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Key players in the project, from left: James Jenkins, principal of GCI; Tom Frank, superintendent of GCI; Jason Ornellas, project manager for Bonneville; Darrell Brown, president of Bonneville International; Chuck Bullett, director of engineering, Bonneville San Francisco; Kurt Kerns, principal of V-Three Studios; and Kyle Larson, project manager at GCI.

Bonneville International Corp. currently operates 22 radio stations, four of which are now broadcasting from its new facility in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Bonneville Bay Area consists of four FM radio stations, each of which holds a special place in the community. They are 96.5 KOIT, 99.7 NOW, KBLX 102.9 and 98.5 KFOX.

Building a brand-new facility during COVID-19 is one for the books. Bonneville has since debuted this new open concept, fully interactive, audio over IP broadcast media plant in Daly City, Calif.

It is a showcase, with high-quality construction, from the beautiful design in architecture to the technology deployment of Bonneville’s engineering team.

While this move from the SOMA District meant no more penthouse views of downtown San Francisco, we left behind a dated facility and layout. The new design was well thought out prior to construction and creates an experience for our listeners and clients, as well as a collaborative space for our employees.

Blank canvas

At the start of the project, the new suite, formerly used by Avid Technology, still had edit bays but the rest of the existing space was completely gutted back to concrete.

We brought in V-Three Studios as the design and architects to create our vision on a blank canvas. V-Three Studios specializes in spaces that meet technical and functional demands while maximizing aesthetic appeal and respecting environmental and civic contexts and achieving their client’s unique goals.

Our contractor GCI Inc. is a premier Bay Area commercial general contracting firm specializing in building and site renovation, infrastructure, labs and tenant improvement with a focus on sustainability and LEED.

Bonneville’s construction and design team was led by Scott Jones, senior VP of engineering and technology (corporate); Carl Gardner, SVP and market manager for San Francisco; Chuck Bullett, director of engineering for the market; and myself, the director of engineering for Bonneville Sacramento.

I was tasked as the project manager to oversee the cutting-edge renovation of a floor in an existing building in the Daly City area, as well as the integration.

Having worked with all the vendors in the past on numerous other projects made for a smooth transition from San Francisco to Daly City, given the circumstances Bonneville was up against.

The new 18,000-square-foot facility is exactly what Bonneville was looking to achieve with a high-tech performance space, a multipurpose break room, a roof deck and the latest technology and digital integration for both broadcast and employee workspaces.

Scalloped positions and outside greenery make the talent more comfortable at 96.5 KOIT.

Beyond the visual elements throughout the suite, with both graphics and branding on video displays, the work area for non-programming employees features flexible seating arrangements known as a huddle space, as well as a mesh corporate Wi-Fi network to allow seamless flexibility. Studios were assembled in record time and the office furniture delivery and assembly went off without a hitch.

“In recent years, we have had numerous studio projects with Bonneville San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Sacramento and Seattle in 2011,” said David Holland, the chief design officer at Omnirax.

“This project really was the confluence of the dream team — V-Three Studios and Bonneville Construction Team — and everyone involved was committed to make this facility a showplace collaboration. Scott visited Omnirax a couple of years ago at our showroom in Sausalito. Seeing our curved open plan and private office furniture, he immediately ‘got’ what we have been doing with our WeDesk line. This provided the entrée to allow Omnirax to bid on and then furnish the entire facility for Bonneville.”

Natural wood, neutral colors

As guests enter the facility, views of a “showcase” on-air studio for 99.7 NOW greet them, as well as a display of the technical operation center for which engineering is responsible.

A gorgeous first impression. Visitors are greeted with views of the Technical Operations Center, right, and a showcase air studio for 99.7 NOW.

Also visible from the lobby is a performance space fitted with a stage and truss with lighting, a sound system, a movable front-of-house station, and adjacent audio and video control rooms. This gives visitors a sense of what goes into making modern day media and shows off the new digs.

The performance space and adjacent audio and video control rooms.

