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Wheatstone’s ScreenBuilder application allowed Great Eastern Radio to create this customized virtual mixing GUI.

The author is chief technology officer, Great Eastern Radio.

What a difference a year makes.

Before COVID-19, the ideal console was one that could fit every conceivable studio permutation from here to the next decade. In fact, that’s what we got when we purchased the Wheatstone D75 consoles and TDM router system for Great Eastern Radio’s regional studios in West Lebanon, N.H.

That worked until last March, when we sent our staff home and discovered that we didn’t need all the studio space we thought we did. We decided to rent out half of our three-story facility to a bank and consolidate studios for eight stations into a little over a floor.

I had 30 days to move six studios into half the space.

Custom Interfaces

Those big, capable D75s had to go, along with miles and hundreds of pounds of wiring, which would be replaced by one Cat-5 cable.

I have been buying WheatNet-IP I/O Blades one or two at a time over the years to manage HD Radio audio, figuring the TDM router would eventually be replaced by WheatNet-IP audio networking. I already had one foot firmly in the IP world, so it was a simple matter of adding to that world with an IP-12 console for the main studio.

The IP-12 is a nice entry-level IP audio console that takes up a lot less space than the D75, but because it is self-contained, it has a similar feel as the D75.

[Read more Radio World articles about audio consoles and mixers]

I ordered the IP-12, plugged it into my existing Blades, and an AoIP studio was born. For talent, the change was minimal, which was great, because I had some big changes in store for the rest of the move.

Due to COVID it had become increasingly evident that talent could do a lot from home, but at times they still needed to be able to voicetrack or produce a show in an acoustically treated room with all the right mixing and processing tools.

So we purchased 4 x 8-foot WhisperRoom with a small dropdown table where our talent could park their laptops or tablets, plug into the WheatNet-IP through an Ethernet connection and call up sources and route audio and processing from a virtual mixer on their laptops that I created using ScreenBuilder.

The idea of setting up “glass” consoles in Whisper Rooms was partially borne out of the necessity to save space and partly because these could serve a real need. Wheatstone’s ScreenBuilder made making a custom “glass” console with a touchscreen interface fast and easy.

ScreenBuilder is an app for building your own interfaces into WheatNet-IP. In my case, I was able to drop and drag metering, faders and buttons onto a screen and script them to tie into the elements in the studio.

For example, I tied in virtual tallies to the Comrex Opal codec gateways in the main studio/rack room so that when a guest joins a show remotely, our talent will be able to see that he’s connected.

Most of the scripting was done using ScreenBuilder’s Wizard although I did create a few lines of code myself and “borrow” a few lines from a Wheatstone integrator (thanks, Danny Teunissen) for a few minor customizations.

Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.

More info: Jay Tyler at Wheatstone in North Carolina at 1-252-638-7000 or visit www.wheatstone.com.

The post User Report: Wheatstone Tools Facilitate Streamlining appeared first on Radio World.

Eight weeks ago, Transactions Today from RBR+TVBR reported on the sale of an AM/FM combo that includes an FM translator and no less than four boosters designed to give that FM station coverage of Eastern Washington’s largest metropolis, Spokane.

The transaction has now closed.

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When it comes to Ed Stolz, one thing’s for certain: nothing’s simple.

And, with respect to the ultimate transfer of control of three of his former FM radio stations, there’s a new rub in a saga that has entangled the court-appointed receiver of Stolz’s ex-properties and the non-profit broadcast ministry poised to assume ownership of the trio.

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The unique capabilities of its management team to build and scale its digital business.

A “Digital First” strategy and plans to grow digital revenue to $250 million within three years.

Why its interactive arm was able to accelerate subscriber growth during a pandemic.

Those are just some of the topics Noble Capital Markets Senior Research Analyst Michael Kupinski addresses in an exclusive interview with Townsquare Media CEO Bill Wilson.

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Borrell’s 2021 Local Advertiser survey has just wrapped up.

And, as has traditionally been seen by the research shop, each week across the summer will see the release of a particular finding of note.

With some 3,657 local ad buyers and agencies polled in 2021, Borrell’s first takeaway is yet another wakeup call for broadcast TV: “video” is no longer TV’s exclusive domain.

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With the discussion heavy on closing the digital divide and general thoughts on an incubator program to encourage women and minorities to become a radio or TV station owner, no less than six former FCC Commissioners participated Monday in a live Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) symposium.

Their appearance came as the MMTC is welcoming a new Policy Counsel to its Washington, D.C., headquarters.

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It went on the air on October 30, 1938. In April 1994, it was spun to the Indianapolis-based company founded by Jeff Smulyan.

Now, in a sign of the times, Emmis Communications is preparing to transition the remaining listeners of a Class B AM with 50kw during daylight hours and 10kw after dark to a pair of 250-watt FM translators fed from the HD2 signal of a13,500-watt FM sibling.

Thus marks the impending end of the former WIBC-AM 1070 as a Sports Talker under different call letters. What does the future hold for this facility?

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MIAMI —  The executives selected to drive Univision Holdings Inc.’s next phase of transformation and “execute the vision for the future combined company of Televisa-Univision” once the multinational mega-merger closes have been revealed by Univision CEO Wade Davis.

It paints the picture of Televisa-Univision’s C-Suite following the close of the transaction, expected to close later this year.

