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Jeff Marks

The author of this commentary is a career broadcaster and a consultant to Widelity Corp. The company recently launched an outsource service to help stations maintain compliance with FCC Online Public Information Files requirements.

College students have a habit of graduating and moving on.

So, this year’s student manager at the campus radio station is gone next year and someone else is in charge for one school year.

Widelity’s informal survey of student-run radio stations shows that they are more likely to be in violation of FCC rules requiring online filings than are other non-commercial or commercial stations. It appears that the managers just don’t know to pay attention to the posting rules.

In most of these cases, nothing has been posted in their Issues and Programs folder since the requirement to post online started almost three years ago.

[Related: “Big Companies Settle With FCC on Online Public Files”]

Why would Widelity Corp., a company that derives its operating revenue by representing commercial radio and television stations, take on helping these chronically underfunded non-commercial stations to get current with their online responsibilities?

Widelity’s joint project with College Broadcasters Inc. seeks to educate these station leaders and to help them create systems so that the knowledge is passed on from year to year.

We have had success consulting radio and TV stations and MPVDs in the television repack, in the C-Band repack and in the online filing process, and this is an opportunity to help educate the next generation of broadcasters about their responsibilities.

Widelity and CBI believe that there is the possibility of finding an underwriting sponsor, so that the student-run stations can receive services paid for in exchange for on-air announcements.

COVID-19 changed everyone’s daily life, and the same is true for student-run radio stations. Station staff had to relocate, and most student-run stations were scrambling just to keep programming on the air. The Online Public Inspection Files process wasn’t on everyone’s “to do” list.

Widelity services will provide board members who oversee student-run stations the confidence that FCC compliance standards are being met as required.

Outsourcing these time-sensitive requirements to Widelity should provide peace of mind not only to the directors, but to the staff administrators as well. As students rotate in and out due to churn, Widelity is a constant that can be depended on to assist the new student staff with information about how to properly handle their station OPIF requirements, including the Issues and Programs quarterly reports.

It certainly is not in an educational institution’s best interest to have its station noncompliant and subject to an FCC fine. It also makes for bad public relations.

Our informal survey shows that FCC OPIF compliance is not part of many student-run stations’ curriculums. We are answering that need by creating a webinar that, in conjunction with College Broadcasters, Inc, will be available to student-run stations.

Because sometimes FCC rules change, we plan to be a continuous, reliable source of FCC compliance information to our client schools.

College broadcast leaders, whether student, staff and faculty, can reach out to us at Widelity for more information.

Radio World welcomes other points of view at radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

The post College Stations Need Help With Online Public Files appeared first on Radio World.

What do sports radio listeners have in common with top 40 listeners? Not much, really. That’s according to the latest report from Edison Research The Infinite Dial series. It profiles listeners of 11 U.S. radio formats. The report goes on to give some granularity to these different listening audio behaviors.

Titled “Radio Listener Profiles,” this report focuses on weekly AM/FM radio listeners who reported listening most often to a radio station with one of the following formats: alternative rock, classic hits, classic rock, contemporary Christian, country, hard rock/heavy metal, hip-hop/rap, news/talk, R&B, sports and top 40.

[Read: Radio Listening Audiences Rebound Despite Pandemic Impact]

The thesis of Edison Research and Triton Digital’s report is that while formats are usually classified by the age and sex of their listeners, not all audio and audio device behaviors can be inferred along those lines. The report refers to the survey participants as P1 listeners.

Ownership of an in-home AM/FM radio continues to be a challenge for the industry, according to the report. Formats whose listeners are most likely to have a radio at home include classic hits, classic rock, country, hard rock/heavy metal, news/talk and sports. Those listeners likely lacking this appliance regularly tune in to alternative rock, contemporary Christian, hip-hop/rap and top 40. Positioned exactly between these two in terms of radio ownership are R&B listeners, representing the overall average.

According to the report, this loss of traditional home radio receivers is partially offset by the influx of smart speakers. Again, the report claims, the utilization of these new devices is not consistent across the board. Not surprisingly, it suggests that smart speaker adoption tracks pretty consistently with the formats which attract younger listeners. Those most likely to own a smart speaker tune in to alternative rock, hard rock/heavy metal, hip-hop/rap, R&B, sports and top 40. On the other hand, the report says, those holding on to their AM/FM radio prefer country, classic hits, classic rock, contemporary Christian and news/talk.

