Radio World

The quality of professional broadcast transmitters available today is unquestionably high. That’s good news for radio engineers and managers who are in the market for a new one.

If someone hasn’t purchased a transmitter in a while, what should they know? What are the most important recent developments in how they are designed and manufactured?

In Radio World’s latest free ebook, we asked engineers, managers and our sponsoring manufacturers to comment. We asked how a smart buyer can differentiate among products; what features they value most; and what features or services they’d like to see added.

We asked about the impact of virtualization on transmitters, and what buyers should know about hybrid radio platforms that are coming into the marketplace. And we sought an update on technologies like MDCL and liquid cooling.

Learn from technology veterans Rob Bertrand, Andy Gunn, Mark Persons, Cris Alexander, Mike Cooney, Buc Fitch, Mike Martin, Greg Dahl and Don Stevenson, as well as from manufacturers WorldCast Systems, Broadcast Electronics, GatesAir, Nautel and Rohde & Schwarz.

 

 

The post Trends in Transmitters 2022 appeared first on Radio World.

The author is Chief Technology Officer of 2wcom. This article originally appeared in the ebook “What’s Next for Virtualization?”

Virtualizing software, especially using containers, makes it much easier to run the software on standard server hardware instead of dedicated broadcast devices.

It is a very good exercise to build platform independent software. It definitely was an exercise for us at 2wcom when we migrated our embedded software that was designed for a four-channel audio over IP codec hardware (IP-4c).

But after that was achieved, it helped us to realize a project where approximately 400 height units of equipment could be reduced to just six rack spaces of servers — including redundancy!

As we are diving deeper into the virtual rabbit hole named Kubernetes, it becomes clearer that virtualization was just the beginning.

Why do broadcasters need Kubernetes?

Kubernetes — “K8s” for short — is an open-source platform to manage containers, services, and workloads across multiple physical machines. It is the state-of-the-art platform to manage containers and is used by Netflix, Google, Spotify and many more.

But why do we need this in our broadcast world? — Because it helps a lot to fulfil some of our daily requirements: reliability, scalability, updates and monitoring.

Reliability

Kubernetes is self-healing! This is a major advantage over traditional systems where just backups and redundancy are defined.

Using K8s it is possible to evade entire machines in disaster scenarios. If for example one of your servers is crashing or has a disk pressure condition, the other servers (also known as worker nodes) can take over the service for the machine that is failing.

Even though this process might not be seamless, it is self-healing because K8s tries to maintain the same number of services and containerized apps that you have defined.

Together with a sophisticated redundancy scheme, the broadcaster can achieve seamless switching and zero downtime even while replacing entire machines in the cluster.

Scalability

Let’s say your CPU load requirements for one of your apps increases, because you want to transcode an additional audio/video stream for monitoring purposes.

2wcom’s MoIN orchestration overview hides Kubernetes complexity.

Without Kubernetes, the operator will likely have to install a new server and move some of the app instances from each running computer to this new server. This frees up resources on all machines, enabling the additional monitoring stream. Managing that process can be a high workload and requires extensive planning.

With Kubernetes this is as simple as installing a new server and letting it join the cluster with just one simple command:

kubeadm join [api-server-endpoint]

After that the operator just needs to push the new configuration and its resource requirements into the cluster (in Kubernetes called limits and requests).

Updates

Everybody working in IT knows that updates can be time-consuming and the cause of a lot of troubles. Kubernetes really helps to deploy software updates because it lets you define strategies to do that.

One strategy could be to update 25% of your containerized apps at the same time and roll that update through the cluster. This gives the user time to react and roll back the update in problematic situations.

Additionally, the update can therefore maintain seamless redundancy with no manual switching required. The maximum “surge” that defines how many of your app instances are updated at the same time can be defined by an admin who is deploying the update.

Another update strategy could be to push a new version into your cluster and let the individuals who are controlling and using your software decide when to apply the new version. In our case this was a very nice feature.

An administrator can push the new software version into the cluster whenever it is approved. The operator who configures only his audio streams can simply reboot an instance at any time when it is suitable. The reboot will automatically apply the updated version while keeping the same config.

Monitoring

Operating a huge cluster instead of hundreds of individual hardware boxes can be fearsome. It all relies on a couple of machines instead of hundreds. But Kubernetes can seriously increase the speed of a root-cause analysis and fixing of a bug instead of making it more complex as one might think.

Screenshot of a MoIN Grafana dashboard that monitors audio errors and internal buffer values.

A great advantage is that standardized mechanisms can be used to obtain logs from different parts of the software. These logs can even be used by an indexing search engine (for example Elasticsearch), which lets you search and correlate the log files many times faster. Therefore, one can find common failures across multiple instances easier.

Let’s say you need to find a reason why SNMP connections break down. In that case you could search through all log files of all software parts for an entry of “snmp”. The result will quickly show you the number of found entries and you can explore the relationship and chronological sequence of the errors.

Setting up such systems is time-consuming, but with a Kubernetes installation the vendor can also provide the monitoring stack, like we do it at 2wcom. We are providing Elesticsearch, Kibana and Grafana as a very sophisticated monitoring stack that integrates well with our software.

Conclusion

Although the shift towards virtualization can be scary because it is such a different environment than physical devices, it provides some valuable improvements and streamlined processes to operate a high-quality broadcast system.

The streamlined processes provided by Kubernetes reduce the maintenance overhead of a broadcast system, which leads to lower operational expenses or frees up resources to do what really matters: delivering high-quality broadcast content.

The post Kubernetes Brings Broadcast to Next Level appeared first on Radio World.

As a treat to help get your 2022 off to a good start, I thought it might be fun to spend a Saturday afternoon at a hardware store to identify items useful for any radio engineer.

This year’s visit was to Ace Hardware, but these or similar items can be found at Lowe’s, Home Depot or online. I have tried to stay under $25 to $35.

Let’s start with an economical tool box by Stanley. There are lots of varieties at different price points. The one pictured — a 19-inch, one-latch model — has two snap-lid hinged compartments that will hold your rack screws, washers and other frequently used small hardware. No more removing tools to dig out a little box of hardware at the bottom!

The deep toolbox also has enough room for something anyone over 40 needs to have: AirFlow gel-filled kneepads, shown in Fig. 2. With these gel cushions, made by CLC Work Gear, you could crawl on your knees under consoles all day long. (My alternative before discovering these was bubble wrap!)

Fig. 1: Start with a heavy-duty Stanley toolbox; Fig. 2: The toolbox is big enough to store gel-filled kneepads like these from CLC Work Gear; Fig. 3: A small inspection mirror gets into tight spaces; Fig. 4: This probe set from General is ideal for troubleshooting components.

A small inspection mirror like the one shown in Fig. 3, made by General, will come in handy, especially if you can’t squeeze your smartphone into a tight space to take pictures.

However, if you do a lot of inspections, search online for a smartphone endoscope. The scope has a lighted lens on the end of a three-foot cable that plugs into your smartphone. The camera image is displayed on the phone, and the best part is that it’s under $20.

Speaking of medical/dental instruments, the General probe set shown in Fig. 4 is ideal if you troubleshoot and repair to the component level. Another must-have for your kit is a multi-tool like the one pictured in Fig. 5. This Stanley 12-in-one multi-tool can really come in handy thanks to its many functions.

Some other products that can find uses around the transmitter site are Scott Rags in a Box work towels and GoJo Natural Orange Pumice Hand Cleaner (Figs. 6 and 7). And show me an engineer who doesn’t want a can of WD-40 lubricant around, as pictured in Fig. 8. Don’t forget to spray your transmitter site padlocks to guard against frozen lock mechanisms.

Fig: 5: A Stanley 12-in-one multi-tool takes the place of multiple tools; Fig. 6: More absorbent than paper towels are Scott Rags in a Box; Fig. 7: GoJo Natural Orange Pumice Hand Cleaner really cuts the grease after you work on dirty components; Fig; 8: WD-40 keeps locks lubricated and guards against freezing. Squirt in the keyhole and where the hasp locks, then work the mechanism to coat internal parts.

Fig. 9 certainly won’t fit in that toolbox, but the 5-gallon diesel fuel container by Midwest Can may come in handy if your generator runs low on fuel and access for a fuel truck is blocked. Yes, you’ll be making multiple trips to refill the tank; but that’s better than being off the air.

Speaking of the generator, diesel block heaters are welcome signs for rodents seeking a warm home in the winter. Rodents can’t squeeze through half-inch hardware cloth like the Garden Zone product shown in Fig. 10. Make sure all your vents and ventilation openings are sealed. This size screening should deter rodents while not obstructing air flow.

Fig. 9: A 5-gallon diesel fuel container is great insurance for your generator; Fig. 10: Half-inch-square hardware cloth keeps vermin out of generators or air vents; Fig. 11: For really big rat problems, supersize the glue trap!; Fig. 12: Stay warm in unheated buildings with this small but efficient Honeywell ceramic heater.

And while we’re on the subject of rodents and snakes, we’ve all seen (and maybe used) the little glue traps for mice. The JT Eaton Stick-Em Pro Series comes in dimensions suitable even for king-size city rats and large snakes; the “Elephant Size” ones I saw in the store were a foot square.

As we wrap up the tour, consider investing in a ceramic heater — such as the Honeywell Heat Bud pictured in Fig. 12 — as well as an LED trouble lamp, which gives plenty of light. Plus the bulb doesn’t break when it’s dropped.

John Bisset, CPBE. has more than 50 years in broadcasting and is in his 31st year writing Workbench. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance and is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award.

What other useful items should be on an engineer’s New Year shopping list? Email johnpbisset@gmail.com.

The post Gifts to Yourself to Start the New Year Right appeared first on Radio World.

This week we’re featuring highlights of Radio World’s 2021 ebooks.

The online WorldDAB Automotive 2021 Conference in June provided looks at various aspects of digital radio in the car environment. Here’s a sampling of presentations, all viewable on WorldDAB’s YouTube channel. This story originally appeared in the ebook “Trends in Digital Radio 2021.”

Extra displays

“Co-driver” displays — those targeting the front-seat passenger — are among “mega trends” dominating the European automotive industry. Another is Android Automotive.

Martin Koch of Volkswagen CARIAD said the arrival of “co-driver” displays will increase the demand for high-quality visual content in the dash. This image shows a passenger display on the MBUX Hyperscreen, introduced by Mercedes-Benz in January.
MBUX Hyperscreen: Co-driver display

Radio has to act fast to respond to both of these trends, said Martin Koch, head of development entertainment & car functions at Volkswagen CARIAD, during his talk “What’s Driving the Automotive Industry?”

