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Rules are rules, so says the Enforcement Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission. And there’s little leeway given, especially in the case of a licensee that bent the rules by modifying a station’s operating parameters without FCC approval.

Even if the licensee claims it did so as a form of “self-help.”

[Read: FCC Stands Behind Philadelphia Translator Decision]

That was the case for Ondas de Vidas Inc., the licensee of FM translator station K256BS in Palmdale, Calif. Ondas balked at the $12,000 monetary forfeiture handed down by the Enforcement Bureau after Ondas began operating the station at unauthorized power levels.

It was back in April 2017 that the bureau first issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture after finding (on two separate occasions) that Ondas operated the station at power levels that exceeded those found on the station’s license.

Ondas in turn argued that the proposed forfeiture should be reduced or canceled for several reasons: the bureau should have alerted Ondas of the violations before issuing the notice, the station was entitled to operate at a higher transmitter output power than specified on its license, and because Ondas was a thinly funded, nonprofit entity.

The commission considered those arguments but ultimately rejected them and formally issuing a Forfeiture Order of $12,000.

In a second round of arguments, Ondas also reasoned that, following damage to the station’s antenna, it intentionally increased the station’s transmitter power — a “permissible means of self-help,” Ondas argued — in an effort to continue operating at the station’s authorized effective radiated power. The licensee also acknowledged that, in retrospect, it should have followed established procedures — such as filing an application for special temporary authority — to obtain commission approval.

After fully considering the petition, the commission found none of the arguments persuasive and affirmed the $12,000 forfeiture originally assessed in the forfeiture order.

The bureau said that Ondas was mistaken in assuming it was somehow entitled to additional warning before the bureau can issue a notice. It also rejected the notion that a licensee can sit back and await findings of violation before taking appropriate steps to ensure compliance with commission rules.

The bureau also rejected the notion that any “good faith compliance efforts” outweigh the fact that Ondas deliberately increased the station’s transmitter power output. Ondas willfully violated FCC rules plain and simple, the bureau said.

The commission also rejected Ondas’ claim that it has an unblemished tenure as a licensee and thus any proposed forfeiture should be lowered. While this action may be Ondas’ first monetary sanction, the bureau reminded Ondas’ of several other nonmonetary sanctions over the years, which included operating from an unauthorized location, interference violations, unauthorized facility modification, unauthorized antenna orientation and several EAS violations.

As a result, the bureau dismissed Ondas’ petition and reiterated that the licensee is liable for a monetary forfeiture of $12,000.

 

The post Translator Handed $12,000 Forfeiture for Operating at Unauthorized Power Levels appeared first on Radio World.

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Cohan Radio Group, Inc. enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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Fort Myers Broadcasting Company enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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BMZ Broadcasting, LLC enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

FCC Conditionally Grants Channel 3 TV's Complaint Seeking DBS Must Carry Rights

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In a move that many in the industry said was long overdue, the Federal Communications Commission eliminated the radio duplication rule for both the AM and FM services.

But the move was not cheered by all at the commission, including an FCC commissioner who said the decision to include the FM band in the rulemaking chips away at the commission’s goal of protecting localism, competition and diversity.

At its August open meeting the commission adopted a Report and Order eliminating the rule, which restricts the duplication of programming on commonly owned broadcast radio stations operating in the same service and geographic area.

[Read: Trump Rescinds O’Rielly Nomination at FCC]

Initially adopted in 1964, the commission had updated the rules several times over the years to reflect changes in the marketplace. But now was the time to eliminate the rule outright, said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The commission found that rescinding the rule would achieve several goals, including assisting struggling stations to stay on the air and giving licensees greater flexibility to address issues of local concern in a timelier fashion, particularly in a time of crisis.

“In order to help AM broadcasters overcome … challenges, the commission has been looking for ways to help by alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens, providing more flexibility and improving sound quality,” Pai said.

Not only does the move give stations greater flexibility to simulcast programming — thereby helping them stay afloat and continue serving their communities — moreover, simulcasting could assist AM stations looking to transition to all-digital transmission, Pai said. “One station could offer the higher-audio quality of digital transmission, while another could keep supplying analog programming to listeners who don’t yet have digital-capable equipment,” he proposed in a statement.

The move is designed to help the AM band survive in an increasingly competitive marketplace, Pai said. Nowhere in his statement, however, does Pai make mention of the FM band.

The move was cheered by the National Association of Broadcasters.

