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On September 20, 1995, CBS officially completed its acquisition of what until December 11, 1994 was Detroit’s FOX affiliate, WGPR-TV. The transaction was messy, and saw the city’s African American leaders seek to block the sale of WGPR by the Masons, which made the station the first in the U.S. to be wholly owned by Blacks. Lansing-based real estate investor and broadcaster Joel Ferguson stepped in, ultimately failing in an attempt to buy it or at least form a partnership with CBS.

Twenty-six years later, what would become “CBS62” under the WWJ-TV call sign is a unique O&O for ViacomCBS. It hasn’t ever had its own local news department, with Graham Media’s NBC-affiliated WDIV-4 left to compete against The E.W. Scripps Co.’s ABC-affiliated WXYZ-7 and WJBK-2 — that former CBS affiliate which today is a FOX O&O that remains a key viewer magnet.

Thanks to Wendy McMahon and Adrienne Roark, this will soon change, finally making Detroit a local news hub for CBS.

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The Federal Communications Commission has just asked a big question: Should the legacy, audio-based Emergency Alert System architecture be redesigned?

That is one of a bunch of questions that the FCC has asked in a new notice of inquiry about EAS. As Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel put it, “We’re looking for all the good ideas here, both big and small, because we know first-hand they can make a difference.”

The commission took several steps regarding alerting at Tuesday’s meeting, and this big question came toward the end.

First, it issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that sets out proposed changes to improve visual messages that appear on television during nationwide tests.

“When EAS alerts are displayed on the screen, they have both an audio component and a visual component,” Rosenworcel wrote in a statement. “In other words, they feature both a recorded message and a text crawl. But because of the legacy television architecture of EAS, the audio component may not always match the visual text. This can mean that in some circumstances, less information may be conveyed to either those individuals who have access only to the visual component or to those who have access only to the audio component. It can cause real confusion.”

This is especially true for those with disabilities, she said.

[Related: “FCC Contemplates ‘Persistent’ EAS Alerts”]

“For starters, we propose to improve the script for visual text during nationwide tests of the legacy system. We also propose changes to our rules that would bring similar clarity to nationwide tests using the newer, internet-based common alerting protocol, or CAP.”

Also, because there is greater ability to include enhanced text with CAP alerts, the FCC proposes to require broadcasters to check to see if a CAP version of an alert is available when they receive an emergency alert over the legacy system. “Finally, we ask what additional steps can be taken to rethink the architecture of EAS and improve the functionality of the system as a whole.”

In addition to that NPRM, it opened a notice of inquiry asking about more dramatic changes to legacy EAS.

A draft version of these actions was published prior to the meeting, you can read that here; the long list of questions starts in paragraph 24 on page 13. It includes questions like “Is there a more functional compression or modulation scheme that could replace AFSK,” and “Can we take advantage of digital transmission standards like ATSC 3.0 and HDR standards to improve EAS’s capabilities” and “Would it make sense to use legacy EAS only for the EAN (i.e., national emergencies) and NPT (to test the legacy system’s performance in delivering the EAN), but require use of CAP for all other alerts?”

And then the NOI concludes with that big question we led with above.

The FCC wrote, “The legacy EAS is audio-based, and daisy chain-based, because a relatively small number of hardened, full-power AM radio stations can reach 90 percent of the continental U.S. population, potentially allowing the president to communicate to the public during a national emergency. The system is centered on the EAS Protocol because it allows for automated EAS operation on the EAS Participants’ parts, and it is the same protocol used for NWS alerts broadcast over the National Weather Radio system. When the commission adopted the CAP EAS rules in 2012, it kept the legacy EAS because of its resiliency in the face of a national emergency, and because there was no fully CAP-centric system in place — where EAS messages are inputted and outputted in CAP format rather than the EAS Protocol format — to replace it.

“Do these factors remain as true and relevant today?” the FCC wants to know.