He said such displays are turning up now in high-end cars, and their arrival is spurring a demand for high-quality visuals, which can include sophisticated slideshows, full-motion videos, games and multimedia tied to “browsing through the latest releases of your favorite artists,” he said.

Unfortunately, only about only 20 radio stations in the world currently support online slideshows, he said.

“This is not enough to really talk about providing a brilliant visual experience to drivers and co-drivers. So my recommendation for the broadcast industry is to make use of the technologies we already have in place and to develop concepts for attractive visual content to accompany their audio programming,” Koch said.

“And it’s not only the station logo or weather information: It can be so much more that attracts your customers and keeps them listening to your station and not switching to another media source or other content.”

Further, the presence of Android Automotive apps into the car will compete with DAB+ in the space and could undermine broadcast radio if these apps do not incorporate DAB+ features. Koch’s advice is for radio stations to build their own apps on the Android Automotive platform and “provide them, through the relevant app stores, to the dash of the car.”

Android Automotive

During the presentation “Global, Open and Available: A Broadcaster-Led Initiative for Radio on Android Automotive,” Joe D’Angelo, Xperi’s senior vice president of broadcast radio, asked Guru Nagarajan, Google’s engineering manager with Android Automotive OS, about the progress being made to bring that OS into the world’s cars, and about broadcast radio’s place in it.

“The first cars with the Android Automotive OS were launched this past year, and they were on Volvo Polestars,” Nagarajan said. “We’ve been very pleased with the user feedback and the feedback that we’re getting from our partners.”

Through efforts like the one led by NAB PILOT, radio broadcasters are working to be present in Android Automotive, in order to preserve their traditional prominence in car/truck entertainment systems. Fortunately, Google seems enthusiastic about radio’s place in this new app-driven environment.

“We continue to be very excited about broadcast radio,” said Nagarajan. “We think we can bring in a lot more capabilities for broadcasters and provide a platform that allows partners like Xperi and others to innovate and bring in the best from a user experience perspective.”

He added that Google is developing an Android Automotive application programming interface, or API, that will allow radio stations to localize their content on the app, and to generally enhance the platform to work better for broadcast radio.

“We would like to continue working with the broadcast ecosystem in both developing as well as innovating in the [Android Automotive] platform, and helping you all accelerate what you are really good at, which is providing the best of services to our users,” Nagarajan said.

France moves ahead

At present, about 30% of France’s population can receive DAB+ over the air. By the end of 2022, that should hit 50%, and roadway multiplexes will play a big part in helping them listen in the car.

These points were raised by Jean-Marc Dubreuil during his presentation “France: Automakers and Broadcasters’ Preparations for National DAB+.”

Dubreuil is WorldDAB’s manager for France and a member of the French joint broadcaster/vehicle manufacturer working group.

According to Dubreuil, 25 of France’s national radios services will be available in DAB+ on the country’s roadways by this fall. This is no small feat: “That means almost 12,000 kilometers of highways and a little more than 10,000 kilometers of main roads to cover,” he said. “It’s quite a lot.”

While this work is proceeding, challenges remain in coordinating the DAB+ rollout between broadcasters and car manufacturers. Specifically, carmakers and radios don’t necessarily understand their respective business model, said Dubreuil, nor the need to ensure that the in-car digital radios are kept up to date.

For instance, he said, “Radio stations were surprised not to see their logos on the dashboard of cars because the logos are sometimes burned into the receiver and often obsolete — because those radios were designed in 2014,” he said.

“Since then, life has moved on. The logo has changed.”

Meanwhile, the complexity of the French radio landscape, with its more than 1,000 FM stations and “a few hundreds of DAB+ services,” can make coordinating seamless coverage difficult. This is why it is important for all players in the French DAB+ ecosystem to work together, said Dubreuil.

Radioplayer hybrid app

WorldDAB has produced a set of User Experience guidelines for automotive manufacturers and broadcasters to help them offer provide the best digital radio interfaces for motorists.

An image from Radioplayer’s presentation of its hybrid radio app that combines DAB+ and FM broadcast radio with online streams in the Android Automotive Operating System. It was developed with technology supplier Panasonic Automotive Systems Europe. Radioplayer said the app “has a single, multi-platform station list that hides the platform from the user and allows them to select a radio station from the strongest available signal, prioritizing DAB+, then FM, followed by streaming, and automatically switching between platforms if the car moves out of coverage.”

In the presentation “From Principle to Product: Bringing the WorldDAB UX Guidelines to Life in a Hybrid Radio App,” Radioplayer’s Caroline Grazé and Laurence Harrison described using these guidelines to guide the design and development of their hybrid radio app for the Android Automotive platform.

Grazé is managing director of Radioplayer Germany, Harrison is director of automotive partnerships at Radioplayer Worldwide.

“One of our main aims in building the app was to learn about Android Automotive and work with Google and others to improve the standard radio experience and make sure that it becomes hybrid,” said Harrison. When thinking about the user interface “the foundation of our design principles were taken from the WorldDAB UX guidelines.”

Ease of use is fundamental to the Radioplayer hybrid app design, Grazé said.

“The goal that is the most important one for the listener is ‘What am I listening to?’ I need to know. (And) I need to navigate simply through the UX.’” The app’s tuning database also has to be able to decode listener voice commands, including requests for stations that don’t use official call signs.

At an early stage in the user interface design, Radioplayer tested it on the road with consumers. By doing so, “you learn a huge amount about how intuitive the design is and also about the different positions of certain icons, and the features that people really value,” said Harrison.

The Radioplayer app now provides a “great hybrid radio experience,” he added, and “is being made available to car manufacturers to use on their Android Automotive platforms.”

Swiss DAB+ Retrofits

Switzerland’s plan to turn off FM by 2023 is driving DAB+ car radio retrofits, according to the presentation “Case Study: Switzerland, Getting Ready for FM Switchoff With the Auto Supply Chain.”

Speaking with host Ernst Werder of Weer GmbH, Jeremy Arztmann of Exclusive Car HiFi and Hans-Peter Saar of Robert Bosch AG described strong consumer demand for DAB+ adaptors to work with existing analog radios, as well as full DAB+ system replacements.

To ensure that Swiss motorists are satisfied with their DAB+ radio upgrades, Executive Car HiFi road-tests products before selling them to consumers.

“Since most larger auto importers are our customers, it’s usually very easy for us to get our hands on vehicles where we can test the products in order to ensure that the product is good and fine,” said Arztmann.

“Our company has been focusing on DAB+ for quite a long time, and we offer workshops with our partners so that all this technical know-how has grown continuously.”

Robert Bosch AG has been working with aftermarket partners such as Executive Car HiFi to meet the demand for DAB+ radio retrofits, said Hans-Peter Saar. In Switzerland, this market is geared towards higher-quality vehicles whose drivers don’t want to see adaptors and other devices detracting from original interior decors.

“The end user wants to use the OEM radio like he’s used to, and he wants his buttons on the steering wheel to work as he is used to,” said Saar. At the same time, they want to see song titles and other graphics, “on their regular radio screen and not on the small adaptor screen.”

Finally, some DAB+ equipment upgrades have been tailored for tasteful installations in older vehicles, including those that have achieved “vintage” status, built in 1991 or earlier.

“We have developed a solution where you can mount or install the DAB+ radio in a way that the vehicle doesn’t lose its vintage status or its historic status,” said Arztmann.

Localization and personalization

In the final WorldDAB Automotive 2021 presentation, “In-Vehicle Localization and Personalization: What They Mean for Radio Today and in the Future,” Swedish Radio Head of Digital Partnerships Tomas Granryd spoke with Francis Goffin, special adviser to the CEO of RTBF in Belgium, and Chris Ambrozic, TiVo’s VP of discovery, about using DAB+ to localize and personalize content to improve listener experiences, and to keep them listening longer.

In Belgium, RTBF, the country’s French-speaking public radio-TV broadcaster, is using DAB+’s localization capability to provide enhanced program choice to its VivaCité regional radio audiences.

For instance, this capability allows RTBF to provide seven different radio feeds, historically carried on seven separate FM stations, over four DAB+ regional multiplexes.

“Thanks to DAB+, listeners can choose to listen two different regional morning programs,” said Goffin. “This is impossible in FM, where they can only listen to the morning show that is available in their region.”

Localization is also allowing VivaCité to give listeners choices between live sports and non-sports programming over DAB+, which is not possible on FM.

RTBF and the private radio networks in the Belgian French-speaking digital radio alliance maRadio.be are looking at offering personalized radio programs to listeners using IP feeds triggered by inaudible tones in over-the-air DAB+ broadcasts. This platform could include “addressable radio advertising, just like the addressable TV advertising that started in Belgium last year,” Goffin said. It would do so using some kind of DAB+/IP hybrid platform that has yet to be developed by a new working group of RadioDNS, the hybrid radio open standard proponent.

TiVo’s Chris Ambrozic spoke about applying the TiVo TV “carousel” model of program choice, using titled images of actual TV programs, to in-car DAB+ to boost listener engagement and loyalty.

Picking up on the personalization thread, TiVo’s Chris Ambrozic spoke about applying the TiVo TV “carousel” model of program choice, using titled images of actual TV programs, to in-car DAB+ to boost listener engagement and loyalty.

“When personalization is utilized, we see very significant changes in viewer behavior,” Ambrozic said. “We see people watching about 25% more content on the video side. We see people churning away from their suppliers of content to the tune of about three times less.”

TiVo hopes to achieve the same results on DAB+ vehicle displays. “We’re taking that concept over into the car and to deliver a series of carousels, algorithmically driven with an understanding of what the person enjoys listening to,” he said.

A DAB+ content provider who takes this approach to in-car listening “is going to be able to monetize and deliver the right type of experience, not only from what to listen to, but also from an advertisement point of view.”

The post Passenger Displays, Apps and FM Switchoffs appeared first on Radio World.

The PreSonus PD-70 dynamic broadcast microphone is specifically designed for capturing the human voice and improving intelligibility, even in acoustically unfriendly spaces. The cardioid pickup pattern reduces the amount of extraneous and unwanted background noise entering the mic’s sides and back while focusing on voices in front of it—just what you want for podcasts or radio broadcasts.

The all-metal PD-70 is an end-address dynamic mic with an integrated (yet removable) foam windscreen and a simple, compact mechanical design that will fit and look great on the smallest of desktops.

PreSonus PD-70 Dynamic Broadcast Microphone

You can thread the mount onto a standard mic desk stand or boom, and connect a cable to any preamp using its gold-pinned XLR output jack. It comes ready to use with a gimbal-style integrated yoke mount that allows tilting the mic up or down to aim it precisely. Once in position, it has a single knob to lock it down. It does not get any simpler than this!

