Aggregator

In this document the Commission adopts changes to its rules and procedures for broadcast station applicants to provide public notice of application filings to the principal area that is served or to be served by the station. The changes are designed to improve, streamline, and standardize the notices, including replacing notice by newspaper with online notice. The changes are further designed to enhance rule compliance and public participation in the application process, increase public access to filed applications, and reduce applicant burdens.

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Granted Parties Joint Motion for Dismissal

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With podcasters, voice actors and others now working from home during the pandemic, GIK Acoustics has released its VISO Booth vocal shield (Vocal ISOlation Booth).

The VISO Booth aims to provide temporary vocal isolation for broadcasters, recordists, voice actors, podcasters and others who need portable or stowable acoustic treatment.

Vocal shields on the whole are intended to serve as a buffer between a recording microphone and potential nearby sound sources and artifacts from the surrounding room. Employing one helps the microphone capture a cleaner, more immediate vocal. While a full-fledged vocal booth provides an ideal environment for vocal recording, a vocal shield is a lower-cost option that can still provide audible improvements in situations where budgets, portability and production space are significant concerns.

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

The VISO Booth uses the same ECOSE technology found in the company’s patented room treatments, reportedly helping to control the low-mid frequencies to reduce boominess or muddiness in recordings. The unit is available worldwide sporting an aesthetic pattern similar to the company’s Alpha 1D in blonde wood veneer, with GIK’s standard black fabric underneath.

Designed with portability in mind, the VISO Booth can be installed on a standard 5/8-inch straight microphone stand or simply placed on a desktop for use without a stand. Weighing 10 pounds, GIK Acoustic’s VISO Booth consists of two 16.5 inches x 11.5 inches x 1.5 inches panels joined to form a large, 162-inch triangular area, creating a shielded working space for performers to move within that the company claims is larger than most sizes attainable with other vocal shields.

Info: www.gikacoustics.com

 

The post VISO Booth Vocal Shield Debuts from GIK Acoustics appeared first on Radio World.

A pirate operator in Pennsylvania admitted he had been running an unauthorized radio station and entered into a consent decree with the Federal Communications Commission to resolve any further investigation into his activities.

[Read: O’Rielly Seeks Funding to Implement PIRATE Act]

The Enforcement Bureau resolved its investigation of Anthony M. Edwards, who was said to have operated an unauthorized radio station on 90.7 MHz and 91.5 MHz in Stroudsburg, Pa. To settle the matter, Edwards admitted he operated the station. He also agreed not to operate an unauthorized radio station in the future. As part of the settlement, Edwards agreed to pay a $1,500 civil penalty.

If Edwards reneges on his agreement, the FCC said it will hand down an additional civil penalty. This means that if the commission finds that he was involved with operating an unauthorized radio station at any time over the next 20 years, Edwards will be responsible for an additional $23,000 penalty.

The FCC noted that Edwards’ actions took place before the heavy-hitting PIRATE Act, which was enacted in January 2020. That legislation gives the commission the authority to levy much higher fines — up to $100,000 per violation and $2 million in total.

 

The post Pirate Operator Agrees to Consent Decree With FCC appeared first on Radio World.

SiriusXM is expanding its investment in podcasting with the acquisition of Simplecast.

An image from the Simplecast website

The company says it will pair Simplecast, a platform for podcast creators, with its AdsWizz ad technology platform to create “end-to-end solution that enables creators to publish and generate revenue from their podcasts, all in one place.” The announcement did not report the terms.

Pandora had acquired AdsWizz in 2018, and SiriusXM completed its acquisition of Pandora the next year. The satellite company continues to build its business in the broader world of audio content creation and distribution.

Simplecast is a “podcast management platform that enables podcasters to publish, manage, and measure their content” founded by Brad Smith.

“Simplecast and AdsWizz will form SiriusXM’s publisher solution business, a full-service platform designed to meet the needs of podcast creators of all sizes,” the company stated.

The post SiriusXM Acquires Simplecast in Audio Publishing Deal appeared first on Radio World.

Fig. 1: Privacy slats reduce visibility of your facility’s assets. Insert them in your chain link fencing.

It’s hard to steal what one can’t see. Broadcast engineer Ernie Nearman says chain link fence privacy slats, pictured in Fig. 1, provide inexpensive insurance.