“We applaud the commission for continuing to modernize its media rules,” said NAB Senior Vice President of Communications Ann Marie Cumming in a statement. “Given that there is no longer any rationale for imposing a ban on duplicating one’s radio signal, we appreciate the FCC’s decision to rescind the rule.”

But not all are onboard.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel concurred with the ruling in respect to the AM band but dissented in all other respects, saying that in the 36 hours before the commission’s August meeting, FCC leadership discarded the original Report and Order language, which proposed eliminating the radio duplication rule in the AM band only.

“As originally drafted, this decision would help alleviate some of the strain on these stations and experiment with rolling back this rule in the AM band,” she said. “It would be a smart test bed to see how localism, competition and diversity in the band fared when this rule was set aside.”

But the agency threw this approach away, she said, deciding to eliminate the policy in the AM band and FM band in one fell swoop.

For one, signal quality issues in these bands are totally different, Rosenworcel said, as are economic issues and the impact of content duplication in the FM band.

 “So what we have is yet another small chip in our principles [that] rushes ahead without doing the due diligence needed to consider the impact on localism, competition and diversity,” she said.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks agreed, saying that the majority leadership at the commission fails to explain “how the benefits to FM broadcasters outweigh the public interest in protecting truly local broadcast programming and local audiences from the potential harms caused by unfettered duplicate programming.”

“I have concerns that today’s decision will undoubtedly make it easier and more cost-effective for large station groups to hoard local stations without any obligation to provide significant programming that meets local community needs,” he said.

According to supporters of the rule change, which included Pai as well as Commissioners Michael O’Rielly and Brendan Carr, elimination of the rule will give radio stations greater flexibility when it comes to format changes and ultimately allow stations to improve service to their communities.

The rulemaking is part of the commission’s ongoing Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative.

 

The post FCC Eliminates Radio Duplication Rule for Both AM and FM Bands appeared first on Radio World.

Doug Williams and daughter Brooke Williams

Doug Williams, a longtime broadcaster and a past chairman of the Radio Board of the National Association of Broadcasters, has died. He was 78.

“J. Douglas Williams, whose legendary career in broadcasting, law, real estate, education and civic involvement spanned more than five decades, passed away on Friday, Aug. 7, in his beloved hometown of Woodward, Okla., at the age of 78,” stated an obituary.

He was president/CEO of Omni Communications Inc. for 40 years. Omni owns three radio and one TV stations.

“Affectionately known as ‘J. Doug,’ he also entertained and informed Northwest Oklahoma listeners every day as the voice of the ‘Morning Show’ on Woodward station K-101,” according to the obituary, which noted that he was a past recipient of an NAB Marconi Award as Radio Personality of the Year.

The announcement was distributed by the Radio Advertising Bureau, where Williams’ daughter Brooke Williams is senior vice president of membership.

The obituary quoted Woodward Chamber of Commerce President C.J. Montgomery saying, “Doug Williams held a radio station that has become as much a part of the tri-state area as the land and the people that call it home.” That area includes parts of Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas.

He held bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Oklahoma and was a former special agent with the FBI. In addition to law and broadcasting, he was a local real estate developer and held executive roles with the G.O. Williams Oil Company and f the G.O. Williams Investment Co. He also was president/GM of a concert and special events production and promotion company.

In addition to his work on the NAB Radio Board, Williams was a board member and former president of the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, and a member of the Texas Association of Broadcasters.

“Mr. Williams will also be remembered as the founding producer of The 101 Classic Bowl in Woodward, an annual event that honors local high school athletes, band members and cheerleaders, and awards scholarships to deserving students,” the obituary stated.

In addition to his daughter, Williams is survived by granddaughter Drew and son-in-law Ryan Hamby.

A funeral is planned in Woodward, Okla., on Aug. 12 will be streamed via Billings Funeral Home’s Facebook page.

The post Doug Williams Dies, Was Longtime Oklahoma Broadcaster appeared first on Radio World.

Yogendra Pal

The author is chair of the India chapter of the DRM Consortium.

All India Radio (AIR) has adopted the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) standard for digital terrestrial radio broadcasting in MW and SW bands. Thirty-eight high-power DRM transmitters are carrying regular digital transmissions, either in pure digital and/or in simulcast mode.

Sometime back, AIR had issued instructions to increase the transmission hours of such transmitters in pure digital mode. Also each of the four metro cities had been asked to operate one transmitter in Pure Digital Mode. Over 80% of the Indian population was expected to be able to receive radio programs in digital. And this is before most of these transmitters started operating in pure DRM digital mode.

The COVID-19 lockdown has adversely affected the digital transmission schedule in pure digital but we are confident that it will be restored soon.