I tried the PD-70 in my studio as a vocal mic feeding a Retro Instruments 500PRE preamp; I also put it up for a Zoom meeting into an SSL 2 USB Audio Interface.

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

The PD-70 has a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz with a shelving boost starting at about 1.5 kHz and extending out to 10. I can hear that little boost in the midrange — especially on small computer speakers — and it does impart a certain gravitas and authority to speaking voices. I found it helpful for somber-sounding online speakers, as long as they stayed close in front of the mic to maintain a fat-sounding “lift in the bass” due to the cardioid proximity effect.

At the same time, the PD-70 suppresses p-pops better than some other dynamic mic I have, with or without a pop filter. Removing the foam windscreen, you can see a resemblance to the internal mechanical design of the Shure SM7B dynamic mic.

Paired with the 500PRE (tube-based preamp), the sound was rich and noise-free, and I would have no issues using the PD-70 for a loud lead vocal track — provided the singer could stay aimed at the mic. The SSL 2 USB preamp worked well except for very quiet singing, when that unit starts to run out of available mic gain.

The PreSonus PD-70 wins as a workhorse of a mic that will improve the sound of anyone doing online podcasting, internet radio or hosting/participating in Zoom meetings.

This article originally appeared in our sister publication Mix. Radio World invites both users and suppliers to tell us about recently installed new or notable equipment. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post PreSonus PD-70 Designed to Improve Intelligibility appeared first on Radio World.

For a bit of holiday fun, Ken Deutsch, former jingle magnate and longtime Radio World contributor, has unleashed the latest in his series of airchecks of “Wonderful WORM,” a 1960s radio station that exists in his head.

Featuring the misadventures of DJ Johnny Lizard, the parody series is available for your listening pleasure.

Get ready for radio news item groaners like “A giant fly was seen attacking the Pomona Police Station. This morning the SWAT team had to be called in.” But it’s also an audio treat for those who loved the sound of AM radio in the 1950s and ’60s. Sound effects and audio drop-ins were sourced from films and records in his collection, and custom jingles for Wonderful WORM were again recorded.

Deutsch, aka Ken R., is former owner of recording studio in Ohio that for 20 years produced “re-sings” of PAMS jingles. He grew up a self-described jingle freak who started collecting jingles in 1964 and later lucked into the purchase of more than 3,000 reels of PAMS jingles, including the instrumental backing tracks.

The website JingleSamplers.com has more on that history and numerous jingle samplers.

 

The post Wonderful WORM Is Back appeared first on Radio World.

For streamers the big concern is latency. You may ask what is it? Simply defined, latency is the time it takes to get from here to there.

Now to put it in the context for streaming, it is the time content leaves the source and is played out by the intended audience. For sports, low latency is desirable and necessary. Nobody wants someone knowing about a sports play before anybody else, even if we are talking minutes.

An example of very bad latency was in the 1973 film The Sting. The gambling house knew the results of the horse race before the bets were placed. Yes, that is not good nor desirable.

For streamers, latency develops as the content passes through devices on its transport to the audience.

Let’s consider a simple audio file. First, it is played out, then the audio is processed, and next it is encoded with metadata. Then the file is sent through the network switches and routers out to the internet.

Depending on your connection, the packets may make some additional stops before reaching the CDN, which then transcodes the packets and streams them to the audience’s network connection and finally to your audience.

Yes, this takes time!

[Related: “Loudness Recommendations Honored by AES”]

Because of this time, the audience can hear a delay. It is noticeable, especially if they are comparing the stream to over-the-air content. The trick is to get the amount of latency down to the point of acceptance.

To try to lessen the inherent delay, you can use the Softvelum Low Delay Protocol (SLDP). This is a last-mile delivery protocol.

Whether you are encoding an RTMP, SRT, RTSP, NDI, MPEG-TS, HLS, Icecast or SHOUTcast stream, the SLDP protocol at the player side will pass the content to the audience with sub-second delay. SLDP is supported by modern browsers that support Media Source Extensions (MSE).

SLDP is proprietary and must be decoded with a free HTML5 player and dedicated mobile application. A custom mobile app experience can be created by subscribing to a mobile specific SDK.

The SLDP protocol also allows for synchronized playback across devices, ensuring that all members of your audience are viewing the same media at the same time. This can be incredibly important for second screen usage at live events or for any kind of real-time broadcast that both low-latency and consistent experience are important.

With sports as a key example again, imagine two viewers in a room together watching on their own devices, both getting 1- to 2-second delays, but with one about half a second ahead of the other. Each exciting play or devastating mistake spoiled for the other viewer as the quicker of the two reacts first.

Synchronized low-latency not only gives your audience a great experience compared to traditional over-the-air broadcast, but also ensures you maintain the shared experience that would otherwise be lost when viewing streamed content.

Another way is to use WebRTC, which stands for Web-based Real Time Communications. WebRTC operates very similarly to SLDP, but the issue with this Google-developed open-source solution is there is not a standard implementation. Different services are not deploying it in the same way.

WebRTC is fast. A real-time latency could be below 500 milliseconds. WebRTC is also supported by many browsers and is native to iOS.

According to StreamGuys the advantage of SLDP is the standardization of deployment.

According to Eduardo Martinez, director of technology for StreamGuys, “When you use a purpose-built protocol for ultra-low latency streaming you can significantly cut down on the delay inherent in traditional segmented streaming protocols.”

When it comes to streaming of events, mainly sports and breaking news, the audience will not tolerate high latency. In this world of multiple streams, the streamer does not want to be slower than an over-the-air broadcast. To quote Tom Petty, the waiting is the hardest part.

The author is a consultant who has held technical broadcast and streaming positions for companies like Entercom and CBS Radio. He is co-chair of the AES Technical Committee for Broadcast and Online Delivery and chair of the Metadata Usage Working Group of the National Radio Systems Committee. Contact him at dkbialik@erols.com or 845-634-6595. His commentaries are a recurring feature at radioworld.com.

The post Tips to Help Diminish Streaming Delay appeared first on Radio World.

This week Radio World is featuring highlights of our 2021 ebooks. This article appeared in “Mission-Critical: Maintaining Your Transmitter Site.”

One hundred years is an impressive lifespan not just for any human but for any American industry.

The modern radio business has crossed that demarcation and, for us broadcast technocrats, it’s a moment of self-celebration, as our industry remains dependent on the technology that we supply.

In its first years, radio was so novel that it needed an understandable simile. Radio was like a newspaper without paper. It was like a town crier, delivering an abundance of useful information, interesting voices and sounds through the ether to everyone, everywhere.

To continue the romantic analogy, the voice of that crier is our transmitter, arguably the most important element in any station’s success story.

Like a lover, we want our transmitter to be reliable, durable and faithful.

But little useful or good happens in life by accident. Achieving high performance and trouble-free transmitter operation takes a thoughtful, attentive design and maintenance program.

Good engineering practice (GEP) in any discipline usually is a function of refinement. A century allows a long journey of refinement, inculcating a plethora of detailed methodology and techniques, culminating in a distilled corpus of best practices.

[Check Out More of Radio World’s Ebooks Here]

Let’s start at the beginning.

What does a transmitter do but take electric power and turn it into radio? Like baking a cake, bad components usually make a bad cake. Similarly, poor electric power makes for bad transmissions.

Let’s discuss power and best practices to achieve the goal of “perfect” power utilization.

Power to any broadcast installation can be divided into two universes, hard and soft. The former is supplied by a commercial utility, usually regulated by the government; the latter is generated locally and can come from a variety of sources.

Hard power

Gather and have ready access to all details concerning your electric supply. If power is lost, having information at hand will help you get your power back much more quickly.

The list includes direct phone numbers to the trouble section of your utility; your account numbers; whose name is on the account; the exact service address; your meter number; the format of your supply (e.g. 480 volt 3 phase in wye); who else might be on your supply (e.g. the two cell operators on your tower) and on common poles and transformer; the pole numbers; your priority position for restoration; the phone numbers of other site users so you can coordinate your complaints and requests, etc.

• Be aware of your power system. Inspect and review it routinely. Remove temporary connections and attachments soonest. Address points of failure and eliminate potential safety issues.
• One of my confreres tells a story of arriving to work on a hop system at a large common tower site. Looking around for a place to plug in his drill, he was told not to unplug a particular extension cord that ran from his hop equipment closet, out the door, through the hallway, into another station’s transmitter room, where STL equipment was plugged into this line.
• Seems they’d run out of outlets and this was the most convenient location to plug in — a point of failure for both users.
• Maintain your power system. Since your transmitter system will be on hard power 99.9% of the time, check at least annually for hot spots, especially around suspect locations including terminations in circuit breaker panels, on the CBs as well as on neutral and ground bar screws.
• Review grounding. Whenever you are inside your electrical system, review the wiring arrangements and take amprobe measurements such that the separation of neutral and ground paths are maintained.
• Our mantra is that current should flow in the neutral, no current should be flowing on the grounding paths. The last place where ground and neutral are common is most often in the main breaker panel or main metering where neutral is firmly bonded to (earth) ground. After this selected point, they must be kept separate.
• At least three ground systems should exist at every transmitter site, for power, signal and lightning grounding; we want them to function as separate entities. If these systems become intertwined, current flow becomes unpredictable and can be downright dangerous. Interconnections of these grounding systems, if necessary, should always be at just one point.
• Make certain in original installation as well as retrofits that your conductor and fusing sizes are appropriate. Remember that the National Electric Code addresses minimums to achieve a threshold of safety. More capacious systems are encouraged to accommodate your continuous and critical needs.
• Surge and lighting protection. Utility power is perfect as it leaves the power plant. It’s the haphazard distribution and ugly user loads in the real world that make for the noise, sag, phase imbalance and unattractive sine wave that we have to live with or correct.

Reactive loads (usually operated by others) on your supply system, especially if nearby, can produce horrible surges and sags that can be highly destructive to your plant.

Protection from these power energy extremes, like most electrical system design, is progressive: You have a main circuit breaker to protect the overall system, a panel board main circuit breaker to protect appliance branches fed from that panel, individual circuit breakers for each significant device, and then usually small current fuses on each piece of gear.

The best surge protection is similar in design, where a main surge suppressor to protect the site system is followed by panel board units and internally on critical individual items. Any piece of powered gear in the main stream of your signal should have surge protection.

Soft power

Your standby power source uses the same distribution system discussed in hard power, so we’ll focus on the actual power source.

Choose your source of supply carefully. Remember that a soft supply system may be overwhelmed by factors that a commercial electric supply, with its copious energy reservoir, can manage easily.

The issues most often overlooked are power factor, waveform and load variation.