 

The post Is the Smart Speaker Like a New Age Home Radio? appeared first on Radio World.

Mark Persons

Only nine people had received the lifetime achievement award from the Society of Broadcast Engineers, until this week. Mark Persons becomes the 10th.

It was presented to Persons during an SBE online membership meeting and award ceremony.

Radio World is proud to share this news in part because Mark is a longtime contributor and valued member of the RW family. (You can read many of his recent tech tips and commentaries here.)

“The SBE John H. Battison Award for Lifetime Achievement recognizes and pays tribute to individuals for their dedication, lifelong achievement and outstanding contribution to broadcast engineering,” the SBE wrote in its announcement.

Prior recipients are Benjamin Wolfe and James Wulliman (1995), Philo and Elma Farnsworth (1997), Morris Blum (1998), Richard Rudman (2002), Richard Burden (2005), John Battison (2006) and Terry Baun (2010).

Persons told SBE: “I never had a Plan B. I was always going to be a broadcast engineer, and that’s exactly how it came out.”

The event planners had to get clever to plan the presentation. They secretly contacted Paula Persons via the Brainerd, Minn., VFW to ship the plaque to her via a friend.

To ensure Mark Persons was online for the ceremonies, they then invited him as 2018 recipient of the SBE Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year award, to be present for a cameo with other past winners. And during the online ceremony, Paula came into his office with the award.

[Related: “SBE Names Its New Executive Director”]

SBE provided this summary of his career:

“Mark, a life-long resident of Minnesota, followed in the footstep of his father, who was also a radio broadcast engineer. Mark started turning transmitter knobs more than 60 years ago. While reaching the rank of sergeant in the United States Army from 1967 to 1969, Mark was in charge of an avionics repair shop for the OV-1 Mohawk high-tech surveillance aircraft in Vietnam.

“After his military service, he spent the next 10 years with KVBR radio in Brainerd, MN, where he became chief engineer. In 1977, he opened his own radio engineering consulting business, which he operated for the next 40 years. He married his wife Paula in 1978, and she became instrumental in running the business side of the business out of their home.

“Mark has been a respected engineer in Minnesota and the upper Midwest his entire career. He built 12 commercial AM and FM radio stations, and rebuilt, upgraded, maintained and repaired countless other radio stations for clients. He has endeavored to share his knowledge and experience with others in the field. He has written more than 140 articles that have appeared in industry magazines and made more than 25 speeches and presentations at industry conventions, conferences and meetings.”

Nominees are SBE members and have been active for 40 years or more in broadcast engineering or an allied field. Persons joined the SBE in 1981 and is now a life member. He holds three life certifications from the society.

Persons retired several years ago but is active in the SBE Mentor Program. He’s also a ham and a member of the American Legion, The VFW and Disabled American Veterans.

You can watch the replay of the membership meeting and awards ceremonies on the SBE YouTube channel.

As previously announced, RJ Russell received the Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year award. Fred Baumgartner and Roland Robinson received the James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the Year award. New SBE Fellows Ralph Beaver and Jim Leifer were saluted.

[Related: “RJ Russell Is SBE’s Engineer of the Year”]

The post Mark Persons Receives SBE Lifetime Achievement Award appeared first on Radio World.

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The “Next Best Thing Media Tour” is rolling onward, having visited almost two dozen markets so far, and with a long list to go before it concludes around Thanksgiving time.

Greg Dahl

It’s a traveling outdoor equipment expo intended to help engineers and others see equipment or talk to vendors in person, in this year without an NAB Show. In some cases the visits coincide with SBE chapter meetings.

Stops for the week of Sept. 28 are Philadelphia, Baltimore, Raleigh and Charlotte. Major markets on the list and yet to be visited include Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Dallas, Houston, Miami and Atlanta.

Prime movers in the effort include Greg Dahl of Second Opinion Communication, Dave Kerstin of Broadcasters General Store and Jeff Williams of Yellowtec.

Companies with product and/or people taking part are American Recorders, Angry Audio, BDI, Broadcast Bionics, Broadcast Tools Inc., CANARE Corp. of America, CircuitWerkes, Comrex, DJB, ENCO Systems Inc., Graham Studios, Henry Engineering, Inovonics Inc., Kathrein Broadcast USA, Kintronic Labs, Masterclock, Inc, Myat, NotaBotYet, Radio Design Labs, Shoreview Distribution, Shure Incorporated, Sprite Media, Summit Technologies Group, Telos Alliance, Vclock, and WorldCast Group.