“Can the EAS architecture be redesigned to achieve the resiliency and automation provided by the legacy EAS (including delivery of ‘live’ audio), but with the functionalities provided with CAP — such as a system where the alert is still delivered over-the-air using daisy chain distribution, but the alert is formatted in CAP, with ‘live’ audio enabled by an instruction in the CAP contents?”

It wants to know what burdens and costs that would raise, whether downstream processing would systems be affected, whether consumer and enterprise emergency radios would be affected, whether NWS alerts would be affected and much more.

Comments will be taken in PS Docket No. 15-94, and we’ll report on filing deadlines when we have them.

The post FCC Asks: Should Legacy EAS Be Redesigned Altogether? appeared first on Radio World.

In January, the Texas Association of Broadcasters marks a quarter century for its Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program. Through the ABIP, a group of broadcast engineering veterans review stations for FCC compliance using FCC self-inspection checklists as a guide.

“An ABIP review is an affordable way for a station to confirm its compliance with FCC regulations,” said TAB Vice President for Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Michael Schneider. “A number of stations have told us over the years that these reviews provide great peace of mind. They don’t want to miss something, and if they did, they want to fix the problem quickly. The TAB ABIP helps them do just that.”

Since Jan. 1, 1997, TAB inspectors have visited hundreds of Texas stations, reviewed station studio and transmitter facilities and certain station procedures for compliance, and helped stations avoid fines by identifying deficiencies and how to correct them.

“It’s not just a review of the online Station Public Inspection File. Inspectors assess transmitter and tower site issues like painting, lighting, fencing and signage, studio facilities, and a host of other areas including station technical and EAS logging,” Schneider said.

[Previously in Radio World: “Protect Your Most Valuable Asset: Your Station License”]

According to a list compiled by TAB ABIP Inspector Dick S. Pickens, the most common deficiencies identified through an alternative inspection include incomplete or unapproved station logs, no quarterly tower light alarm tests, no schedule of maintenance and calibration, various Public File violations, and EAS monitoring and logging deficiencies. TAB ABIP inspections do not include reviews of EEO compliance or of a station’s political file.

The TAB ABIP program, as in other states, is FCC approved. Stations found by the ABIP to be in compliance with FCC regulations can earn a three-year waiver from routine or surprise FCC inspections absent a complaint or tower safety issues.

Since 1994, state broadcasting associations have been able to partner with the FCC to provide ABIP services. A 2018 review of 15 years’ worth of ABIP records by the late Ken Benner, who spent some 24 years as an ABIP inspector, found that alternative inspections had helped stations avoid some $30 million in potential fines.

Schneider described the ABIP program as a win–win for stations and regulators, as well as the public.

“These independent reviews have helped broadcasters stay on top of their FCC requirements while allowing the Commission to reallocate staff and resources from field offices to other FCC policy areas,” he said.

“Public safety is also a top priority of the program, since a tower with faded paint or a lighting failure can be a hazard to aviation, and a breach in a tower’s fencing can lead to individuals trespassing on the site, potentially creating RF exposure issues or, with recent incidents of vandalism, knocking a station and its news and emergency information off of the air for an extended period of time.”

As with other programs, the COVID-19 pandemic did have an effect on the TAB ABIP, but looking ahead the demand for ABIP inspections is strong.

“We received far fewer orders for ABIP reviews after March of 2020. Many stations weren’t even allowing their own staff onsite. We still conducted inspections, however, following COVID-19 health and safety protocols,” Schneider said.

As stations reopen their facilities again to staff and the public, Schneider said there has been a “steady increase” in sign-ups for TAB ABIP inspections.

Comment on this or any article. Write to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Texas Broadcasters Mark 25 Years of ABIP appeared first on Radio World.

One month ago, a Fresno FM branded as “New Rock 104.1” briefly ceased transmissions due to complications tied to the long-running KNP Complex wildfire; Lotus Communications loaned the licensee a lower-power transmitter to resume on-air broadcasts.