Power factor usually is expressed as the ratio difference between the apparent power passing through the consumption system and the actual power consumed. The cause of the peak power which appears to be consumed is reactive components in the system.

An expressed number of 0.9 would let us know that about 10% more power appears to be consumed that actually is consumed for the operation of your transmitter site or some specific device like the transmitter.

This power is not lost, it is essentially returned to the generator. In commercial power, it goes all the way back to the hydro or nuclear plant’s generator that made the power; in your station, running on soft/standby power, this “reactive power” is returned to your UPS supply or engine-driven generator.

Although not consumed, this power still needs to be generated.

The prevalence of switching power supplies makes waveform purity a critical item.

A tremendous variation in this quality exists among soft power sources, and manufacturers now carefully annotate this as a separate performance specification. If it is not listed on the generator or UPS supply sheet, insist on having this data. Many UPS and switching supplies will not operate with dirty waveforms.

Just as critical to the selection process is the character of the load’s consumption.

Let’s take a simple example. Many years ago on a due diligence trip, we got to the transmitter at night, and in the course of the inspection we asked to see this station’s operation on their generator. With a 250 watt night signal, the notable varying load of two sets of beacon flashing caused the generator to gun every time the 2400 watts of beacon bulbs were brought online.

Although the generator ostensibly could handle the power demand on a nameplate basis, the varying load caused a hysteresis effect as the engine was stimulated to produce more horsepower to then produce more current and still maintain voltage.

Obviously this rhythmic up and down was not helpful to the plant’s overall performance and ultimately changes were made.

Today many FM stations still have Class A transmitter loads, where the transmitter draws essentially the same current all the time. However, many stations use transmitters (an abundance of AMs particularly) with amplifier classes going to digital Class D (or even E) where the power demand can go from nothing to max at a megahertz rate with even that extreme pulsing varying a time basis.

Between the factors delineated above, you should identify the capacity for handling power factor and complex loads carefully.

Broadcast operations are specialized. Even with the best outside professional help, sample the experiences of your peers and equipment manufacturer before you design, purchase or install any significant soft system.

Exercise and test your soft/standby system regularly on a disciplined periodic basis. As we learned from the space program, if you want the rocket to work perfectly one time, you need to design and build it to work a thousand times.

An important key to this is regular exercise under the total loads that will need to be supported if you lose commercial power.

At least annually but better quarterly, shut off commercial power and observe the entire procedure. How long does it take for the control system to recognize the power loss, for the engine to come to speed and acceptable voltage, for the station to stabilize and go through the steps to bring the station back on?

Support systems are an equally important part of the operation. Observe and inspect them at the same time. Do the louvers open properly and fully? Does the day tank pump bring up fuel correctly?

A long run of at least an hour in hot weather is appropriate to see if cooling and lubrication are functioning correctly.

Needless to say, but we’ll say it: Change oil and coolants on an annual basis. Test or change gasoline or oil annually.

A generator that does not run when needed is a monumental capital waste.

UPS batteries have a finite life.

Sealed, wet dielectric batteries have an optimal charging pattern. Because of the limited charge and deep discharge demands, they usually have a limited life.

To ensure reliability, there is no substitute for an actual deep discharge test where the batteries are taken to the voltage point where the UPS disconnects. Note the time time this takes under the expected loads and compare with the previous exercise. The battery and/or the UPS manufacturer should be able to supply performance data that will guide you in creating your replacement plan.

Change all batteries in an UPS at the same time.

Clearly mark all components.

The National Electric Code requires that all commercial outlets be identified as to panel and overcurrent device (fuse or circuit breaker).

In addition, clearly identify your various system components and their source of supply, especially when you make changes.

A quick if imperfect example of this came during the fast change-out of an FM transmitter. The main supply breaker (marked “FM transmitter”) was turned off and conductors in the conduit were being pulled out. For a few seconds, a scary shower of sparks flew out of the ceiling.

The first transmitter in the space had a separate circuit for its crystal heaters. This circuit was never removed and never turned off as it was not marked in the panel or rig.

Luckily no one was hurt.

Charles S. Fitch, P.E., is a longtime contributor whose articles about engineering concepts, DIY projects and radio history are a popular recurring feature in Radio World.

The post Your Power, Your Transmitter and You appeared first on Radio World.

The Dec. 22 issue of Radio World features our Buyer’s Guide for antennas, RF support and power products. Buyer’s Guide features application stories like this one.

Information Station Specialists says its newly available HPR.0990 Antenna is a temporary, auxiliary or emergency solution for AM broadcasters that need an affordable means of remaining on the air when a situation demands it. That might be because of loss of primary site, tower rebuild/failure, maintenance of translator authorization or a tower site move.

Pictured is the antenna in temporary use by KNBI(AM) in Monterey, Calif.

The station, which is branded as KMBY, was silenced due to reduced revenues during COVID and was donated to a nonprofit that then was unable to renegotiate the tower lease. So a temporary antenna solution was required. ISS says the 1240 signal is back on air from a commercial building’s roof in Monterey.

The HPR.0990 can transmit with up to 270 watts (carrier) with no ATU requirement due to its 50-ohm resonant design. A generous loading coil and capacitive top hat allow the antenna to be shorter (32 feet) and more efficient than antennas of similar design.

Its efficiency rating is up to 170 mV/m/km/1 kW. A 25-foot radius ground plane provides the required counterpoise. The antenna is tunable across a frequency range.

Local engineer and installer Mark Carbonaro said the antenna is relatively lightweight at 30 pounds and has durable, stainless steel assembly parts, important in a marine environment. The anodized finish is designed for harsh conditions. The sustained wind rating exceeds 100 mph. KNBI’s antenna survived 65-mph gusts from recent coastal windstorms.

The antenna is in stock at common frequencies for fast shipment. ISS said Carbonaro offers to answer questions about the antenna at markcarbonaro1@gmail.com.

Info: theRADIOsource.com, 616-772-2300 ext. 102, or email bill@theradiosource.com.

The post ISS HPR.0990 AM Antenna Does a Quick Stand-In appeared first on Radio World.

Here’s your 2022 Radio World Source Book & Directory.

Each year the Radio World editorial team compiles a directory of companies that offer products and services to support radio broadcast professionals.

Here is your 2022 edition. It includes an alphabetical company listing as well as a cross-index by types of product or service. The companies you’ll find here are your source for audio processors, remote control systems, transmitters, microphones, air lights, contracting, integration services, the list goes on.

We hope you find this a helpful resource. Thank you for being a Radio World reader!

Read it here.

The post Radio World’s 2022 Source Book & Directory appeared first on Radio World.

The Dec. 22 issue of Radio World features our Buyer’s Guide for antennas, RF support and power products. Buyer’s Guide features application stories like this one.

Northern Community Radio is an independent non-profit organization that operates two full-service FM radio stations and one translator that serve north central and northeastern Minnesota.

NCR built a full-service Class C2 FM station, KBXE, licensed to Bagley, Minn., in 2012. KBXE has a 488-foot guyed tower and directional Rototiller FM antenna made and installed by ERI. The station rebroadcasts KAXE and airs local programming from studios in Bemidji.

In 2019 NCR was granted a CP to increase KAXE’s height above average terrain from 459 to 673 feet while maintaining 100 kW effective radiated power. These new facilities required a taller 499-foot tower.

Chief Engineer Dan Houg proposed a new tower, antenna, transmission line and installation services, and ERI won the contract. Shown is KAXE’s 10-Bay High-Power Model SHPX-10AC Rototiller FM Antenna. ERI also was awarded a contract that included destacking the existing 315-foot tower after the new system was operational.

David Baes, executive director of Northern Community Radio, told ERI, “Now, with the new, improved signal, we are reaching out further than ever and bringing in a new group of listeners into the KAXE/KBXE family. I am excited about the future, to see where it leads us next.”

When the construction and commissioning of the new transmission facilities, were complete, the station website announced, “After YEARS of fundraising and planning, the construction of the KAXE tower and transmitter is complete. Finally, the 91.7 signal is back bigger and stronger than ever before.”

Info: eriinc.com, 812-925-6000 or email sales@eriinc.com

The post Northern Community Radio Goes Higher with ERI appeared first on Radio World.

This week we’re featuring highlights of 2021’s ebooks. 

Pierre Bouvard is chief insights officer at Cumulus Media and its national-facing arm Westwood One. This interview is from “Streaming for Radio in 2021.”

Radio World: How do you think broadcasters are doing at leveraging streaming?

Pierre Bouvard: The real accelerator for streaming has been the smart speaker. Years have gone by since stations started streaming, and it was always maybe 5% of total tuning; the arrival of the smart speaker caused radio stations to really wake up to the fact that the smart speaker brings radio back into the home.

Increasingly, homes do not own a radio, but a third now have smart speakers. Radio stations have been aggressively promoting that “You can listen to our station on your Alexa or Google Home.”

Now 15% of 25-to-54 listening in America occurs through the stream. That’s a substantial number. I think an advertiser needs to understand that if you’re going to spend a dollar on radio, 85 cents can be for the over-the-air and 15 cents should be for the stream.

By the way, we did a study. If you ask the average American, “Do you know how to listen to a radio station on a smart speaker,” there’s still a fair chunk who say no. We need to do a more forceful job of explaining how somebody can use a smart speaker to listen to a radio station.

The TechSurvey from Jacobs Media asks AM/FM radio listeners how much time they spent listening to their most preferred station via traditional platforms (AM/FM radios at home, at school, at work or in a vehicle) versus digital platforms (via computer, mobile, smart speaker or podcast). The convergence of the trend lines is apparent over time.

RW: Your Cumulus colleague Doug Hyde blogged recently about some substantial research on streaming. 

Bouvard: That is a study done quarterly called “Share of Ear,” conducted by Edison Research. It’s the gold standard study on how Americans consume audio. They have been showing over the last couple of years a steady and persistent increase in the share of listening that’s going to the audio stream.

The second part of this has been Nielsen. Since the Portable People Meter launched in 2010, broadcasters have asked Nielsen, “The PPM does a great job of picking up listening in an ambient fashion in the room, but if I put my headphones in for streaming, how can the PPM pick it up?”

A headphone listening adjustment for streaming went in place October of last year. In essence, streaming listening doubled from 5% to about 10% of 12+ listening.

Broadcasters now have the confidence that Nielsen is picking up streaming; so it can be monetized.

You’ve seen a number of stations doing Total Line Reporting, combining the over-the-air and the stream. The ratings increases when you combine those have been significant; in some markets, especially sports and spoken-word stations, they’re seeing significant increases with the combination of the stream, over-the-air signal and the new headphone adjustment from Nielsen.