Glass blankets the suite to allow natural light throughout, and the interior is set against the exposed concrete floors and finished with natural woods. A neutral color scheme was designed to enhance the LED cloud lighting for color to flow throughout ceiling grid of the suite.

The enhanced finishes, flow, continuity and efficiency now rival that of any modern office and multimedia facility.

“This facility is built for the future, with its planned flexibility in the technology infrastructure and the office/studio environments,” said Kurt Kerns, principal at V-Three Studios, LLC.

“As the broadcast industry continues to evolve in the digital age, the facility will be ready to adapt to the changing needs of the business model.”

Moving away from traditional office design and having less square footage, the open office layout dramatically improves the openness and visibility of the facility with a focus of huddle areas to promote collaboration and inter-department interaction.

End of May or Bust

Completion had been targeted for spring, with business commencing on April 13. Then the world got hit with a pandemic.

The project had been proceeding seamlessly and on schedule when the virus hit, right after delivery of the studio furniture. The project was just three weeks away from completion when lockdown went into place. A waiting game began for of all parties trying to find a solution to proceed cautiously.

Bonneville faced an additional challenge of its lease ending at its prior facility, which needed to be fully demised by the end of May.

The company was prepared to reopen the job site and resume construction with multiple shifts, subject to GCI’s site-specific plan for COVID-19 prevention and remediation. Kudos to GCI for a detailed plan and a full decontamination team to sanitize the site before remobilizing.

As GCI got back on site, we saw requirements for more additional notification, site signage and other added protocols. GCI’s safety and field teams, along with the industrial hygienist, walked the site with no indications that there would be any problems.

Visual inspections and site practice demonstrations went extremely well. They went through every process of the competent person training, site deliveries, subcontractor management and work procedures. Bonneville had a team of engineers from Salt Lake City, Seattle and Sacramento, waiting to fulfill the integration needs.

It is a testament to the trust amongst all the stakeholders, including GCI, that all were all able to weather the extended break and resume the project once the authorities deemed it safe to return to work.

AOIP Flexibility

The team of Bonneville engineers built 11 studios, four on air, with adjacent support rooms, a main production studio, and two voice-tracking booths.

This studio serves KFOX. All four on-air studios feature Wheatstone LXE consoles; and the workflow relies on RCS G Selector and Zetta for music playout and scheduling.

The backbone of Bonneville Bay Area now runs off Wheatstone, with its WheatNet-IP architecture, allowing any studio to be utilized for any function of the business. All four on-air studios feature the LXE consoles, and the eight production, support and voice tracking booths are equipped with L-8 consoles.

Various flavors of I/O WheatNet Blades plus multiple M4 and M1 microphone processors, Yellowtec mounting systems, KRK Rokit 7 Gen 4 monitors, and Telos VX enterprise studio phone system round out the broadcast infrastructure.

Also, during this transition, the cluster had an automation transition to throw into the mix. Bonneville has committed to RCS as a standard for all markets, utilizing both G Selector and Zetta to handle the music playout and scheduling functions. The Field Tech Services team of RCS did a lot of work prior to arriving for the cutover and made it a smooth transition as the stations began to operate from their new spaces.

Station branding is integrated into the design. The studios are inside DC Station on Junipero Serra Boulevard, a nine-story, multi-tenant LEED-EB Silver office tower with bay hill views.

The Technical Operation Center at the previous facility housed 30 racks, and our new space has 14. We went with in-line CRAC (computer room air conditioning) units with an HVAC unit in each row creating a hot/cold aisle like a data center. A great amount of thought went into rack placement and layout, with a standard of color-coded cables all leading into a master patch panel that interconnects the whole facility, making it extremely versatile.

Closer view of the Technical Operations Center

Bonneville wanted the glass-enclosed TOC to be on display with all the lights and meters visible from the lobby as people enter the suite. Bonneville’s integration team of engineers moved into the TOC and studios to receive and rack equipment and begun cabling the space from start to finish in record time.

