal happen, AT&T received 70% in DirecTV; thus it remains the majority owner. TPG has a 30% interest in DirecTV, and paid $1.8 billion for the shares.

Nevertheless, DirecTV is not a unit of AT&T as of today.

Should broadcast TV companies with a difficult retrans history get excited? No. The DirecTV board will include CEO Bill Morrow and voting members Steve McGaw and Thaddeus Arroyo, appointed by AT&T.

MORE FROM THE RBR+TVBR ARCHIVES

Not included in this transaction are WarnerMedia’s HBO Max streaming platform and regional sports networks, both of which are part of the pending WarnerMedia-Discovery transaction; Vrio (AT&T’s Latin American video operations, which are being sold to Grupo Werthein); U-verse network assets; and AT&T’s Sky Mexico investment. DIRECTV will continue to offer HBO Max to subscribers along with any bundled wireless or broadband services and associated customer discounts.

If you receive your cable TV services from Cox Communications, there’s no fear of losing access to any ViacomCBS-owned station anytime soon.

In fact, Cox customers are gaining access to the company’s collection of streaming services.

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In the words of Zacks Equity Research, the second quarter 2021 results from Discovery Inc. “delivered earnings and revenue surprises” to the tune of 53.7% and 3.1%, respectively.

Yet, Discovery shares dipped below $27 a share in early trading on Tuesday and were off by 5% as of 11am Eastern. What are investors concerned about?

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College sports media company Learfield IMG College is simplifying its name. It will now be called Learfield.

The name Learfield derives from co-founders Clyde Lear and Derry Brownfield, who started a farm radio network in Missouri in 1972. A series of business combinations and acquisitions had led to the most recent name, Learfield IMG College.

The company is a media and technology services supplier in intercollegiate athletics; its specialties include sports multimedia rights, licensing, technology and data.

“We think the new brand visually distinguishes the company in the same way that the expertise and passion of our people differentiate the experience of working with Learfield and its affiliated brands,” said CEO Cole Gahagan in the announcement.

The change includes a new logo. “The icon represents the ‘pennant’ prominent in company logomarks combined with a stylized ‘number one’ to create an active L design,” according to the announcement.

[Related story: Randy Williams of Learfield, shown below, talks about gear in our special series on microphones in radio applications.]

Randy Williams with some of his favorite gear.

The post Learfield IMG College Is Now Simply Learfield appeared first on Radio World.

One year ago, Townsquare Media CEO Bill Wilson and CFO Stu Rosenstein were sharing with analysts and investors its strategy to cut corporate expenses while holding in to its Townsquare Interactive team at the local level. The reason: Keeping staff would put the “Digital First” local media company at the best competitive advantage once the recovery began.

The plan has paid off, and it is fueling the company’s return to 2019 levels with a greater quest of exceeding them. But, is Q3 falling short of the performance seen two years ago — setting up a difficult narrative for Townsquare’s peers?

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As of August 16, Apollo Global Management-controlled Cox Media Group will have a new EVP/General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.

He reports to CMG President/CEO Dan York and will depart his role as a Partner in the Technology Transactions and M&A practice groups at a globally recognized law firm.

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The first of the broadcast media industry’s second quarter 2021 results arrived just before sunrise Tuesday (8/3), as Townsquare Media released its financial report card for the three months ending June 30.

How did the “digital first” owner of 322 radio stations located in markets outside the top 50 perform? Townsquare Media’s adjusted EBITDA in Q2 was the highest seen in company history.

That’s just one of the positives that helped the company sail past its own estimates and those of Zacks Equity Research.

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USSI Global has created a research and development program that will bring audience analytics to its broadcast customers delivering NEXTGENTV services. The technology component will be developed through its new partnership with AdMobilize.

USSI Global’s development platform will leverage the native IP backbone of ATSC 3.0, the broadcast industry’s next-generation over-the-air TV standard, to support real-time analytics during live NEXTGENTV broadcasts using AdMobilize software.