Dahl has said that the idea was inspired in part by the “Taste of NAB” tour that Larry Bloomfield conducted over several years.

The tour stops in four communities each week. The group photo above was taken this week in Cleveland.

Masks and hand sanitizer are available at each location. The organizers said equipment and surfaces are sanitized between interactions.

A link to the schedule is available at the Second Opinion Facebook page.

Traveling van of Second Opinion Communications.

 

The post “Next Best Thing” Tour on Mid-Atlantic Swing appeared first on Radio World.

The National Association of Broadcasters is standing behind the Federal Communications Commission decision not to create a new class of low-power FM stations.

In a Report and Order issued earlier this year, the FCC concluded that it would not move to create a new class of 250-watt LPFM stations, known as the LP-250 service. The NAB agreed with the FCC in recently submitted comments, arguing that there is no reason for the FCC to create another class of service, governed by a different set of rules. Moreover, the association said, if an LPFM applicant or station wants to operate a 250-watt radio station, it can apply for a Class A license just like any other entity.

[Read: LPFM Stations Seek Technical Upgrades]

A formal Petition for Reconsideration was filed by a group of LPFM/NCE community radio engineer advocates as part of an FCC Report and Order on modernizing media regulations (formally known as Amendment of Parts 73 and 74 to Improve the Low Power FM Radio Service Technical Rules, Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative, MB Docket Nos. 19-193 and 17-105). Those commenters included Todd Urick with Common Frequency, Paul Bame with the Prometheus Radio Project and five other LPFM operators and engineers.

The group complained in its most recent filing that the FCC did not adequately acknowledge LPFM advocates’ concerns nor did it address numerous sentiments regarding the subject in the final FCC order. Specifically, the commenters argued that LP-250 is not in conflict with the Local Community Radio Act’s requirement regarding reducing minimum distance separations between LPFM and full-service stations. The commenters said that nothing in the commission’s reasoning within the order offer adequate enough rationale for denying the creation of an LP-250 service.

Rather, they said, the commission seemed to imply that the LP-250 issue required further study, which the commenters infer to mean that the commission intends to open a proceeding in the future to solicit various LP-250 proposals for stakeholders to contemplate. In addition, such a solicitation would also address LPFM operators’ concerns about low-power FM service deficiencies that curtail listener reception.

“There does not seem conclusive reasoning to not consider a LP-250 service,” the group said in its comments. “The commission has vastly assisted in relief concerning AM broadcasters failing coverage. Shouldn’t commensurate effort be extended to ameliorating LPFM coverage issues? [Plus,] there is certainly a demand for relief concerning LPFM interference/underpower concerns within the station’s 60 dBu contour of many LPFM stations.”

The NAB responded by saying the petitioners are only rehashing claims in support of LP-250 service that the FCC already fully considered. The petitioners also offer no new information about the burden on applicants of preparing contour studies and entirely ignore the impact on the FCC of having to review such studies, the NAB said. The association also said that although the text of the LCRA does not specifically cap LPFM power levels, the act does prohibit reduction of the minimum distance separations between LPFM and FM stations and that LP-250 supporters have not shown that LP250 service could be consistent with these spacing requirements.

“Petitioners urge the FCC to relitigate its view of the LCRA, but do not offer any additional facts or policy reasons,” the NAB said. “The FCC has repeatedly and consistently spoken on this matter, and while petitioners may disagree with the commission, the FCC’s approach is perfectly valid, thoughtful and requires deference.”

The NAB reminded the FCC that the group failed to provide new facts or new arguments in this subsequent round of comments, which is a necessary part of the process when the FCC considers reversing an earlier decision.

“As [the commenters are] well-aware, the act struck a careful balance between the interests of noncommercial entities for more licensing of LPFM stations with those of incumbent services for interference safeguards,” the NAB said in its comments. “Allowing LPFM stations to more than double their maximum power now, a decade later, would upend the careful balance that stakeholders forged at the time.”

Comments on the issue can be viewed within the FCC’s ECFS electronic database using Docket 17-105 or 19-193.

 

The post FCC Decision to Nix Creation of New LPFM Class Gets Reactions appeared first on Radio World.

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MB grants a request from APTS/PBS to waive the requirement for NCE translator stations to email a baseline carriage notice to MVPDs

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