Now, the licensee is seeing a change in interest, with a 8 1/2-year partnership between two local radio broadcasters headed for dissolution.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — PILOT, the NAB‘s innovation initiative, has launched the PILOT NEXTGEN TV Fellowship program with support from Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Structured like an early-stage start-up, the fellowship will focus on exploring capabilities of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard and developing a concept for a NEXTGEN TV product or service.

Alongside industry experts, fellows will gain “practical, first-hand experience” with NEXTGEN TV technology. The eight-month program will include product training, seminars and one-on-one coaching with NEXTGEN TV standard experts and AWS representatives. The fellowship will conclude with fellows presenting their projects at the 2022 NAB Show in April in Las Vegas.

The 2021 fellows are current Howard University students Mikaela Mosley and Sulaiman Bastien.

Mosley is a senior television and film production major and political science minor and serves as the GM and producer for Howard University’s Spotlight Network/WHUT-TV. Mosley recently completed an internship with Amazon Studios as a Drama Development intern.

Bastien is a senior television and film production major and computer science minor, with a concentration on directing and software engineering. He recently completed an internship with NEXTGEN TV promotional and rollout entity Pearl TV as an application developer.

Howard University is partnering with local broadcast television stations to bring NEXTGEN TV to local stations in Washington, D.C., with Howard University’s WHUT serving as the host station. Other participating stations include WJLA-7, WUSA-9, WTTG-5 and WRC-4.

Fellows will also participate in NAB Leadership’s Technology Apprenticeship Program (TAP). TAP is a complimentary career development program that is designed to train, inform and recruit the next generation of leaders in the broadcasting industry. Between these two innovative programs, fellows will be poised to launch a cutting-edge career as an engineer or technology professional in the broadcasting industry.

In November, Gray Television revealed its new local leadership slate, which outlined who would be leading a host of stations it was acquiring from Meredith Local Media. Among those changes was the move from Southern Arizona to Mobile, Alabama of Eric Duncan to take the GM position of FOX affiliate WALA-10.

Now, Gray has decided who will succeed Duncan in Tucson. It’s a market veteran with years of experience at the former Cordillera Communications.

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NEW YORK — The TV and cross-platform measurement and analytics firm founded by CEO Kristin Dolan has launched an independent media trading currency that the company believes offers an alternative to … you guessed it … Nielsen.

As 605 sees it, it is designed “to underpin advertising transactions between partners on the buy-side and the sell-side.”

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True partnership requires constant dialogue, says Laura Molen, the President of Advertising Sales and Partnerships at NBCUniversal. That’s why, every day, Molen consults with NBCU’s marketing partners, listening to their business challenges and sharing the media company’s insights. The goal: collaboration on new ways to achieve their business goals.

Recently, Molen has noticed a recurring theme – advertisers are working to adapt to new audience behaviors and questioning whether they should place the same premium on digital, social, and streaming video as they do on linear. “This question alone is understandable, but to answer it, we need to remember our most important partners—our viewers—who we can learn from and grow with, if we pay close enough attention,” Molen writes in a thought piece.

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I’m always looking to reduce the number of things that clutter up my studio, yet at the same time increase my capabilities and efficiencies. Other World Computing fills this order with the Mercury Elite Pro dual-drive hardware RAID storage solution with a built-in three-port powered USB hub.

Two universal drive bays within one enclosure will handle two drives — SSDs or spinning hard drives, or any combination — for up to 36 TB of total storage. You can decide to run the twin drives either as a Redundant Array of Independent Disks or as completely separate drives. A RAID offers a higher level of security by making two copies of everything across the two drives. This is useful for highly precious data — song audio files, financial tax records, family archives — things that you cannot lose!

The OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual works with any USB-equipped Mac, PC, mobile or tablet device, gaming console — just about any device that supports external storage. The front panel has activity LEDs, while the rear panel has two 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Type C and two 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Type A connectors; all act as a hub. Besides gaining more storage, I was able to get rid of an extra USB hub.

[Check Out More Product Evaluations in Our Products Section]

Meant to stay online all the time, the OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual comes in a nice-looking, heat-dissipating aluminum case (matching my Mac Pro) with a quiet and high-efficiency cooling fan. It is powered from an included 12 V DC power supply.

You may select three different RAID modes when first formatting the system. You can choose: Raid 0, RAID 1, JBOD (just a bunch of drives) or Span. Mine came with two 1 TB hard drives, so I have it formatted as 1 TB RAID 1, which uses disk mirroring and is fault-tolerant.

I connected it to my Mac Pro Tower to archive a copy of all my interim Pro Tools session files and audio — it powers up whenever I turn on the studio for a session and I love it for its simple operation.

Important to know: It comes with a three-year OWC limited warranty, including a one-year Level 1 data recovery and lifetime expert support. A system with a pair of 2 TB 7200 rpm drives, 64 MB cache and transfer speeds of up to 576  MB/s costs $249. The solid-state 1 TB SSD model with speeds of up to 1026 MB/s sells for $349 MSRP.

This article originally appeared in our sister publication Mix. Users and suppliers are both invited to send news about recent installations and product applications to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post OWC Mercury Elite Pro Simplifies Storage appeared first on Radio World.

USSI Global, the provider of customized broadcast, network, and digital signage services worldwide, is supporting global content connectivity solutions provider SES in successfully completing all Phase I accelerated C-band clearing and relocation activities.

SES is seeking to clear 280 MHz of the C-band spectrum to help meet the FCC’s objective to quickly roll out 5G services across the United States. Phase I required SES to relocate all of its existing services that are received by Incumbent Earth Stations out of the 3700-3820 MHz band. USSI Global made the necessary equipment changes on all associated Incumbent Earth Stations.

SES selected USSI Global as the primary vendor to help manage and execute the transition of Incumbent Earth Station filtering to mitigate risks of 5G interference. USSI Global served as the lead project management firm and was responsible for outreach, IT systems integration, field support management and status reporting. The initial outreach phase was especially valuable, requiring intensive advance research to gather and ascertain site-specific details of the Incumbent Earth Stations. USSI Global field technicians later provided turnkey systems design, procurement, installation and commissioning of 5G filters and antennas, among other key hardware components.

To meet the FCC’s ambitious Phase I accelerated relocation deadline of Dec. 5, 2021, SES established a goal of clearing greater than 700 Phase I sites by Aug. 31, 2021. USSI Global helped SES successfully meet that goal by supporting approximately 600 Phase 1 Incumbent Earth Station site transitions. The FCC validated SES’s Phase I certification on Nov. 24, 2021. By meeting this critical deadline, USSI Global ensured SES was eligible for the first accelerated relocation payment.

USSI Global’s more than 35-year history of experience supporting broadcast, network and digital signage services uniquely positions the company as a turnkey service provider for challenging, mandate-driven transitions such as the FCC’s C-Band spectrum transition. The company also provides customized post-installation and commissioning managed services, including preventative maintenance and remote monitoring, allowing customers to focus on their business.

“This was an unprecedented endeavor that was conceived prior to the pandemic yet executed during its apex,” said USSI Global COO Anthony Morelli. “USSI Global has an extensive history of developing customized customer solutions to yield effective results no matter what challenges arise. Our dedicated team worked closely and diligently with our partners at SES to adapt to a very challenging environment and achieve our shared goals, with flawless execution overseen by USSI Global’s field service leadership.”

SES Program Management Director Bronnie Fisher Fiely said, “USSI Global has extensive experience, which made our partnership for this project a natural fit. As a core part of their service plan for this project, USSI Global has accomplished a truly superior outreach effort for Phase I and is already hard at work on Phase II.”