The slats are available in a variety of lengths, up to 8 feet high. Find them at Lowe’s, Home Depot and online. Although green is pictured, the slats come in several colors.

The job of weaving the slats through your chain link fencing is a little time-consuming; consider it a chance to enjoy the great outdoors. The slats come packaged 78 to a bundle for around $110.

[Check Out More of Workbench Here]

If you’re inclined to shop online, a company called FenceScreen has a much wider selection. They even offer faux hedge slats that consist of 3-mil PVC green pine needles which, at a distance, look like you have a hedge around your tower — a hedge topped with barbed wire!

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Frank Hertel, like many engineers, owns the Siglent Model SDG 1075 Function Generator. It’s a great tool. But Frank finds that from time to time it will glitch its settings when it’s turned on. This doesn’t happen often, but when it does, you can get lost in the menu tree. This is especially true when a menu changes to Chinese.

Fig. 2: The Siglent Function Generator is a useful tool but may bring English-speaking engineers up short when it switches to Chinese, as at right.

To help solve the problem, Frank generated a utility settings flow chart, seen in Fig. 3. Most issues can be resolved from the utility settings mode. The chart also helps navigate through numerous button pushes as you step through the menu. Of particular importance are the purple selections on the right; note the selection that chooses English. Owners of this instrument will want to copy this flow chart and keep it handy.

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Frank also submitted a link to an interesting and useful product: the Reliance Products Collapsible Portable Toilet.

At one time, the FCC Rules and Regulations required that transmitter sites include restroom facilities! This goes back to the days when transmitter sites were manned 24/7.

Times have changed, and few sites provide such creature comfort when the need arises. This portable product can be left at a transmitter site, or stowed in a contract engineer’s vehicle. The Reliance Products Collapsible Portable Toilet costs less than $50 and is available from Amazon. It weighs only 5 pounds and folds down to 5 inches when not needed. It has a 300-pound weight capacity. On the Amazon site, enter the product name in the search block.

Fig 3: This flowchart, developed by engineering consultant Frank Hertel, will help owners of the Siglent Model 1025 navigate the menu.

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Rolf Taylor is an engineer with a multinational IT firm. He writes in to offer some tips on air filters and air conditioners.

With respect to air filters, not only will dirt affect the heat transfer capabilities of the evaporator coils, that dirt also provides nutrients that encourage the growth of algae. As we’ve mentioned before, the algae can cause clogs and overflows of the condensate drain, leading to some of the worst HVAC problems — especially if a studio or transmitter is underneath.

Periodic coil cleaning isn’t a bad idea, and Rolf recommends that you perform that maintenance procedure when changing over to the high-efficiency filters. Get the gunk out, and keep it out! Drip pan tablets to prevent algae growth are available at the big box stores and are good insurance.

Finally, don’t fall for the myths about the higher-efficiency filters creating an obstruction to air flow. Pleated filters have more surface area, which compensates for the increased air resistance the filter material causes.

One thing you will notice is that as the MERV filter rating goes up, there are more pleats to compensate. In fact, 3M high-end “purple” filters have less air resistance than their “red” filters, due to considerably more pleats.

By the way, MERV stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value. It ranges from 1 to 10, and is used to compare air filter efficiency. The higher the number, the fewer dust particles or dirt can pass through the filter.

Contribute to Workbench. You’ll help your fellow engineers, and qualify for SBE recertification credit. Send Workbench tips to johnpbisset@gmail.com.

John Bisset has spent over 50 years in the broadcasting industry and is still learning. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance. He holds CPBE certification with the Society of Broadcast Engineers and is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award.

The post Use Privacy Slats to Deter Vandalism appeared first on Radio World.

As part of our research for Radio World’s new ebook about remote broadcasting, we contacted Charlie Vollmer, technical operations team leader at Bloomberg Radio, to ask about how the organization responded to the pandemic. Below we share that interview in full. You can read the ebook here.

Charlie Vollmer

Radio World: How is your broadcasting workflow today different that it was before coronavirus?

Charlie Vollmer: Bloomberg News has over 2,700 journalists and analysts located in more than 120 countries around the world. Although our technical operations come from our world headquarters in New York, we are well-versed in working with many of those remote locations daily.

Before the pandemic hit, most of our staff would report to their local newsroom on a daily basis. By mid-March, almost all of our on-air staff was working from home globally. We’ve traded in-person collaboration for video conferences and phone calls. We’ve all had to heavily rely on instant messaging during live programming as opposed to talking to each other in real time through the other side of the glass.