Bouvard said Nielsen’s recent PPM adjustment for headphone listening revealed a doubling of 12+ listening. “Broadcasters now have the confidence that Nielsen is picking up streaming; so it can be monetized,” he said.

RW: There’s been this common comment that radio managers have struggled to monetize streaming. Has that changed?

Bouvard: When streaming was 5% of radio listening, yes, it seemed like a rounding error. But now that streaming is 15% of adults 25–54, it’s substantial. That is something we’re seeing across the Cumulus platform: Advertisers are seeing the value of the stream.

There’s something else: Streaming is the soundtrack of the American worker.

If you look at the hour-by-hour data, when is streaming strongest? Nine-to-five. This is a workplace audience. It’s one of the most valuable qualitative targets for an advertiser. They have a job. They have incomes.

What you have is a huge amount of audience that’s between the very desirable younger 20s all the way up to the 60s. The audience skews female, which is important for advertisers, since women either control or basically are responsible for most American consumption; and the profile is nicely upscale.

And the majority of the people are from that market. The local advertiser can buy ads in the stream with the confidence that the majority of the people reached are from that town.

RW: Which organizations do you think are incorporating streaming well into their strategies?

Bouvard: Spoken-word radio stations by nature, especially sports stations, have done an extraordinary job. I might have grown up in San Francisco, have allegiances to the San Francisco team; now I’m living somewhere else. Sports has done an amazing job of bringing those out-of-town people back to their hometown teams.

There are certain top personalities who aren’t in every market; streaming is also a way to reach them. We have a podcaster, Dan Bongino. He launched his radio show about two weeks ago. In the press release, we indicated a couple of the stations that would be carrying the show and their stream; the amount of traffic and interest basically crushed our websites and the streaming.

What radio does well is have compelling, funny and entertaining personalities. Streaming is a way for listeners to get to talents that they love even if they’re somewhere where they don’t have access to a radio. When we ask listeners, “What do you like about streaming,” that’s the answer: “It gives me the ability to listen to my favorite radio station, no matter where I am. I like that flexibility.”

That’s the voice of the customer saying, “Give me my station so that I can enjoy it more frequently.” That’s what streaming can do.

RW: What have we learned about analytics, measuring audience and verifying that people are actually hearing this content?

Bouvard: That’s the benefit radio has that Pandora and Spotify don’t. Pandora can tell you, “I delivered a thousand impressions” but you actually don’t know. The ad could have been playing to the empty room. Or the Spotify app could have been played so softly that nobody ever heard it.

The Nielsen Portable People Meter is tuned to the ear; that PPM is only capturing audible signals. We know if the ad was playing at a level that the person could hear.

The other big opportunity is that, by putting the audio stream in a digital format, we can append data to that stream. We can do a study to see: Did the people who heard the radio ad go to the advertiser website? Did the people who heard the radio ad go to the advertiser’s store? Did we grow awareness and interest for the advertiser?

Streaming opens up a whole new world of accountability and measurement.

RW: Sometimes we hear about audio quality and loudness problems, or ads that don’t run, or that you listen to a stream and can tell that no one is paying attention to it. Do you think that remains a problem? 

Bouvard: If 15% of radio listening is occurring via the stream, that’s bigger than the entire AM band, which is about 10% of radio listening. That’s significant. When it gets that big, you start paying attention.

It’s like another radio station — we have to give it just as much love and attention. The ads have to run as scheduled. The volume has to be consistent and pleasurable. If we’re going to substitute music, we’re going to need to do that elegantly.

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RW: Do you think our industry has gotten its message to potential advertisers that there’s a benefit over the Pandoras and Spotifys? 

Bouvard: Interestingly if you look at the “Share of Ear” data, AM/FM streaming is bigger than Pandora and AM/FM streaming is bigger than Spotify. That speaks for itself.

RW: But is that message getting to the advertising community?

Bouvard: Yes I think it is — thanks to folks like Audacy, who have rebranded and are going to market with a consistent offering. Thanks to iHeart. There are a lot more feet on the streets telling the story of AM/FM streaming.

RW: How you see the role of streaming continuing to evolve?

Bouvard: Jacobs Media runs an annual study called the Techsurvey. Every year they ask listeners, “How do you listen to your favorite radio station? Do you listen over the air, or do you listen with a device like a smart speaker, cell phone, laptop?” If you trend those lines, it has been going up consistently for streaming at the expense of over-the-air. That’s a nine-year trend.

If you keep extrapolating that, there’s going to be a point in time, maybe five years from now, maybe 10, where those lines are going to cross — where half of all American radio listening will be occurring through the stream.

I’m reminded of AM radio. At the beginning of the ’70s, AM dominated and FM was this experimental hippie thing. FM wasn’t in the car. But by 1980, half of all American listening was on FM.

Well, streaming is the new FM. It’s growing, and it’s something to be taken seriously.

Every radio salesperson should be saying, “Every buy on my radio station should have streaming, because it is now getting to be so significant. The audiences are growing so much.”

Every proposal and every buy should have streaming.

The post Streaming Is the New FM appeared first on Radio World.

This week we’re featuring highlights from Radio World’s 2021 ebooks. This article appeared in “After the Masks Come Off.”

Scott Foster is senior VP of engineering at Salem Media Group.

Scott Foster has been with Salem Media Group for 22 years. He remembers learning early on that when it comes to new facility projects, the company’s mission is more important than the money.

So where another company that bills $25 million a year in a market may have the luxury of spending $3 million to build a studio cluster, Salem’s team typically must plan around significantly smaller numbers.

Salem owns about a hundred stations in roughly 35 markets, including most of the largest cities. Some carry teaching and talk programs that are purchased by Christian ministries; much of this content is delivered to Salem via IP using XDS receivers from ATX.

Other stations carry Salem’s conservative talk format, distributed through Westwood One to XDS satellite receivers. And in major markets, Salem FM stations carry the company’s Fish format.

Efficiency was already a byword. “We have found that when we get several stations together, we can leverage the same salesforce, the same production force and board ops. Where another company with a three-station market might build 10 or 12 studios, we probably have five or six.”

In the long term, the company wants to downsize space further (though regional NOCs are not in its plans). And while remote work will grow, at least some in-person work will continue. For example, engineers and operations managers generally need to work on site. And sales teams benefit from the camaraderie and competition of working together.

But Foster expects that more air talent will work remotely and that future facilities will involve fewer studios, fewer seats and more “flex” space.

Even 20 years ago, before virtualization was a thing, Salem was thinking about operating lean. It would install a “station in a rack,” with Broadcast Tools switchers stacked on one another.

“We started it in Seattle; we had four radio stations there using five or six studios, all of which showed up on the switcher. When a studio went live, it was brought up on the switcher; when we didn’t need it, it was a satellite-driven.”

Those stacks of switchers, of course, are gone now. Foster recently managed a buildout in Washington and says, “I have one 25-pair Cat-5 and four punchblocks in that entire facility. Everything else is patch blocks, a biscuit box with network connections in it.”

Efficiency also means careful management of how rooms are used. Salem has many clients who come in and record half-hour shows on various topics, so even before the pandemic, scheduling was important, and only more so now.

“Nothing is worse than having [company executives] Dave Santrella or Ed Atsinger walk through a facility and see seven studios but four of them are dark with nobody in them. You’re wasting rent, you’re wasting capital. So we’re on a drive to shrink and push staffs to optimize the usage of their facilities.”

Exploring virtualization

Thinking centrally has been a long-term trend.

Until the early 2000s IT functions were managed locally at each Salem cluster, but this left the company vulnerable to security issues, so it began standardizing and consolidating back-office functions such as sales and management computers, traffic and VoIP phone systems.

“I watched the IT closet in our corporate office go from seven racks to one rack as they took all this stuff and they dropped it in our data centers,” Foster said.

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Then about six years ago Foster read about the BBC project exploring centralized local virtual radio, called ViLOR, and was inspired.

“Our stations run the same content in 35 markets. Why do I have 35 markets running these things, 35 people babysitting them and 35 facilities to keep up — 35, 35, 35? Why couldn’t I do it with two or three and distribute it across all of them?”

He approached Telos Alliance and a project integrator in Great Britain, both of which were involved in ViLOR, to learn more. As a result, Salem has performed some tests of virtualization in a “sandbox” project that involves a console engine, automation and codecs in Dallas that are run virtually through a data center and can be controlled from Seattle.

While this is a beta concept right now, Foster expects that Salem will continue to move in that direction.

“We are starting to transport a lot of content between studios and transmitter sites via IP; having that infrastructure already in place is one of our stepping stones.”

Standardizing on automation is another step. Salem was using systems from four vendors, but with virtualization in mind, it settled on WideOrbit.

“We’ve virtualized in our own facilities; the machines in the rack are where the audio takes place. Machines in the studios are just a GUI interface — a Wyse terminal interface back to the rack to give feedback, to see and manipulate the log.” Most stations, he said, will use Livewire infrastructure in support of the virtualization of the automation.

“The biggest fight is the microphone delay, right? Everybody is so used to hearing themselves in the microphone. You have a half-second delay and it drives them nuts.”

But giving a flavor of what’s to come, Salem has one local talk host who lives far from his market and manipulates WideOrbit automation remotely. “He could voice track in real time if he wanted to. It’s like the studio has been extended to his office halfway across the country.”

But for now, automation resides on servers in each facility, rather than moving it to remote data centers.

“Your troubleshooting changes then because you can’t just clip leads on a wire and hear the audio; you’ve got to be able to track packets and delay.” But once the technical staff has become accustomed to working with virtualization, Foster suspects Salem will make that jump.

Workforce issues

Some broadcasters have said that the pandemic accelerated radio’s move toward workflows being built around service agreements rather than one-time capital equipment purchases. Is Salem seeing that trend?

“On the software side of things, our Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Audition are annual pay. But the automation we’re buying outright.

“But yes I’m being asked to analyze it, and generally if we can show that it’s cheaper to do something as op-ex over four or five years, we’ll do it. But it has to pay off quickly.

“I’m not seeing it in transmitters or console systems — though if somebody like a Telos or a Wheatstone offered service via a centralized data center, it could be an interesting model. A station that reaches 10,000 people probably isn’t going to drop $15,000 on an audio over IP system, but a manufacturer might be able to get them signed up for a hundred dollars a month.”

Interestingly, Foster hears from vendors that even offer tower lighting as a service — “‘Hey, for $6,000 a month, we’ll put the lights on the tower, we’ll monitor it, we’ll do all the filings and fix them when they go bad. We just ask that you sign up for five or 10 years.’”

He says this idea might be appealing if a station is looking at a 1,200-foot tower in Omaha that needs new LED lighting, in which case the engineer may have to weigh whether it would be better to pay someone a monthly fee for a predetermined number of years, or spend $140,000 up front and bet that he can keep those new lights operational for longer than that.