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C-Suite executives selected to drive Univision Holdings Inc.’s next phase of transformation and “execute the vision for the future combined company of Televisa-Univision” aren’t the only changes in the works once the multinational mega-merger closes later this autumn.

Univision Television Networks Group President Luis Silberwasser has finalized the new structure of its Entertainment, Sports and News divisions.

The big takeaway: the News President is stepping down.

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The network is not even 11 months old, and it now boasts triple the amount of programming it had at launch.

Now, as autumn readies its arrival, the winds are blowing in two more high-profile telejournalists at NewsNation — the Nexstar Media Group-owned cable TV operation overseen by President of Networks Sean Compton and, since mid-May, President of News Michael Corn.

One of the new faces at the network formerly known as WGN America will take a time slot given two weeks ago to another program, which will shift to a different time slot come late September.

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DISH has selected its primary network services partner for its mobile virtual network operator, or “MVNO,” customers, inking an agreement with billions of dollars in value.

It’s with AT&T, and it is a 10-year agreement, according to a SEC filing made by DISH. “DISH has agreed to pay AT&T at least $5 billion over the course of the ten-year term of the NSA, subject to certain terms and conditions,” the filing states. Neither the length of the agreement nor its value were offered by DISH in an announcement distributed early Monday (7/19).

The deal will allow DISH to provide current and future customers of its retail wireless brands, including Boost Mobile, Ting Mobile and Republic Wireless, access to coverage and connectivity on AT&T’s wireless network, in addition to the new DISH 5G network.

The agreement, DISH says, accelerates its expansion of retail wireless distribution to rural markets where DISH provides satellite TV services.

AT&T is also providing transport and roaming services as part of the agreement, to support DISH’s 5G network.

DISH makes it clear that it is committed to providing competition in the wireless market as the nation’s fourth facilities-based carrier. As such, DISH reiterated that it will continue to build out what it calls “the nation’s first cloud-native, OpenRAN-based 5G network reaching over 70% of the population” by 2023.

“Teaming with AT&T on this long-term partnership will allow us to better compete in the retail wireless market and quickly respond to changes in our customers’ evolving connectivity needs as we build our own first-of-its kind 5G network,” said John Swieringa, DISH COO and Group President of Retail Wireless. “The agreement provides enhanced coverage and service for our Boost, Ting and Republic customers, giving them access to the best connectivity on the market today via voice, messaging, data and nationwide roaming on AT&T’s vast network, as well as DISH’s 5G network.”

DIRECTV BONDS OFFERED TO AID AT&T SEPARATION

The partnership between AT&T and DISH comes as AT&T takes another step toward the spin-off of Dish Network’s lone competitor, DirecTV. 

DIRECTV Entertainment Holdings LLC, a wholly owned AT&T subsidiary, on Monday revealed a proposed offering of $3.1 billion aggregate principal amount of Senior Secured Notes due 2027 by DIRECTV Financing and DIRECTV Financing co-Obligator.

The timing of pricing of the Notes is subject to market conditions.

Net proceeds will go toward the completion of DIRECTV’s separation from AT&T, and will trim debt owed to AT&T by the DBS provider.

TPG Capital is taking a 30% stake in DIRECTV, which AT&T acquired in 2015. Since then, it has largely phased out its own U-Verse video services.

Future Plc, the parent of Radio World, announced the appointment of Cindy Davis as content and brand director of AV Technology.

Since 2015, she has been a contributing editor to Future’s AV Technology (AVT) magazine, writing features and its Manager’s Guide series, as well as contributing articles to sister publications Systems Contractor News (SCN) and Sound & Video Contractor (SVC). In 2016, she helped launch the AV/IT Summit. She also developed and moderates the New Era AV/IT webcast series.

As the principal of CustomMedia.Co, Davis created multiplatform content for AVT, SCN, SVC and consumer electronics publications TWICE and Residential Systems.

The announcement was made by Carmel King, vice president of the company’s B2B Tech Group.

Davis is former publisher and editor-in-chief of Electronic House. From 2009 to present, as principal of CustomMedia.Co, she developed content for associations such as IEEE Standards Association and AVIXA, for Future and for numerous AV/IT companies.

 

The post Future Names Davis Content/Brand Director of AVT appeared first on Radio World.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Indianapolis-based WFYI Public Media, the entity that runs the market’s NPR and PBS member stations, respectively, has been given the green light to lead a public media initiative “designed to instill journalism practices that meaningfully address local information needs through active listening and engagement.”

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The Federal Communications Commission (Commission) published a document in the Federal Register of July 7, 2021, regarding three Petitions for Reconsideration (Petitions) filed in the Commission's rulemaking proceeding. The document did not address the withdrawal of one of those petitions. This document corrects that error.

On April 21, 2021, the Media Bureau, Video Division (Bureau) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in response to a petition for rulemaking filed by the Greater New Orleans Educational Television Foundation (Petitioner), the licensee of noncommercial educational PBS member station WYES-TV, channel *11, New Orleans, Louisiana, requesting the substitution of channel *28 for channel *11 at New Orleans in the DTV Table of Allotments. For the reasons set forth in the Report and Order referenced below, the Bureau amends FCC regulations to substitute channel *28 for channel *11 at New Orleans.

The Office of Economics and Analytics and the Media Bureau announce a closed auction of construction permits for new or modified low power television (LPTV) stations and TV translator stations (collectively, LPTV/translator stations). This document seeks comment on the procedures to be used for this auction, which is designated as Auction 111.