USSI Global has already supported the clearing of more than 100 Phase II sites, and will continue to support SES through the remainder of Phase II clearing and transition activities.

“As the primary vendor supporting SES, there was a tremendous level of work that had to be completed under tight deadlines,” said Dave Christiano, CEO of USSI Global. “The USSI Global team’s exceptional work went a long way toward ensuring a successful transition for SES, and we are particularly proud of our technicians and field service engineers that implemented the work. We thank SES for trusting USSI Global to get the job done.”

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has opened the nomination period for the 2022 NAB Technology Awards. The four awards highlight significant achievements in broadcast engineering, digital leadership and technology innovation. The awards will be presented at the 2022 NAB Show, held April 23-27 in Las Vegas.

The Radio and Television Engineering Achievement Awards are presented to individuals for their outstanding accomplishments in the broadcast radio or television industry, respectively.

The Digital Leadership Award honors an individual at a broadcast station, group or network who has transformed a traditional broadcast business to succeed on digital media platforms in a measurable way.

The Technology Innovation Award honors an organization that brings advanced technology exhibits and demonstrations of significant merit to the NAB Show. The nominated exhibit should present advanced research and development projects in communications technologies that have not yet been commercialized.

Finally, the Best Paper Award honors the author(s) of a paper of exceptional merit that is published in the Proceedings of the 2022 Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology (BEIT) Conference, held each year as part of the NAB Show.

“These awards celebrate the individuals and organizations that have distinguished themselves by transforming our industry,” said NAB’s Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny. “We are delighted to honor the industry’s technical and engineering achievements at NAB Show.”

The deadline for nominations is January 11, 2022. Nomination forms and detailed award rules are available at nab.org/events/awards, along with a list of past recipients.

A company specializing in audience measurement products for the Media & Entertainment sector has launched a new product aimed at content providers who wish to understand the behavior of their audiences.

NeuroMedia Software’s NeuroMedia Analytics is now available, and the Belgian company says it is a cross-media solution for audience measurement.

“NeuroMedia Analytics recognizes that the pace of change in media consumption and related technology is faster than ever in the era of streaming,” the company says. “This means that the requirement of M&E organizations to enhance their understanding of audience behavior via comprehensive, accurate and consistent analytics is increasingly acute. By making some parts of its new platform open-source and supportable by SDK extensions, NeuroMedia Software has addressed this demand with a flexible solution that can keep pace with media consumption patterns.”

Available in three versions (Startup, Professional and Enterprise), it can be deployed on users’ and partners’ on-premise infrastructure allowing full control over data processing and storage, or in cloud/Software as a Service (SaaS) mode.

Underlining its suitability for a myriad of existing and emerging workflows, NeuroMedia Analytics is compatible with all major content delivery networks and all modern streaming technologies. Providing a host of possibilities for integration with existing business intelligence systems, the platform also delivers unified reporting from different sources via a single tool, with data illustrated efficiently via graphics, grids, location maps and more.

Pierre Mengal, Managing Director of NeuroMedia Software, commented, “From the largest media organisations to the latest streaming services, the appetite for flexible and comprehensive data analysis and management is more intense than ever. By leveraging the advantages of technologies that utilise census and panellised data, our major new platform delivers a level of accuracy and behavioural understanding that is unparalleled in the market.”

— RBR+TVBR European Desk, in Kaiserslautern, Germany

Video software and data insights platform JW Player’s VUALTO, acquired in May 2021, is now fully integrated with JW Player.

As such, two offerings formerly provided by VUALTO are now available to JW Player customers.

Introducing Broadcast Live (formerly VUALTO CONTROL HUB) and Studio DRM (formerly VUDRM). “These integrated offerings enable broadcasters and other content owners with adaptable, scalable, secure and intelligent solutions for video orchestration and encryption,” JW Player says.