Unified Look

The result of this collaborative design effort is a space that has a unified look that extends from reception, studios and conference spaces, out to groups of open-plan desks and private offices. We are excited to put this facility on display and ready to have it filled with our employees as soon as it is safe to do so.

“The leadership team at Bonneville dedicated a serious amount of time to work with V-Three Studios in the planning stage of the project,” said Kurt Kerns of V-Three. “That kind of early input makes for a well thought out facility and minimizes the potential damage further down the road while building such a complex technical facility.”

102.9 KBLX. Note station logos on cabinetry legs.

Bonneville wishes to thank all the vendors and partners that went above and beyond for this project, as well as the dedicated engineers from out of market who contributed a significant amount of time to the build. This is a huge technical success that accomplished Bonneville’s goals and exceeded all expectations.

Radio World welcomes proposals for facility profiles including studios, RF plans and other technical infrastructure. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post They Built New Studios During COVID appeared first on Radio World.

The author is director of engineering services for the Alabama Broadcasters Association.

Prince Hamlet spoke the words “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” Today the question is “to lump sum or not.”

U.S. broadcasters and cable systems that utilize a C-Band satellite system to receive programming must each answer that question, and do so by Sept. 14.

As you probably know, these changes to your satellite system are due to a pending FCC auction of the lower half of the C-Band spectrum to broadband operators for 5G operation. And there have been many articles written over the last several months about this repack and the technical upgrades that will have to be completed to your satellite system.

But there’s still a lot of confusion over whether a user should take an FCC-authorized lump sum payment (about $8,900 for most people reading this), which is enticing but will require the owner then to pay for any upgrades needed to their satellite system or just let satellite operators do the necessary upgrade with no cost to the station.

Satellite operators will supply and install necessary equipment to have your system compliant (even if it means moving the dish or installing a new one). Changing your inside equipment such as receivers or decoders? That may be required by programmers and is not covered by the FCC payment plan.

During their changes, satellite operators will dual-feed programming to minimize interruption of service.

Mark Johnson of LinkUp Communications

In a recent webinar from the Alabama Engineering Academy, available here for your viewing, Mark Johnson of Linkup Communications did a great job of untangling some of the confusion. (The discussion is not just for Alabama stations.)

He warned operators to do their homework on what upgrades will be needed before making the final decision. “Everybody doesn’t have the same situation.”

Unforeseen situations with your satellite system could exhaust the lump sum amount, leaving the operator paying the overage out of pocket. Older satellite equipment may not compliant; replacement parts may no longer be available.

“There’s a lot of antennas out there that are no longer manufactured,” he said during the webinar. “If for some reason there’s something wrong with your feed assembly, you take the lump sum you’re responsible for that.” And the FCC, he said, has been very clear: The lump sum irrevocably surrenders your right to ask for additional reimbursement.

Among the insights he shares is what happens next if you don’t take the lump sum, and how long he thinks it’ll take to receive reimbursement. That starts at about the 57 minute point of the video.

Should you decide to take the lump sum, stations are encouraged not to put the funds in the general operating budget. Put it in a separate account or shoe box under the bed. It would be too tempting to use it for current expenses, but then when the work is done, guess who has to come up the money?

In addition, if you decide to receive the lump sum, you must notify the FCC by the Sept. 14  deadline and answer a number of technical questions. Johnson covered the needed information during the webinar.

Finally, what if you failed to register your dish in 2018? Unfortunately  the FCC has not indicated that they will open a new window for stations that did not register their dish in 2018 to do so. That means you are not eligible for any reimbursement, including the lump sum.

Find more articles on this topic including information about other resources here.

The post ABA Webinar Offers C-Band Advice appeared first on Radio World.

The author is membership program director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. NFCB commentaries are featured regularly at www.radioworld.com.

Labor Day brings all kinds of folks into travel mode. Yet, across America, the mask wars are raging. How can radio best intervene in the interests of public safety?