AdMobilize powers digital out-of-home (DOOH) networks worldwide with real-time, fully anonymous, AI-driven software. The USSI Global and AdMobilize partnership was established in January 2021 to implement computer vision-based audience analytics across USSI Global’s digital signage projects. USSI Global is a turnkey project management specialist for large DOOH projects worldwide, including multi-site retail networks and outdoor digital menu boards.

USSI Global will provide options to broadcasters that build AdMobilize analytics within live over-the-air broadcasts. AdMobilize measures audience impressions, giving valuable audience experience feedback on any new NEXTGENTV features, content or advertising. This will additionally complement the native audience measurement capabilities of the ATSC 3.0 standard.

Public venues which show over-the-air content would represent the first phase of the rollout. The workflow would be similar to a DOOH or digital signage network that dynamically pulls media from a content management system, but instead using workflow components and systems familiar to broadcasters.

NEXTGENTV continues to gain momentum through an acceleration of US rollouts. As many as 62 market rollouts are expected through Q1 2022, bringing the benefits of NEXTGENTV including advanced 4K UHD video, immersive surround sound audio and streamlined media capabilities to more consumers around the country.

Evertz, the Canadian media and entertainment technology firm, has successfully deployed its DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio live production replay platform for EA SPORTSTM FIFA 21 Global Series and Apex Legends Global Series broadcasts.

EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Global Series is an international tournament comprised of hundreds of matches played online using PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Over several months, more than 1,000 competitors go head-to-head in hopes of being crowned FIFAe World Cup 2021 champion and claiming a portion of the $3 million in prizes Electronic Arts Competitive Gaming Entertainment (EA CGE) division will hand out to competitors.

Apex Legends Global Series is a competitive online and live event ecosystem produced by EA CGE and Respawn. Played on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the Apex Legends Global Series competition format places teams around the world against each other within five global regions.

EA CGE division uses DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio as the preferred live production tool to match the scale of its largest events due to DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio’s ability to virtually operate in any public or private cloud environment over a low latency, low
bandwidth interface.

Using NDI, SRT, RIST, RTMPE and RTMPS protocols, multiple sources in different formats can be sent to a DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio in the cloud, where EA CGE operational staff can log in to access feeds, produce live shows, isolate replays, edit highlight packages, and send produced content to a Media Asset Management (MAM) service or distribution platform in the cloud for playout to content distributions networks (CDNs) – all from the comfort of their own homes.

To learn more about the DreamCatcherTM Live Production platform, visit evertz.com/applications/live-production/.

The integration of Fraunhofer IIS’s MPEG-H authoring workflow into The Telos Alliance’s Minnetonka AudioTools Server is now complete.

The toolset is suitable for a wide variety of audio-processing fields and is designed to bring benefits to terrestrial, IPTV, and satellite broadcast, as well as pre- and post-production.

The Minnetonka AudioTools Server is a collection of essential aids for file-based media work, and can be used for automating audio processes like loudness control, data encoding, and future-proofing of databases. The accompanying UI editor enables integration with the customer’s ecosystem and creation of new custom workflows. Over 1,000 audio functions come with the product.

 

The owner and operator of Pittsburgh’s NPR Member station and its long-running Adult Alternative noncomm has appointed a Director of Technology. He’ll be charged with leading the IT and engineering staff at the organization.

Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation, parent of WYEP-FM and WESA-FM, has named Jason Price to the post.

“Jason was by far the most outstanding candidate from a broad pool,” said Chris Capato, Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting’s Vice President of Finance. “I’m certain that Jason’s knowledge, planning ability and service approach will result in his continued success.”

Price began his tenure at Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting in 2018 as IT Manager.

In other moves, Tom Hurley is being promoted to Engineer. Hurley has worked with the organization as a freelance audio engineer since 2012 and joined the staff full time as Operation and Engineering Technician in 2018.