JW Player CEO Dave Otten comments, “After months of integrating our teams, products and services, we’re proud to unveil our new offerings to the market. Our complete video delivery platform now enables broadcasters, publishers and other content owners to better engage and connect with audiences anywhere on any device, while ensuring the peace of mind that their content rights will be protected.”

Broadcast Live is a video orchestration product for Live, VOD, Live2VOD and VOD2Live. ‘Developed specifically for media workflows, Broadcast Live brings integration with encoders, streaming servers, workflow rules and DRM into a single set of APIs and GUI. The pluggable architecture also allows for easy integration with third-party and existing customer systems. With comprehensive channel configuration, event scheduling, monitoring, clipping and syndication, Broadcast Live enables premium viewing experiences with significant cost savings.”

Studio DRM is a multi-DRM solution that makes content protection easy for broadcasters, sports OTT platforms and other premium content rights holders. It is highly scalable and uniquely flexible, allowing content owners to request DRM encryption keys on the fly. Studio DRM also supports the latest content protection standards including CPIX, CMAF, and CBCS. Formerly known as VUDRM, the solution has long been a leader in DRM innovation and was one of the first to implement support for PlayReady, WideVine and FairPlay, as well as ABR streaming with DRM encryption.

In May 2021, JW Player acquired VUALTO to create a comprehensive platform that empowers customers with independence and control in today’s Digital Video Economy. The combined result is a single platform for broadcast-quality live and on-demand video delivery across mobile, web and OTT platforms; secure content delivery with industry leading DRM services; and unique insights, intelligence and monetization features to help grow revenue.

As demand for remote operations continues to increase across the industry, Imagine Communications has enhanced its ADC playout automation ― enabling media companies to access and control their broadcast chain from anywhere. This capability enhances existing media workflows and provides for more efficient operations utilizing remote staff, Imagine claims. It also supports new operational models including hub-and-spoke deployments and unified broadcast operations from a centralized broadcast center.

ADC Flex is an addition to Imagine’s ADC automation platform. Running natively in a web browser, ADC Flex provides a remote-ready control platform that can be added to existing ADC deployments. Or, it can be used as the basis for new facilities and new channel launches.

Imagine notes, “ADC Flex lets operators monitor and control channels, schedule content ingest and manage content from anywhere with internet access ― providing operational efficiencies, while maintaining mission-critical functions. With its modern HTML5 web user interface, ADC Flex is tailored to broadcasters’ specific operational needs, offering an identical look and feel whether the operator is in the machine room, at a remote location, or working from home; all that is needed to communicate is a secure data connection.”

Screens can be customized to suit workflow requirements and user preferences. Permissions can be assigned to users and groups, and favorites can be assigned for commonly used layouts. Since it is built using HTML5, ADC Flex can run on Windows, MacOS or Linux. Control panels and supervisory screens can also be created for tablets where mobility is required.

Sencore, a video delivery specialized, has brought to market the latest feature release for SCP 2100 Internet delivery encoder.

MPEG2 encoding and transcoding has been added as well as SCTE 104 to SCTE 35 ad insertion conversion. With the addition of these two features, the SCP 2100 is, in the words of Sencore, “an extremely versatile edge device for acquiring, compressing and backhauling content across the internet.”

The SCP 2100 allows operators to have a single solution for acquiring and transporting their content over the open internet, regardless of codec, interface or streaming protocol, it adds. It has support for a variety of physical inputs, including MPEG/IP, HDMI, SDI, ASI, QAM and 8VSB. It also has support for both H.264 and MPEG2.

“Once the signal has been compressed, rate-shaped, transcoded or repackaged, it is transported as Zixi or SRT across the internet or as MPEG/IP with SMPTE 2022-1 Forward Error Correction,” Sencore notes.

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The Media Bureau announces that the ATSC 3.0 Multicast Licensing FNPRM was published in the Federal Register. Comments due February 11, 2022; Replies due March 14, 2022.

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