By now, virtually everyone has heard of the feuds over how helpful face coverings are in stopping the spread of COVID-19. Georgia is one of the most prominent examples of the partisan divides, but this disagreement is being played out across the United States. And who has not been exposed to a Facebook post, text or image about face coverings?

[Read: Community Broadcaster: Tuned Out]

Since the days of “duck and cover” and even long before, radio stations have been a first line of defense for the American people. As media first responders, radio stations nationwide educate listeners about natural disasters, wildfires and area emergencies by providing essential information. We may tell our audiences about shelters, the latest data about a regional calamity, or ways they can protect themselves from smoke, landslides, and any number of issues that arise. Many now are important players in explaining COVID-19, but it’s evident our job has only just begun.

Scientists agree that social distancing and mask wearing are both effective in slowing the spread of coronavirus. However, in many communities, this is not a debate about health of a community. Instead, it is about misunderstandings and, at times, conspiracy theories that threaten to tear at the very fabric of who we are.

First Draft News recently held a meeting on the proliferation of antiface covering social media messages and memes. Their themes may prove instructive for your station.

The “infodemic,” as First Draft News called it, is worldwide and taps into old boogeymen like The Government, Big Brother, the New World Order, et al. At points, you’ll see mask wearing likened to gun ownership — arguing that, if liberals can choose whether or not they own firearms, conservatives can choose whether or not they wear masks. However, these forces are not the only problem, as First Draft notes the pro-mask contingent regularly amplifies their opposition and spreads misinformation. The Guardian takes a dive into how masks became a political issue.

What can a radio station do in this climate? Clearly, there are the established health protocols to share. A station can do creative public service announcements that make information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many stations are doing exactly that — educating listeners with information that may is online, but could feel intimidating or hard to access. Stations are diligent about making emergency information understandable during a disaster; surely that ingenuity exists in a pandemic too.

Similarly, PSAs and other conversations may be the way a station can tackle misinformation about safety. A plethora of journalism organizations have stepped to help media correct the public record and clear up misunderstanding. How could your radio station tackle some of the rancor in a fashion that is compassionate and builds community? Panel discussions, listening sessions and more beckon.

Unfortunately, disputes over masks are here seemingly as long as COVID-19 may be with us. Radio stations can play a crucial role in cutting through the noise during this major health emergency.

The post Community Broadcaster: Mask Off appeared first on Radio World.

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Apple City Broadcasting, Inc. enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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The Federal Communications Commission has put the kibosh on a request to revamp its noncommercial educational (NCE) licensing rules.

In this case, the firm Discount Legal asked the commission to reconsider the way the commission licenses mutually exclusive (MX) FM radio noncommercial educational groups. Discount Legal, Bay Area-based lawyers that specialize in community radio, argued that the FCC should set up a secondary grant policy for MX groups, saying that this would foster a more efficient nationwide radio communication service and generally encourage more effective use of radio.

[Read: FCC Eliminates Radio Duplication Rule for Both AM and FM Bands]

As it stands today, when a filing window for NCE stations is opened, the commission places conflicting applications into MX groups before applying internal processing. It then selects one application for grant from each separate MX group. A point system is given to each application based on public-interest criteria (such as diversity of ownership, localism or technical superiority) and that the application with the most points in an MX group is the tentative selectee.

But when it comes to the idea of naming runner-up applications, the commission dismissed the idea for two main reasons: One, it would be burdensome to FCC staff to create and implement a secondary grant procedure and two, it would potentially give a green light to inferior applications.

Discount Legal countered by saying that nearly all the work to determine secondary grants has been done already. “The fruit of all that work remains available for secondary analysis,” the firm said in its petition for reconsideration. “Once the first selectee becomes final, the group can be re-scanned at a glance for applicants not in MX conflict with the winner. Free-standing applicants can be selected secondarily. Others, in subconflict, can be readily compared under the point system from work previously done.”

But the FCC disagreed. The commission has repeatedly stressed that the goal of the NCE licensing process is to maximize the quality of grantees, not simply to grant the maximum number of applications.