The stakeholders’ efforts are also paying off, as the ecosystem for DRM digital receivers has evolved in India, from domestic chipset development to receiver design and production.

The Indian auto industry has responded very positively. Over 2 million cars on Indian roads have line-fit DRM receivers, and this number is increasing every day.

Five leading automotive manufacturers — Maruti/Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra, MG Motors and Toyota — are rolling out cars with built-in DRM receivers. Most of the other leading car manufacturers are understood to be in the process of incorporating them but are waiting to see the demand first.

Development and production of standalone DRM receivers is also being taken up fast by Indian as well as foreign companies.

Made-in-India Avion DRM receivers are already available online at Amazon. The DRM receiver prototype by Inntot, another India company, has been successfully demonstrated. The company paired with Clarion for manufacturing DRM car receivers and is looking for partners for starting large-scale production of standalone DRM receivers.

Foreign companies — Gospell, Starwaves, Titus and Nedis — have come out with a number of models of standalone as well as car models of DRM receivers. Cambridge Consultants in the U.K. have just unveiled the prototype of a low-cost DRM receiver. Korean companies RF2Digital and AlgorKorea are also developing software-defined DRM radios.

To further boost the presence of digital radio in the country, AIR has taken a number of initiatives and it held a DRM Stakeholders Meeting in February, which was addressed by the CEO and Member (Finance) of the Prasar Bharati. A Project Management Unit (PMU) has also been constituted to ensure that DRM Digital Radio is rolled out successfully.

AIR is broadcasting in the FM band also for local coverage. It provides about 43% coverage of the 1.3 billion population. Private broadcasters in India are allowed to broadcast in FM only but it is not possible to meet their demand for additional FM services, particularly in big cities, due to limited spectrum available for FM broadcasting. Their coverage is also limited to about 40%.

Therefore, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the broadcasting sector regulator, has recommended that private FM broadcasters be allowed to broadcast in digital in the white spaces in the VHF band II (FM band). Though TRAI has not specified which digital broadcast standard is to be used, it is recommended that white spaces may be auctioned by 200 kHz bandwidth blocks.

India is currently carrying out trials of ITU-approved standards, including DRM, in the FM band. DRM is fully compatible with the existing FM band transmissions. It utilizes the unused white spaces in the spectrum, technically unavailable for further analog FM expansion.

Using DRM, in the allocated 200 kHz bandwidth, a broadcaster can transmit up to six high-quality audio services along with a host of value-added services and Emergency Warning Functionality (EWF). All digital services work without disturbing the existing analog FM services.

DRM standard can be supported natively on all mobile phones based on the already available tuners for analog FM reception. No additional hardware and, therefore, no additional design or component cost is required to enable DRM digital FM support on these phones.

The DRM App for mobile phones has already been developed and demonstrated by a number of organizations. Only the mobile phone manufacturers need to provide access of the baseband digital output. The mobile phone industry is also expecting the clear policy announcement for the country to start incorporating this functionality in future phone models.

For legacy phone models, external FM front-end dongles have been developed. These dongles along with the already developed DRM radio app can be used to receive full DRM FM functions. This has been demonstrated successfully by a number of developers.

As the DRM standard works in all the broadcast bands, most of the DRM desktop receivers available today or in development are already prepared for DRM in the FM band. Several of them have demonstrated their working in all the broadcast bands, including FM band.

The designers/manufacturers of DRM receivers are thus eagerly waiting for the official policy announcements of the Indian government to finalize the digital FM support in their DRM receiver models. Use of DRM in FM band by AIR and private broadcasters in India would motivate them further to incorporate DRM FM facility in the receivers being produced and/or designed by them.

It is thus the right time for India to go for digital broadcasting in the FM band, too, using the DRM standard already adopted in MW and SW bands. Indian industry is looking towards meeting the huge domestic demand and is ready for massive exports.

Read other recent stories and commentaries about digital radio.

Radio World welcomes comments on this or any story. Email radioworld@futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject field.

The post Commentary: Use DRM on India’s FM Band appeared first on Radio World.

This document amends the FM Table of Allotments, of the Commission's rules, by reinstating certain vacant FM allotments. These FM allotments are considered vacant because of the cancellation of the associated authorizations and licenses, or the dismissal of long-form auction applications. Theses vacant FM allotments have previously undergone notice and comment rule making. Reinstatement of the vacant allotments is merely a ministerial action to effectuate licensing procedures. Therefore, we find for good cause that further notice and comment are unnecessary.