We normally create over 27 hours of unique radio content across all of our platforms each weekday. Throughout the pandemic we haven’t missed a single hour. This is all a credit to the infrastructure investments Bloomberg has made over the years, paired with some incredibly intelligent, dedicated, and hard-working staff across all aspects of operation.

RW: What technologies or products are being used to enable your new workflows, for the major portions of your on-air product?

Vollmer: Most of our anchors were given Comrex NX codecs with sportscaster style boom mics to install in their homes. For reporters and our affiliate team, we heavily relied on the various LUCI Live apps.

As far as actually running the shows, our technical producers were given high-performance laptops so they could VPN into designated PCs back in our headquarters. From there, they were given full access to our Wheatstone LXE remote mixing app, automation and audio playback systems. We have various audio hybrids set up with a program feed from each station’s air chain so they can listen in real time to the broadcast they’re running.

RW: What was the biggest technical management challenge you had to meet, in the first days or weeks of the coronavirus?

Vollmer: We have robust systems that I knew we would be successful with. The first step was to design and implement a process to actually run the radio station from home. We pared it down so an op could successfully operate the board using only a laptop connection to the office.

The next step was sending out equipment to each member of our on-air staff. That led to plenty of unforeseen challenges as we had to walk each and every person through setting up our kits in their unique and personal environment.

In the end, we probably created 60+ custom broadcast spaces that our staff still use today. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t always work in the broadcast industry. We needed to act quickly to get this done and adjust on the fly to execute the plan.

RW: Was there a particular solution, feature or application that you think your peers would be interested to hear about?

Vollmer: I think the biggest tool is being able to control all these systems remotely. You no longer need physical equipment in front of you to operate successfully. We should all be comfortable working in the cloud and using virtual systems.

RW: How will radio broadcast operations for our industry be permanently changed in the long term as a result of this health crisis?

Vollmer: In my personal opinion, I think we’re going to see a lot of changes to the way many industries operate in the physical workplace. Stations will need to have a diversified plan for deployment of people, equipment and offices. I think every employee needs to learn to work self-sufficiently. It’s important to keep your technical skills fresh and continually learn new systems and processes.

This is what Charlie Vollmer’s screen looks like as he runs “Daybreak Asia.” The remote Wheatstone screen is at bottom right, with displays of Bloomberg’s custom automation and audio playback systems above.

RW: Anything else we should know?

Vollmer: I have one great story that illustrates how the radio community comes together during a crisis. I knew on a Sunday night that we had to figure out a way to get some of our staff in our Boston office broadcasting from home by 3 p.m. Monday afternoon. At 9 a.m., Monday morning I called Comrex and explained the situation to one of their sales and marketing representatives. She immediately set aside three NX codecs for our anchors. Going the extra mile, the techs were nice enough to program all of our IPs into the codecs. One anchor made a 45-minute trip up to Devens, Mass., to pick up the codecs. I simultaneously sent site-to-store orders to a local Guitar Center and Home Depot for mics, headsets and Cat-6. A second anchor grabbed those items and then met the rest of the crew in Natick, Mass., to swap all the needed gear. We had them all set up at home by noon for that 3 p.m. show and they have all been working from home since.

The post How Bloomberg Radio Put Remote Mixing Into Action appeared first on Radio World.

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Tracy Johnson, president and CEO of Tracy Johnson Media Group

Everyone knows the world has changed in the past few months. Life has been disrupted, and there’s no timeline for returning to normal. The current crisis has had a lasting impact on everyone.

So now what? What’s our new normal?

In a recent webinar, Ken Benson of P1 Media Group, Dave “Chachi” Denes of Benztown and I shared best practices and ideas for the current environment, provided guidance for the near term, and offered our forecast for the long term.

Here are some of the highlights from the webinar.

The New Normal — Programming
In contrast with recent surveys indicating listeners say they are listening to radio more, early ratings results show AQH has declined significantly in most markets. Listeners are now forming new habits, which may or may not be similar to previous habits. The longer folks are at home, the more difficult it will be to re-attract them to our stations when society is more mobile.

Listening to AM/FM radio via streaming and smart speaker usage is higher. Programmers who have not converted to Total Line Reporting to consolidate over-the-air and online listening into one ratings number should do so immediately.