“The commission’s one-grant policy is designed to encourage the best possible application submissions in every filing window,” the commission said. “By having only one grantee per MX group, but allowing all non-selectees to reapply in the next window, the commission creates virtuous incentives, which yield a higher-quality result than a policy of granting as many applications as possible, regardless of quality.”

As a result, the commission dismissed and denied the petition of Discount Legal.

 

The post FCC Nixes Call to Revamp NCE Licensing Rules appeared first on Radio World.

Attendees can expect things to look a bit different at the first all-virtual 2020 Radio Show, even as some familiar features of this annual event will remain — from keynote addresses and townhall speeches to in-depth discussions on audio, advertising and podcasting.

The five-day show will kick off with a CEO Townhall on Monday Oct. 5, moderated by NBC News Senior Business Correspondent and MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle. She will be joined by Mary Berner, president and CEO of Cumulus Media; David Field, chairman, president and CEO of Entercom Communications; and Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia.

[Read: Fall Radio Show in Nashville Is Cancelled; Online Event Set Instead]

The National Association of Broadcasters also recently announced new speakers for its leadership and business sessions. Author and business leader Rishad Tobaccowala will head the Oct. 6 session “Reinventing Leadership with Heart and Soul” while radio host and author Dave Ramsey will speak at the Oct. 9 session “Leadership 2021 — Inspiring and Building Successful Teams.”

Two key tracks will run concurrently throughout the convention. The Channel A sessions will address issues like inclusivity, local sales tactics and ideas for resurrecting businesses in 2020 and beyond. The series of Channel B sessions will dive into the technical side of the radio business including a behind-the-scenes look at the nation’s first all-digital AM station, an update on radio and the connected car, and a look at the evolution of broadcast equipment, including advances in hardware and software in the cloud.

Other highlights during the Oct. 5–9 show — which the NAB announced is now open for registration — include a series of award presentations and technology demonstrations.

The post Virtual Radio Show Announces Latest Speaker, Session Lineup appeared first on Radio World.

The author is director of engineering services for the Alabama Broadcasters Association and chair of the Alabama State Emergency Communications Committee.

Broadcast engineers have a lot to look after, even before COVID-19. A successful station operation depends almost entirely on proper technical operation. From the studio to the antenna, there is a lot of “stuff” that must be installed and maintained.

One important item in the chain is your Emergency Alert System equipment. As with any type of technical system, it is important to have some type of monitoring system to ensure that every section is working properly. This also includes working with all the end users to clear up any problems.

Simple Setup

While there may be various ways for your State Emergency Communications Committee (see sidebar at bottom) to monitor an entire system, in Alabama we chose to take advantage of the ability built into most EAS units to export to an FTP server in real time.

It is a simple system to create and maintain:

• Set up an FTP server; most state broadcast associations have one running;
• Create a folder in the root directory of the server to receive the data;
• Have stations load the log-in information in their units.

Fig. 1 shows information loaded into the EAS unit. Every time the station unit has any EAS activity, it will transmit a report to the server.

Fig. 1: Information loaded into the EAS unit.

We found an easy way to create a database to check the “health of the entire system.” The data from the FTP server is copied into Microsoft Word; using the Find tab, the data can be separated by type of alert/test.

Currently we fill out the database manually; we haven’t found any software yet that will do this. However, it only takes a few minutes each morning over your first cup of coffee.

Fig. 2 shows a partial database.

Fig. 2: Partial database

If you see that a station has been missing a certain test for several weeks, contact its engineer to check on the problem. The data received also include an audio file of tests, so it is easy to listen to the quality.

Audio Quality

The FCC recently issued a report on last year’s national test, reporting that one of the main problems was quality of the audio. If a station is having a problem receiving quality audio from a source, the committee can work with the station engineer to correct the problem and, if need be, assign a different source.

The beauty of this system is that there is no cost to set it up, either to the station or or the state broadcast association, plus the speed of the response.