Crawford Broadcasting has installed a Nautel GV20D FM transmitter and a Nautel HD Multicast + Importer/ Exporter for use at its WRSB and WPWX HD Radio stations. The transmitter will fulfill backup duties.
Crawford Broadcasting Chicago Engineering Manager Rick Sewell stands with his new transmitter.
RW welcomes news for Who’s Buying What, email us at radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Crawford Chicago Selects Nautel appeared first on Radio World.

The NAB Leadership Foundation is preparing for the 2021 edition of its Broadcast Leadership Training program, for which it is now accepting applications.

Now in its 21st year, BLT is an executive training program for the broadcast industry designed to prepare senior-level broadcasters to advance into ownership or executive positions. This includes the fundamentals of purchasing, owning and operating radio and TV stations.

NABLF especially encourages women and people of color to apply for the program.

This iteration of BLT will be a hybrid online and in-person model because of health and safety concerns regarding COVID-19. All education sessions planned through the end of 2020 will be held online. The inaugural session is scheduled to take place Sept. 24–25. The complete schedule will be announced in early October.

“As we transition to a hybrid online and in-person model, we look forward to expanding the reach of the Broadcast Leadership Training program,” said Diane Sutter, BLT program founder and dean, as well as the founder and CEO of ShootingStar Broadcasting. “Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we cultivate the next class of diverse industry leaders and equip them with the knowledge and training to advance their careers.”

The application deadline for the 2021 BLT program is Aug. 19. For more information or to apply for the BLT program, visit the website.

 

The post NABLF Accepting 2021 Broadcast Leadership Training Applications 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.

Pew Research has issued its latest findings on the lead up to the U.S. election in November. The opinions of 11,000+ polled voters may give your radio station ideas on how to create new interest and conversation with your programming.

Pew’s figures revealed that, even amid major upheavals nationally, political affiliation since 2018 for thousands of Americans remains largely unchanged. There certainly have been shifts. The largest flights were among people of color and college-educated whites. However, whatever you think of media’s approaches to the news, early indications are that coverage is primarily seen as informational. Voters still feel as they do. Such is not a bad thing. In fact, this clarity can help us ask better questions to those in our medium.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: Why Look Away?]

What can radio’s role be in an election year? NFCB will explore that issue in a webinar Aug. 12, but it’s a subject all of us, commercial and noncommercial, are trying to figure out.

One possibility for your election coverage is to cover tension responsibly. Ariana Pekary just posted an announcement of her departure from MSNBC that may be instructive about what to avoid. In her view, pursing particular metrics incentivized offering a platform to fringe voices, stoking divisions, and cultivating an us-versus-them ethos. Chasing ratings, she writes, was “practically baked in to the editorial process — and those decisions affect news content every day. Likewise, it’s taboo to discuss how the ratings scheme distorts content, or it’s simply taken for granted, because everyone in the commercial broadcast news industry is doing the exact same thing.”

It is highly tempting to cover the worst aspects of any side of an issue. Indeed, conflict creates excitement and interest, but it may also normalize a distorted position to represent conservatives and liberals. As Pekary points out, commercial media has to change this. It can start with radio.

Another strategy for election coverage is seeking to tackle left-right splits in your community. The GroundTruth Project interviewed two academics on this subject. Reframing questions to avoid defensiveness; and talking with people about how they think, rather than what they think are among the ideas.

And finally, perhaps your radio station can use its website or airwaves to help answer voters’ questions and correct misunderstandings and assumptions they hear from friends or read on social media and text message exchanges. Make a little time for First Draft’s Infotheque 2020 virtual conference, which was held this week and posted its sessions on YouTube. You may discover ways to help your audience by addressing disinformation and, in turn, providing them assurances that you give back to your community.

Election day is less than three months away and listeners are hungry for your station to be the main dish in their information diet. We as radio can contribute with many innovative approaches and a commitment to do more.

The post Community Broadcaster: Correct the Record appeared first on Radio World.

The author is broadcast engineer for Second Opinion, an authorized Telos Alliance integrator.

OMAHA, Neb. — As the coronavirus pandemic began to greatly affect radio stations across the country, many were scrambling to produce and maintain program material for their media services.

KIOS in Omaha, Neb., was in a difficult situation since the radio station studios are located in an Omaha Public Schools building and the school system was being ordered to close. Did this order to close mean everyone needed to evacuate the school’s property, including the radio station?

A conference call was scheduled to discuss the issue and how we would prepare to evacuate the radio station studios. KIOS had recently completed a studio project of its four studios. This involved remodeling the studios physically, replacing some studio equipment with Telos Axia Fusion consoles from Broadcasters General Store, and upgrading the ENCO DAD studio automation system.