One other unexpected impact of the pandemic is the difficulty in sourcing good tradespeople and working with utilities.

“I’m having a hard time finding electricians who will come wire up generators or do concrete pads. Likewise, I’ve got a major power project in Philadelphia, and PECO wouldn’t even come to the facility for a walkthrough because of COVID until just last week.”

Whether it’s for landscaping or paving a parking lot, tradespeople may just be too busy or are dealing with COVID issues of their own. Foster said it’s hard enough to locate one good vendor, much less three to all quote on a job.

The post At Salem, Learning to Think Virtually appeared first on Radio World.

(Getty Images)

Broadcasters are expressing concerns about the notion of changing the Emergency Alert system to add or expand alerting via the internet, including via streaming.

Congress instructed the FCC to examine the feasibility of such changes and of improving alerts that are already delivered online. A notice of inquiry from the commission invited public feedback.

Feedback from broadcasters and other interested parties reflect a general wariness of modifying EAS in this way.

The majority of commenters told the FCC they worry about the practicality of enabling online alerts via streaming services. Proponents of the established system say it is proven and that alerts are available via radio and TV broadcast stations, analog and digital cable, satellite radio, cell phones and other mobile wireless devices.

In addition, some broadcasters worry that any lessening of the FCC’s regulatory jurisdiction over EAS could create enforcement issues while overseeing streaming platforms.

“Expanding emergency alerts through non-FCC regulated streaming services not only presents technological challenges, but also fundamental regulatory and compliance challenges,” iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media wrote in joint comments to the FCC.

The broadcasters expressed concerns that internet-based services such as Netflix, Spotify and Hulu operate from centralized platforms, which if enabled with emergency alert capabilities could leave them susceptible to hackers.

“An intentional hack into one of these platforms by an actor with the malicious intent to cause public panic through false emergency alerts could have very broad national impact, all outside the regulatory control of the FCC,” iHeartMedia and Cumulus wrote.

It’s also not clear how a national streaming service could receive and then geographically-target locally generated alert messages in a timely manner, they said, thus undermining the current alerting system.

“Complicated if not infeasible”

The National Association of Broadcasters expressed similar concerns in reply comments: “Extending EAS obligations to internet streaming services would be complicated, if not infeasible.”

NAB sees maintaining a “reliable EAS” as a crucial calling of all broadcasters. Reliability of alerting was one of the issues cited by Congress when it told the FCC to explore ways to coordinate multiple technologies for advanced alerting.

The NAB said the only online audio outlets that currently may retransmit EAS messages are websites and apps that simulcast radio stations.

“As a general matter, the streaming feeds at the broadcast station are originated upstream of the EAS encoder/decoder in the programming chain, meaning that an EAS alert is typically relayed only if it occurs while a station’s own programming is broadcast on-air. If an alert occurs during a commercial break in the on-air programming, when different content is inserted into the online stream, the EAS alert is not usually retransmitted to the listener or viewer,” NAB wrote.

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In addition, pure-play online content streamers are not “well-positioned to participate in the existing EAS ecosystem” for live streaming feeds or on-demand content, according to NAB. “In general, online streamers lack the infrastructure to geographically localize any alert,” it wrote.

And the association theorizes that using IP addresses to geofence the dissemination of alerts could raise even more issues.

NAB concludes: “It remains unclear how the FCC could extend the EAS rules to largely unregulated internet streamers or ensure the reliability and security of EAS over the internet. Therefore, NAB respectfully submits that the commission should report to Congress that enabling EAS alerts to consumers provided through the internet would be too complex and likely infeasible at this time.”

National Public Radio agreed with the overwhelming majority of comments in saying that streaming services should not be required to provide EAS alerts.

“NPR also asks the commission to be mindful of imposing any potential costs that would result when adopting new requirements, especially for under-resourced public broadcasting entities,” NPR wrote. “Requiring public radio stations to provide EAS alerts through internet streams could introduce cost and possibly significant complexity.”

Further, stations do not completely control the end-user player experience with their streams, and some streams have sponsorship message insertion, which can interrupt an alert, NPR pointed out.

“It would be almost impossible for a station to monitor and verify that EAS alerts air on all of the different streaming players and aggregators, so measuring and logging compliance would be difficult,” NPR said.

NPR said the NOI’s definition of “streaming services” is quite broad and included websites, applications and services that are nationally focused and stream on-demand content.

NPR did suggest that current EAS participants should be encouraged to furnish EAS alerts over the internet on a voluntary basis when feasible.

REC Networks, a low-power FM advocate, made the following observation in its comments: “As many people listen to audio streaming services through a wireless device, they already have a tool, a much more reliable tool on their phone (Wireless Emergency Alerts) that can do the same thing — if not better — than what the inquiry suggests should be imposed on small and large streaming services.”

Other views

However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service supports the efforts to extend alerts to the internet and streaming services. Specifically, it believes the use of streaming services for emergency alert information will expand message dissemination, particularly to younger audiences.

“According to the Pew Research Center, 61% of U.S. consumers aged between 18 and 29 say an online streaming service is the primary way they watch television now,” NOAA officials wrote in reply comments to the FCC.

Technology licensing company Xperi Corp. believes the nation’s digital alerting ecosystem does need “reimagining,” but rather than adopting internet capabilities, it believes the FCC should make its HD Radio technology an integral component of the digital emergency alerting fabric.

“Not only can HD Radio broadcasting serve as a model for how to integrate EAS notifications with other digital technologies, but HD Radio technology should play a central role in any efforts to modernize the EAS, providing important resiliency and redundancy,” Xperi wrote.

Xperi said HD Radio would allow for the use of Common Alerting Protocol elements that can be leveraged to render message text, graphics and audio that maximize the accessibility and effectiveness of emergency alert information.

And what about streamers?

The Digital Media Association (DiMA), whose members include pure-play online content streamers like Pandora and Spotify, believes it may be it may be feasible to complete some, but not all, steps required for end-to-end transmission of EAS alerts through the internet, specifically, via the music pure-play streaming services offered by DiMA member companies.

“While receiving and processing EAS alerts may be technically possible, however, the national and global nature of these streaming services, which operate as apps on hardware devices or through websites relying on networks these services have no control over to transmit data, makes monitoring for, retransmitting, and delivering EAS alerts to end users infeasible, if not impossible,” DiMA told the FCC.

Therefore, “rather than increasing the reach of EAS, streaming services’ involvement will duplicate and possibly interfere with activities of existing participants, including broadcasters, cable systems and telecommunications providers, and others who remain better positioned to deliver clear, targeted and relevant alerts to local communities,” DiMA wrote in its comments.

Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The FCC Inquiry

The commission noted in March that Congress had instructed it to conduct an inquiry to examine the feasibility of updating the Emergency Alert System to enable or improve alerts to consumers provided through the internet, including through streaming services.

“Accordingly, in this Notice of Inquiry, we seek comment on the definition of ‘streaming services’ and whether it would be technically feasible for streaming services to complete each step that EAS participants complete under the commission’s rules in ensuring the end-to-end transmission of EAS alerts, including monitoring for relevant EAS alerts, receiving and processing EAS alerts, retransmitting EAS alerts, presenting EAS alerts in an accessible manner to relevant consumers, and testing.”

Congress also told it to look into the feasibility of improving alerts to consumers that are already delivered over the internet. “Accordingly we seek to establish whether it is feasible for EAS participants to leverage the internet to offer the full feature suite of the Common Alerting Protocol to the public.”

The NOI included many specific questions and issues that these concepts raise. You can read it in a PDF here. The discussion starts on page 26, paragraph 57.

The post The FCC Studies Internet EAS Alerting appeared first on Radio World.

The author is director, RF engineering at Shively Labs.

Just about anything can happen to cause failure in an RF system.

Antenna damage from wind, falling ice, lightning, tower work, vandalism, loose connections and aging components are just a few. When an engineer has multiple systems to take care of, something always seems to be in need of attention.

One way we have some control over such failures is regular system maintenance.

Caption:
Burns are visible where wire had been used to secure a flexible 3-inch line.

Have you ever checked site parameters after a significant weather event and found that some parameter had changed — not to the point of failure, but enough to prompt an investigation? Then upon a closer look you found damage that needed repair?

Or perhaps on a routine site visit, you discovered excessive heat on one or more components, and upon further investigation found an elbow that was nearly kaput — it would have failed catastrophically within weeks or days.

This is proactive maintenance and repair. If these near-misses haven’t happened to you, they likely will.

Had you been unable to check those readings after that storm and thus could not notice increasing VSWR, or had you not visited that site and noticed the hot elbow, the condition would have persisted, worsened and eventually failed, taking your station off the air.

That call usually comes at midnight on Super Bowl weekend.

These damaged components are an example of the “outside in” sort of burn that can occur when lines pass too close or touch other coax or tower members.

Checking sites that have suffered through extreme weather events is a prudent practice. So are regular visits, even to sites that may be considered trouble-free. The periodicity will vary — more frequent for trouble sites, perhaps quarterly or even semiannually for more reliable sites.

Annual tower climbs are great if it’s in the budget, but when they are not possible, we come back to intimate knowledge of system performance and those baselines, and running history logs that allow us to review for any indication that a problem has started and at what rate it is changing.

This can be useful information when determining if you need to scramble to make a maintenance visit immediately or can schedule for a later date.

Sample issues

Some things to look for when inspecting for damage in an antenna:

• Loss of dry air pressure, whether entirely or through a slow leak.
• Missing or damaged radiators. Pay close attention to the ends of the radiator and the feed points.
• Kinked, compressed or burned cables.
• Broken or unsealed radomes and/or plugged drains that cause water to collect.

In more complex systems, the power dividers and coaxial lines should be installed without undue mechanical stress on the components.

The coax should have the appropriate hangers and fasteners where they cross tower members or other antenna feed components. Consult the manufacturer for specific recommendations and best practices.

Antennas that have deicers systems usually have an external wiring harness to distribute AC power to each heating element within each radiator. The manufacturer will have the resistive values for each element and current draw to expect.

An ammeter measurement of each leg of the circuit, including the neutral, will give the first clues to the condition of the deicer system.

If the wiring harness was not installed correctly or fasteners have fallen away over time, the harness can hang in the high RF environment. This can cause reflected power issues at the transmitter and changes in coverage; it can cause currents to be induced into the wiring harness, and voltages large enough to cause arcing between the conductors of the wiring harness and tower members or other cables that pass in close proximity.

This is an excerpt of an article “Tips for RF System Installation and Maintenance” you can read in full in Radio World’s “Mission-Critical: Maintaining Your Transmitter Site” ebook.