We recently had an agency issue an Amber Alert. After notification of the alert, we looked at the log and discovered that the text of the alert was missing. After a simple phone call to the origination agency, the alert was retransmitted, this time with the text.

If a station has EAS equipment that cannot export data to an FTP server, simply have them add a dedicated email in the unit. That way the committee can still get the report from that station.

Note that this monitor service is only for the state committee use in maintaining the system. It does not replace the legal requirement that the station chief operator review the station log on a weekly basis. That log is required to be retained for a period of two years.

sidebar:

EAS Coordination Is Essential

Not only is EAS participation required by the FCC, but it is a major community service for your listeners and viewers. At the station level, approved equipment must be installed and configured correctly. The commission requires that proper operation of the EAS system is checked once a week and logged in the station log.

As most readers know, a committee in each state, often named the State Emergency Communications Committee or SECC, is tasked with setting up a secure and reliable origination/distribution system to ensure your equipment receives the correct alerts and test. That leads to the creation of an EAS state plan, which all broadcasters and cable systems should follow.

The committee plans and oversees the entire EAS origination/distribution, plus closely works with FEMA and other state and national agencies.It’s important to have representatives of all stakeholders participate. This includes your state emergency management agency, the National Weather Service, state broadcast association, state cable association and of course engineers from radio and television.

Here is a list of SECC chairs and links to state plans on the FCC website.

The author is a recipient of the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award. Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post How Alabama Monitors the EAS System appeared first on Radio World.

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FCC denies the Petition for Reconsideration filed by Discount Legal and affirms policy of granting one application per NCE mutually exclusive group

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The National Association of Broadcasters is expressing concern about the threat to local journalism from a handful of digital technology platforms.

In a filing submitted to the House Judiciary subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law, NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith said a handful of powerful digital technology platforms — including Google, YouTube and Facebook  — are placing local broadcast radio and TV stations at a serious competitive disadvantage and hampering their mandate to serve the public interest.

“Local journalism is now at risk due to the overwhelming competitive position of a handful of technology companies in today’s digital marketplace,” the NAB said in its filing.

[Read: Techsurvey Reflects Consumer Dynamics]

Broadcast stations must use digital platforms to effectively reach their audience but stations have little leverage when dealing with the digital giants that control access to content, Smith said in a statement about the NAB filing. He contends that because of the tech platforms’ dominant role as content gatekeepers, their unilateral decision-making and ranking algorithms are negatively impacting broadcast radio and TV stations’ ability to deliver local news and information to communities.

This is particularly troubling because those algorithms consistently favor national sources over local sources, favor controversial and polarizing content and opinion sources over high-quality journalism, and can make it difficult for smaller, local publishers to reach audiences at all, Smith said.

“The massive shift in advertising to other platforms has profoundly affected local broadcasters,” Smith said. “Stations in mid-sized and small markets with limited economic bases have been disproportionately impacted because any significant loss of revenue has an outsized effect on their ability to pay the largely fixed costs required to operate and to produce or acquire news and other programming.”

Today only a slight majority of TV stations report profitable local news operations with many radio stations in markets of all sizes are struggling to make local news programming financially viable.

Smith also called out the lack of transparency over these digital platforms, which impose advertising limits and policies that impede stations’ ability to effectively monetize their own content online. “These platforms’ technologies and unilaterally set policies hurt local providers of quality journalism … . Receiving cents on the dollar does not enable TV and radio stations to recover the considerable costs of producing local content in the first place.”

The NAB said it supports legislation to address these issues, including the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act that would allow broadcasters and other news publishers to collectively negotiate with digital platforms regarding the terms on which their content may be distributed online. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate.

“[W]e emphasize our support for laws and policies that adequately address the unique role of free and local OTA broadcasting and its value in a democratic society,” the NAB said in its filing.

 

The post NAB: Local Journalism Under Threat From Dominant Digital Platforms appeared first on Radio World.