Three important questions had to be answered: how to remotely control the program; how to remotely access the automation and console; and how to provide real-time audio or voice tracks from a remote location. I had just addressed the same situation with WHYY in Philadelphia, as we were halfway through a studio system replacement and needed to answer the same questions.

Fortunately, using an AoIP system is the same from one facility to another, no matter the operational size. First, my equipment recommendation for controlling the audio console and automation is a utility computer to use with technical applications. One of the applications is the Axia SoftSurface software installed on the utility computer. Remote control of the console is taken care of using TeamViewer to access SoftSurface.

Next, we looked at the ENCO automation remote control. During an ENCO software upgrade to the automation system technical support normally has remote access to the system, as they did have remote access setup.  We used this remote access setup to remote control the ENCO automation system.

By using this remote access operation in a different way than using TeamViewer, it provided the ability to remotely access both the console and automation with full control from the same remote location computer.

Lastly, the most difficult question to answer is the real-time audio or voice tracks. We only had the internet as our method to provide a media for real-time audio. This would require a codec, same as we use for live remote broadcasts. It would need to be either software codec from a computer or hardware with a network connection at the remote location. If multiple locations are being used, then there would need to be multiple hardware units or traded less units between remote locations.

Since we are restricting contact between one another, trading a unit between locations was not the best solution. Additionally, there is an audio timing issue between audio from the automation at the studio and the codec audio feed that is slightly delayed. This can cause a train wreck on the final program product if not watched very carefully.

Using voice tracks, the remote location needs to have either remote ENCO WebDAD automation or prerecorded audio to be dropped into the ENCO system by Dropbox (file transfer system). The prerecorded remote voice tracking option was the best choice for KIOS. They would not have to worry about the timing issues of a codec and did not have the WebDAD software option installed for ENCO.

KIOS did not fully evacuate the radio station studios, but is operating with a limited staff. Some on-air shifts are using the remote control of the Axia Fusion Console and ENCO automation with prerecorded voice tracks as described. This remote operation will continue until further notice.

I appreciate being involved with KIOS preparing and executing the remote broadcast operation and the team of people involved: General Manager Ken Dudzik, Program Director Todd Hatton, Local Host, “All Things Considered,” Michael Hogan, former Chief Engineer Richard Dennis and current Chief Engineer Chuck Ramold.

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

For information, contact Cam Eicher at Axia Systems/The Telos Alliance in Ohio at 1-216-241-7225 or visit www.telosalliance.com.

The post User Report: Axia Helps KIOS Make Workflow Changes appeared first on Radio World.

Guests in the main studio. The furniture provides space for up to five guests. Each position includes an AEQ HB-02 controller, providing connections for a guest microphone and headphones with volume control.

Here’s a peek inside new studios of CV Radio in Valencia, Spain.

Manufacturer AEQ shared photos and details about this turnkey project.

There are three studio rooms. Main control is equipped with a digital modular AEQ Forum mixer with 12 faders on the desk, while an AEQ Capitol IP compact digital mixer was installed in the “self-control” studio. Studios connect with AoIP using Dante.

“All studios are interconnected together by means of a Gigabit Ethernet network carrying the Audio over IP,” AEQ wrote in a project summary.

“Forum sends and receives 32 audio signals. Capitol IP manages 16 channels. Two PCs running AudioPlus radio automation software are also part of the audio network. This way, all multi-pair wiring between studios is eliminated while flexibility is drastically enhanced.”

Booth view into the interview area.

Each studio can record and broadcast at the same time, although usually the self-control studio is for recording while main control is used for broadcasting.

In both cases, the AEQ mixers allow routing of a particular signal over a dedicated path in order to send the on-air program signal. Thus the signal provided by AEQ AudioPlus automation system can be sent on-air, and the two studios are released for recording tasks while a playout list is being broadcast.

An exterior rack holds AudioPlus servers, Venus IP audiocodec, Ethernet switches and radio links to send the program signal to its transmission center.

Content is managed by the AudioPlus automation system, and a continuity system records audio channels 24 hours a day, from which excerpts can be extracted. An AEQ Phoenix Venus codec in the studio pairs with an AEQ Alio codec in an OB van for remote work.

Recording studio, with main studio and control visible in rear.

The project was lead by Bernardo Saiz, AEQ’s sales area manager for the Valencian community, in coordination with CV Radio technical services.

Send news and photos of projects to Radio World at radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post AEQ Outfits CV Radio in Valencia appeared first on Radio World.

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