The post Tips for RF System Installation and Maintenance appeared first on Radio World.

The Dec. 22 issue of Radio World features our Buyer’s Guide for antennas, RF support and power products.

Hank Landsberg is president of Sine Control Technology. The company has a new offering called the HP-200-1-TX.

Radio World: What is the new product?

Hank Landsberg: It’s a lower-cost version of our top-selling, highest-performance surge suppressor. The model number will be HP200-1-TX. It will be suitable for use at transmitter sites, hence the “TX.” It’s rated at 200,000 surge-amps per phase, so it’s ideal for use in high-lightning locales.

RW: How will radio stations use it?

Landsberg: It will be an excellent choice for use with solid-state transmitters that run on 240 volt single-phase power. These are very popular from manufacturers like Nautel and GatesAir, but they are also vulnerable to power supply failure caused by AC power line spikes and surges.

Our existing model HP200-1 has been very effective at eliminating this source of transmitter failure; the new model will make it more affordable without compromising performance.

The HP200-1-TX will be for 120/240 volt single and “split” phase power. It should be installed close to the main electrical panel where the Neutral and Ground wires are tied together.

The unit will also provide a Remote Status Output that can be interfaced to any transmitter remote control system. It will alert the user if there is a power failure or if a fuse in the PowerClamp unit needs to be replaced.

RW: What else should we know? Cost?

Landsberg: Like all PowerClamp surge suppressors, this unit uses a hybrid of multiple suppression circuits to achieve a very low clamping level — just a few volts above the sine wave peak. It’s installed in parallel with the load. There is no voltage loss, nor does its performance degrade over time.

Pricing is not determined yet, but it should be about 25% below the current model with identical performance.

Info: www.henryeng.com or call 562-493-3589 in California.

The post Sine Control Adds Lower-Cost PowerClamp appeared first on Radio World.

I consider it my mission to stay on top of tech — always reading, watching and digging. It is my passion to bring custom solutions to broadcast customers.

I frequently am inspired by software, networking and virtualization technologies used across so many industries, tried and true solutions that easily could benefit local radio.

Generally, IT infrastructure already exists in a broadcast facility in the form of routers, firewalls, switches and virtualization stacks from various vendors. It is imperative to make sure that this infrastructure is designed correctly, with security and functionality in mind.

In our industry, most of us have become accustomed to working with less-than-ideal equipment, not always implemented with the best, most secure, most efficient design in mind. Whenever possible, I use free and open-source software (FOSS) tools for my customers, even “retrofitting around” pre-existing equipment when a redesign is not yet feasible.

With FOSS, community-driven development allows for unique and powerful features, equal to or greater than proprietary solutions. In a time where security should be of the highest priority, I like knowing that source code is free-and-clear to audit at any time by anyone in the world. FOSS can offer significant cost savings to clients, and many times, make doing a project that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive possible.

But misunderstood or misconfigured tech is often more problematic and insecure than not having it at all. I have a lab where I can test software, virtualization, networking and proprietary broadcast hardware and software, and I have remote access to broadcast equipment in the radio stations and labs of partners and clients all over the world.

Working remotely

The pandemic has taught us that remote work, even for broadcasters, is surprisingly doable. With so many at home — aside from audio transport, more on that later — connecting to PCs station-side with tools like TeamViewer, VNC and LogMeIn have been the go-to solution.

But broadcast engineers like Jobie Sprinkle at WFAE in Charlotte, Henrik Poulsen at Radio Nordjyske in Aalborg, Denmark, and Tim Aquilina at 92.7 Mix FM in Maroochydore, Australia, have been looking for a way to give talent physical control again. And they are not alone.

Air talent around the world have grown up pushing physical buttons and adjusting physical faders and knobs without needing to see what they are doing because of muscle-memory. Today, it is possible to build the creature comforts at home that talent has been accustomed to in studios for decades, while embracing new technologies never before possible. It can be done, even on a budget, by combining tools used by IT professionals across all industries with the plethora of tools already designed for broadcasters.

Security concerns

It has always been considered bad practice to open firewall ports to internal services across the public internet, especially when the data is unencrypted. But I still see it happening at broadcast facilities all over the world.

Today, security is of the highest priority, so, using encrypted VPNs with additional internal and external firewall rules in place are the way to go. IPSec, OpenVPN and Wireguard are some of the most common VPN technologies, as well as proprietary vendor-specific ones. SD-WAN, although a buzzword of late, is very powerful and allows for global networks of all kinds of devices.

In all cases, encryption at the highest level available should be used.

Getting Into WheatNet remotely

Working from home myself, I wanted to test the reliability of remote physical control of gear from Wheatstone. In my home office lab sits a Wheatstone Sideboard. It is connected to a full Wheatstone AOIP system over 1,000 miles away. The Sideboard gives me real, physical, tactile control over a Utility Mixer — an 8-channel virtual console in a 1 RU Wheatstone Blade.

This is the intended purpose of a Sideboard, and it usually happens locally, but in this case, the Blade is in another time zone. With the Sideboard, I can select any source on the remote WheatNet system and make it available in the Utility Mixer I am accessing remotely.

So while I am controlling the mix locally, the mix itself is happening in the remote lab. Wheatstone supports using their automation control interface (ACI) between devices over a network, both locally and remote. the Sideboard is just one device on their list of control surfaces that can do this.

To make it possible in my lab, I have chosen a stack of FOSS tools including a router/firewall from pfSense with built-in OpenVPN. I set up an openVPN server on a static public IP address in my lab. On the remote-to-me lab’s side of things, it is behind a consumer firewall with a dynamic IP address. Behind that firewall is a PC connected to the internal internet network on one Interface, and the WheatNet network on another. It runs an OpenVPN Client and connects over the internet to the server in my lab.

In OpenVPN on both sides, I am using TAP Interfaces, bridged to each local WheatNet network. On the tunnel, there is no routing happening, it’s all layer 2, and so the devices on either side do not need a gateway defined to be able to talk to each other. In this way, I am effectively extending the same WheatNet Network across the VPN tunnel. See Fig. 1.

Fig. 1: Extending the network with a VPN tunnel.

Climbing the firewall

Sometimes, due to time, budget or hardware constraints, setting up VPN tunnels between two sites via dedicated hardware is not always possible. This is where a newer technology called SD-WAN, or software-defined wide-area networking, can be helpful.

ZeroTier One, Nubula and Tailscale are examples of this and employ magic (UDP hole-punching) between firewalls to establish connections between devices on an internal network on either side, without the need to insecurely open firewall ports or use hardware VPNs. All data is encrypted end-to-end and allows bridging and routing securely through the internet behind dynamic IPs behind firewalls on both sides.

This is an exciting technology that is making waves across all industries, though setup and configuration can be a bit more daunting than standard VPNs.

Transporting the audio

Solutions for getting audio from point A to point B are in huge supply. Comrex, Tieline, Barix and others have complete lines of hardware devices that do this effectively and efficiently. And Wheatstone has the Blade 4 with audio codecs built in.

Real-time audio in the virtualized world — software to software, and software to hardware — has become the Holy Grail in our ongoing pandemic world, and products that do this have come a long way, too. Some are able to use the high-quality, freely available (and FOSS!) Opus codec via SIP-managed connections; others are web-based like ipDTL and Cleanfeed. LUCI Software offers solutions for mobile, PC, Mac and Linux (think LUCI Live and LUCI Studio). These can work via SIP or direct connection, and have become my go-to solution lately because of their immense flexibility and lifetime licensing fees.

Blurring the lines

Early this year, I heard from a client who wanted to hire a new afternoon talent, but she is located nearly 100 miles away from the radio station. Is this doable, and on a budget? The show would continue through the pandemic and beyond.

I got to work designing and implementing a cost-effective solution.

The station is a customer of WideOrbit automation for radio and runs version 4,0, part of the newest incarnation, and provides “joint control” of each radio station. To obtain this control remotely and securely, all that is needed is a VPN connection. I turned to my trusty pfSesne/OpenVPN combo at the radio station, with an OpenVPN client running on a station-provided laptop at the talent’s house.

WideOrbit’s RadioClient, a native PC application, connects to the station-side RadioServers through the VPN tunnel, and the talent can control the radio station as if sitting in the studio. I configured workflows on hotkeys to route talent’s audio directly to air, take the feed off the air, send caller-audio to the talent, and route the backfeed to hear pre- and post-cut audio for voice tracking.

The off-the-shelf laptop is using a RødeCaster Pro for its audio interface, with an Electro-Voice RE20 plugged straight in. It has a solid DSP-based mic processor with a preset for the RE20, a listen and record bus and allows a mix-minus for the talent to hear return audio mixed with outgoing audio.

Fig. 2: WideOrbit Automation for Radio running on a laptop at talent’s house connected via OpenVPN, with joint control of the radio station, audio from the RødeCaster Pro transported back to the radio station via LUCI Live SE.

The client is particularly sensitive about subscription fees, so audio transport is handled via a one-time licensed version of LUCI Live SE on the laptop. This audio stream, along with WideOrbit control, is sent via the OpenVPN tunnel.

Station-side, a Windows virtual machine with an AoIP driver, is running LUCI Studio. LUCI allows different send and receive codecs, tailoring the codecs to the use-case.

In both directions, I wanted the lowest latency possible. I wanted return audio to be stereo, so that the talent feels like they are mixed well with the music. And so audio received from the talent uses a low-delay, mono, high-quality AAC codec. Return audio uses a stereo AAC codec with low delay and slightly lower quality. Currently, LUCI Studio is handling one bidirectional stream, but it is capable of 64.

Finally, phones are handled via Broadcast Bionics’ Caller One, running on a virtual machine at the station. Calls are answered via a web browser over the VPN remotely, with caller audio transported back to the talent via LUCI Studio, mixed on the RødeCaster Pro, sent back to the station as mix via LUCI Live SE, received by LUCI Studio, and recorded into WideOrbit as a produced package.

All of this does not feel remote for the talent, does not sound remote for the listener, and does not have an ongoing cost for the client.

Remote work is now a part of our lives across all industries. We live in a fantastic time of technology, where so much is available. And, now more than ever, it is possible for broadcasters, too. Doing it securely should be of the highest priority.

The author is owner of Fontastic LLC, a broadcast services company focusing on software and IT, helping radio stations around the world with integration projects. Email: chris@fontasticllc.com Twitter: fonte935

The post Take a Page from the IT Handbook appeared first on Radio World.

The National Association of Broadcasters has announced the NAB Show New York will return to New York City at the Javits Center on Oct. 19–20.

Produced by the NAB, the NAB Show New York is designed to be a more intimate opportunity for the broadcast, media and entertainment industry to present and discover product updates, new applications and workflow efficiencies to deliver superior audio and video experiences.