Stations should focus on connecting with listeners emotionally, providing an escape from anxiety and renew efforts to reflect the local community.

In times of stress, listeners seek comfort. Consider adjusting the music mix to play fewer new songs and more popular library titles. This is a great time to become more nostalgic, familiar and comfortable.

The New Normal — Personality
Air talent plays a vital role at this time. Most shows should remain calm, generally upbeat and positive. Don’t ignore the crisis, but find ways to relieve listener stress.

Personalities should continue to be themselves, with a few subtle adjustments. Some segments that were hilarious a month ago (like prank calls) may seem mean-spirited now. Be a little more sensitive with a little less less edge.

Keep your sense of humor. The number one most desired trait listeners seek from radio personalities is someone that makes them laugh. That may be even more important now. But be tasteful. There’s plenty to have fun with, but it’s probably not a good idea to make jokes about the disease itself.
Personalities having a hard time finding content ideas should consider just being the show that listens to the listener. Many personalities are finding connections just by asking “How are you doing today?”

The New Normal: Production
It makes no sense to spend marketing or contesting budgets now. If it hasn’t already been taken out of the budget, save it for when life returns to normal. However, play games on the air. You don’t even need prizes! Just have fun.

Most stations report phone and text activity is virtually non-existent, but social media engagement remains strong. Use that leverage. Create videos. Take listeners behind the scenes into your new normal. Some should consider starting a podcast now.

Plan now for the future. It seems a long way off, but this will end, and life will return to normal. Be ready to take advantage of it. Brainstorm ideas for being at the center of your city’s celebration when life resumes.

Forecast and Recommendations
From Tracy Johnson: Just when you thought the radio industry had no more room to cut, the COVID-19 event has made it necessary for more changes. This is a painful time for everyone in radio. Some stations will never recover. Some may simply go off the air. There are two major challenges ahead. One is re-attracting listeners to your radio station. The other is finding new sources of revenue, because we can’t assume advertisers will automatically return anytime soon.

From Dave Denes: Radio is going to struggle well into 2021. Smart managers will apply the principles in the Stockdale Paradox by maintaining a balance of reality and optimism. This is the time great leadership steps up to keep their teams positive and inspired.

From Ken Benson: The world has changed as much as it did after 9/11. We need to step back and take a new look at the industry and realize there’s an opportunity for radio to shine. This is the time to pull together and make major differences in listener lives. This could be one of the most exciting and meaningful times in your station’s history.

The webinar is available on demand here. For more ideas, visit the Coronavirus Radio Idea Facebook Group established by Benztown and P1 Media Group.

The author is president and CEO of Tracy Johnson Media Group.

The post The New Normal for Programming, Personality & Promo appeared first on Radio World.

A contour map from the application by Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting.

Should the FCC allow a new FM station to be built in Edgefield, S.C.?

Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting Co. would like that, and it has petitioned the FCC’s Audio Division accordingly. It also submitted an application for a construction permit. The principals for the company are Douglas M. Sutton Jr. and M. Terry Carter, both of whom have interests in several other stations in the region.

According to the company, the relocation of a transmitter by WSBB(FM) in Doraville, Ga., has opened “a small usable area for Channel 238A” in Edgefield County, S.C.

[Read: FCC Proposes Regulatory Fees for 2020 Amid Uncertain Media Marketplace]

Now the FCC engineering staff has found that the coast is clear technically: “Channel 238A can be allotted to Edgefield, S.C., consistent with the minimum distance separation requirements of the commission’s rules, using city reference coordinates.” So the FCC is asking for comments on whether to amend its FM table of allotments and allow the station.

It would be a Class A station at 95.5 MHz. The application was submitted by attorney John Garziglia of Womble Bond Dickinson.

This would be a “first local service” for Edgefield, a county seat of about 4,750 people located about a half-hour’s drive north of Augusta, Ga. “The petitioner asserts that Edgefield is governed by a mayor and six city council members, and has its own library, police and fire departments, weekly newspaper, banks, churches and many other indicators of a bona fide community for allotment purposes,” the FCC wrote in its summary.

Comments are due Aug. 3, reference MB Docket No. 20-155.

 

The post Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting Seeks New FM in S. Carolina appeared first on Radio World.