Additional details, including registration, will be available in the coming months, the NAB said.

More information is available at NABShowNY.com.

The post NAB Announces Plans for NAB Show New York in 2022 appeared first on Radio World.

Jared Merves

Jared Merves has been named senior vice president, digital, of Cumulus Media.

The company called him “a proven leader in digital revenue growth strategies, audience monetization and branded content.”

Merves founded a company offering digital support services called Wundervue. It was acquired by Distributed Media Lab, where he became chief revenue officer.

He is also former chief digital officer of Belo and Co. and had digital roles at Tegna and Cars.com.

He’ll start in mid January and report to President/CEO Mary Berner. Merves succeeds Larry He replaces Larry Linietsky.

Send announcements for People News, particularly engineering and upper management roles, to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Merves to Head Digital at Cumulus appeared first on Radio World.

The election was over, the motor generators had spun down, and the tubes had cooled; the big question at KDKA as Nov. 3, 2021 dawned was certainly “what do we do now?” (Getty Images)

The evening of Tuesday, Nov. 2, 1920, had come and gone. KDKA, 8MK, and perhaps others had taken to the airwaves that evening to report returns in the election that put Warren G. Harding in the White House. A few hundred, perhaps a few thousand people — there were no rating services then — managed to gain proximity to a primitive radio receiver of some sort and listened as the results were tallied and read into equally primitive microphones.

In retrospect, one can’t help but wonder what went through the minds of those individuals who stayed up late to present election results via “radiophone.” A radio broadcast is at best an intangible — something highly ephemeral, perhaps even a bit ethereal.

Had their voices really gone out into space to reach invisible ears? Had anything happened at all? There had to have been at least a slight sense of unreality in those first moments, a feeling perhaps best captured by Garrison Keillor in his description of the inaugural broadcast of mythical station WLT in St. Paul, Minn.

“Roy Jr. switched off the transmitter. It sighed, expelling a faint breath that smelled of vacuum tubes and electrodes. Ray leaned against the doorway, feeling faint. His speech had exhausted him.

‘Did anybody hear it, do you think?’

‘Guess so.’

‘Anybody ring up and say so?’

‘Nope. Maybe they were too busy listening.”

(WLT: A Radio Romance, 1992)

What now?

KDKA’s seminal broadcast way back in 1920, is now viewed as a great day — a truly historical one; something that changed the landscape forever. However, as with any event important enough to make its way into the history books, there’s always the dawning of the next day — the interval after the initial exuberance has passed and cold reality begins to set in. It is then that those who have been cheering in celebration are forced to stop and ponder “what happens next?”

KDKA’s hometown paper highlighted Harding’s win on Nov. 3, but nothing about the station’s historic broadcast.

This thought most certainly was on the minds of those at Westinghouse the morning of Wednesday, Nov.3, 1920.

Newspaper headlines that day said virtually nothing about radio. Instead, they screamed “HARDING BY MILLIONS,” “G.O.P.’s GREATEST VICTORY,” “HARDING WINS,” or whatever similar messages regarding election outcomes that could be fitted across the page in the largest type fonts available.

The words “radio” or “wireless” were hard to find, even down in the “noise” of the 6-point type reserved for classifieds and obituaries. Was there really a future in radio, or was the broadcast destined to be just another “flash in the pan?

Where are the cards and letters?

Judging from initial reaction by the public — other than some amount of well-wishing by those tuning in the KDKA broadcast — nothing had really changed. An examination of post-election night periodicals seems to indicate there was little direct impact — no uptick in business at the few sources for radio receivers and parts, no immediate backlog of applications for new stations at the Department of Commerce.

The public continued to read their newspapers and magazines, exchange gossip at card games and in barber shops, and seek out sources of illicit alcohol as Prohibition set in. The print media for the most part ignored radio as 1920 flowed on into 1921.

This would not be unexpected, as there is generally a “wait and see” attitude following the launch of new technology. A commercial aviation industry did not spring up immediately after the Wright brothers’ inaugural flight, and more than 100 years passed between the issuance of a patent for the first dishwasher and its widespread appearance in homes.

As for “radio gripping the hearts and imagination of Americans everywhere” following KDKA’s big broadcast, there’s little evidence to indicate that it initially made much difference one way or the other.

There were even non-believers and scoffers. One 1921 account describes an early demonstration of broadcasting with music transmissions demonstrated via a “mobile” receiver constructed in a baby carriage. Some “ear witnesses” were in denial of the wireless nature of what they were hearing, insisting that there must be a record player concealed in the carriage.

Pittsburgh push continues

Westinghouse still convinced it was riding a winning horse, continued to plow money into fledgling KDKA in 1921, boosting its power from 100 watts to 500, and then a full kilowatt and creating a broadcast studio.

Program offerings were also expanded with the addition of live musical performances, agricultural and weather reports, church services, and more

As 1921 progressed, Westinghouse, convinced that there was a future in radio broadcasting, continued to enhance the facilities of its fledgling station KDKA. One of the additions was the construction of the first real studio seen in the photo at left.; Westinghouse management also budgeted a higher power replacement for KDKA’s original 100-Watt transmitter. It was installed just a few months after the November 1920 election eve broadcast (center). Another indication radio for the masses was here to stay was the January 1921 KDKA hire of the world’s first full-time radio announcer, Harold Arlin (right). He is credited with handling the first radio play-by-play descriptions of both baseball and football games. (photos courtesy National Museum of Broadcasting)

Westinghouse’s PR branch stayed busy, issuing frequent press releases about KDKA to any and all print publications that might help to further the cause.

An example of such Westinghouse puffery appears the April 1921 issue of the trade publication, Radio News:

THEATRE MUSIC SENT BY RADIOFONE

The latest thing in providing entertainment by radiofone in Pittsburgh is the sending out of portions of the program given at a downtown theater. This is accomplisht in the same manner as the church services at the Calvary Church in the East End. Telefone transmitters placed in the theater collect and transmit the sound over a special telefone wire to the radio station of the Westinghouse company in East Pittsburgh (Radio KDKA), where it is then sent out by radiofone.

 

Promotions big and small Futurist Hugo Gernsback was an early supporter of democratizing radio, and used his monthly Radio News publication to further the cause whenever possible as seen in this January 1921 cover art.

Hugo Gernsback, editor of Radio News, and something of a visionary and prophet, was also a believer in radio broadcasting’s future, going so far as to drop the word “Amateur” from the title of his radio magazine in mid-1920 and welcoming such press releases.

Throughout 1921 Gernsbeck advocated “radio for everyone” in his magazine’s pages, with sometimes lengthy articles on new “radiophone” stations, demonstrations of speech and music transmissions, and simplified and less expensive access to radio for the public.

Perhaps the biggest boost received by radio broadcasting during its first year was the July 2 “fight of the century” featuring Georges Carpentier and Jack Dempsey.

While radio coverage was not the prime objective of this heavily-promoted event, others, outside of Westinghouse (most-notably RCA’s David Sarnoff), apparently saw some dollar signs in the new medium and added it to the mix.

The fight coverage station, WJY, was licensed as a temporary entity, and equipped with a General Electric transmitter that had been sidelined from delivery to another customer. (The “borrowed” nature of the gear may explain why WJY operated at 1,600 meters (187 kHz.) Another twist was the recruiting of licensed radio amateurs to assist in disseminating the broadcast, as radio sets were not really household items in 1921.

Radio broadcasting received a really big boost in 1921 from the broadcast of the July 2 Dempsey–Carpentier fight. The 3 kW transmitter used by the Hoboken, N.J. temporary station, WJY, is seen here. Reports were relayed from ringside and read by an announcer. The radio coverage of the championship fight was heavily promoted as evidenced in this photo (right) of a New Jersey boardwalk rolling chair.

The “ham” community set up receiving apparatus in performance halls and other venues, and ensured that everything worked properly. Even though reception of a 187 kHz signal and amplification to room-filling volume presented a challenge to the amateur radio ranks, many were able to deliver the goods to their captive and somewhat astonished audiences.

That collective audience was substantial, estimated at some 300,000, and most-assuredly exceeded “tuners-in” to KDKA’s election night event.

While the intent of July broadcast was to attract attention to the fight, it also did much to arouse public interest in radio, perhaps even more so than what Westinghouse was trying to accomplish with KDKA.

 

Priming the pump

1921 also saw other, less flamboyant, demonstrations of broadcasting.

Perhaps the best documented of these took place on Nov. 15, 1921 in Pine Bluff, Ark., where the president of the Arkansas Power and Light Company, Harvey Couch, had arranged for a broadcast of live and recorded music from Couch’s home to a meeting of the city’s Rotary Club. (AP&L was a Westinghouse customer, with Couch touring the KDKA operation during a buying trip to Pittsburgh and becoming a convert.)

Harvey Couch (Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Central Arkansas Library System)

Couch, the Rotarians, and others were so impressed with this latest miracle of science that shortly after the pre-Thanksgiving demo, Couch applied for a license for Arkansas’s first broadcast station.

This, and similar efforts around the country had the effect of priming the pump. The public was definitely becoming interested in radio and Westinghouse extended its broadcasting reach to other population centers, breaking ground on stations in Massachusetts (WBZ), Chicago (KYW) and New Jersey (WJZ).

Gernsback also kept up with his promotions in print, ending 1921 with this editorial:

“To the careful observer, during the past six months it has become apparent that we are finally headed in the right direction as far as popularizing radio is concerned. We may say that we are now right in the midst of a revolution, as far as radio and the great public are concerned. We see the weather marks everywhere. The newspapers are becoming enthusiastic about radio, and devote more and more space to it. The man in the street is beginning to take a lively interest in all things radio. The editor’s desk is beginning to become flooded with letters, not from radio bugs alone, but from the layman, who does not know the difference between a detector and a telephone receiver—all of which is a healthy sign, and we may say that radio is entering into its last and final stage, as far as the public at large is concerned.”

From all appearances, 1922 was shaping up to be a very big year for radio broadcasting.

The author wishes to express thanks to the National Museum of Broadcasting’s Rick Harris; radio collector and conservator, Gary Alley; and to Guy Lancaster and Brian Robertson at the Encyclopedia of Arkansas for their assistance in the preparation of this article.

 

Further reading

• Ray Poindexter, Arkansas Airwaves, Cassville, Mo.: Litho Printers, 1974
• Thomas H. White, “Battle of the Century” The WJY Story, 2000
• First Broadcast Dempsey–Carpentier Fight July 2, 1921, RCA internal memo, 1921

The post Radio At 100: ‘KDKA: The Morning After’ appeared first on Radio World.