RadioFR and La Télé produce programming in the all-IP-based radio and TV media house Mediaparc in Fribourg, Switzerland: SMPTE 2022-7 in an ST2110-40 environment — AES67 and Ravenna, 24 hours in live operation.

When broadcasters begin to discuss building studios using AoIP, the subject turns rather quickly to esoteric engineering topics like switch selection, console specifications and packet redundancy.

But for station managers, these fine details pale in comparison to a bigger question; namely, “Why should I approve this expense?” There are lots of answers to that question, but let’s cut to the bottom-line: AoIP networks save money.

The Bottom Line
New facilities built on an IP backbone cost less than traditional studios because they use the same inexpensive, off-the-shelf Ethernet switches as computer data networks. That means that the tech at the center of your facility is no longer proprietary: it’s a commodity, with all the price advantages that implies.

It’s also future-proof — computer networks are easily scalable and flexible: once audio is turned into data, it can be sent anywhere — across the building, or across the world. Lower cost and more flexibility are two big advantages that have made IP the standard for radio and TV stations across the globe.

KISS FM, a popular radio station of Radio Africa Group in Nairobi, Kenya, operates with virtual radio IP technology.

Let’s look at some of the specific ways that choosing AoIP for your new studio will benefit your daily operations.

It bears repeating: studios that use AoIP infrastructure are money-savers. How? First of all, the cost of wires and cables are dramatically reduced. In analog or older digital facilities, every audio signal had to travel over its own pair of dedicated cables. By comparison, AoIP carries hundreds of bidirectional stereo channels on one Cat-6 Ethernet cable. And that Cat-6 can also carry data from your traffic and scheduling systems at the same time, further simplifying infrastructure and reducing cost.

Nearly all of today’s radio equipment has an AoIP connection built in, which means one cable is all that’s needed to connect a phone system, satellite receiver — even a transmitter! All of which translates into faster installation with lower costs.

Astro Radio’s Vice President, Engineering and Technology Bala Murali in the HITZ on-air studio.

Benefits
AoIP networks also save thanks to their natural affinity with studio computers. Your mixing console can finally talk directly to the PCs used for recording, editing, production and playout — which means that the cost of expensive professional sound cards, line input cards and A-to-D converters is eliminated. Audio signals can also carry metadata for HD Radio and web-stream “now playing” info, or for visual radio channels.

Scalability is a big benefit of IP networks. If you’ve built studios before, you probably remember that as soon as they were finished, an unanticipated need popped up: a new station added to the mix, another production room needed, more capacity for syndicated programs.

In the old days this meant expensive cable bundles, patch bays and punch blocks; with AoIP, adding capacity is as simple as plugging new gear into the network switch. And since Ethernet switches are routers at heart, an IP studio network lets you immediately route audio from any studio to any other studio, instantly.

Astro Radio in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, uses IP-based radio tools: the control surface is software, driven by a multitouch interface on a high-resolution computer display. LITE channel host Soraya is pictured.

You’ve probably noticed that TV is embracing IP in a big way. Television stations have been steadily moving to IP production infrastructures, which means an AoIP network in the radio suite can finally share audio seamlessly with the video facilities. Modern mixing engines used in today’s radio consoles can easily extract audio from the SDI and MADI formats used by television, and radio content can be routed to TV master control in an instant.

What’s AES67?
Today, most manufacturers’ AoIP gear interconnects, but it wasn’t always so. In the early days, every console maker used their own proprietary protocol — meaning you were locked into that vendor’s “walled garden” of products. This didn’t always sit well, and for a good reason: you should be able to choose the equipment that best suits your needs, without artificial limitations.

The AES67 AoIP standard, ratified by the industry’s leading technology companies, is the answer. AES67 provides a common tongue that IP products can speak regardless of the manufacturer. Most companies have added it to their products, but not all. Before you sign on the dotted line, be sure that your AoIP equipment is 100% AES67-compliant.

Clark Novak, Radio Marketing Specialist for Lawo AG

Conclusion
If you’re thinking about going IP, now is a great time. The documented cost savings of this proven technology, coupled with ease of installation and maintenance, expansion-on-demand and the interoperability of AES67-compliant equipment makes AoIP ideal technology upon which to base modern radio studios — an investment that will continue paying off long into the future.

The author is Radio Marketing Specialist for Lawo AG.

The post IP Studios for Managers appeared first on Radio World.